In 2026, the federal funds effective rate continued its downward adjustment as the Federal Reserve advanced its policy easing cycle. After the beginning of 2025 at **** percent following a January rate cut, the rate remained unchanged until September 2025, when it was reduced to **** percent. Additional easing followed late in the year, with the rate lowered to **** percent in November and further reduced to **** percent in December, reflecting a sustained shift toward accommodative monetary policy. This phase of rate reductions followed a prolonged period of elevated interest rates that began after the COVID-19 pandemic. In early 2020, the federal funds effective rate was sharply reduced in response to the economic shock caused by the pandemic, falling from **** percent in February 2020 to **** percent in March and reaching **** percent by April. These emergency cuts, combined with the quantitative easing program, were designed to stabilize financial markets and support economic activity. The rate remained near zero for nearly two years before the Federal Reserve initiated a tightening cycle in early 2022, raising the rate from **** percent in April 2022 to a peak of **** percent in August 2023. After holding rates steady for more than a year, the Federal Reserve began reversing course in September 2024, cutting the rate to **** percent, followed by a further reduction to **** percent in December 2024, marking the start of a broader policy pivot that continued through 2025 and into 2026, reaching **** percent in February 2026. What is the federal funds effective rate? The U.S. federal funds effective rate determines the interest rate paid by depository institutions, such as banks and credit unions, that lend reserve balances to other depository institutions overnight. Changing the effective rate in times of crisis is a common way to stimulate the economy, as it has a significant impact on the whole economy, such as economic growth, employment, and inflation. Central bank policy rates Interest rate adjustments following the COVID-19 pandemic reflected a largely coordinated global response. In early 2020, central banks worldwide adopted aggressive monetary easing to counter the economic shock, with the Federal Reserve cutting the federal funds rate from **** percent in February to **** percent by April, in line with actions taken globally. After rates remained near zero through 2021, rising inflation triggered a synchronized tightening cycle beginning in 2022. As inflation moderated, central banks - including the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, and the European Central Bank - began cutting rates in mid-2024. This shift toward easing broadened in 2025, with interest rates reduced in most countries.

Policy interest rates in the United States and Europe declined markedly in 2025, with all observed economies implementing multiple rate cuts over the course of the year. In the United States, the federal funds rate was reduced from **** percent at the end of 2024 to **** percent by year-end 2025. Similarly, the European Central Bank lowered its main refinancing rate from **** percent to **** percent, while the Bank of England reduced its bank rate from **** percent to **** percent. Based on forecasts conducted in 2024, both the U.S. federal funds rate and the Bank of England’s policy rate are expected to decline further in 2026. The impact of central bank policy rates The U.S. federal funds effective rate, crucial in determining the interest rate paid by depository institutions, experienced drastic changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The subsequent slight changes in the effective rate reflected the efforts to stimulate the economy and manage economic factors such as inflation. Such fluctuations in the federal funds rate have had a significant impact on the overall economy. The European Central Bank's decision to cut its fixed interest rate in June 2024 for the first time since 2016 marked a significant shift in attitude towards economic conditions. The reasons behind the fluctuations in the ECB's interest rate reflect its mandate to ensure price stability and manage inflation, shedding light on the complex interplay between interest rates and economic factors. Inflation and real interest rates The relationship between inflation and interest rates is critical in understanding the actions of central banks. Central banks' efforts to manage inflation through interest rate adjustments reveal the intricate balance between economic growth and inflation. Additionally, the concept of real interest rates, adjusted for inflation, provides valuable insights into the impact of inflation on the economy.

The benchmark interest rate in the United States was last recorded at 3.75 percent. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Fed Funds Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Monthly and long-term United States Interest Rate data: historical series and analyst forecasts curated by FocusEconomics.

The inflation rate in the United States declined significantly between June 2022 and October 2025, despite rising inflationary pressures towards the end of 2024. The peak inflation rate was recorded in June 2022, at *** percent. In August 2023, the Federal Reserve's interest rate hit its highest level during the observed period, at **** percent, and remained unchanged until September 2024, when the Federal Reserve implemented its first rate cut since September 2021. By February 2026, the rate dropped to **** percent. What is the Federal Reserve interest rate? The Federal Reserve interest rate, or the federal funds rate, is the rate at which banks and credit unions lend to and borrow from each other. It is one of the Federal Reserve's key tools for maintaining strong employment rates, stable prices, and reasonable interest rates. The rate is determined by the Federal Reserve and adjusted eight times a year, though it can be changed through emergency meetings during times of crisis. The Fed doesn't directly control the interest rate but sets a target rate. It then uses open market operations to influence rates toward this target. Ways of measuring inflation Inflation is typically measured using several methods, with the most common being the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPI tracks the price of a fixed basket of goods and services over time, providing a measure of the price changes consumers face. By mid 2024, the CPI in the United States was ****** percent, up from ***** a year earlier. A more business-focused measure is the producer price index (PPI), which represents the costs of firms.

In January 2026, global inflation rates and central bank interest rates showed significant variation across major economies. Most economies initiated interest rate cuts from mid-2024 due to declining inflationary pressures. The U.S., UK, and EU central banks followed a consistent pattern of regular rate reductions throughout late 2025. In January 2026, Russia maintained the highest interest rate at ** percent, while Japan retained the lowest at **** percent. Varied inflation rates across major economies The inflation landscape varies considerably among major economies. Sweden had the lowest inflation rate at *** percent in October 2023. In contrast, Russia maintained a high inflation rate of *** percent. These figures align with broader trends observed in late 2025, where China had the lowest inflation rate among major developed and emerging economies, while Russia's rate remained the highest. Central bank responses and economic indicators Central banks globally implemented aggressive rate hikes throughout 2022-23 to combat inflation. The European Central Bank exemplified this trend, raising rates from **** percent in September 2019 to *** percent by September 2023. A coordinated shift among major central banks began in mid-2024, with the ECB, Bank of England, and Federal Reserve initiating rate cuts, with forecasts suggesting further cuts through 2024 and 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Funds Target Range - Upper Limit (DFEDTARU) from 2008-12-16 to 2026-03-28 about federal, interest rate, interest, rate, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for 10-Year Real Interest Rate (REAINTRATREARAT10Y) from Jan 1982 to Mar 2026 about 10-year, interest rate, interest, real, rate, and USA.

In February 2026, the central banks of the United States, United Kingdom, and euro area each implemented several interest rate cuts, reflecting a shared shift toward monetary easing as inflation pressures continued to moderate and economic growth slowed. This synchronized easing followed a prolonged period of elevated policy rates and underscored the close alignment of monetary policy across major advanced economies. Over the longer period from 2003 to February 2026, the Federal Reserve, Bank of England, and European Central Bank displayed notably similar interest rate trajectories shaped by common global economic conditions. In the early 2000s, policy rates were kept relatively low to support growth before being raised ahead of the 2008 financial crisis as economic activity accelerated. The crisis triggered sharp reductions in interest rates to near-zero levels, which were maintained for an extended period to foster recovery. Another phase of extraordinary easing occurred in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic prompted central banks to cut rates to historic lows to cushion the economic shock. This stance was reversed in 2022, as surging inflation led to an aggressive tightening cycle across all three institutions. As inflation began to stabilize in late 2023 and early 2024, the European Central Bank and Bank of England initiated the first steps toward policy easing, setting the stage for the broader and more synchronized rate cuts observed in February 2026. Divergent approaches within the European Union While the European Central Bank sets a benchmark policy rate for the euro area, individual European countries have pursued differing monetary policy paths to address their specific economic conditions. For example, Hungary recorded the highest policy rate in the European Union, reaching ** percent in September 2023, before gradually reducing it to *** percent by December 2025. By contrast, Sweden adopted a more aggressive easing approach, cutting its policy rate to **** percent by the end of 2025 - the lowest level among EU member states. These divergences underscore the complexity of the European monetary landscape, as national central banks balance inflation control with the need to support economic growth. Global context and future outlook The interest rate changes in major economies have had far-reaching effects on global financial markets. Government bond yields, for example, reflect these policy shifts and investor sentiment. As of July 2025, Turkey had the highest 10-year government bond yield among developed economies at **** percent, while Switzerland had the lowest at **** percent. These rates serve as important benchmarks for borrowing costs and economic expectations worldwide.

The benchmark interest rate in Japan was last recorded at 0.75 percent. This dataset provides - Japan Interest Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Real interest rates describe the growth in the real value of the interest on a loan or deposit, adjusted for inflation. Nominal interest rates on the other hand show us the raw interest rate, which is unadjusted for inflation. If the inflation rate in a certain country were zero percent, the real and nominal interest rates would be the same number. As inflation reduces the real value of a loan, however, a positive inflation rate will mean that the nominal interest rate is more likely to be greater than the real interest rate. We can see this in the recent inflationary episode which has taken place in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, with nominal interest rates rising over the course of 2022, but still lagging far behind the rate of inflation, meaning these rate rises register as smaller increases in the real interest rate.

A survey from Q3 2022 suggest concerns among the majority of the United States banking industry about the rising Federal Reserve interest rates. ** percent of the respondents worried that the Fed would overcorrect for inflation by raising the rates too fast and too high. In contrast, ** percent of the respondents were concerned about not raising the rates fast enough. In terms of the timeline, the majority of the respondents expected that the Fed would hit its peak rate in the first half of 2023. Most respondents believed that the peak rate would be between *** and **** percent. As of December 2022, the Federal Funds Effective Rate was *** percent.

The benchmark interest rate in Russia was last recorded at 15 percent. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Russia Interest Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Dataset Overview

A comprehensive monthly record of central bank policy interest rates for 49 central banks spanning January 1945 to February 2026, sourced directly from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) official statistical API.

Covers major central banks including the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England, Bank of Japan, People's Bank of China, and 44 others across Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa.

Each record includes the official policy rate, derived rate change in basis points, rate cycle classification (Hiking / Cutting / Holding High / Holding Low), rate regime label (Negative / Near Zero / Accommodative / Neutral / Restrictive / Very Restrictive), cumulative change since January 2022, spread vs the US Federal Reserve, 3 and 12-month rolling averages, all-time high/low flags, crisis period flags (GFC, COVID, 2022–23 Hiking Cycle), and historical era labels spanning the Bretton Woods Era through the current Rate Cutting Cycle.

24,454 records. 100% completeness across all critical fields. All math independently verified — rate changes, cumulative BPS, rolling averages, and spread calculations confirmed correct.

Data Science Applications

• Time series forecasting: predict rate decisions using rolling averages, cycle phase, and spread vs Fed
• Clustering: group central banks by rate behaviour patterns across decades
• Event study analysis: measure rate response to GFC, COVID, and the 2022-23 inflation shock
• Correlation analysis: cross-country rate synchronisation and divergence during hiking and cutting cycles
• Regime detection: classify monetary policy stance using rate_regime and rate_cycle features
• EDA: 80 years of global monetary policy across 7 world regions

COLUMN DESCRIPTORS

date — First day of month (ISO YYYY-MM-DD) time_period — Month string (YYYY-MM) year / month / month_name — Date components quarter — Q1–Q4 decade — Decade label (e.g. 1970s) era — Historical monetary policy era country_code — ISO 2-letter country code country_name — Full country name central_bank — Official central bank name region — World region (7 categories) continent — Continent capital — Country capital city population — Country population (2024) currency — Official currency name and code policy_rate_pct — Official policy rate (% per annum) rate_change_bps — MoM rate change in basis points rate_change_direction — Hike / Cut / Hold / First Record rate_cycle — Hiking / Cutting / Holding High / Holding Low / Holding rate_regime — Negative Rate / Near Zero / Accommodative / Neutral / Restrictive / Very Restrictive / Emergency High cumulative_change_since_2022_bps — Cumulative rate change since Jan 2022 (bps) rate_jan2022_base — Policy rate as of January 2022 (baseline) rate_3m_avg — 3-month rolling average rate rate_12m_avg — 12-month rolling average rate rate_12m_max — 12-month rolling maximum rate rate_12m_min — 12-month rolling minimum rate is_all_time_high — 1 if rate is a new all-time high is_all_time_low — 1 if rate is a new all-time low spread_vs_fed_bps — Rate spread vs US Federal Reserve (bps) fed_rate — US Federal Reserve rate at same date gfc_period — 1 if date falls in GFC (2008-2009) covid_period — 1 if date falls in COVID era (2020-2021) hike_cycle_2022_23 — 1 if date falls in global hiking cycle rate_description — BIS rate description for this series rate_notes — BIS compilation methodology notes source_institution — Central bank and BIS as data source data_source — BIS WS_CBPOL v1 retrieved_date — Date data was retrieved build_timestamp — Full build timestamp row_completeness_pct — % of critical fields populated

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Bank for International Settlements (BIS) — Central Bank Policy Rates WS_CBPOL Dataset, BIS Statistical API v1 https://stats.bis.org

REST Countries API — country metadata https://restcountries.com

All BIS data is publicly available under open access terms.

Two-thirds of community banks have maintained their profitability—measured by net interest margins—since interest rates began increasing in 2022. More profitable banks have distinguished themselves by generating both higher asset returns and lower funding costs. Community banks with higher asset returns have achieved them primarily by rebalancing their asset holdings, while community banks with lower funding costs have more stable, low-cost deposit bases on average.

The benchmark interest rate In the Euro Area was last recorded at 2.15 percent. This dataset provides - Euro Area Interest Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The benchmark interest rate in Brazil was last recorded at 14.75 percent. This dataset provides - Brazil Interest Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

30 Year Mortgage Rate in the United States increased to 6.38 percent in March 26 from 6.22 percent in the previous week. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United States 30 Year Mortgage Rate.

The benchmark interest rate in Australia was last recorded at 4.10 percent. This dataset provides - Australia Interest Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Banks with declining net interest margins during the 2022–23 tightening cycle were more reliant on capital market funding.