Abstract. The PSMSL was established as a “Permanent Service” of the International Council for Science in 1958, but in practice was a continuation of the Mean Sea Level Committee which had been set up at the Lisbon International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) conference in 1933. Now in its 80th year, the PSMSL continues to be the internationally recognised databank for long-term sea level change information from tide gauge records. The PSMSL dataset consists of over 2100 mean sea level records from across the globe, the longest of which date back to the start of the 19th century. Where possible, all data in a series are provided to a common benchmark-controlled datum, thus providing a record suitable for use in time series analysis. The PSMSL dataset is freely available for all to use, and is accessible through the PSMSL website (www.psmsl.org).