Hong Kong Economic History Database
DISCLAIMER
All rights of the database reserved. Reproduction for academic and non-commercial purposes is permitted provided the source is acknowledged. The Hong Kong Institute for Monetary and Financial Research is not responsible for the accuracy of the data reported.

1.     Hong Kong Economic History Database (Eviews)
2.     Hong Kong Economic History Database
3.     List of Data for Hong Kong Economic History Database
4.     Source Directory for Hong Kong Economic History Database
5.     Open API

* All rights of the database reserved. Reproduction for educational and non-commercial purposes is permitted provided the source is acknowledged. 
BACKGROUND
To encourage and facilitate research on the monetary and economic history of Hong Kong, the HKIMR has been constructing a historical database which is made available on this page.* The database contains a range of data that go back to as early as 1844. They cover currency in circulation, silver prices, exchange rates, bank deposits, fiscal finance, land revenues, food prices, wholesale price index, retail price index, wage rates, merchandise trade with other countries, energy consumption, and other areas. It is available in two formats: Eviews and Excel. The process of expanding and enhancing the database will continue. Questions and suggestions are welcome.
LIST OF DATA
Each data series is represented by a code. A code consists of three parts. The first part indicates the group to which a series belongs, e.g. "CUR" represents currency. The second part gives the distinctive feature of a series, e.g. "REV" represents revenue. The third part is the frequency code, e.g. "A" represents yearly data. Underscores separate the three parts of a code. For easy reference, all the codes in the database are available in a document available here.
SOURCE DIRECTORY
This document provides the sources of data for series in each group.
EVIEWS 4 DATABASE
The database in the format of Eviews 4 consists of four component files. To facilitate the downloading of the data, the four files are stored in one zip file. Once the zip file has been downloaded, the user has to extract the four component files into one directory, e.g. C:\My Documents\Economic History\Database. Double-clicking the file "DB_HKECONOMICHISTORY_EDB" opens the database.
EXCEL DATABASE
The database in Excel comprises of various worksheets. A worksheet stores the data series of a certain group. Apart from the codes, information concerning the sources, frequency, periods covered and other details is also included. A worksheet's name is given by the group's name or its abbreviated form and all the worksheets are arranged alphabetically.