Quantitative Financial History
at Cornell University
The Historical Banking Crises Database
42 countries, 1870-2019
This database is a joint project by Matthew Baron (Cornell), Attila Balogh (Cornell), and Daniel Dieckelmann (European Central Bank).
This database is a work in progress. Information here is preliminary and has not been peer reviewed. We view this project as a "living database" and welcome all corrections and additions from experts in the field; please email Daniel Dieckelmann.
Funding to create this database comes from the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET). All errors, of course, remain our own.
How to cite this database
Baron, M., & Dieckelmann, D. (2022). Historical Banking Crises: A New Database and a Reassessment of their Incidence and Severity. In: Leveraged: The New Economics of Debt and Financial Fragility. University of Chicago Press, forthcoming.
Banking crisis characteristics
Causes, measures of bank distress, policy interventions, and macroeconomic consequences, 1870-2016 (coming soon)
Narrative chronologies of banking crises
The episodes covered in this data are best thought of as potential episodes of banking system distress and thus form a much broader set than just "banking crises." Historical evidence is sometimes given to show an episode does not have many characteristics typically associated with banking crises.
Summaries and detailed historical documentation of episodes of potential bank distress:
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela.
Download all countries.
Our collection of primary and secondary sources on banking crises in each country:
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela. Multi-country sources.