imfp

What it is and what it does

imfp is a Python client for the International Monetary Fund's SDMX 3.0 API that retrieves economic data and returns it as pandas DataFrames. It provides four core functions: discovering available datasets, inspecting their dimensions, looking up valid codes for filtering, and fetching the actual data. The package handles the API interaction, response parsing, and data structuring so you work directly with tidy tabular output.

The package is designed for economists, financial analysts, and researchers who need programmatic access to IMF economic indicators. It follows econdataverse conventions and mirrors the R package imfapi, making it familiar to users of that ecosystem. Version 2.0.0 introduced a new API with functions like imf_get_dataflows and imf_get_datastructure; the old 1.x function names still work but emit deprecation warnings.

Use it for:

• Fetch commodity price indices (like coal prices) at annual frequency for time-series analysis.
• Build a research dataset by discovering IMF dataflows, then filtering by specific indicators and time periods.
• Automate regular downloads of economic indicators for a financial dashboard or reporting pipeline.
• Compare economic metrics across countries by querying IMF datasets with country-level dimension filters.
• Integrate IMF data into a pandas-based data processing workflow without manual API calls.

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

Downloads economic data from the International Monetary Fund's SDMX 3.0 API and returns it as tidy pandas DataFrames, with discovery functions for datasets, dimensions, and valid codes.

Yes. The package is actively maintained, has low install friction (two common dependencies), carries no known vulnerabilities, and solves a specific problem—programmatic IMF data access—with a clean API. It is suitable for anyone needing IMF economic data in Python, especially if you work with pandas. The Apache 2.0 license is permissive and poses no restrictions.

Install

imfp on PyPI

pip install imfp

uv add imfp

poetry add imfp

Installing imfp

Before you install

Low install friction; pure Python wheel with only pandas and requests as runtime dependencies. Active maintenance with a release 7 days ago and last commit on 2026-08-10.

License in practice

Apache License 2.0 is permissive; you may use, modify, and distribute the package freely provided you include the license and document any changes.

Quickstart

pip install imfp

import imfp

# Discover datasets
dataflows = imfp.imf_get_dataflows()

# Get data with dimension filters
df = imfp.imf_get(
    "PCPS",
    dimensions={"INDICATOR": ["PCOAL"], "FREQUENCY": ["A"]}
)

Requires Python 3.10 or later.

Verify before relying

• Rate limiting and bandwidth management behavior—how they work in practice and whether they require configuration.
• Whether the IMF API requires authentication or an API key.
• Typical response times and data volume limits for large queries.

Package facts

Evidence: imfp-2.0.0-py3-none-any.whl

Keywords: economics, finance, IMF, API, SDMX, econdataverse

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