Getting started with dashboardapi

Discover an indicator

library(dashboardapi)

meta <- dashboard_search(
  "Total population (Both sexes)",
  lang = "en"
)

meta[, c(
  "indicator_code", "name", "cycle_name", "regional_rank_name",
  "seasonal_name", "unit", "from_time", "to_time"
)]

The 19-digit indicator_code identifies a statistical concept. An indicator can have several indicator elements, distinguished by cycle, regional rank, and original/seasonally adjusted status. The package retains both codes: indicator_code and the derived 25-digit indicator_element_code.

Find region codes

prefectures <- dashboard_regions(
  parent_region_code = "00000",
  lang = "en"
)

prefectures[, c("region_code", "region", "level")]

For Japanese geography, parent code "00000" returns prefectures. A prefecture code can then be used as parent_region_code to discover its municipalities. Country-level series use three-letter ISO codes.

Retrieve observations

population <- dashboard_data(
  indicator_code = c(population = "0201010000000010000"),
  region_code = "00000",
  time_from = "2020CY00",
  time_to = "2024CY00",
  cycle = "year",
  regional_rank = "japan",
  seasonal = "original",
  lang = "en"
)

population[, c("indicator", "region", "time", "date", "unit", "value")]

Names on indicator_code create aliases. Long output retains the API’s raw dimension codes and labels, the original value text, parsed numeric values, provisional status, and cell annotations.

Time codes

The API uses eight-character period codes:

time is authoritative; date is a convenient first-day representation.

Wide output

wide <- dashboard_data(
  indicator_code = c(
    population = "0201010000000010000",
    japanese_population = "0201020000000010000"
  ),
  region_code = "00000",
  time_from = "2020CY00",
  time_to = "2024CY00",
  cycle = "year",
  regional_rank = "japan",
  seasonal = "original",
  wide = TRUE
)

If a query would produce more than one value for a wide-output cell, the package asks you to add cycle, regional-rank, seasonal, or survey filters.

Auxiliary metadata

dashboard_terms(category = "0201", lang = "en")
dashboard_events(category = "0201", level = "high", lang = "en")
dashboard_surveys(query = "Population Census", lang = "en")
dashboard_codes("cycle")

Responsible API use and attribution

The official page asks users not to produce a large access volume in a short period. dashboard_data() batches vectors longer than the documented per-request limits and waits at least one second between calls.

When publishing content retrieved from the Statistics Dashboard, cite the source. If content or data are edited, identify both the editing and its entity. A published service using the API must also display the specified API credit. dashboard_api_credit() returns all three strings; replace <entity> before publishing edited content:

attribution <- dashboard_api_credit("en")
attribution$source
attribution$processed
attribution$credit

Individual rights statements, including those for third-party content, take precedence over the general public-data terms. Review the current official terms before publication.