Get data from the Reserve Bank of Australia in a tidy tibble!
Installation
Install from CRAN using:
install.packages("readrba")Or install the development version from GitHub:
remotes::install_github("mattcowgill/readrba")Examples
Quick examples
With just a few lines of code, you can get a data series from the RBA and visualise it!
Here’s the unemployment rate:
unemp_rate <- read_rba(series_id = "GLFSURSA")
unemp_rate %>%
ggplot(aes(x = date, y = value)) +
geom_line() +
theme_minimal() +
labs(title = "Unemployment rate (actual)")
And you can also easily get the RBA’s public forecasts - from 1990 to present - and visualise those. Here’s every public forecast of the unemployment rate the RBA has made over the past three decades:
unemp_forecasts <- rba_forecasts() %>%
filter(series == "unemp_rate")
unemp_forecasts %>%
ggplot(aes(x = date,
y = value,
group = forecast_date,
col = forecast_date)) +
geom_line() +
theme_minimal() +
labs(title = "Unemployment rate (RBA forecasts)")
Reading RBA data
There primary function in {readrba} is read_rba().
Here’s how you fetch the current version of a single RBA statistical table: table G1, consumer price inflation using read_rba():
cpi_table <- read_rba(table_no = "g1")The object returned by read_rba() is a tidy tibble (ie. in ‘long’ format):
head(cpi_table)
#> # A tibble: 6 × 11
#> date series value frequency series_type units source pub_date
#> <date> <chr> <dbl> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <date>
#> 1 1922-06-30 Consumer price… 2.8 Quarterly Original Inde… ABS /… 2024-08-01
#> 2 1922-09-30 Consumer price… 2.8 Quarterly Original Inde… ABS /… 2024-08-01
#> 3 1922-12-31 Consumer price… 2.7 Quarterly Original Inde… ABS /… 2024-08-01
#> 4 1923-03-31 Consumer price… 2.7 Quarterly Original Inde… ABS /… 2024-08-01
#> 5 1923-06-30 Consumer price… 2.8 Quarterly Original Inde… ABS /… 2024-08-01
#> 6 1923-09-30 Consumer price… 2.9 Quarterly Original Inde… ABS /… 2024-08-01
#> # ℹ 3 more variables: series_id <chr>, description <chr>, table_title <chr>You can also request multiple tables. They’ll be returned together as one tidy tibble:
rba_data <- read_rba(table_no = c("a1", "g1"))
head(rba_data)
#> # A tibble: 6 × 11
#> date series value frequency series_type units source pub_date
#> <date> <chr> <dbl> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <date>
#> 1 2013-07-03 Australian dol… 37899 Weekly Original $ mi… RBA 2024-08-16
#> 2 2013-07-10 Australian dol… 35106 Weekly Original $ mi… RBA 2024-08-16
#> 3 2013-07-17 Australian dol… 32090 Weekly Original $ mi… RBA 2024-08-16
#> 4 2013-07-24 Australian dol… 39592 Weekly Original $ mi… RBA 2024-08-16
#> 5 2013-07-31 Australian dol… 41286 Weekly Original $ mi… RBA 2024-08-16
#> 6 2013-08-07 Australian dol… 37974 Weekly Original $ mi… RBA 2024-08-16
#> # ℹ 3 more variables: series_id <chr>, description <chr>, table_title <chr>
unique(rba_data$table_title)
#> [1] "A1 Reserve Bank Of Australia - Balance Sheet"
#> [2] "G1 Consumer Price Inflation"You can also retrieve data based on the unique RBA time series identifier(s). For example, to getch the consumer price index series only:
cpi_series <- read_rba(series_id = "GCPIAG")
head(cpi_series)
#> # A tibble: 6 × 11
#> date series value frequency series_type units source pub_date
#> <date> <chr> <dbl> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <date>
#> 1 1922-06-30 Consumer price… 2.8 Quarterly Original Inde… ABS /… 2024-08-01
#> 2 1922-09-30 Consumer price… 2.8 Quarterly Original Inde… ABS /… 2024-08-01
#> 3 1922-12-31 Consumer price… 2.7 Quarterly Original Inde… ABS /… 2024-08-01
#> 4 1923-03-31 Consumer price… 2.7 Quarterly Original Inde… ABS /… 2024-08-01
#> 5 1923-06-30 Consumer price… 2.8 Quarterly Original Inde… ABS /… 2024-08-01
#> 6 1923-09-30 Consumer price… 2.9 Quarterly Original Inde… ABS /… 2024-08-01
#> # ℹ 3 more variables: series_id <chr>, description <chr>, table_title <chr>
unique(cpi_series$series_id)
#> [1] "GCPIAG"The convenience function read_rba_seriesid() is a wrapper around read_rba(). This means read_rba_seriesid("GCPIAG") is equivalent to read_rba(series_id = "GCPIAG").
By default, read_rba() fetches the current version of whatever table you request. You can specify the historical version of a table, if it’s available, using the cur_hist argument:
hist_a11 <- read_rba(table_no = "a1.1", cur_hist = "historical")
head(hist_a11)
#> # A tibble: 6 × 11
#> date series value frequency series_type units source pub_date
#> <date> <chr> <dbl> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <date>
#> 1 1994-06-01 Australian dol… 13680 Weekly Original $ mi… RBA 2023-05-05
#> 2 1994-06-08 Australian dol… 13055 Weekly Original $ mi… RBA 2023-05-05
#> 3 1994-06-15 Australian dol… 13086 Weekly Original $ mi… RBA 2023-05-05
#> 4 1994-06-22 Australian dol… 12802 Weekly Original $ mi… RBA 2023-05-05
#> 5 1994-06-29 Australian dol… 13563 Weekly Original $ mi… RBA 2023-05-05
#> 6 1994-07-06 Australian dol… 12179 Weekly Original $ mi… RBA 2023-05-05
#> # ℹ 3 more variables: series_id <chr>, description <chr>, table_title <chr>Browsing RBA data
Two functions are provided to help you find the table number or series ID you need. These are browse_rba_tables() and browse_rba_series(). Each returns a tibble with information about the available RBA data.
browse_rba_tables()
#> # A tibble: 127 × 5
#> title no url current_or_historical readable
#> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <lgl>
#> 1 RBA Balance Sheet A1 http… current TRUE
#> 2 Monetary Policy Changes A2 http… current TRUE
#> 3 Monetary Policy Operations – Curr… A3 http… current TRUE
#> 4 Holdings of Australian Government… A3.1 http… current TRUE
#> 5 Securities Lending Repurchase and… A3.2 http… current TRUE
#> 6 Foreign Exchange Transactions and… A4 http… current TRUE
#> 7 Daily Foreign Exchange Market Int… A5 http… current TRUE
#> 8 Banknotes on Issue by Denomination A6 http… current TRUE
#> 9 Detected Australian Counterfeits … A7 http… current TRUE
#> 10 Assets of Financial Institutions B1 http… current TRUE
#> # ℹ 117 more rows
browse_rba_series()
#> # A tibble: 4,369 × 8
#> table_no series series_id series_type table_title cur_hist description
#> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr>
#> 1 A1 Australian G… ARBALDOG… Original A1 Reserve… current Australian…
#> 2 A1 Australian d… ARBAAASTW Original A1 Reserve… current Australian…
#> 3 A1 Australian d… ARBAAASTW Original A1 Reserve… histori… Australian…
#> 4 A1 Capital and … ARBALCRFW Original A1 Reserve… current Capital an…
#> 5 A1 Capital and … ARBALCRFW Original A1 Reserve… histori… Capital an…
#> 6 A1 Deposits (ex… ARBALDEPW Original A1 Reserve… histori… Deposits (…
#> 7 A1 Deposits of … ARBALDOO… Original A1 Reserve… current Deposits o…
#> 8 A1 Exchange set… ARBALESBW Original A1 Reserve… current Exchange s…
#> 9 A1 Exchange set… ARBALESBW Original A1 Reserve… histori… Exchange s…
#> 10 A1 Gold and for… ARBAAGFXW Original A1 Reserve… current Gold and f…
#> # ℹ 4,359 more rows
#> # ℹ 1 more variable: frequency <chr>You can specify a search string to filter the tables or series, as in:
browse_rba_tables("inflation")
#> # A tibble: 3 × 5
#> title no url current_or_historical readable
#> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <lgl>
#> 1 Consumer Price Inflation G1 http… current TRUE
#> 2 Consumer Price Inflation – Expendi… G2 http… current TRUE
#> 3 Inflation Expectations G3 http… current TRUERBA forecasts
The function rba_forecasts() provides easy access to all the RBA’s public forecasts of key economic variables since 1990. The function scrapes the RBA website to obtain the latest Statement on Monetary Policy forecasts.
rba_forecasts()
#> # A tibble: 7,070 × 8
#> series_desc forecast_date notes source value date year_qtr series
#> <chr> <date> <chr> <chr> <dbl> <date> <dbl> <chr>
#> 1 CPI - 4 quarter … 1990-03-01 <NA> JEFG 8.6 1990-03-01 1990. cpi_a…
#> 2 CPI - 4 quarter … 1990-03-01 <NA> JEFG 7.6 1990-06-01 1990. cpi_a…
#> 3 CPI - 4 quarter … 1990-03-01 <NA> JEFG 6.5 1990-09-01 1990. cpi_a…
#> 4 CPI - 4 quarter … 1990-03-01 <NA> JEFG 6 1990-12-01 1990. cpi_a…
#> 5 CPI - 4 quarter … 1990-03-01 <NA> JEFG 5.9 1991-03-01 1991. cpi_a…
#> 6 CPI - 4 quarter … 1990-03-01 <NA> JEFG 6.2 1991-06-01 1991. cpi_a…
#> 7 Unemployment rate 1990-03-01 <NA> JEFG 5.9 1989-12-01 1989. unemp…
#> 8 Unemployment rate 1990-03-01 <NA> JEFG 6.3 1990-03-01 1990. unemp…
#> 9 Unemployment rate 1990-03-01 <NA> JEFG 6.5 1990-06-01 1990. unemp…
#> 10 Unemployment rate 1990-03-01 <NA> JEFG 6.7 1990-09-01 1990. unemp…
#> # ℹ 7,060 more rowsIf you just want the latest forecasts, you can request them:
rba_forecasts(all_or_latest = "latest")
#> # A tibble: 148 × 8
#> forecast_date date series value series_desc source notes year_qtr
#> <date> <date> <chr> <dbl> <chr> <chr> <chr> <dbl>
#> 1 2024-08-01 2024-06-01 aena_change 6.6 Nominal (n… ABS (… Year… 2024.
#> 2 2024-08-01 2024-12-01 aena_change 3.8 Nominal (n… ABS (… Year… 2024.
#> 3 2024-08-01 2025-06-01 aena_change 4.3 Nominal (n… ABS (… Year… 2025.
#> 4 2024-08-01 2025-12-01 aena_change 4.1 Nominal (n… ABS (… Year… 2025.
#> 5 2024-08-01 2026-06-01 aena_change 4.1 Nominal (n… ABS (… Year… 2026.
#> 6 2024-08-01 2026-12-01 aena_change 3.6 Nominal (n… ABS (… Year… 2026.
#> 7 2024-08-01 2024-06-01 business_in… 1.4 Business i… ABS (… Year… 2024.
#> 8 2024-08-01 2024-12-01 business_in… 0.1 Business i… ABS (… Year… 2024.
#> 9 2024-08-01 2025-06-01 business_in… 2.2 Business i… ABS (… Year… 2025.
#> 10 2024-08-01 2025-12-01 business_in… 2.7 Business i… ABS (… Year… 2025.
#> # ℹ 138 more rowsData availability
The read_rba() function is able to import most tables on the Statistical Tables page of the RBA website. These are the tables that are downloaded when you use read_rba(cur_hist = "current"), the default.
read_rba() can also download many of the tables on the Historical Data page of the RBA website. To get these, specify cur_hist = "historical" in read_rba().
Historical exchange rate tables
The historical exchange rate tables do not have table numbers on the RBA website. They can still be downloaded, using the following table numbers:
| Table title | table_no |
|---|---|
| Exchange Rates – Daily – 1983 to 1986 | ex_daily_8386 |
| Exchange Rates – Daily – 1987 to 1990 | ex_daily_8790 |
| Exchange Rates – Daily – 1991 to 1994 | ex_daily_9194 |
| Exchange Rates – Daily – 1995 to 1998 | ex_daily_9598 |
| Exchange Rates – Daily – 1999 to 2002 | ex_daily_9902 |
| Exchange Rates – Daily – 2003 to 2006 | ex_daily_0306 |
| Exchange Rates – Daily – 2007 to 2009 | ex_daily_0709 |
| Exchange Rates – Daily – 2010 to 2013 | ex_daily_1013 |
| Exchange Rates – Daily – 2014 to 2017 | ex_daily_1417 |
| Exchange Rates – Daily – 2018 to 2022 | ex_daily_1822 |
| Exchange Rates – Daily – 2023 to Current | ex_daily_23cur |
| Exchange Rates – Monthly – January 2010 to latest complete month of current year | ex_monthly_10cur |
| Exchange Rates – Monthly – July 1969 to December 2009 | ex_monthly_6909 |
Non-standard tables
read_rba() is currently only able to import RBA statistical tables that are formatted in a (more or less) standard way. Some are formatted in a non-standard way, either because they’re distributions rather than time series, or because they’re particularly old.
Tables that are not able to be downloaded are:
| Table title | table_no | current_or_historical |
|---|---|---|
| Household Balance Sheets – Distribution | E3 | current |
| Household Gearing – Distribution | E4 | current |
| Household Financial Assets – Distribution | E5 | current |
| Household Non-Financial Assets – Distribution | E6 | current |
| Household Debt – Distribution | E7 | current |
| Open Market Operations – 2012 to 2013 | A3 | historical |
| Open Market Operations – 2009 to 2011 | A3 | historical |
| Open Market Operations – 2003 to 2008 | A3 | historical |
| Individual Banks’ Assets – 1991–1992 to 1997–1998 | J1 | historical |
| Individual Banks’ Liabilities – 1991–1992 to 1997–1998 | J2 | historical |
| Treasury Note Tenders - 1989–2006 | E4 | historical |
| Treasury Bond Tenders – 1982–2006 | E5 | historical |
| Treasury Bond Tenders – Amount Allotted, by Years to Maturity – 1982–2006 | E5 | historical |
| Treasury Bond Switch Tenders – 2008 | E6 | historical |
| Treasury Capital Indexed Bonds – 1985–2006 | E7 | historical |
| Indicative Mid Rates of Australian Government Securities – 1992 to 2008 | F16 | historical |
| Indicative Mid Rates of Australian Government Securities – 2009 to 2013 | F16 | historical |
| Zero-coupon Interest Rates – Analytical Series – 1992 to 2008 | F17 | historical |
Resolving network issues by manually setting the download method
Certain corporate networks restrict your ability to download files in an R session. On some of these networks, the "wininet" method must be used when downloading files. Users can specify the method that will be used to download files by setting the "R_READRBA_DL_METHOD" environment variable.
For example, the following code sets the environment variable for your current session:
Sys.setenv("R_READRBA_DL_METHOD" = "wininet")You can add "R_READRBA_DL_METHOD" to your .Rprofile to have this persist across sessions.
If you have other issues using readrba in your corporate environment, I would appreciate you opening an issue on GitHub.
Issues and contributions
I welcome any feature requests or bug reports. The best way is to file a GitHub issue.
I would welcome contributions to the package. Please start by filing an issue, outlining the bug you intend to fix or functionality you intend to add or modify.
