I built a free REST API that provides economic data for every country in the world. No API key required for basic usage. Here's how it works and why I built it.
The Problem
If you've ever tried to get GDP, population, or inflation data programmatically, you know the pain:
- World Bank API — works, but complex query syntax and XML responses
- IMF API — even more complex, poorly documented
- Trading Economics — paywalled ($50+/month)
- FRED — great for US data, but limited international coverage
I wanted a single endpoint that returns clean JSON for any country, any indicator, with zero authentication.
The API
Base URL: https://statisticsoftheworld.com/api/v2
Get all indicators for a country
curl https://statisticsoftheworld.com/api/v2/country/USA
Returns GDP, population, inflation, unemployment, government debt, life expectancy, and 440+ more indicators — all in one call.
Get one indicator for all countries (rankings)
curl https://statisticsoftheworld.com/api/v2/indicator/IMF.NGDPD
Returns GDP for all 218 countries, sorted by value. Perfect for building rankings or visualizations.
Historical data
curl https://statisticsoftheworld.com/api/v2/history?indicator=IMF.NGDPD&country=USA
Returns yearly GDP data for the US going back to 1980.
Data Sources
All data comes from official international organizations:
- IMF World Economic Outlook — GDP, inflation, unemployment, government debt (193 countries)
- World Bank WDI — 300+ development indicators (health, education, environment)
- WHO — Health indicators (life expectancy, mortality rates)
- FRED — US economic time series
- United Nations — Population, trade statistics
Data is updated weekly as new releases become available.
No Auth, No Limits (almost)
- No API key required for up to 100 requests/day
- Free API key available for 1,000 requests/day (just sign up)
- All responses are JSON
- CORS enabled — works directly from the browser
Use Cases
- 📊 Build data dashboards
- 📈 Economic research and analysis
- 🗺️ Country comparison tools
- 📱 Mobile apps with global economic data
- 🤖 Feed LLMs with structured economic context
Try It
- API Docs: statisticsoftheworld.com/api-docs
- Interactive site: statisticsoftheworld.com — browse 218 countries with charts, rankings, and comparisons
- Example: US Economic Data
The full site includes interactive charts, country comparisons, ranking tables, and a 2026 economic snapshot report — all free.
Would love feedback from anyone working with economic data. What indicators or features would be most useful for your projects?
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