Reported Social Unrest Index

Project background

The Reported Social Unrest Index (RSUI) attempts to measure the occurrence of social unrest events using spikes in country-specific media coverage matching key search terms.  Early versions of the RSUI were used in various IMF policy publications starting in 2019, but the definitive reference is our 2022 JDE paper.  Please cite this when using the index or related series.  Here it is:

Measuring Social Unrest Using Media Reports, P. Barrett, M. Appendino, J. de Leon Miranda, and K. Nguyen, Journal of Development Economics, Volume 158, September 2022

Data

Data are available for 129 economies at monthly frequency, and are updated approximately annually.  Each update corresponds to an associated IMF working papers  

• The latest relevant working paper is: Reported Social Unrest Index: September 2024 Update, October 2024, IMF WP 2024/225 

• The associated data are available here: RSUI data September 2024

• Please read carefully the user guide included in the data package.

 Disclaimer: The views expressed here are mine alone and should not be attributed to the IMF, its Executive Board, or Management.