# Business Tendency Survey API > What manufacturers in each economy are actually reporting about their order books, output, prices, exports and hiring — the OECD business tendency surveys as an API, live, no key. Every month national statistics offices ask factory managers whether order books are full or thin, whether they expect to raise or cut production, whether they plan to put prices up, whether export demand is strong, and whether they will hire or fire. The OECD harmonises the answers into balances — the share answering up/good minus the share answering down/bad, on a scale around zero (positive = expansion/optimism, negative = contraction/pessimism). These survey balances are pure soft data that move before the hard numbers, which is why they are watched as one of the earliest reads on the manufacturing cycle — and the selling-price balance, in particular, is a leading signal of pipeline inflation. This API exposes the manufacturing survey components themselves, not just the composite confidence index: order books (current demand), production expectations, selling-price expectations, employment expectations and export order books. The country endpoint returns one economy's full survey panel with the month-on-month change in each balance. The orderbooks endpoint ranks every economy by its order-books balance (who has the fullest order books right now). The sellingprices endpoint ranks by the selling-price balance — the pipeline-inflation gauge, where firms are planning the biggest price rises. Each reading carries its own month and discontinued series are excluded, so the board is genuinely current. The business-survey-components cut — distinct from the composite Business & Consumer Confidence board (which gives only the headline index), the leading-indicator board, and the generic multi-provider data aggregator. Balances are in percentage points; figures are monthly. ## 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/businesssurvey-api/..." ``` ## Pricing - **Free** (Free) — 760 calls/Mo, 2 req/s - **Starter** ($13/Mo) — 16,300 calls/Mo, 6 req/s - **Pro** ($39/Mo) — 84,000 calls/Mo, 16 req/s - **Business** ($87/Mo) — 480,000 calls/Mo, 40 req/s ## Endpoints ### Country #### `GET /v1/country` — One economy's full manufacturing survey panel **Parameters:** - `country` (query, required, string) — ISO-3 code or name Example: `DEU` **Example:** ```bash curl -H "x-oanor-key: $KEY" \ "https://api.oanor.com/businesssurvey-api/v1/country?country=DEU" ``` **Response:** ```json { "data": { "code": "DEU", "name": "Germany", "note": "One economy's manufacturing business-tendency survey panel: order books and export order books (current demand), and production, selling-price and employment expectations (forward-looking). Each is a percentage balance — positive means expansion/optimism (or, for selling prices, price rises planned), with the month-on-month change. Soft data that leads the hard numbers. Monthly, cached a few hours.", "period": "2026-05", "source": "OECD Business Tendency Surveys (SDMX), manufacturing", "survey": { "order_books": { "change": -0.8, "balance": -28.7 }, "selling_prices": { "change": -2.3, "balance": 30.9 }, "export_order_books": { "change": -3.1, "balance": -27.5 }, "employment_expectations": { "change": 1.3, "balance": -19.2 }, "production_expectations": { "change": -1.7, "balance": -5.7 } }, "is_aggregate": false }, "meta": { "timestamp": "2026-06-12T19:36:36.740Z", "request_id": "cd7b551f-8035-455b-90ed-d71ee57449e6" }, "status": "ok", "message": "Country business survey retrieved successfully", "success": true } ``` ### Order books #### `GET /v1/orderbooks` — Economies ranked by the order-books balance (current demand) **Parameters:** - `countries_only` (query, optional, string) — Drop aggregate groups (true) Example: `true` **Example:** ```bash curl -H "x-oanor-key: $KEY" \ "https://api.oanor.com/businesssurvey-api/v1/orderbooks?countries_only=true" ``` **Response:** ```json { "data": { "note": "Economies ranked by the manufacturing order-books balance — the share of factories reporting full order books minus those reporting thin ones. A positive balance means demand is strong; it leads production. Each row carries its own month; discontinued series excluded. Monthly, cached a few hours.", "board": [ { "code": "IRL", "name": "Ireland", "change": 10.7, "period": "2026-05", "balance": 9.4, "is_aggregate": false }, { "code": "USA", "name": "United States", "change": 1, "period": "2026-05", "balance": 4, "is_aggregate": false }, { "code": "GRC", "name": "Greece", "change": 7, "period": "2026-05", "balance": 0.4, "is_aggregate": false }, { "code": "HRV", "name": "Croatia", "change": 3.2, "period": "2026-05", "balance": -0.1, "is_aggregate": false }, { "code": "BRA", "name": "Brazil", "change": 3.7, "period": "2026-05", "balance": -3.4, "is_aggregate": f …(truncated, see openapi.json for full schema) ``` ### Selling prices #### `GET /v1/sellingprices` — Economies ranked by the selling-price balance (pipeline inflation) **Parameters:** - `countries_only` (query, optional, string) — Drop aggregate groups (true) Example: `true` **Example:** ```bash curl -H "x-oanor-key: $KEY" \ "https://api.oanor.com/businesssurvey-api/v1/sellingprices?countries_only=true" ``` **Response:** ```json { "data": { "note": "Economies ranked by the selling-price-expectations balance — the share of factories planning to raise prices minus those planning to cut. A leading gauge of pipeline inflation: a rising balance flags price pressure building before it shows in the CPI. Each row carries its own month; discontinued series excluded. Monthly, cached a few hours.", "board": [ { "code": "LUX", "name": "Luxembourg", "change": 17.8, "period": "2026-05", "balance": 57.2, "is_aggregate": false }, { "code": "TUR", "name": "Türkiye", "change": -1.2, "period": "2026-05", "balance": 47.8, "is_aggregate": false }, { "code": "COL", "name": "Colombia", "change": 4.7, "period": "2026-04", "balance": 47.8, "is_aggregate": false }, { "code": "CHL", "name": "Chile", "change": -9.8, "period": "2026-05", "balance": 42.7, "is_aggregate": false }, { "code": "IRL", "name": "Ireland", "change": -20.4, "period": "2026-05", …(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/businesssurvey-api/v1/meta" ``` **Response:** ```json { "data": { "note": "orderbooks and sellingprices take countries_only (true to drop aggregates). country takes country (ISO-3 code or name, required) and returns the full survey panel. meta takes no parameters. Balances are percentage points around zero (positive = expansion/optimism); the change is month-on-month. Monthly data; a multi-hour protective cache fronts the OECD upstream.", "source": "OECD Business Tendency Surveys (DF_BTS, manufacturing) via OECD SDMX API, percentage balance, seasonally adjusted, live, keyless", "germany": { "period": "2026-05", "order_books": -28.7, "selling_prices": 30.9 }, "service": "businesssurvey-api", "economies": 35, "endpoints": { "GET /v1/meta": "This document.", "GET /v1/country": "One economy's full manufacturing survey panel (country=DEU).", "GET /v1/orderbooks": "Economies ranked by the order-books balance (current demand).", "GET /v1/sellingprices": "Economies ranked by the selling-price balance (pipeline inflation)." }, "description": "Business tendency survey — what manufacturers report about order books, output, prices, exports and hiring, live from the OECD's business surveys (no key). It exposes the manufacturing survey components as percentage balances: order books, production expectations, selling-price expectations, employment expectations and export order books. c …(truncated, see openapi.json for full schema) ``` --- Marketplace page: https://www.oanor.com/api/businesssurvey-api OpenAPI spec: https://www.oanor.com/api/businesssurvey-api/openapi.json