readecb

An R package for accessing data published by the European Central Bank (ECB) via the ECB Data Portal API.

What is the ECB?

The European Central Bank is the central bank for the euro area. It sets monetary policy for the 20 countries that use the euro - most importantly, the key interest rates that determine the cost of borrowing across the eurozone. It also publishes a vast quantity of statistical data covering exchange rates, inflation, money supply, lending conditions, and government bond yields.

All of this data is freely available through the ECB’s Statistical Data Warehouse. The problem is that accessing it programmatically requires knowledge of SDMX series keys - opaque strings like FM/D.U2.EUR.4F.KR.MRR_RT.LEV that encode dataflow, frequency, area, currency, and instrument dimensions. This package abstracts that away entirely.

How is readecb different from the `ecb` package?

The existing ecb package provides a general-purpose interface to the same ECB data, and works well if you already know the SDMX series key you need. readecb complements it by providing named convenience functions for the most commonly used datasets - so you can call ecb_policy_rates() or ecb_hicp() without needing to look up key structures. It also caches results locally and uses a lightweight dependency stack (httr2 + cli).

Installation

install.packages("readecb")

# Or install the development version from GitHub
# install.packages("devtools")
devtools::install_github("charlescoverdale/readecb")

Functions

Category	Function	Returns
Interest rates	`ecb_policy_rates()`	Main refinancing rate, deposit facility rate, and marginal lending rate (daily)
Interest rates	`ecb_euribor(tenor)`	EURIBOR interbank lending rates at 1M, 3M, 6M, or 12M tenors (monthly)
Interest rates	`ecb_estr()`	Euro short-term rate - the ECB’s benchmark overnight rate that replaced EONIA (daily)
Interest rates	`ecb_mortgage_rates(country)`	Composite cost of borrowing for house purchase loans (monthly)
Interest rates	`ecb_lending_rates(country)`	Composite cost of borrowing for loans to non-financial corporations (monthly)
Prices	`ecb_hicp(country, measure)`	Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices - annual rate, index level, or monthly rate
Exchange rates	`ecb_exchange_rate(currency, frequency)`	ECB reference exchange rates against the euro (monthly or daily)
Exchange rates	`list_exchange_rates()`	Available currency codes (no download needed)
Macro	`ecb_gdp()`	Quarterly euro area real GDP in EUR millions (chain-linked volumes)
Macro	`ecb_unemployment()`	Monthly euro area harmonised unemployment rate (%)
Macro	`ecb_government_debt()`	Annual government debt-to-GDP ratio (%)
Financial markets	`ecb_yield_curve(tenor)`	AAA-rated euro area government bond yields by maturity (daily)
Financial markets	`ecb_money_supply(aggregate)`	M1, M2, or M3 monetary aggregates in EUR millions (monthly)
Generic	`ecb_get(dataflow, key)`	Any ECB dataflow - for power users who know the series key
Generic	`list_ecb_dataflows()`	All available dataflows (~100)
Cache	`clear_cache()`	Deletes all locally cached ECB files

All download functions accept from and to date parameters and cache = TRUE by default.

Examples

1. What has the ECB done to interest rates since the inflation shock?

library(readecb)

# Returns daily data with one row per rate per day
rates <- ecb_policy_rates(from = "2022-01")
head(rates)
#>         date                     rate value
#>   2022-01-03  Deposit facility rate  -0.50
#>   2022-01-03  Main refinancing rate   0.00
#>   2022-01-03  Marginal lending rate   0.25
#>   2022-01-04  Deposit facility rate  -0.50
#>   2022-01-04  Main refinancing rate   0.00
#>   2022-01-04  Marginal lending rate   0.25

2. How has the euro moved against the dollar?

fx <- ecb_exchange_rate("USD", from = "2020-01")
head(fx)
#>         date currency    value
#>   2020-01-01      USD 1.121500
#>   2020-02-01      USD 1.091400
#>   ...

# Compare multiple currencies
fx_multi <- ecb_exchange_rate(c("USD", "GBP", "JPY"), from = "2024-01")

3. Is eurozone inflation back to 2%?

# Euro area aggregate (U2) by default
hicp <- ecb_hicp(from = "2020-01")
tail(hicp, 3)
#>         date country value
#>   2025-06-01      U2   2.0
#>   2025-07-01      U2   2.2
#>   2025-08-01      U2   2.2

# Compare across countries
hicp_countries <- ecb_hicp(c("DE", "FR", "IT", "ES"), from = "2024-01")
head(hicp_countries)
#>         date country value
#>   2024-01-01      DE   3.1
#>   2024-01-01      ES   3.5
#>   2024-01-01      FR   3.4
#>   2024-01-01      IT   0.9
#>   2024-02-01      DE   2.7
#>   2024-02-01      ES   2.9

4. What are eurozone mortgage rates?

# Euro area aggregate by default
mortgages <- ecb_mortgage_rates(from = "2020-01")
head(mortgages)
#>         date country value
#>   2020-01-01      I9  1.41
#>   2020-02-01      I9  1.41
#>   2020-03-01      I9  1.39
#>   2020-04-01      I9  1.38
#>   2020-05-01      I9  1.36
#>   2020-06-01      I9  1.39

5. What is the 10-year government bond yield?

yields <- ecb_yield_curve("10Y", from = "2024-01")
head(yields)
#>         date tenor value
#>   2024-01-02   10Y  2.56
#>   2024-01-03   10Y  2.59
#>   2024-01-04   10Y  2.60
#>   2024-01-05   10Y  2.59
#>   2024-01-08   10Y  2.55
#>   2024-01-09   10Y  2.54

6. Access any ECB dataset directly

The named functions above cover the most popular datasets, but the ECB publishes over 100 dataflows. If you need something more niche - such as payment statistics, securities issuance, or bank lending surveys - you can use ecb_get() with the dataflow name and SDMX series key. Use list_ecb_dataflows() to browse what’s available.

df <- ecb_get("EXR", "M.USD.EUR.SP00.A", from = "2024-01")

flows <- list_ecb_dataflows()
head(flows)

Caching

Data is cached locally in tools::R_user_dir("readecb", "cache") on first download. Subsequent calls with the same parameters return instantly from the cache.

To force a fresh download, pass cache = FALSE. To clear the entire cache, call clear_cache().

This package is part of a family of R packages for economic and fiscal data. They share a consistent interface - named functions, tidy data frames, local caching - and are designed to work together.

Package	What it covers
`ons`	ONS data (GDP, inflation, unemployment, wages, trade, house prices, population)
`boe`	Bank of England data (Bank Rate, SONIA, gilt yields, exchange rates, mortgage rates)
`hmrc`	HMRC tax receipts, corporation tax, stamp duty, R&D credits, and tax gap data
`obr`	OBR data (Public Finances Databank, forecasts, EFO, welfare trends, fiscal sustainability)
`readoecd`	OECD data (GDP, unemployment, inflation, trade across 38 member countries)
`fred`	US Federal Reserve (FRED) data (800,000+ economic time series)
`inflateR`	Adjust values for inflation using CPI or GDP deflator data

Issues

Please report bugs or requests at https://github.com/charlescoverdale/readecb/issues.

Keywords

European Central Bank, ECB, euro area, interest rates, EURIBOR, ESTR, HICP, inflation, exchange rates, yield curve, money supply, GDP, unemployment, government debt, monetary policy, R package