The IMF has introduced changes to the online Balance of Payments Statistics (BOPS) database in IMF eLibrary Data and on the BOPS CD ROM (both beginning with the August 2012 edition) and in the hard copy 2012 Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook (BOPSY) (expected to be published in November 2012). The change is also reflected in Balance of Payments data contained in International Financial Statistics.

In these releases, we present Balance of Payments and International Investment Position data for 2005 forward in accordance with the sixth edition of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6). These changes affect the names of accounts (e.g., current transfers in BPM5 is renamed secondary income in BPM6), the arrangement of data in the accounts (e.g., direct investment data are presented on a directional principle basis under BPM5, whereas they are presented on a strict asset/liability basis in BPM6), and the values shown for accounts (e.g., goods that were temporarily sent abroad for processing without any ownership change were included in gross imports and exports under BPM5, whereas only the processing fee for manufacturing services is included under BPM6). These changes are described in more detail in the text that accompanies the August 2012 data releases.

In addition, BOPSY Part 2 will be streamlined to display 21 World and Regional Tables, and BOPSY Part 3 (which contains information on the Methodologies, Compilation Practices, and Data Sources) will be published in electronic products only.

For the convenience of researchers, we also make available an archived edition of data reported to the IMF in accordance with the fifth edition of the Balance of Payments Manual (BPM5). The historical BPM5 basis data series on the BOPS CD ROM and in the IMF eLibrary Data terminate in 2008. (However, the data for 2009 to 2011 that are published in the July 2012 issue of BOPS are also available upon special request.) We made the decision to end the BPM5 basis time series on the CD ROM and in the eLibrary in 2008 because the IMF will not maintain two separate data series (on a BPM5 and on a BPM6 basis), and data for the years after 2008 could be substantially revised by economies.

We are exploring the option of providing a longer historical period on a BPM6 basis.

If you have any questions regarding these changes, please consult the BPM5 to BPM6 conversion FAQ or contact statisticsquery@imf.org.