Economic Data API

Get GDP, inflation, unemployment and other World Bank indicators for any country, by year, as clean JSON.

The API.SH Economic Data API serves World Bank data as structured JSON. Get a country's profile with region, income level and its latest GDP, GDP per capita, growth, inflation, unemployment, population, life expectancy and government debt. Search the World Development Indicators by keyword or topic, then pull yearly values of any indicator for several countries, regions or income groups at once, by year range or most recent values.

Get a free API key Try it in the playground

3 endpoints
from $1 / 1,000 calls
1,000 free credits / month
failed calls free

Economic indicator search

GET https://api.api.sh/econ/v1/indicators

{ "success": true }

1 credit · $1 per 1,000 calls

What you can build with the Economic Data API

Country snapshots

Show a country's latest GDP, growth, inflation, unemployment, population and debt in a dashboard or report with one call.

/country

Cross-country comparisons

Pull GDP per capita or inflation for a set of countries and regions over a year range to chart them side by side.

/series

Finding the right indicator

Search the World Development Indicators by keyword or topic to get the code, unit, definition and source before you query it.

/indicators /series

Research and teaching datasets

Build clean yearly series on trade, FDI, poverty, Gini or CO2 for coursework, papers and notebooks.

/series

AI agents and spreadsheets

Let an agent or a Google Sheet look up a country's economic profile or an indicator's latest value on demand.

/country /series

Economic Data data you get

Field names from real responses. Numbers come parsed, URLs absolute, dates in ISO 8601.

Economic Data API endpoints and prices

Every Economic Data endpoint costs 1 credit per call: credits are $1 per 1,000 on a monthly plan, $2 pay-as-you-go. Pricing

Search and discovery1

Economic indicator search

/econ/v1/indicators

$1 · $2 PAYG

1 credit

Profiles and accounts1

Country economic profile

/econ/v1/country

$1 · $2 PAYG

1 credit

More data1

Economic indicator series

/econ/v1/series

$1 · $2 PAYG

1 credit

Call the Economic Data API

Economic indicator search: GET https://api.api.sh/econ/v1/indicators

curl "https://api.api.sh/econ/v1/indicators?q=unemployment" \
  -H "x-api-key: $APISH_KEY"

import os, requests

res = requests.get(
    "https://api.api.sh/econ/v1/indicators",
    params={"q": "unemployment"},
    headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["APISH_KEY"]},
    timeout=120,
)
res.raise_for_status()
data = res.json()

const url = new URL("https://api.api.sh/econ/v1/indicators");
url.searchParams.set("q", "unemployment");

const res = await fetch(url, { headers: { "x-api-key": process.env.APISH_KEY } });
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`${res.status} ${await res.text()}`);
const data = await res.json();

# Google Sheets (API.SH add-on)
=APISH("/econ/v1/indicators", "q", "unemployment")

# Zapier, Make, n8n (verified node): pick the API.SH app,
# choose "Economic Data" and "Economic indicator search".

# AI agents (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor): add the
# API.SH MCP server https://api.sh/mcp

Create a free accountConfirm your email and get 1,000 free credits every month. No card needed.
Create an API keyOne key works for all 483 platforms.
Send the requestJSON back in one call. Add output=csv or output=ndjson for files.

Why API.SH for Economic Data data

Public data only: no Economic Data login, cookies or account needed
One key and one response shape for Economic Data and 482 other platforms
Built and maintained by API.SH, not third-party publishers
Pay per call; errors on our side cost nothing
Live status for every endpoint

API.SH vs the official Economic Data API

The data comes from the World Bank's World Development Indicators, and the World Bank's own API is free. FRED (St. Louis Fed) is also free with a key, and Trading Economics and EODHD sell macro data. API.SH gives you World Bank profiles, indicator search and series in the same JSON shape and key as every other API.SH endpoint, with friendly indicator names like gdp or inflation.

FRED is the standard choice for US macro series and Trading Economics for paid forecasts and calendars. API.SH fits when you want World Bank country data from the same key and tools (SDKs, Sheets, Zapier, n8n, MCP) you already use for other data.

Economic Data API questions

What economic data can I get?+

Country profiles with latest GDP, inflation, unemployment, population and debt (/econ/v1/country), a search of the World Development Indicators (/econ/v1/indicators) and yearly series of any indicator for several countries, regions or income groups (/econ/v1/series).

How much does the Economic Data API cost?+

Every Economic Data endpoint costs 1 credit per call. On a monthly plan 1,000 credits cost $1 (Starter is $50/month for 50,000 credits). Pay-as-you-go is $2 per 1,000 credits, with top-ups from $15 that never expire.

Is there a free trial?+

Yes. Every account gets 1,000 free credits every month. That is 1,000 calls to /econ/v1/country at 1 credit each.

Where does the data come from?+

The World Bank's World Development Indicators. Each indicator returns its source organisation, unit and definition.

Do I need keys for the underlying sources?+

No. One API.SH key covers every call; there is no World Bank or other source key to manage.

Is there a free economic data API?+

Yes, several: the World Bank API is free and FRED is free with a key. API.SH gives every account 1,000 free credits each month, and its value is one key and one JSON shape across this and many other data sources.

Does it include FRED or daily market data?+

No. Values are yearly World Bank figures. For US Federal Reserve series, FRED is the source to use.

How do I get started?+

1. Sign up at api.sh. 2. Copy your API key. 3. Call /econ/v1/series with indicator=gdp and a list of country codes. Every parameter and request examples are in the docs at https://api.sh/docs. You can also use the JS or Python SDK, Google Sheets, Zapier, Make, n8n or the MCP server at https://api.sh/mcp.