Data featured in the BIS Data Portal are structured as time series, which are collections of time-ordered values. Time series are grouped in data sets, which are in turn organised in topics.
Find the data
The BIS Data Portal offers various tools to guide you in exploring our statistics:
- Browse by topic and/or data set to learn more about the available data sets and relevant methodology, to gain data insights from the statistical tables and dashboards prepared by BIS statisticians and to directly access and query the data and metadata.
- Search for time series across all data sets through the search bar and narrow down your search results, applying relevant filters.
- Explore data sets by country, topic and key characteristics.
Browse
To start exploring BIS statistics, you can browse by topics and associated data sets. Each data set is presented in a dedicated page in the BIS Data Portal. It features important information, statistical tables, dashboards and direct access to the data.
- View all BIS data sets by selecting Topics from the top menu.
- Go to the Topics menu from the horizonal bar and select a topic of your interest to identify associated data sets.
- Select the data set of your interest by clicking on it. You will be redirected to the Overview page.
Scroll through the Overview page to get summary information including key metadata, research and publications, FAQs and glossary.
Directly access the data by clicking on Data:
Use the search bar and the filters in the tab to narrow your data selection. The number of series matching your search criteria is displayed above the list of results.
You can also explore the data in a tabular form and fully customise your table layout. Just select a few time series using the check boxes as in the picture below, and switch to Table view. If no time series are selected, all time series will be featured in the table.
Note: there is a limit on the number of observations which can be rendered in the table view. You can reduce the selected observations using the filters.
Search
The BIS Data Portal offers a search functionality that enables you to find time series by keywords. Use the search bar on the home page or from the horizontal menu on all other Data Portal pages to find relevant data. In the home page, you can also select one of the popular searches to find related time series.
To refine your search, you may use the autocomplete feature and suggested terms and/or data sets. For example, selecting a keyword belonging to a suggested data set limits your search within that data set.
To search across all data sets, hit enter without preselecting any suggested terms. The card above each series title displays the corresponding data set name.
You can search for a specific series by entering its unique identifier code (series key) in the search bar. The time series code is displayed above the title of the series. For instance, if you search for Q.XW.R.628, the search will return one time series on “headline residential property prices, world, real, index, 2010 = 100”.
If you want to search for time series that have a specific pattern in their codes, you can add an asterisk (*) to your search. For example, if you search for Q.*.R.628, your search will return series for all available reference areas.
Explore
The button next to the search bar lets you explore BIS statistics by guiding you through the main characteristics of each data set.
You may start selecting a topic, then a data set to visualise its breakdowns. Once you are happy, click Show results on the top right to list the results.
You can find all time series related to a given geographical area. Use the filters to narrow down your results or explore the Topic filter to get an overview of all available data sets for this country and available time series by topic or data set.
Results
After searching through the bar or using the explore functionality, the number of results will appear on the left side above the list of results.
By default, your results are sorted by relevance based on the selected criteria. You can change the sorting from the dedicated menu above the search results.
You can also switch between a list and compact table view by clicking the corresponding button in the right-hand side.
Use the filters to further refine your search results. We recommend you start by selecting any relevant data set(s) from the Topic filter. This will enable you to further narrow your results by applying only data set-specific filters.
Create your custom chart
You can also explore BIS statistics visually by building your own custom interactive chart.
After you have successfully found your time series, click one of the results to go to a Chart view. You can add related time series belonging to the same data set by selecting any of the dimensions on the right-hand side.
Alternatively, add a time series from any other data set by clicking on the Add time series button below the interactive chart.
If multiple time series are plotted, the top series in the list is pinned by default. The dimensions of the pinned series are displayed in the box on the right. To pin a different series, click on its code on the left. The dimensions of the newly pinned series will then be displayed in the box on the right.
To toggle the visibility of breaks in a time series, click on the 'B' icon. If no break is available, the icon will not appear.
Hover over the break icon in the plot to see additional information, such as the pre-break value.
Tables
The BIS Data Portal offers two types of tables: Publication tables and Custom tables.
- Publication tables offer a predefined, ready-to-use view of the data. Navigate to the Tables & Dashboards page of your data set to find any available publication table. These tables can be visualized directly on the BIS Data Portal or downloaded as PDF files. Some data sets do not offer Publication tables.
- Custom tables: unlike publication tables, the view of the data can be customised with filters or layout options.
- Navigate to the Data section of the data set. Use the search bar or available filters to find the time series you want to include in your table.
- Once you have selected the relevant data series, you can create your table by clicking on the Table view. You can customize the layout by clicking on the Table settings icon, dragging and dropping respective dimensions to the columns or rows.
- You can share and export your Custom table, along with the custom settings, by clicking on the Share and Export buttons.
Dashboards
To gain quick insights about BIS statistics, you can explore our interactive dashboards. Navigate to the Tables & Dashboards page of the data set to find the available dashboards. Some data sets do not offer Dashboards.
Find the metadata
To learn more about our statistics, select your data set from the Topics section to access its dedicated page. The Overview, Tables & dashboards and Data tabs allow you to easily navigate throughout all the aspects of a data set.
The Overview tab offers you all necessary information, including key metadata, methodology, research and publications, glossary and FAQs related to a data set.
In the Data tab, you can find all time series belonging to the data set. To explore the metadata associated with a time series, click on thebutton on the right-hand side.
