MexicoDataAPI: Access Mexican Data via APIs and Curated Datasets"
In MexicoDataAPI: Access Mexican Data via APIs and Curated Datasets

knitr::opts_chunk$set(
  collapse = TRUE,
  comment = "#>"
)

library(MexicoDataAPI)
library(ggplot2)
library(dplyr)

Introduction

The MexicoDataAPI package provides a unified interface to access open data from the World Bank API and the REST Countries API, with a focus on Mexico. It allows users to retrieve up-to-date information on topics such as economic indicators, population figures, literacy rates, and unemployment levels, as well as basic geopolitical information.

In addition to API-access functions, the package includes a set of curated datasets related to Mexico. These cover areas such as air quality monitoring, state-level income surveys, postal abbreviations, election results, and regional forest classification.

MexicoDataAPI is intended to support users working with data related to Mexico by integrating international API sources with selected datasets from national and academic origins, in a single R package.

Functions for MexicoDataAPI

The MexicoDataAPI package provides several core functions to access real-time and structured information about Mexico from public APIs such as the World Bank API and REST Countries. Below is a list of the main functions included in the package:

get_country_info(): Get Key Country Information from the REST Countries API
get_mexico_cpi(): Get Mexico's Consumer Price Index (2010 = 100) from World Bank
get_mexico_gdp(): Get Mexico's GDP (Current US$) from World Bank
get_mexico_life_expectancy(): Get Mexico's Life Expectancy from World Bank
get_mexico_literacy_rate(): Get Mexico's Literacy Rate (Age 15+) from World Bank
get_mexico_population(): Get Mexico's Population (Total) from World Bank
get_mexico_unemployment(): Get Mexico's Unemployment Rate (%) from World Bank
view_datasets_MexicoDataAPI(): Lists all curated datasets included in the MexicoDataAPI package

These functions allow users to access high-quality and structured information on Mexico, which can be combined with tools like dplyr, tidyr, and ggplot2 to support a wide range of data analysis and visualization tasks. In the following sections, you’ll find examples on how to work with MexicoDataAPI in practical scenarios.

Mexico's GDP (Current US$) from World Bank 2022 - 2017

mexico_gdp <- head(get_mexico_gdp())

print(mexico_gdp)

Mexico's Life Expectancy from World Bank 2022 - 2017

life_expectancy <- head(get_mexico_life_expectancy())

print(life_expectancy)

Mexico's Population (Total) from World Bank 2022 - 2017

mexico_population <- head(get_mexico_population())

print(mexico_population)

Average Household Income by Education Level (2008)

# Summary of average income by education level
avg_income_by_education <- mex_income_2008_tbl_df %>%
  group_by(education) %>%
  summarise(avg_income = mean(income, na.rm = TRUE)) %>%
  arrange(desc(avg_income))

# Plot
ggplot(avg_income_by_education, aes(x = reorder(education, avg_income), y = avg_income)) +
  geom_col(fill = "#0072B2") +
  coord_flip() +
  labs(
    title = "Average Household Income by Education Level (2008)",
    x = "Education Level",
    y = "Average Income (MXN)"
  ) +
  theme_minimal()

Dataset Suffixes

Each dataset in MexicoDataAPI is labeled with a suffix to indicate its structure and type:

_df: A standard data frame.
_tbl_df: A tibble data frame object.
_chr: A character object.

Datasets Included in MexicoDataAPI

In addition to API access functions, MexicoDataAPI provides several preloaded datasets related to Mexico’s environment, demographics, and public data. Here are some featured examples:

mexico_elections_df: Data frame containing a subset of the 2012 Mexico Elections Panel Study.
mex_income_2016_tbl_df: Tibble containing household-level income data and associated demographic characteristics from the 2016 ENIGH (Household Income and Expenditure Survey).
mexico_abb_chr: Character vector containing the official two- or three-letter postal abbreviations for the 32 federal entities of Mexico.

Conclusion

The MexicoDataAPI package provides a comprehensive interface to access open data about Mexico through RESTful APIs and curated datasets. It includes functions to retrieve real-time information from the World Bank API and REST Countries API, covering topics such as population, GDP, CPI, life expectancy, literacy, unemployment, and general country-level indicators. In addition, the package offers curated datasets related to air quality monitoring stations, pollution zones, state-level income surveys for 2008 and 2016, postal abbreviations, election studies, and ecological data from the Chiapas dry forests. Together, these resources support research, teaching, and analysis focused on Mexico's economic, environmental, and sociopolitical landscape.