About this API
The ABS Data API is the public REST interface of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australia's national statistical agency. It exposes ABS's published datasets — including consumer price indexes (CPI), national accounts, labour-market data, demographic data and Census results — as machine-readable time series. The interface follows the SDMX 2.1 standard: structure resources (dataflows, dimensions, code lists) are served under /rest/dataflow, while the observations themselves are served under /rest/data, with parameters such as startPeriod, endPeriod and format. Responses are available as SDMX-ML (XML, the default), SDMX-JSON and CSV. Since 29 November 2024 the API works without an API key and without registration. The service is in beta — ABS does not guarantee availability and reserves the right to change it. The data is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (with exceptions such as the Coat of Arms and trademarks).
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an API key?
No. Since 29 November 2024 the ABS Data API is fully accessible without a key and without registration — you simply send a GET request to the resource you need.
What data does this API return?
Australia's official public statistics as time series: consumer price indexes (CPI), national accounts, labour-market data, demographic data and Census results. The /rest/dataflow resources describe dataset structure (dimensions, code lists), while /rest/data returns the observations themselves, filterable with parameters such as startPeriod and endPeriod.
Can this API be called directly from a browser?
Technically yes — the server returns a CORS header (Access-Control-Allow-Origin), so requests from front-end code succeed. We do not offer a live 'Try it' button here, though, because the responses come as SDMX (SDMX-ML in XML, or verbose SDMX-JSON) — complex statistical structures rather than a simple record to preview. In practice you call it from your own code and parse it with an SDMX library.
Who runs this API?
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) — Australia's national statistical agency. The API is in beta; ABS does not guarantee availability and reserves the right to change it. The data is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence.