IMF World Economic Outlook Scraper

IMF World Economic Outlook Scraper

Scrape IMF World Economic Outlook indicators for any country, from GDP growth to inflation and debt. Each row is a clean time series with country, indicator, year, and value. No API key or registration. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

The IMF World Economic Outlook database holds the most cited macroeconomic projections on the planet, but its DataMapper front end is built for browsing, not for pulling clean time series into your models. This Actor reads the public WEO data service directly, so you can pull any indicator code for one country or all countries in a single run. It returns a flat table that drops straight into Excel, R, Python, or your BI tool.

Who uses it	What they scrape IMF World Economic Outlook for
Macro analysts	Pull the latest GDP growth and inflation projections for a set of countries into a spreadsheet
Quant researchers	Build a panel dataset of fiscal and external indicators across all WEO countries
Data journalists	Fact-check a story against the IMF's own numbers without manual downloads
Risk managers	Monitor sovereign debt and current account forecasts for exposure countries

What it does

This Actor collects IMF World Economic Outlook indicator values by indicator code and optional ISO-3 country, and returns each observation as a flat row with country, indicator, year, and value.

• 🌍 All countries or one: leave the country field blank to get every WEO member, or pass an ISO-3 code like USA, JPN, or DEU.
• 📈 Any WEO indicator: use the IMF DataMapper code, such as NGDP_RPCH for real GDP growth, PCPIPCH for inflation, or GGXWDG_NGDP for gross debt.
• 🧮 Flat time series: each row is one country, one indicator, one year, one value, ready for pivot tables and regressions.
• ⚙️ Simple input: three fields only, indicator code, optional country, and a cap on how many rows to return.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with IMF World Economic Outlook data

📊 Build a macro panel dataset.

A quant researcher pulls NGDP_RPCH, PCPIPCH, and GGXWDG_NGDP for all countries, then merges the flat rows into a panel for a cross-country growth regression.

📰 Fact-check an economic story.

A data journalist runs the Actor for a single country and indicator, then compares the IMF's latest projection with the number quoted in a press release.

🛡️ Monitor sovereign risk.

A risk manager pulls gross debt and current account forecasts for a watchlist of emerging markets each quarter and feeds the values into an early-warning model.

📈 Track forecast revisions.

An economist schedules the Actor to collect the same indicators after each WEO update, then diffs the new values against the previous run to see which countries were revised.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key	Reads the public WEO data service directly, no registration or token management
Clean schema	Every row has the same columns, so you can append runs and build a history
Any indicator	Works with the full WEO code list, not a hand-picked subset
Export anywhere	CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify dataset

How it compares

No other Store actor targets IMF World Economic Outlook the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

	IMF World Economic Outlook Scraper	Build it in-house	By hand
Setup	Run it now, zero config	Days of engineering	None, but hours per pull
When IMF World Economic Outlook changes	Maintained for you	You fix it	You re-learn the page
Proxies, retries, anti-bot	Built in	Your problem	Browser only
Output	Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export	Whatever you build	Copy-paste
Cost	Pay per result	Engineering time	Analyst hours

Configure the run

Drive the Actor with an IMF DataMapper indicator code and an optional ISO-3 country code, and set a maximum number of rows to keep runs predictable. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
 "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
 "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.021 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$2.10
1,000 results	$21.00
10,000 results	$210.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the IMF World Economic Outlook Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to IMF World Economic Outlook through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/imf-weo-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check the indicator code. It must match the IMF DataMapper code exactly, including underscores, for example NGDP_RPCH. Also verify the country code is a valid ISO-3 code like USA, not US.

The run returns fewer rows than I expected.

The maxItems field caps the output. Raise it if you need more rows. Also note that some indicators are not available for every country or every year.

I get an error about the indicator code.

Open the IMF DataMapper, select the indicator you want, and copy the code from the URL. Codes are case-sensitive and use underscores, not spaces.

The data looks different from the IMF website.

The WEO database is updated twice a year. Make sure you are comparing the same edition. The Actor always returns the latest published values.

Can I get quarterly data?

The WEO is an annual database. For quarterly or monthly macroeconomic data, use a different source such as the IMF IFS or a national statistics office.

FAQ

Question	Answer
Where do I find the indicator codes?	Use the IMF DataMapper at www.imf.org/datamapper. The code appears in the URL or the dataset download, for example NGDP_RPCH for real GDP growth and PCPIPCH for inflation.
Can I get data for all countries at once?	Yes. Leave the country field blank and the Actor returns every WEO member country for the indicator you chose.
What time range does the data cover?	The WEO database includes historical estimates and projections several years into the future. The exact range depends on the indicator, but the Actor returns whatever the IMF publishes.
Does this include the latest WEO update?	Yes. The Actor reads the live WEO data service, so it reflects the most recent release, usually April and October each year with updates in between.
Can I filter by a group of countries, like the euro area?	The input accepts a single ISO-3 code. For multiple countries, run the Actor once per country or leave the field blank and filter the dataset afterward.
What is the maximum number of rows I can get?	You set the cap with the maxItems field, up to 1,000,000 rows per run. A single indicator for all countries and all years is typically far below that.
Is this an official IMF API?	No. The Actor reads the same public data service that powers the IMF DataMapper website. It does not require an API key or registration.
Can I use this for commercial research?	Yes, the WEO data is published for public use. Check the IMF's terms of use for attribution requirements if you republish the data.
What output formats are supported?	The Apify dataset can be exported to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the run detail page or via the API.
How do I schedule regular updates?	Use Apify's scheduler to run the Actor on a cron, for example monthly or after each WEO release, and store the results in a dataset or key-value store.

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Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by International Monetary Fund. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.