Historical Statistics

About our data

Our historical statistics on banking and finance are rooted in the tables and series published in a considerable number of works authored by reputed researchers and economic history who are professors of top flight universities in Latin America, the United States and Europe. We have put these materials into Excell formats to facilitate consultation. We also include historical series collected and published by official agencies —National Institutes of Statistics and Central Banks.  The materials included here cover a time span that goes from the early nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth; (in some cases the series continue up to the new millennium). For now, the visitor may consult the database comprising mainly (but not exclusively) information on banking and financial statistics of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay and Venezuela. We are currently working on strengthening statistical materials on other countries of the region and invite scholars to collaborate in this section with additional materials. All collaboration will receive explicit credits and recognition on the site.

Although the series are mainly circumscribed to the history of banking, other themes are also covered: they include general price level indicators, exchange and interest rates as well as specific data on the banking sector in different countries and time periods. We offer some existing macroeconomic series on money issue (monetary base) but also microeconomic information from individual banks (balance sheets and other accounting records) a large part from the second half of the 19^th century and early 20^th century, an age of plurality of banknote issues; while other series correspond to the era when Central Banks began to be established in Latin America, from the 1920s onwards.