FAO FAOSTAT · Schema

FAOSTAT Data Record

A single statistical observation from the FAOSTAT database. Each record represents one measurement of an element (e.g. area harvested, production quantity) for a specific area, item, and year combination.

Agriculturefood securityStatisticsTradeLand UseEnvironmentUNOpen Data

Properties

Name	Type	Description
Area Code	integer	FAO numeric area code identifying the country or region
Area Code (M49)	string	UN M49 numeric area code
Area Code (ISO2)	string	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code
Area Code (ISO3)	string	ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code
Area	string	Human-readable area name
Item Code	integer	FAO numeric item (commodity) code
Item Code (CPC)	string	Central Product Classification (CPC) item code
Item	string	Human-readable item (commodity) name
Element Code	integer	Numeric element code identifying the statistical measure
Element	string	Human-readable element (statistical measure) name
Year Code	integer	Numeric year code (typically equal to Year for single-year data)
Year	integer	Reference year for the observation
Unit	string	Unit of measurement for the value
Value	numbernull	Observed statistical value, or null if missing/unreported
Flag	string	Data quality or source flag code
Flag Description	string	Human-readable description of the flag meaning
Note	stringnull	Additional context or notes for this observation

View JSON Schema on GitHub

JSON Schema

{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "$id": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/unfao/main/json-schema/data-record.json",
  "title": "FAOSTAT Data Record",
  "description": "A single statistical observation from the FAOSTAT database. Each record represents one measurement of an element (e.g. area harvested, production quantity) for a specific area, item, and year combination.",
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "Area Code": {
      "type": "integer",
      "description": "FAO numeric area code identifying the country or region",
      "examples": [5, 106, 231]
    },
    "Area Code (M49)": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "UN M49 numeric area code",
      "pattern": "^[0-9]{3}$",
      "examples": ["156", "840", "356"]
    },
    "Area Code (ISO2)": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code",
      "pattern": "^[A-Z]{2}$",
      "examples": ["CN", "US", "IN"]
    },
    "Area Code (ISO3)": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code",
      "pattern": "^[A-Z]{3}$",
      "examples": ["CHN", "USA", "IND"]
    },
    "Area": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Human-readable area name",
      "examples": ["China", "United States of America", "India"]
    },
    "Item Code": {
      "type": "integer",
      "description": "FAO numeric item (commodity) code",
      "examples": [15, 27, 56]
    },
    "Item Code (CPC)": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Central Product Classification (CPC) item code",
      "examples": ["0111", "0112", "0113"]
    },
    "Item": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Human-readable item (commodity) name",
      "examples": ["Wheat", "Maize (corn)", "Rice"]
    },
    "Element Code": {
      "type": "integer",
      "description": "Numeric element code identifying the statistical measure",
      "examples": [5510, 5312, 5525]
    },
    "Element": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Human-readable element (statistical measure) name",
      "examples": ["Area harvested", "Production", "Yield"]
    },
    "Year Code": {
      "type": "integer",
      "description": "Numeric year code (typically equal to Year for single-year data)",
      "minimum": 1961,
      "examples": [2020, 2021, 2022]
    },
    "Year": {
      "type": "integer",
      "description": "Reference year for the observation",
      "minimum": 1961,
      "examples": [2020, 2021, 2022]
    },
    "Unit": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Unit of measurement for the value",
      "examples": ["ha", "tonnes", "hg/ha", "1000 US$", "Head"]
    },
    "Value": {
      "type": ["number", "null"],
      "description": "Observed statistical value, or null if missing/unreported",
      "examples": [23400000, 134250000, 57.3]
    },
    "Flag": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Data quality or source flag code",
      "examples": ["A", "E", "F", "Im", "M", "T"]
    },
    "Flag Description": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Human-readable description of the flag meaning",
      "examples": [
        "Official figure",
        "FAO estimate",
        "FAO data based on imputation methodology",
        "Country data made official by FAO",
        "Missing value",
        "Unofficial figure"
      ]
    },
    "Note": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "Additional context or notes for this observation"
    }
  },
  "required": ["Area Code", "Area", "Item Code", "Item", "Element Code", "Element", "Year", "Unit"],
  "additionalProperties": true
}

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