VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Monday, October 13, 2025

View BIS Data Portal (Bank for International Settlements)View U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)Back to Home

Head-to-head

BIS Data Portal (Bank for International Settlements) vs U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) comparison

Compare pricing, supported platforms, categories, and standout capabilities to decide which tool fits your workflow.

Quick takeaways

BIS Data Portal (Bank for International Settlements) adds Data Visualizations, Central Bank Watcher, Housing & Construction, and Interest Rates coverage that U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) skips.

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) includes APIs & SDKs, and GDP categories that BIS Data Portal (Bank for International Settlements) omits.

BIS Data Portal (Bank for International Settlements) highlights: SDMX RESTful API for programmatic access to data & metadata; supports JSON, XML, CSV output; interactive API docs provided., Bulk downloads: each topic downloadable as a zipped CSV or SDMX file; topical packages show last‑updated stamps., and Release calendar with upcoming/past releases; exportable (CSV/Excel) and accessible via API; RSS feed available..

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is known for: Free REST API with JSON or XML responses, plus meta‑data methods (dataset list, parameter list/values); browser use supported via CORS/JSONP., Official datasets: NIPA/GDP, NI underlying detail, personal income & outlays (incl. PCE price indexes), Fixed Assets, International Transactions (ITA), International Investment Position (IIP), GDP by Industry, and Regional accounts., and API key (36‑character UserID) with documented throttling: 100 requests/min OR 100 MB/min OR 30 errors/min; throttled requests return HTTP 429 with Retry‑After (~1‑hour timeout)..

BIS Data Portal (Bank for International Settlements) logo

BIS Data Portal (Bank for International Settlements)

data.bis.org

Official BIS portal for global monetary/financial statistics with an SDMX REST API and bulk downloads. Covers international banking (locational/consolidated), debt securities, credit to the non‑financial sector, global liquidity, exchange‑traded & OTC derivatives, Triennial FX/IR derivatives turnover, property prices, consumer prices, effective/bilateral exchange rates, and central bank statistics (policy rates, total assets). Features include a release calendar (with RSS), shareable query links, bookmarks, custom charts/tables, and export to Excel/CSV/PDF. API adheres to the SDMX REST v2.1 spec; formats include JSON, XML, and CSV.

Platforms

Web
API

Pricing

Free

Quick highlights

  • SDMX RESTful API for programmatic access to data & metadata; supports JSON, XML, CSV output; interactive API docs provided.
  • Bulk downloads: each topic downloadable as a zipped CSV or SDMX file; topical packages show last‑updated stamps.
  • Release calendar with upcoming/past releases; exportable (CSV/Excel) and accessible via API; RSS feed available.
  • Portal exports: Excel/CSV for selected time series (up to 4,500 series per export); Tables & Dashboards can be exported as PDF.
  • Code snippets generator (Python/R/Matlab) to fetch selected series via the SDMX API; shareable URLs preserve filters/settings.

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U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) logo

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)

bea.gov

Official U.S. macroeconomic statistics publisher (U.S. Dept. of Commerce). Offers free interactive tables (iTables) and a REST API with JSON/XML output for GDP, PCE/inflation, personal income/outlays, international transactions (ITA), international investment position (IIP), fixed assets, GDP by industry, and regional accounts. The API requires a 36‑character key and enforces throttling (100 requests/min or 100 MB/min; 429 with Retry‑After). A public release calendar is available (ICS/JSON).

Platforms

Web
API

Pricing

Free

Quick highlights

  • Free REST API with JSON or XML responses, plus meta‑data methods (dataset list, parameter list/values); browser use supported via CORS/JSONP.
  • Official datasets: NIPA/GDP, NI underlying detail, personal income & outlays (incl. PCE price indexes), Fixed Assets, International Transactions (ITA), International Investment Position (IIP), GDP by Industry, and Regional accounts.
  • API key (36‑character UserID) with documented throttling: 100 requests/min OR 100 MB/min OR 30 errors/min; throttled requests return HTTP 429 with Retry‑After (~1‑hour timeout).
  • Interactive Data Tables (iTables) for building custom tables; download as CSV, Excel, or PDF.
  • Release Schedule provides machine‑readable calendar feeds (ICS/JSON) and shows planned 8:30/10:00 a.m. release times.

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Overlap

Shared focus areas

3 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Data APIs, Calendar, and Inflation Rates.

Where they differ

BIS Data Portal (Bank for International Settlements)

Distinct strengths include:

Data Visualizations
Central Bank Watcher
Housing & Construction
Interest Rates
  • SDMX RESTful API for programmatic access to data & metadata; supports JSON, XML, CSV output; interactive API docs provided.
  • Bulk downloads: each topic downloadable as a zipped CSV or SDMX file; topical packages show last‑updated stamps.
  • Release calendar with upcoming/past releases; exportable (CSV/Excel) and accessible via API; RSS feed available.
  • Portal exports: Excel/CSV for selected time series (up to 4,500 series per export); Tables & Dashboards can be exported as PDF.

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)

Distinct strengths include:

APIs & SDKs
GDP
  • Free REST API with JSON or XML responses, plus meta‑data methods (dataset list, parameter list/values); browser use supported via CORS/JSONP.
  • Official datasets: NIPA/GDP, NI underlying detail, personal income & outlays (incl. PCE price indexes), Fixed Assets, International Transactions (ITA), International Investment Position (IIP), GDP by Industry, and Regional accounts.
  • API key (36‑character UserID) with documented throttling: 100 requests/min OR 100 MB/min OR 30 errors/min; throttled requests return HTTP 429 with Retry‑After (~1‑hour timeout).
  • Interactive Data Tables (iTables) for building custom tables; download as CSV, Excel, or PDF.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

AttributeBIS Data Portal (Bank for International Settlements)U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
Categories

Which research workflows each platform targets

Shared: Data APIs, Calendar, Inflation Rates

Unique: Data Visualizations, Central Bank Watcher, Housing & Construction, Interest Rates

Shared: Data APIs, Calendar, Inflation Rates

Unique: APIs & SDKs, GDP

Asset types

Supported asset classes and universes

Bonds, Currencies, Options, Futures, Commodities, Real Estate, Other

Other

Experience levels

Who each product is built for

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Platforms

Where you can access the product

Web, API

Web, API

Pricing

High-level pricing models

Free

Free

Key features

Core capabilities called out by each vendor

Unique

  • SDMX RESTful API for programmatic access to data & metadata; supports JSON, XML, CSV output; interactive API docs provided.
  • Bulk downloads: each topic downloadable as a zipped CSV or SDMX file; topical packages show last‑updated stamps.
  • Release calendar with upcoming/past releases; exportable (CSV/Excel) and accessible via API; RSS feed available.
  • Portal exports: Excel/CSV for selected time series (up to 4,500 series per export); Tables & Dashboards can be exported as PDF.
  • Code snippets generator (Python/R/Matlab) to fetch selected series via the SDMX API; shareable URLs preserve filters/settings.
  • Interactive exploration: search by keyword or series key (supports wildcards), custom tables, multi‑series charts, and break markers on series.

Unique

  • Free REST API with JSON or XML responses, plus meta‑data methods (dataset list, parameter list/values); browser use supported via CORS/JSONP.
  • Official datasets: NIPA/GDP, NI underlying detail, personal income & outlays (incl. PCE price indexes), Fixed Assets, International Transactions (ITA), International Investment Position (IIP), GDP by Industry, and Regional accounts.
  • API key (36‑character UserID) with documented throttling: 100 requests/min OR 100 MB/min OR 30 errors/min; throttled requests return HTTP 429 with Retry‑After (~1‑hour timeout).
  • Interactive Data Tables (iTables) for building custom tables; download as CSV, Excel, or PDF.
  • Release Schedule provides machine‑readable calendar feeds (ICS/JSON) and shows planned 8:30/10:00 a.m. release times.
  • Official open‑source SDKs/tools: R package (bea.R) and a Python helper (beaapi) on BEA’s GitHub.
Tested

Verified by hands-on testing inside Find My Moat

Not yet

Not yet

Editor pick

Featured inside curated shortlists

Standard listing

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which workflows do BIS Data Portal (Bank for International Settlements) and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) both support?

Both platforms cover Data APIs, Calendar, and Inflation Rates workflows, so you can research those use cases in either tool before digging into the feature differences below.

Do BIS Data Portal (Bank for International Settlements) and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) require subscriptions?

Both BIS Data Portal (Bank for International Settlements) and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) keep freemium access with optional paid upgrades, so you can trial each platform before committing.

How can you access BIS Data Portal (Bank for International Settlements) and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)?

Both BIS Data Portal (Bank for International Settlements) and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) prioritize web or desktop access. Investors wanting a mobile-first workflow may need to rely on responsive web views.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

BIS Data Portal (Bank for International Settlements) differentiates itself with SDMX RESTful API for programmatic access to data & metadata; supports JSON, XML, CSV output; interactive API docs provided., Bulk downloads: each topic downloadable as a zipped CSV or SDMX file; topical packages show last‑updated stamps., and Release calendar with upcoming/past releases; exportable (CSV/Excel) and accessible via API; RSS feed available., whereas U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) stands out for Free REST API with JSON or XML responses, plus meta‑data methods (dataset list, parameter list/values); browser use supported via CORS/JSONP., Official datasets: NIPA/GDP, NI underlying detail, personal income & outlays (incl. PCE price indexes), Fixed Assets, International Transactions (ITA), International Investment Position (IIP), GDP by Industry, and Regional accounts., and API key (36‑character UserID) with documented throttling: 100 requests/min OR 100 MB/min OR 30 errors/min; throttled requests return HTTP 429 with Retry‑After (~1‑hour timeout)..

Keep exploring

Stay on top of related tools

Browse the categories and profiles that overlap most with this comparison to round out your shortlist.

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Curation & Accuracy

This directory blends AI‑assisted discovery with human curation. Entries are reviewed, edited, and organized with the goal of expanding coverage and sharpening quality over time. Your feedback helps steer improvements (because no single human can capture everything all at once).

Details change. Pricing, features, and availability may be incomplete or out of date. Treat listings as a starting point and verify on the provider’s site before making decisions. If you spot an error or a gap, send a quick note and I’ll adjust.