🔔 ECB HICP Inflation Series

Structured HICP (Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices) inflation series from the European Central Bank's official keyless SDMX Data Portal (data-api.ecb.europa.eu, the HICP dataflow). One record per HICP series key, carrying the series' latest observation and its full metadata, source-native and verbatim.

Output is one hicp_series_record row per result; billing is pay-per-event, the value event being one hicp series record (a $0.02 start fee per run, then $0.02 per hicp series record). Source: data-api.ecb.europa.eu, data.ecb.europa.eu.

📊 Sample Output

Real rows from run vugBcEijM7Rde3Jxl on build 0.1.6 (2026-09-19), the same input as the Quick start below — every value is as the source published it (emails masked, long text shortened):

series_key	flow	source_attribution	free_source_notice	third_party_content	metadata_fidelity
HICP.M.U2.N.000000.4D0.ANR	HICP	European Central Bank (ECB)	This information is available free of charge from the ECB.	none — HICP is official ESCB/Eurostat statistics	carried unmodified from ECB SDMX
HICP.M.U2.N.000000.4D0.CTR	HICP	European Central Bank (ECB)	This information is available free of charge from the ECB.	none — HICP is official ESCB/Eurostat statistics	carried unmodified from ECB SDMX
HICP.M.U2.N.000000.4D0.CTX	HICP	European Central Bank (ECB)	This information is available free of charge from the ECB.	none — HICP is official ESCB/Eurostat statistics	carried unmodified from ECB SDMX
HICP.M.U2.N.000000.4D0.INX	HICP	European Central Bank (ECB)	This information is available free of charge from the ECB.	none — HICP is official ESCB/Eurostat statistics	carried unmodified from ECB SDMX
HICP.M.U2.N.010000.4D0.ANR	HICP	European Central Bank (ECB)	This information is available free of charge from the ECB.	none — HICP is official ESCB/Eurostat statistics	carried unmodified from ECB SDMX
HICP.M.U2.N.010000.4D0.CTR	HICP	European Central Bank (ECB)	This information is available free of charge from the ECB.	none — HICP is official ESCB/Eurostat statistics	carried unmodified from ECB SDMX
HICP.M.U2.N.010000.4D0.CTX	HICP	European Central Bank (ECB)	This information is available free of charge from the ECB.	none — HICP is official ESCB/Eurostat statistics	carried unmodified from ECB SDMX
HICP.M.U2.N.010000.4D0.INX	HICP	European Central Bank (ECB)	This information is available free of charge from the ECB.	none — HICP is official ESCB/Eurostat statistics	carried unmodified from ECB SDMX

The run finished with the status message: NORMAL: 50 unique rows (0 duplicates collapsed). billable=50

✅ What you get

Each row is flat JSON with these fields (from the dataset schema and the sample run; a field the source does not publish for a given row is null):

• record_type (string/null) — e.g. hicp_series_record
• series_key (string/null) — e.g. HICP.M.U2.N.000000.4D0.ANR
• flow (string/null) — e.g. HICP
• freq (string/null) — e.g. M
• ref_area (string/null) — e.g. U2
• adjustment (string/null) — e.g. N
• icp_item (string/null) — e.g. 000000
• data_provider (string/null) — e.g. 4D0
• icp_suffix (string/null) — e.g. ANR
• latest_time_period (string/null) — e.g. 2026-08
• obs_value (string/null) — e.g. 3.2
• obs_status (string/null) — e.g. A
• obs_conf (string/null) — e.g. F
• obs_pre_break (string/null) — null in every sample row
• title (string/null) — e.g. HICP Inflation rate - Total - Annual rate of change
• title_compl (string/null) — e.g. Euro area (Member States and Institutions of the Euro Area) changing composition
• unit (string/null) — e.g. PCCH
• unit_mult (string/null) — e.g. 0
• decimals (string/null) — e.g. 1
• collection (string/null) — null in every sample row
• compiling_org (string/null) — e.g. 4D0
• diss_org (string/null) — null in every sample row
• source_agency (string/null) — null in every sample row
• unit_index_base (string/null) — e.g. 2025 = 100
• source_attribution (string/null) — e.g. European Central Bank (ECB)
• free_source_notice (string/null) — e.g. This information is available free of charge from the ECB.
• third_party_content (string/null) — e.g. none — HICP is official ESCB/Eurostat statistics
• metadata_fidelity (string/null) — e.g. carried unmodified from ECB SDMX
• source_url (string/null) — e.g. https://data-api.ecb.europa.eu/service/data/HICP/M.U2.N.000000.4D0.ANR
• record_key (string/null) — e.g. HICP.M.U2.N.000000.4D0.ANR|2026-08
• source (string/null) — e.g. ecb-hicp-inflation-series
• release_date (string/null) — null in every sample row
• observed_at (string/null) — e.g. 2026-09-19T04:45:12Z
• license (string/null) — e.g. European Central Bank (ECB) statistical data, reproduced under the ECB's reuse t
• attribution (string/null) — e.g. European Central Bank (ECB) — ECB Data Portal (https://data.ecb.europa.eu/)
• release_checksum (string/null) — null in every sample row
• terminal (string/null) — null in every sample row
• scope (string/null) — null in every sample row
• note (string/null) — null in every sample row
• reported_total (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• raw_seen (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• duplicates (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• unique_found (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• delivered (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row

✅ What you get

• record_type (string/null) — e.g. hicp_series_record
• series_key (string/null) — e.g. HICP.M.U2.N.000000.4D0.ANR
• flow (string/null) — e.g. HICP
• freq (string/null) — e.g. M
• ref_area (string/null) — e.g. U2
• adjustment (string/null) — e.g. N
• icp_item (string/null) — e.g. 000000
• data_provider (string/null) — e.g. 4D0
• icp_suffix (string/null) — e.g. ANR
• latest_time_period (string/null) — e.g. 2026-08
• obs_value (string/null) — e.g. 3.2
• obs_status (string/null) — e.g. A
• obs_conf (string/null) — e.g. F
• obs_pre_break (string/null) — null in every sample row
• title (string/null) — e.g. HICP Inflation rate - Total - Annual rate of change
• title_compl (string/null) — e.g. Euro area (Member States and Institutions of the Euro Area) changing composition
• unit (string/null) — e.g. PCCH
• unit_mult (string/null) — e.g. 0
• decimals (string/null) — e.g. 1
• collection (string/null) — null in every sample row
• compiling_org (string/null) — e.g. 4D0
• diss_org (string/null) — null in every sample row
• source_agency (string/null) — null in every sample row
• unit_index_base (string/null) — e.g. 2025 = 100
• source_attribution (string/null) — e.g. European Central Bank (ECB)
• free_source_notice (string/null) — e.g. This information is available free of charge from the ECB.
• third_party_content (string/null) — e.g. none — HICP is official ESCB/Eurostat statistics
• metadata_fidelity (string/null) — e.g. carried unmodified from ECB SDMX
• source_url (string/null) — e.g. https://data-api.ecb.europa.eu/service/data/HICP/M.U2.N.000000.4D0.ANR
• record_key (string/null) — e.g. HICP.M.U2.N.000000.4D0.ANR|2026-08
• source (string/null) — e.g. ecb-hicp-inflation-series
• release_date (string/null) — null in every sample row
• observed_at (string/null) — e.g. 2026-09-19T04:13:37Z
• license (string/null) — e.g. European Central Bank (ECB) statistical data, reproduced under the ECB's reuse t
• attribution (string/null) — e.g. European Central Bank (ECB) — ECB Data Portal (https://data.ecb.europa.eu/)
• release_checksum (string/null) — null in every sample row
• terminal (string/null) — null in every sample row
• scope (string/null) — null in every sample row
• note (string/null) — null in every sample row
• reported_total (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• raw_seen (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• duplicates (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• unique_found (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• delivered (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row

ECB reuse terms — honoured on every record

• Source attribution — every record carries source_attribution = "European Central Bank (ECB)".
• Statistics & metadata unmodified — observation values, statuses, unit multipliers, decimals and titles are carried exactly as the ECB publishes them (as strings; nothing re-rounded or recomputed).
• Third-party series excluded — series whose data is owned by a third party are dropped at ingest and counted, never billed. The HICP flow is official ESCB/Eurostat statistics, so in practice none are present; the guard runs regardless and any exclusions are reported in the run receipt.
• Free-source notice — carried on every record (above).

What you get

One hicp_series_record per HICP series: the series_key, the six HICP dimensions (freq, ref_area, adjustment, icp_item, data_provider, icp_suffix), the latest observation (latest_time_period, obs_value, obs_status, obs_conf, obs_pre_break), and descriptive metadata (title, title_compl, unit, unit_mult, decimals, collection, compiling_org, diss_org, source_agency), plus the reuse-term fields and source_url. Revisions are source facts — the latest published observation and its status are carried as-is. Set lastNObservations to carry more than the latest.

⚙️ Sample inputs

1. Quick start — the Store example (this is what the sample above came from)

{
  "freqs": [
    "M"
  ],
  "refAreas": [
    "U2"
  ],
  "maxRecords": 50
}

The sample run charged exactly: 1 × $0.02 apify-actor-start + 50 × $0.02 hicp_series_record = $1.02 on the Free tier — every delivered row was billed.

2. A smaller, narrowed run

{
  "freqs": [
    "M"
  ],
  "refAreas": [
    "U2"
  ],
  "maxRecords": 5
}

Caps the run at 5 rows — about $0.12 on the Free tier ($0.02 start + 5 × $0.02).

3. A full-size run

{
  "freqs": [
    "M"
  ],
  "refAreas": [
    "U2"
  ],
  "maxRecords": 2500
}

Up to 2500 rows (the schema default for maxRecords) — about $50.02 on the Free tier ($0.02 start + 2500 × $0.02) if the source has that many.

4. A filtered run

{
  "freqs": [
    "M"
  ],
  "refAreas": [
    "U2"
  ],
  "maxRecords": 50,
  "fieldMatch": {
    "title": "HICP Inflation rate - Total - Annual rate of change"
  }
}

Keeps only rows whose title contains HICP Inflation rate - Total - Annual rate of change (a value from the sample run above), matched case-insensitively after the source is read and before the maxRecords cap, so the cap counts matches and only delivered matches are billed. searchText does the same across every column. Zero matches end the run as EMPTY_SELECTION with no row charged — if the source has moved on since that sample run, pick a value you see in your own first run. The source is still read in full — this narrows what you receive and pay for, not what the source serves.

🧾 JSON sample record

One real record from run vugBcEijM7Rde3Jxl, exactly as it lands in the dataset (emails masked, long text shortened):

{
  "record_type": "hicp_series_record",
  "series_key": "HICP.M.U2.N.000000.4D0.ANR",
  "flow": "HICP",
  "freq": "M",
  "ref_area": "U2",
  "adjustment": "N",
  "icp_item": "000000",
  "data_provider": "4D0",
  "icp_suffix": "ANR",
  "latest_time_period": "2026-08",
  "obs_value": "3.2",
  "obs_status": "A",
  "obs_conf": "F",
  "obs_pre_break": null,
  "title": "HICP Inflation rate - Total - Annual rate of change",
  "title_compl": "Euro area (Member States and Institutions of the Euro Area) changing composition - HICP - Total, Annual rate of change, Statistical Office of the European Commission (Eurostat), Neither seasonally nor working day adjusted",
  "unit": "PCCH",
  "unit_mult": "0",
  "decimals": "1",
  "collection": null,
  "compiling_org": "4D0",
  "diss_org": null,
  "source_agency": null,
  "unit_index_base": null,
  "source_attribution": "European Central Bank (ECB)",
  "free_source_notice": "This information is available free of charge from the ECB.",
  "third_party_content": "none — HICP is official ESCB/Eurostat statistics",
  "metadata_fidelity": "carried unmodified from ECB SDMX",
  "source_url": "https://data-api.ecb.europa.eu/service/data/HICP/M.U2.N.000000.4D0.ANR",
  "record_key": "HICP.M.U2.N.000000.4D0.ANR|2026-08",
  "source": "ecb-hicp-inflation-series",
  "release_date": null,
  "observed_at": "2026-09-19T04:45:12Z",
  "license": "European Central Bank (ECB) statistical data, reproduced under the ECB's reuse terms. Source: ECB. Statistics and metadata are carried unmodified; third-party series are excluded. This information is available free of charge from the ECB (h",
  "attribution": "European Central Bank (ECB) — ECB Data Portal (https://data.ecb.europa.eu/)"
}

🔧 How it works

Source. The actor reads data-api.ecb.europa.eu, data.ecb.europa.eu — endpoints: https://data-api.ecb.europa.eu/service/data, https://data-api.ecb.europa.eu/service/data/, https://data.ecb.europa.eu/. Public pages and feeds only; nothing behind a login.

Transport. Plain HTTPS from the Apify platform, no proxy. robots.txt is read first and a disallowed path is never fetched. Every request carries an identified contact User-Agent. Pacing: CRAWL_DELAY=0.0.

Terminal states. A run ends NORMAL, CAPPED (your cap was reached), PARTIAL (something was withheld and the message says what), GENUINE_EMPTY (the source was read and truly had nothing in scope) or BLOCKED (the source refused or changed shape — the run FAILS loud and bills nothing). A zero-row run is never reported as a silent success.

Charging. Each hicp series record is charged at the moment it is pushed (hicp_series_record); a row that fails to charge is not delivered, so the dataset count always equals the charged count.

🔧 How it works

This information is available free of charge from the ECB

The underlying data is available free of charge from the ECB (https://data.ecb.europa.eu/). This actor is a structuring/delivery convenience over that free public source; every record repeats that notice in a free_source_notice field, and it appears in the store listing.

Freshness & drift

ECB statistics are a living source — series are added, revised and discontinued over time, so the series population changes between runs. The actor reports the live scope on every run; there is no fabricated freshness stamp.

Filters

Supply at least one of freqs, refAreas, icpItems, adjustments, or dataProviders — the ICP flow is never emitted in full. maxRecords caps delivery (one charge per delivered record, hard cap 5000).

Robots & door

Only the official keyless SDMX endpoint on data-api.ecb.europa.eu is read (no API key, no third-party mirror). data-api.ecb.europa.eu/robots.txt returns an empty (0-byte) body — no policy published — so access is permitted; the actor re-reads robots on every run and STOPs (fails, charges nothing) the moment a real Disallow covering the data path appears. No implied ECB endorsement.

Source & licence

European Central Bank (ECB), ECB Data Portal — reproduced under the ECB's reuse terms. This information is available free of charge from the ECB (https://data.ecb.europa.eu/).

What is not done. No login, no cookie or CAPTCHA bypass, no private or personal-account data, no browser automation.

💰 Pricing example

Event	Free	Bronze	Silver	Gold
Actor Start (apify-actor-start)	$0.02	$0.02	$0.02	$0.02
HICP series record (hicp_series_record)	$0.02	$0.018	$0.016	$0.0134

Worked at the live Free-tier price:

• 8 hicp series records: $0.02 start + 8 × $0.02 = $0.18
• 25 hicp series records: $0.02 start + 25 × $0.02 = $0.52
• 2500 hicp series records: $0.02 start + 2500 × $0.02 = $50.02

A run that delivers zero rows charges the $0.02 start fee only. A BLOCKED run (source refused) fails loud and charges no value event. The start fee is charged once per GB of run memory; the default run memory is 4096 MB.

Yield on the sample run: NORMAL: 50 unique rows (0 duplicates collapsed). billable=50. maxRecords is a hard ceiling on what is delivered and billed, never a target.

⚖️ Legal & ToS

This actor reads public, logged-out pages and feeds published by data-api.ecb.europa.eu, data.ecb.europa.eu. It collects only what the source publishes to any visitor, keeps to the source's robots rules (checked on every run), identifies itself with a contact User-Agent, and does not access accounts, private data or anything behind authentication. Use the output in line with the source's terms and your local law; the intended use is B2B research and monitoring.

❓ FAQ

Q: Do I need an API key or a login?
A: No. The source (data-api.ecb.europa.eu, data.ecb.europa.eu) is read logged-out; the input schema has no key field and the actor carries no secrets.

Q: Why did my run return 0 rows?
A: Read the run's status message. GENUINE_EMPTY means the source was read and had nothing in scope for your input; BLOCKED means the source refused and the run failed without billing a value event — retry later or narrow the input. A zero-row run bills the start fee only.

Q: How many rows can one run return?
A: Up to maxRecords (default 2500). Raise the cap for a bigger run; you pay per delivered row.

Q: How fresh is the data?
A: Every run reads the source live at run time; nothing is cached between runs. Put it on a schedule for a continuous feed.

Q: What formats can I export?
A: The dataset downloads as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or RSS from the run's Dataset tab or the Apify API, and any run can push to a webhook or integration.

Q: How is this different from the other NexGen Watch actors actors?
A: Same output shape and billing model; this one covers data-api.ecb.europa.eu, data.ecb.europa.eu. The siblings under Related Actors cover the other sources or slices — run several on one schedule for a combined feed.

Q: Are there rate limits?
A: The actor paces itself against the source (CRAWL_DELAY=0.0) and honours its robots rules; there is no per-buyer limit beyond your Apify plan's concurrency.

🆘 Troubleshooting

• Run FAILED with BLOCKED → the source refused the request or changed its page shape → nothing was billed beyond the start fee; retry after a while, and if it persists open an Issue with the run id.
• Status says CAPPED → your cap (maxRecords) was reached → raise it for a bigger run.
• Input validation error on start → a field is outside the schema's allowed values → start from the Quick start block and change one field at a time.
• Run TIMED-OUT → a very wide request on a slow day → raise the run timeout in Run options or narrow the input; what was delivered before the timeout is still in the dataset.

🔗 Related Actors

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• 🏢 About NexGenData — NexGen Watch is NexGenData's fleet of more than 300 public data actors built on official sources, pay-per-result. Browse the catalog at apify.com/nexgenwatch.

⭐ Found this useful?

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