@pipeworx/imf
Connect: https://gateway.pipeworx.io/imf/mcp · Install: one-click buttons
Tools: 3
The International Monetary Fund’s macro database. Country-level GDP, inflation, current account, fiscal balance, exchange rates, debt, employment, demographics — across 190+ member countries. The standard cross-country macro source. Free, no auth.
Why this matters for AI agents
For cross-country macro analysis, the IMF’s databases (WEO — World Economic Outlook; IFS — International Financial Statistics; BOP — Balance of Payments) are the canonical source. Where FRED is US-focused, IMF is global and harmonized. Where World Bank focuses on development, IMF focuses on macro/fiscal/financial.
Common flows:
- Country macro snapshot. GDP, inflation, current account for a given country.
- Cross-country comparison. Pull the same indicator across multiple countries to compare.
- Time-series analysis. Historical data for trend analysis.
Used by the trade_country_profile compound and pairs well with Comtrade (trade flows) and BLS (US labor).
Auth
None. IMF Data API is fully public, free.
Major databases
| Database | Coverage | Use |
|---|---|---|
| WEO (World Economic Outlook) | Annual & semi-annual | GDP, inflation, fiscal, current account forecasts |
| IFS (International Financial Statistics) | Monthly/quarterly | Money, banking, prices, government finance |
| BOP (Balance of Payments) | Quarterly | Current/capital/financial accounts |
| DOTS (Direction of Trade) | Monthly | Bilateral trade (mirror to Comtrade) |
| GFS (Government Finance Statistics) | Annual | Government revenue, expenditure, debt |
Common pitfalls
- Country code variants. IMF uses ISO 3-letter codes (USA, GBR, DEU). Comtrade uses 3-digit numeric. Census uses 2-letter. Cross-source linking needs translation.
- WEO publishes twice yearly. April and October. Forecasts can shift dramatically between releases — always cite the vintage (e.g., “WEO October 2024”).
- Exchange-rate definitions vary. Period average vs. end-of-period vs. PPP vs. real effective. IMF data has all four; specify which.
- Coverage gaps. Small economies and politically isolated countries (North Korea, Venezuela, Eritrea) have spotty data. The IMF API returns nulls; don’t treat null as zero.
- Real vs. nominal. Default GDP is nominal in current-USD. For comparisons over time or across rapid-inflation economies, you usually want real (inflation-adjusted, in constant prices) or PPP-adjusted.
- Lag. Annual data published with 6–18 month lag depending on country reporting. Quarterly data faster, ~2–3 month lag for major economies.
Tools
- get_datasets — List all available IMF databases/datasets. Returns database IDs and names you can use with get_data and search_indicators. Example: call with no arguments to browse available datasets like IFS (Intern
- get_data — Fetch IMF time-series data for an indicator and country. Uses SDMX CompactData format. Example: get_data({ database_id: “IFS”, frequency: “A”, indicator: “NGDP_XDC”, country: “US”, start: “2018”, end:
- search_indicators — Search or list indicator codes available in an IMF database. Returns the code list (dimensions) for a dataset. Example: search_indicators({ database_id: “IFS”, query: “GDP” }) finds GDP-related indica
Tools
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get_data— Fetch IMF time-series data for an indicator and country. Uses SDMX CompactData format. Example: get_data({ database_id: IFS , frequency: A , indicator: NGDP_XDC , country: US , start: 2018 , end: 2023 -
get_datasets— List all available IMF databases/datasets. Returns database IDs and names you can use with get_data and search_indicators. Example: call with no arguments to browse available datasets like IFS (Intern -
search_indicators— Search or list indicator codes available in an IMF database. Returns the code list (dimensions) for a dataset. Example: search_indicators({ database_id: IFS , query: GDP }) finds GDP-related indicator