# Students & academic research

A thesis on Pakistan's economy usually starts with weeks of copying numbers out of PDFs. With PakDataHub it starts with a CSV. The free plan's 500 calls a month cover a typical research project's downloads.

## Long-run series for time-series work

| Topic | Series | From |
|---|---|---|
| Exchange rate | `fx.rate.avg.usd` | 1947 |
| FX reserves | `reserves.total_sbp_reserves` | 1948 |
| GDP (constant factor cost) | `gdp.gross_domestic_product_total_gross_value_add_3` | 1950 (to 2000) |
| GDP, current base | `gdp.gross_domestic_product_total_gross_value_add_2` | 2000 |
| CPI inflation | `industry.general_cpi_inflation_measure_year_year_2` | 1964 (to 2020) |
| SBP reverse-repo rate | `rates.reverse_repo` | 1956 |
| Remittances | `remittances.total_inflow_workers_remittances` | 1972 |
| Health facilities | `health.total_number_hospitals` | 1947 |
| Population by age (census) | `population.b_w_10_39_years` | 1951 |

History depth depends on your plan: the free plan returns the last year. For decades of history, Pro unlocks the full series. Ask your department about a shared key.

## Load it in your tool

**R**
```r
x <- read.csv("https://api.pakdatahub.com/v1/series/fx.rate.avg.usd?format=csv&sort=asc&limit=10000&api_key=pk_live_xxx")
```

**Stata**
```stata
import delimited "https://api.pakdatahub.com/v1/series/inflation.cpi.national.yoy?format=csv&sort=asc&api_key=pk_live_xxx", clear
```

**Python**
```python
import pandas as pd
df = pd.read_csv("https://api.pakdatahub.com/v1/series/remittances.total?format=csv&sort=asc&api_key=pk_live_xxx",
                 parse_dates=["date"])
```

## Cite it properly

Cite the **official publisher** (e.g. "State Bank of Pakistan, Average Exchange Rate of Pak Rupees per U.S. Dollar"), accessed via PakDataHub (pakdatahub.com) on the date you downloaded it. `meta.source` and the catalog's `source_url` tell you the publisher and the exact official dataset.

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Source: https://pakdatahub.com/docs/use-case-students-academics - PakDataHub docs index: https://pakdatahub.com/docs/llms.txt