Current Information
- Federal Reserve Statistical ReleasesWeekly, monthly and annual rates back as far as 1971. Limited number of countries.
- X-rates.comFree site with daily and historical rates. Unclear on when rates are updated or where they get their data but covers more countries than the Fed. Also includes historical data.
- XE.com -- The Interactive Currency TableFree site with current and historical rates. Lets you generate a table showing exchange rates with almost 70 countries with one query. Unclear on when rates are updated or where they get their data.
Nominal vs Real
Virtually all of the sources here present nominal exchange rates, meaning they only the rate at which currencies exchange, ie 1$ = .75£. Real exchange rates are adjusted for inflation and other differences in prices. More information can be found in this article from the International Monetary Fund (121k PDF)
The IMF is the only online source available at the University of Chicago for time series data on real exchange rates.
Historical Exchange Rates -- Electronic Sources
- Federal Reserve Statistical ReleasesWeekly, monthly and annual rates back as far as 1971. Limited number of countries.
- IMF eLibrary Data Year-end figures compiled by the IMF. Includes money supply, bank reserves, exchange rates and other macroeconomic data. Most useful for finding exchange rates for countries not covered by the Federal Reserve. This is the only online source for real exchange rates.
- Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS) Access via the Federal Reserve Bank Reports. Easy to assemble time series data on exchange rates. Covers only a selection of countries. This is most useful for generating time series or viewing multiple currencies in one query
- Foreign Exchange Rates from FRASERMonthly and yearly exchange rates from the Federal Reserve Bulletin for 1917 - 1998, hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis. Page images only.
- Datastream 1000s of different series dating from the mid-1970s forward. Access in Regenstein Library and Chicago Booth computer labs.
- Measuring WorthFree site developed by two economics professors. Provides yearly rates for the U.S. and 40 countries beginning in 1919. Also covers the Dollar/British Pound yearly rate for 1791-1999. Very good scope notes on sources and methodologies.
- X-rates.comFree site with daily and historical rates. Unclear on when rates are updated or where they get their data but covers more countries than the Fed. Also includes historical data.
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Wall Street Journal Full text access to the Wall Street Journal for 1889 -1990. Search for "foreign exchange" in the article title to find daily rates. Currencies covered will vary by year. Earliest issues include only the British Pound, German Mark, French Franc and the Dutch Gild
Historical Exchange Rates -- Print Sources
- Banking and Monetary Statistics Regenstein Reading
Room 1, call number HG2493.A5
Covers the U.S., 1914-1940. Monthly observations in most cases. - Banking and Monetary Statistics : 1941-1970 Regenstein
Reading Room 1, call number HG2493.A5 1976
Covers the U.S., 1941-1970. Monthly observations. - Annual Statistical Digest Regenstein Stacks, call
number HG2493.A2
Covers the U.S., 1970 to the present on a monthly basis. 1970-79 and 1980-1989 are collected in single volumes. - Pick's Currency Yearbook later became World
Currency Yearbook Regenstein Stacks, call number
HG201.P6
Annual compendium on currencies worldwide. Includes information on the economic status of countries and black market exchange rates. The title changed in 1980 but all volumes are located under the same call number. The last edition was issued in 1996 and is located in the First Floor Reading Room. - Whitaker's Almanac Regenstein Stacks, call number
AY754.A4
Annual publication from Britain. It gives average rates against the pound for a period of one year, although not necessarily a calendar year. Most useful for older periods as this publication began including exchange rates in 1874. Look for "Money, foreign value of" in the index.
You can find information on other countries in
books and articles.
Find books in the library
catalog . Use the subject browse to look for "Banks and banking
your country name Statistics" or "Finance your country
name Statistics". This will find current as well as historical
statistics
Find articles in EconLit, ABI/Inform and Business Source Complete. EconLit is the best starting point as it includes many empirical studies on currency and foreign exchange. Use the descriptors field in the advanced search to look for foreign exchange or exchange rates. Narrow these results with
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