There are numerous download options for the macroeconomic time series and real-time data offered, which are explained in more detail in the following help.
Our time series can be downloaded in CSV and SDMX-ML format.
CSV is a text-based format which can be read by conventional spreadsheet programs such as Excel. SDMX-ML is an XML-based SDMX format.
You can download any of our time series directly by clicking on the "Direct download (CSV)" or "Direct download (SDMX-ML)" link in the time series list or on the time series display page.
Our time series can be downloaded in CSV and SDMX-ML format.
CSV is a text-based format which can be read by conventional spreadsheet programs such as Excel. SDMX-ML is an XML-based SDMX format. You can download any of our time series directly by clicking on the "Download (CSV)" link in the time series list or on the time series display page.
Alternatively, you can download up to 50 time series onto your computer at any one time. If your browser is Javascript-enabled and accepts cookies, you can also make use of our shopping cart function. To do this, select the time series for download by clicking on the "add to data basket" link.
You can then switch to the download form by clicking on the “Display data basket” link. There you will find that the highlighted time series have already been entered. If necessary, you can also specify options for the download or change the selection of time series. For the latter, enter the Bundesbank keys for the time series in the appropriate text fields or delete the time series keys that have already been entered. Then click on “Update selection”. You can delete all of the time series that have been entered by clicking on “Delete all”.
Start the download.
You can then receive the CSV or SDMX-ML files on the results page that is displayed.For each time series selected there is a single file; there are also specific package files for monthly series, quarterly series, annual series and for weekly series and daily series. Use the link there to add the results page to your favourites so that you can repeat the download at a later date.
Download options
You can limit the timespan for the time series. The standard and default setting for direct downloads is the entire timespan available.
You can choose between English CSV (entries are separated by commas, a full stop is used as the decimal separator) or German CSV (entries are separated by semicolons; a comma is used as the decimal separator). The standard and default language for direct downloads is the language that you have chosen for the display. Please note that the language you select determines whether your Excel program will display the file correctly after opening it.
Carry out the following steps to set the language for the download.
If you are using the package download function via the download form, you can specify your desired CSV language ("German" or "English") on the download form.
If you are using the direct download function via the "Download (CSV)" link, you will receive a German CSV if you click on the link from the German page, and an English CSV if you access the link from the English version of the same page.
The "direct download" function allows you to download an indicator in CSV format. The language used is dependent on the language of the page via which you requested the file.
Using the "data basket" function, you can display a list (in tabular format) of all the indicators that you have selected.You can access the indicator itself by clicking on the relevant indicator key.You can use the "arrow up" and "arrow down" buttons to rearrange the sorting order of the list. You can remove indicators from the list by ticking the relevant checkboxes and then clicking "Remove selected items".
By selecting a download option , you will be redirected to a page where you can define the criteria for the file that you wish to download.
Download options
Depending on the selected format, this page shows the options for a matrix or snapshot download.
The standard file format is CSV and the standard language is the language of the page. Please note that the language you select determines whether your Excel program displays the file correctly after opening it.
You can choose between English CSV (entries are separated by commas, a period is used as the decimal separator) or Excel, or German CSV (entries are separated by semicolons, a comma is used as the decimal separator) or Excel.
In the "Reporting periods" (rows) section, you can set a limit on the period for which the indicators are to be displayed (entry format: yyyy-mm).These will then appear as rows in the resulting CSV or Excel file. The default setting is the entire period available.
The "Adjust limits" option can be selected only if a period was selected beforehand.
CSV format
CSV is a text-based format which can be read by conventional spreadsheet programs such as Excel. In CSV format, there is one download file for each sheet.
Excel format
In Excel format, the sheets belonging to a download are made available in an Excel workbook.
Download in matrix format
All the desired vintages of an indicator are listed next to each other in ascending order, thereby forming a matrix.Each of these vintages is generated as a new worksheet in the download file.
The worksheet name of the Excel file and the name of the CSV file correspond to the key of the entered indicator. The column heading corresponds to the publication date of a vintage and is displayed in the format yyyy-mm-dd. The row heading corresponds to the observation period and has the format yyyy-mm or yyyy-mm-dd. In the case of a vintage, the attributes are issued at first, followed by the values.
Download in snapshot format
For each indicator of the export list, the vintage that was available at the given date is selected. These are issued next to each other on a worksheet. There is one sheet for each snapshot time that was specified in the download options.
The worksheet name of the Excel file and the name of the CSV file correspond to the given snapshot date and has the format yyyy-mm-dd.
The complete key appears as the column heading. The row description corresponds to the observation period and has the format yyyy-mm or yyyy-mm-dd.
For each vintage, the attribute are issued first, followed by the values.
In the snapshot format, it may be the case that that different frequencies are written next to each other on a single worksheet. If so, the vintages share the date column and are always given in the format yyyy-mm. The date column is geared to the lowest available frequency.
In an Excel file, all the sheets belonging to the download are made available in a workbook.There is one tabular sheet for each frequency.
In CSV format, an individual CSV file is issued for each frequency.
Statistical time series can be downloaded individually or in packages as CSV files directly from a URL. To access the Bundesbank’s time series directly, you can save these URLs as bookmarks or use them from one of your own applications.
After StatisticDownload?, the section tsId=Zeitreihenschlüssel indicates the relevant time series key. The next part of the URL contains additional download parameters (see below). The time series keys and optional parameters are separated from each other using the & character.
Parameter
Parameter description
tsId
Appears before a time series key and can be used several times.
mode=its
Denotes the macroeconomic time series; should not be changed.
its_csvFormat=de
CSV language; German in this case. Possible values are “de” and “en”.
its_currency=default
Currency setting for DM/euro series. Possible values: “default” = “as specified in time series”, “hypothetical” =“hypothetically denominated in euro”.
its_from= and its_to=
Limits the time period; possible time period formats are yyyy, yyyy-mm or yyyy-mm-dd.
metaDSI=
Limits the data set identifiers (DSIs).
Its_date=
Time period for which the updated time series should be downloaded. Possible parameter values are provided in the table of time periods below.
its_dateFormat
Date format can be standard, i.e. as specified in the time series, and current date, i.e. accept the date of the last day of the period. Possible values are "default" and "dateOfDay".
Examples:
Two time series keys and default parameters: https://www.bundesbank.de/statistic-rmi/StatisticDownload?tsId=BBEX3.D.USD.EUR.BB.AC.000&tsId= BBEX3.D.CAD.EUR.BB.AC.000&mode=its&its_csvFormat=de&its_currency= default&its_dateFormat=default&its_from=&its_to=
Two time series keys with time-period restriction from 1995 to 1996-05: https://www.bundesbank.de/statistic-rmi/StatisticDownload?tsId=BBK01.WZ9807&tsId=BBK01.WZ9808&mode=its&its_csvFormat=de& its_currency=default&its_dateFormat=default&its_from=1995&its_to=1996-05
The ZIP file provided is named "BBK-Download.zip".
The ZIP files relating to individual topics, each containing all the macroeconomic time series in SDMX-ML format, an XML tree file and all XML time series lists files on the chosen topic. The generated ZIP file is broken down into a folder structure containing the following folders: tree, time series and lists. The URL is structured as follows: https://www.bundesbank.de/statistic-rmi/DownloadServlet?its_fileFormat=Archive&mode=its&tree=“Anchor“
The parameter "tree=" can adopt the following values.
The Bundesbank also provides a function to download metadata for a DSI, where the chosen DSI (data set identifier) is incorporated in the URL. A file downloaded in this way carries the name of the corresponding data structure definition* with the ending ".xml", for example "BBK_ACIP.xml".
* Further information on SDMX and the corresponding terms can be found at http://www.sdmx.org
The content of the XML file indicates how a systematic time series key is structured based on the internationally applied SDMX definition and also which possible parameter values a key component can have.
The Bundesbank provides lists of time series containing those time series that were updated during a specific time period. By specifying one of the time periods listed in the following table after "&its_date=", you can download an XML file which contains a list of the time series updated in the respective time period. This file will be named "BBK-Download-<time period>.xml".
Time periods
yesterday
Yesterday (from 0.00 to 23.59)
currentWeek
Current week (from Monday to Sunday)
lastWeek
Last week (from Monday to Sunday)
currentMonth
Current month (from the first to the last day of the month)
lastMonth
Last month (from the first to the last day of the month)
currentYear
Current year (from 1 January to 31 December)
The applicable URL should be structured as follows
A download package may only contain time series for one type of frequency. If the URL given contains time series keys for different frequencies (eg monthly and daily series), an error message is output in the download file.
If the download URL contains an invalid time series key, no data are downloaded. Instead, an error message is output in the download file for each invalid time series key.
For all downloads via URL.
The maximum length of a URL may be limited by the browser.
