Thirty-sixth Session of the UN
Statistical Commission
1-4 March 2005
New York, USA
Keeping Pace with Development: Challenges for
the National Statistical System of I.R. Iran
Hamidreza Navabpour
Statistical Center of Iran
Introduction
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The latest statistical Law in Iran dates back to 1975.
Based on the 1975 Law, the statistical system of Iran
is centralized, led by the Statistical Center of Iran
(SCI).
The SCI is affiliated to the Management and Planning
Organization (MPO) which is headed by a Vice
President. Therefore, the President indirectly
supervises the National Statistical System (NSS).
According to the Law, the statistical system of Iran
is illustrated by the following chart.
Organizational Chart of the National Statistical
System
President
Management and Planning Organization
Government
Agencies
High Council of
Statistics
Specialized
Commission
Statistical Research
Center
Statistical Center of Iran
Expert
Committee
Advisory
Council
Deputies of the SCI
Director Generals
of the SCI
30 Provincial Offices
Statistical Center of Iran
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Within the system, the SCI is indirectly connected to other
government agencies ( through the High Council of
Statistics).
The nominee for presiding SCI is proposed to the President
by the Head of the MPO. When accepted, the nominated
person will be appointed as the Head of the SCI for an
indefinite period.
Main duties of the SCI
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Implementation of demographic, economic, and social
censuses and sample surveys and dissemination of results;
Provision of statistical data to meet national development
planning requirements;
Provision of technical advice to statistical departments of
ministries, government agencies and/or government
affiliated bodies, state-owned companies, and – whenever
possible – to private sector agencies;
Preparation and compilation of standards, methods, and
regulations for statistical data production and dissemination;
Implementation of scientific studies and researches on
official statistics and related issues for quality improvement
of the SCI's performance; and
Compilation of required statistical data obtained from public
and private sectors and centralized documentation of
administrative records.
High Council of Statistics (HCS)
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The HCS is composed of deputies for planning of 10
Ministries and Central Bank. Head of the MPO is Head
of the HCS and its secretary is the Head of the SCI.
Main duties of the HCS:
 Studying short- and mid-term plans of the NSS;
 Studying statistical production priorities of the NSS;
and
 Studying national statistical plans to ensure their
compliance with the general policies and statistical
priorities.
The approvals of the HCS are mandatory for government
agencies and they are bound to follow them.
Advisory Council
Advisory Council in the SCI is composed of survey
statisticians and academics in economics, demography
and IT. The Council is responsible for reviewing all
existing procedures and providing rectifying
comments aimed at their improvement as well as
presenting consultative comments on procedures in
case of the SCI’s Head request.
Expert Committee
Expert Committee is composed of the SCI’s young
experts from different departments in order to
study official statistics. When they find something
new and useful they implement a feasibility study.
When they find the case feasible, the case will be
referred (by the Head) to the responsible
department for planning and implementation.
Statistical Research Center
Statistical Research Center is affiliated to the SCI.
The Center is responsible for statistical capacity
building of the NSS through:
 Conducting workshops and short-training courses
on official statistics
 Implementing researches on official statistics
Challenges for the NSS (1)
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The tenure of the Head of the SCI is not specified, therefore
the preparation and fulfillment of mid and long-term statistical
plans, such as National Strategy for the Development of
Statistics (NSDS), looks a challenging task.
Statistical literacy and culture:
- Some of respondents are less aware of the applications of the
statistical data, consequently, they sometimes show little
interest to fully cooperate in the surveys.
- Evidence-based management is not so widely applied,
therefore, the demand for the statistical data and their
applications are limited and insufficient.
The legal restrictions on the increase of the manpower of the
government has forced the Center to turn to the private sector
for collecting and entry of the statistical data. This outsourcing
presents challenges with regard to data confidentiality and
quality.
Challenges for the NSS (2)
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Private sector in Iran is not capable of meeting the national
requirements for official statistics.
There is no statistical field of study with special reference to
official statistics in Iranian universities; hence, it seems
necessary for the graduates in statistical disciplines to receive
some pre-service trainings on official statistics after their
recruitment in the NSS.
The Central Bank of the I.R. Iran independently produces
statistics, such as national accounts and price indices, while,
according to the Statistical Law, the SCI is assigned to produce
them.
Absence of the experienced statistical departments in the
government agencies has caused calculation of the MDGs
indicators to face challenges. It is noteworthy that out of 48
indicators of the MDGs, 36 indicators are applicable to Iran of
which 20 indicators are completely or partially calculated by the
SCI.
Absence of a register-based statistical system for production of
required statistics has led to too much reliance on the surveys.
What have we done to overcome these
challenges?
Preparing an NSDS:
At the beginning of the work, 9 working groups
were formed and each group studied the existing
situation in its own field of work and prepared a
vision for a better situation. Each of them
developed a strategic plan.
Nine Working Groups are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Information Technology (IT) Development
Statistical Data Production
The Organization of the Foundations of Statistical System
Manpower
Statistical Research
Improved Data Quality
Statistical Standards
Promotion of Statistical Literacy and Culture
Register-based Statistics
Outputs
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Assessment of the current situations
Visions
Strategic plans
What do we need to do?
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Action plans
Implementation
Monitoring and evaluation