More good news for developers and other “power users” of BEA data: The most detailed data on U.S. international trade in services published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis are now accessible through our application programming interface, or API. This includes detailed annual statistics on U.S. trade in services by type of service for 90 countries and areas, including new estimates of trade related to information and communications technology. Previously, only the more aggregated trade in services statistics released as part of the U.S. international transactions accounts were available through BEA’s API.
The new API dataset is named “IntlServTrade.” The statistics in this dataset correspond to data on trade in services presented in tables 1.1 through 3.3 of the International Services data available through BEA’s interactive data application. Data presented in International Services tables 4.1 through 5.4 on services supplied through affiliates of multinational enterprises are not included in this API dataset. Appendix M, under the DataSet Reference section in the API User Guide, provides a short description and example API calls for this new dataset.
BEA’s API provides developers and analysts a mechanism to search, display, analyze, retrieve, or view BEA statistics. For example, researchers can use BEA’s International Services data along with services trade data from other countries to make international comparisons of trade in services. Or developers may design a new tool to visualize BEA’s economic data. The API includes methods for retrieving subsets of BEA statistical data and their meta-data using HTTPS requests. It delivers data in two industry-standard formats: XML (Extensible Markup Language) and JSON (JavaScript Object Notation).
To use the API, you need to register first. Full documentation is available in the API User Guide.
BEA’s API is just one way BEA is supporting open data. Visit BEA’s Open Data site for a complete listing of BEA’s datasets in a machine readable JSON format, along with access to downloadable datasets and other data tools.