Regional Workshop for African Countries on Compilation of
Basic Economic Statistics
Addis Ababa, 16-19 October 2007
The Role of an Economic Census in Zambia
Litia Simbangala
Central Statistical Office, Zambia
www.zamstats.gov.zm
What is an Economic Census?
 An Economic Census is the full measurement of the
state of the economy
 It is the total process of collecting, compiling,
evaluating, analysing and publishing economic
data pertaining, at a specific time or times, from all
business and social establishments in a
designated area or country
 It is the primary source of information about
business activities in an economy
 It ultimately forms a basis for all economic surveys
in an economy
Background
 In the early 1990’s, Zambia
embarked on a vigorous
restructuring exercise of its
economy that brought about
structural changes in almost
all the sectors of the
economy. The restructuring
exercise included:
 Privatisation of previously
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government run/owned
companies
Liberalisation of both domestic
and foreign trade
Liberalisation of the foreign
exchange market
Restructuring of the Health,
Education and other sectors
Basically promoting the private
sector as the engine for
economic growth
Rationale I
In order to measure the impact of the changes in the economy,
there is need for a set of macro-economic indicators that are
produced regularly and on a timely basis and using the most
recent internationally accepted methodologies and classification
systems.
Additionally the Office is faced with the
constraints outlined below:
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Lack of up-to-date benchmark data
Lack of comprehensive indicators for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) compilation
New revised methodologies such as the 1993 System of National Accounts (SNA) and
revised classification systems (e.g. ISIC rev. 4) have not been fully adopted due to
lack of comprehensive data
To measure the full value added (GDP) of the Zambian economy
To provide a comprehensive frame of establishments for all economic surveys, which
will be updated from time to time
To provide data which will enable the CSO compile a full set of national accounts
(input-output tables, Gross Fixed Capital formation, Investment, etc)
Objectives
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To measure the full value added (GDP) of the Zambian economy
To provide a comprehensive frame of establishments for all economic
surveys, which will be updated from time to time
To provide data which will enable the CSO compile a full set of national
accounts (input-output tables, Gross Fixed Capital formation,
Investment, etc)
To measure the true extent of investment in Zambia; both foreign and
domestic
To provide a basis for setting up comprehensive Balance of Payments
statistics
To provide a basis for the production and rebasing of different kinds of
Economic Statistics (Producer Price Index, Index of Industrial
Production, etc.)
Start up activities
 Pre-test was carried out in March 2007
Targeted 3 Districts
 Pilot survey was conducted in May & June 2007
 Covered 18 Districts
 Data was analyzed in July
 Study tours to the USA, Egypt and India
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Methodology
The Economic Census is being carried out in two phases
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Listing of all establishments in Zambia
Enumeration of the listed establishments
Coverage I
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All establishments domiciled in Zambia in all the 72
districts will be covered
 Formal or informal
 Large scale, medium scale, small scale or micro
businesses
 An establishment is any entity where a good or service
is produced or provided
Coverage II
 All industrial sectors as classified in ISIC rev. 4 will be covered
 Exception: Subsistence agriculture
 These include:
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Established agriculture
Forestry & fisheries
Mining and quarrying
Manufacturing
Electricity and water supply
Construction
Trade
Hotels, bars and restaurants
Transport, storage and communication
Financial intermediation and insurance (bank and non-bank)
Real estate, business services
Education, health, personal services, etc.
Coverage III
 CSO has mapped Zambia into enumeration areas within
administrative boundaries (provinces, districts, constituencies
and wards)
 At the last mapping exercise (for the 2000 Population Census)
16, 800 EAs were generated
 All the 16, 800 EAs will be covered during the Economic census
Survey Questionnaires
The listing phase consists of three types of
questionnaires:
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The household business activity roster
The household establishments listing book
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The Listing of Establishments book
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During the enumeration phase each
industry will have its on type of questionnaires:
Household Business Activity Roster
 The household business activity roster targets the
following:
 Establishments that operate within the household
premises
 Establishments that operate outside the household
premises
Not in fixed locations and not in any structure such as
mobile traders, hawkers, pirate taxis, etc
 Landlords
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Household establishments listing book
 This questionnaire will be used to list all the
establishments identified in the Household
Business Activity Roster
Listing of Establishments Book
Targets the following:
 Establishments that can be clearly identified i.e. those that are either
 in a fixed location but not in a structure, or
 those in fixed structures and not within the household premises
 These establishments include stone crashers, tuntemba, grocery shops,
carpentry shops, banks, schools, hospitals, offices (government ministries
and their departments, non-governmental organisations etc), and
churches and so on
The following data sets will be the outputs from the Economic Census
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Provincial, quarterly and total GDP
Re-based National Accounts
Full set of National Accounts
Level of investment
Total Balance of Payments (BOP)
Revised weights for the Index of Industrial Production (IIP)
Revised weights for the Producer Price Index (PPI)
Input-Output Tables
Social Accounting Matrix
Comprehensive register of establishments
Periodicity
The CSO is undertaking an Economic
Census for the first time
It intends to be conducting these
censuses every five (5) years
End of Presentation
Thank you for your attention