# OECD Leading Indicators API > Which economies are heading into expansion, slowdown, downturn or recovery — the OECD Composite Leading Indicators (CLI) as an API, live from the OECD's official statistics, no key. The CLI is designed to flag turning points in the business cycle six to nine months ahead: it leads GDP, it does not follow it. It is built to oscillate around 100 — above 100 means activity is above its long-term trend, below 100 means below trend, and the direction (rising or falling) gives the momentum. Combining level and direction gives the classic four-phase business-cycle clock macro traders position around: above 100 and rising is Expansion, above 100 and falling is Downturn, below 100 and falling is Slowdown, below 100 and rising is Recovery. The board endpoint returns every economy the OECD tracks (and the aggregates — G7, G20, OECD, NAFTA, the major European and Asian groups) with its current amplitude-adjusted CLI, the month-on-month change and its business-cycle phase, ranked. The country endpoint returns one economy's CLI — its latest reading, the month-on-month change and its phase. The phase endpoint groups every economy into the four phases of the cycle clock, so you can see at a glance who is accelerating and who is rolling over. The leading-indicator / business-cycle cut — distinct from the generic multi-provider data aggregator (which fetches any raw series but is not a curated, interpreted CLI board), from the government-bond-yield board, and from inflation and central-bank-rate APIs. Figures are monthly; this is the forward-looking macro lens. ## Authentication All requests require your oanor API key in the `x-oanor-key` header. Get one at https://www.oanor.com/developer/keys. ```bash curl -H "x-oanor-key: oanor_live_…" "https://api.oanor.com/leadingindicators-api/..." ``` ## Pricing - **Free** (Free) — 840 calls/Mo, 2 req/s - **Starter** ($12/Mo) — 18,400 calls/Mo, 6 req/s - **Pro** ($36/Mo) — 93,000 calls/Mo, 16 req/s - **Business** ($81/Mo) — 512,000 calls/Mo, 40 req/s ## Endpoints ### Board #### `GET /v1/board` — Every economy's CLI, change and business-cycle phase, ranked **Parameters:** - `countries_only` (query, optional, string) — Drop aggregate groups (true) Example: `true` **Example:** ```bash curl -H "x-oanor-key: $KEY" \ "https://api.oanor.com/leadingindicators-api/v1/board?countries_only=true" ``` **Response:** ```json { "data": { "note": "The OECD amplitude-adjusted Composite Leading Indicator for every tracked economy (and aggregates unless countries_only=true), ranked. CLI oscillates around 100; above 100 = above long-term trend, and the direction gives momentum. phase is the four-quadrant business-cycle clock (Expansion/Downturn/Slowdown/Recovery). The CLI leads GDP by ~6-9 months. Monthly data, cached a few hours.", "board": [ { "cli": 103.82, "code": "BRA", "name": "Brazil", "phase": "Expansion", "change": 0.002, "period": "2026-05", "vs_trend": "above", "direction": "rising", "phase_note": "above long-term trend and rising — activity accelerating", "is_aggregate": false, "previous_cli": 103.819 }, { "cli": 103.187, "code": "MEX", "name": "Mexico", "phase": "Expansion", "change": 0.179, "period": "2026-05", "vs_trend": "above", "direction": "rising", "phase_note": "above long-term trend and rising — activity accelerating", "is_aggregate": false, "previous_cli": 103.008 }, { "cli": 102.601, "code": "KOR", "name …(truncated, see openapi.json for full schema) ``` ### Country #### `GET /v1/country` — One economy's CLI — latest reading, change and phase **Parameters:** - `country` (query, required, string) — ISO-3 code or name Example: `USA` **Example:** ```bash curl -H "x-oanor-key: $KEY" \ "https://api.oanor.com/leadingindicators-api/v1/country?country=USA" ``` **Response:** ```json { "data": { "cli": 101.022, "code": "USA", "name": "United States", "note": "One economy's amplitude-adjusted CLI: the latest reading, the month-on-month change and its business-cycle phase. Above 100 = above long-term trend; the phase combines level and direction. The CLI is a leading indicator (~6-9 months ahead of GDP). Cached a few hours.", "phase": "Expansion", "change": 0.102, "period": "2026-05", "recent": [ { "cli": 100.92, "period": "2026-04" }, { "cli": 101.022, "period": "2026-05" } ], "source": "OECD Composite Leading Indicators (SDMX)", "vs_trend": "above", "direction": "rising", "phase_note": "above long-term trend and rising — activity accelerating", "is_aggregate": false, "previous_cli": 100.92 }, "meta": { "timestamp": "2026-06-12T19:37:54.132Z", "request_id": "07d8ab4f-329e-4745-9a52-ee4c1b261802" }, "status": "ok", "message": "Country CLI retrieved successfully", "success": true } ``` ### Phase #### `GET /v1/phase` — Economies grouped into the four phases of the cycle clock **Example:** ```bash curl -H "x-oanor-key: $KEY" \ "https://api.oanor.com/leadingindicators-api/v1/phase" ``` **Response:** ```json { "data": { "note": "Every economy grouped into the four phases of the business-cycle clock by its CLI level (above/below 100) and direction (rising/falling). Expansion → Downturn → Slowdown → Recovery → Expansion is the typical clockwise rotation. Monthly data, cached a few hours.", "period": "2026-05", "phases": { "Downturn": { "count": 9, "meaning": "above trend but falling — momentum rolling over", "members": [ { "cli": 100.838, "code": "DEU", "name": "Germany", "change": -0.049, "is_aggregate": false }, { "cli": 100.747, "code": "ESP", "name": "Spain", "change": -0.149, "is_aggregate": false }, { "cli": 100.648, "code": "G4E", "name": "Major four European countries", "change": -0.104, "is_aggregate": true }, { "cli": 100.582, "code": "FRA", "name": "France", "change": -0.056, …(truncated, see openapi.json for full schema) ``` ### Meta #### `GET /v1/meta` — Service metadata **Example:** ```bash curl -H "x-oanor-key: $KEY" \ "https://api.oanor.com/leadingindicators-api/v1/meta" ``` **Response:** ```json { "data": { "note": "board takes countries_only (true to drop aggregates). country takes country (ISO-3 code or name, required). phase and meta take no parameters. CLI values are index points around 100; phase = level (above/below 100) combined with direction (rising/falling). Monthly data; a multi-hour protective cache fronts the OECD upstream.", "source": "OECD Composite Leading Indicators via OECD SDMX API (amplitude-adjusted, MEASURE=LI/AA/methodology H), live, keyless", "service": "leadingindicators-api", "endpoints": { "GET /v1/meta": "This document.", "GET /v1/board": "Every economy's CLI, change and business-cycle phase, ranked (countries_only optional).", "GET /v1/phase": "Economies grouped into the four phases of the business-cycle clock.", "GET /v1/country": "One economy's CLI — latest reading, change and phase (country=USA)." }, "description": "OECD Composite Leading Indicators (CLI) — which economies are heading into expansion, slowdown, downturn or recovery, live from the OECD's official statistics (no key). The CLI leads GDP by ~6-9 months and oscillates around 100. board returns every tracked economy and aggregate with its CLI, month-on-month change and business-cycle phase, ranked; country returns one economy's CLI (latest reading, change and phase); phase groups every economy into the four-quadrant cycle clock (Expansion/Downturn/Slowdown/Recovery). The le …(truncated, see openapi.json for full schema) ``` --- Marketplace page: https://www.oanor.com/api/leadingindicators-api OpenAPI spec: https://www.oanor.com/api/leadingindicators-api/openapi.json