The 6th edition of this numismatic classic offers much more than previous editions, not only in terms of the number of varieties recorded but also in terms of the way in which the data has been recorded and presented. It has been completely renumbered to do away with the confusing letter suffixes used in previous editions, and is now arranged by monarch rather than denomination; all new numbers are cross-referenced to the previous edition.

The International Financial Statistics Yearbook, usually published in September, contains available annual data covering 12 years for countries appearing in the monthly issues of IFS. The IFS service is the standard source of international financial statistics. Additional time series in country tables and some additional tables of area and world aggregates are included in the Yearbook.

This chapter presents a report on International Financial Statistics (IFS). The country tables normally include data on a country’s exchange rates, IMF position, international liquidity, monetary statistics, interest rates, prices, production, labor, international transactions, government accounts, national accounts, and population. Selected series, including data on Fund accounts, international reserves, and international trade, are drawn from the country tables and published in world tables as well. Exchange rates in IFS are classified into three broad categories, reflecting the role of the authorities in determining the rates and/or the multiplicity of the exchange rates in a country. In IFS, exchange rates are expressed in time series of national currency units per SDR (the unit of account for the IMF) and national currency units per US dollar, or vice versa. The country tables, euro area tables, and world tables provide measures of effective exchange rates, compiled by the IMF’s Research Department, Strategy, Policy, and Review Department, Statistics Department, and area departments.