Researchers & Academics

Datasets, APIs, and archives for economic research and academic study.

How to use this page

FRED, NBER, and the Penn World Table are good starting points for most macro and cross-country research. Use the topic filters to narrow by subject area, and check each tool's description for what kind of downloads or APIs it offers — most academic-grade sources here are free to use, though a few require institutional access for full datasets.

Atlanta Fed GDPNow

Real-time GDP growth nowcast updated throughout the quarter.

Free

Bank of England Statistical Interactive Database

UK central bank rates, money, and lending data.

Free

BEA (Bureau of Economic Analysis)

Official US GDP, personal income, and trade data direct from the source agency.

Free

BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Official US employment, wage, and price data direct from the source agency.

Free

BLS CPI Databases

Official Consumer Price Index data, including regional and category breakdowns.

Free

Chicago Fed National Activity Index

Weighted index of 85 economic indicators summarizing overall economic activity.

Free

Cleveland Fed Inflation Nowcasting

Real-time CPI and PCE inflation estimates ahead of official releases.

Free

Cleveland Fed Median CPI

Alternative inflation measure that strips out extreme price swings.

Free

Damodaran Online

NYU professor Aswath Damodaran's free valuation and market data spreadsheets.

Free

DataUSA.io

Visual explorer for US public economic and demographic data by place, industry, and occupation.

Free

ECB Data Portal

European Central Bank's full statistical database on rates and monetary data.

Free

Eurostat

Official statistical office of the European Union; EU-wide economic data.

Free

FHFA House Price Index

Official US house price index based on conforming mortgage transactions.

Free

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)

Massive free database of US and international economic time series; the default source most other tools pull from.

Free

FRED Blog

Short, accessible explainers pairing FRED data with real-world context.

Free

IMF Data

International macroeconomic and financial statistics, including World Economic Outlook datasets.

Free

Indeed Hiring Lab

Job posting trends and labor market analysis from Indeed. own data.

Free

JOLTS

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey; openings, hires, quits data.

Free

LinkedIn Economic Graph

Labor market insights drawn from LinkedIn's global professional network data.

Free

Nasdaq Data Link (formerly Quandl)

Financial and alternative datasets via API, both free and premium.

Freemium

NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research)

Academic research papers and datasets; official US recession dating.

Free

NY Fed Nowcast

Weekly GDP growth estimate from the New York Fed.

Free

OECD Data Explorer

Cross-country macroeconomic indicators for OECD member nations.

Free

Our World in Data — Economic Growth

Visual, well-sourced explainers on global economic trends, built for general audiences.

Free

Penn World Table

Historical national accounts data for cross-country growth comparisons.

Free

Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey

Regional manufacturing sentiment survey watched as a national leading indicator.

Free

Seeking Alpha

Investment research platform combining analyst insights, screeners, and market news.

Freemium

St. Louis Fed FRASER Archive

Digitized historical archive of US economic and financial documents.

Free

TIKR

Fundamental analysis terminal tracking superinvestor portfolios and global stocks.

Freemium

UN Comtrade

Global trade statistics database covering imports/exports by country and product.

Free

University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey

Long-running monthly survey of US consumer sentiment.

Free

US Census Bureau Foreign Trade Data

Official US import/export statistics by country and commodity.

Free

World Bank Open Data

Global development and macroeconomic indicators for 200+ countries.

Free

WTO Statistics

World Trade Organization data on tariffs, trade flows, and disputes.

Free

Yale/Shiller CAPE Ratio Data

Long-run cyclically-adjusted stock market valuation data from Robert Shiller.

Free