@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

DatabaseCoverageUse
WEO (World Economic Outlook)Annual & semi-annualGDP, inflation, fiscal, current account forecasts
IFS (International Financial Statistics)Monthly/quarterlyMoney, banking, prices, government finance
BOP (Balance of Payments)QuarterlyCurrent/capital/financial accounts
DOTS (Direction of Trade)MonthlyBilateral trade (mirror to Comtrade)
GFS (Government Finance Statistics)AnnualGovernment 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

  • 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

Regenerated from source · build May 9, 2026