Against the backdrop of the accelerating development of the digital economy, the opening of government public data, as a pivotal link in the country’s promotion of the implementation of the big data strategy and the establishment of a basic data system, has seen its strategic value becoming increasingly prominent. This institutional innovation is not only a key measure for advancing the market-oriented allocation reform of data elements but also an important lever for achieving modernization of governance capabilities, holding significant implications for enhancing urban economic resilience. Using the launch of public data open platforms as a quasi-natural experiment, this study employs a multi-period difference-in-differences model to examine the impact of government public data openness on urban economic resilience. The findings reveal that: government public data openness can significantly enhance urban economic resilience. In terms of mechanisms, government public data openness promotes urban economic resilience by improving urban innovation capacity, entrepreneurial activity, and population inflow. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the effect of government public data openness on economic resilience is more pronounced in cities with higher levels of digital infrastructure, stronger regional connectivity, and more outward-oriented economies. Further analysis shows that government public data openness has a more significant impact on cities’ resistance and recovery capabilities, as well as innovation and transformation capacities; the quality of public data openness further enhances urban economic resilience; government public data openness also helps promote foreign investment resilience, playing a positive role in stabilizing foreign capital. This study validates the role of government public data in strengthening economic resilience amid complex environments and risk challenges, providing policy insights for deepening China’s public data openness strategy, optimizing the market-oriented allocation mechanism for data elements, and implementing targeted policies to systematically enhance urban economic resilience.