Session 4B. The Principles of Official
Statistics
SADC Course in Statistics
Introduction
• This is a follow up to Session 4a in which you were
introduced to the National Statistical Office, its
structure, what it produces, the Statistics Act, the
concept of Official Statistics, their attributes and
the role of Official Statistics.
• This session will generally focus on the principles
of Official Statistics.
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Background to the development of the Principles
• their development was necessitated by what was
happening in Central Europe in the 1980s
• it is during this time when most countries
abandoned centralised economies and moved
towards market economies.
• It also during this period that the Soviet Union as
a bloc collapsed and new nations were created.
• These changes brought with them the need to
completely transform National Statistical Systems
in general and National Statistical Offices in
particular, across the whole of Europe.
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Background to the development of the Principles
• This process entailed redefining the role of Official
Statistics and enlightening governments and users
of statistics that official statistics should meet a
certain level of standard or criterion.
• To achieve this, the Principles of Official Statistics
were developed.
• The United Nations endorsed these Principles in
1994
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The Principles of Official Statistics
• National Statistical Offices should comply with
these for the public to have trust in Official
Statistics.
• In general, they emphasise on the following:
– Professional independence
– Relevance
– Credibility
– Respondent relations
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• Principle 1. Official statistics provide an
indispensable element in the information system
of a democratic society, serving the Government,
the economy and the public with data about the
economic, demographic, social and environmental
situation. To this end, official statistics that meet
the test of practical utility are to be compiled and
made available on an impartial basis by official
statistical agencies to honour citizens' entitlement
to public information.
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• Principle 2. To retain trust in official statistics, the
statistical agencies need to decide according to
strictly professional considerations, including
scientific principles and professional ethics, on the
methods and procedures for the collection,
processing, storage and presentation of statistical
data.
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• Principle 3. To facilitate a correct interpretation of
the data, the statistical agencies are to present
information according to scientific standards on
the sources, methods and procedures of the
statistics
• Principle 4. The statistical agencies are entitled to
comment on erroneous interpretation and misuse
of statistics.
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• Principle 5. Data for statistical purposes may be
drawn from all types of sources, be they statistical
surveys or administrative records. Statistical
agencies are to choose the source with regard to
quality, timeliness, costs and the burden on
respondents.
• Principle 6. Individual data collected by statistical
agencies for statistical compilation, whether they
refer to natural or legal persons, are to be strictly
confidential and used exclusively for statistical
purposes.
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• Principle 7. The laws, regulations and measures
under which the statistical systems operate are to
be made public
• Principle 8. Coordination among statistical
agencies within countries is essential to achieve
consistency and efficiency in the statistical
system.
• Principle 9. The use by statistical agencies in each
country of international concepts, classifications
and methods promotes the consistency and
efficiency of statistical systems at all official levels.
• Principle 10. Bilateral and multilateral cooperation
in statistics contributes to the improvement of
systems of official statistics in all countries.
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Implementation of the Principles
• After the endorsement in 1994, member states of
the UN have implemented the Principles of Official
Statistics.
• A survey by the UN was conducted to assess the
levels of implementation among nations and below
are some of the findings:
– principle 6 – is the best implemented although
cases of disclosure have been reported
– principles 4 and 8 – are the least implemented.
– as for the other Principles, implementation is at
different levels
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Challenges in implementing the Principles
The survey noted that the following challenges have
been encountered by member countries of the UN
in implementing the Principles of Official statistics:
• Authorised and unauthorised disclosure of
individual data for non statistical purposes
• Political interference at the data dissemination
stage
• The need to adapt international standards to
national circumstances
• Lack of resources
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Resources
• http://aprox.government.gov.sk/iap/regtrans.nsf/
0/7ae65f015ad627f0c1256b7d00520921/$FILE/cp
j,540,2001,35161,02.doc
• http://www.dpsa.gov.za/documents/service_delive
ry_review/vol1no3/how%20the%20national%20st
atistics%20system%20impacts%20on%20service
%20delivery.pdf
• http://www.paris21.org/documents/whygovernments-need-good-statistics.pdf
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Resources
• http://www.nass.usda.gov/mexsai/Papers/strategi
esp.doc
• http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/statorg/FPEnglish.htm
• http://www.paris21.org/pages/designingnsds/NSDS-documents-knowledgebase/index.asp?orderby=e&orderin=1&tab=Knowl
edgeBase&option=doc
• http://www.statssa.gov.za/about_statssa/strategic
_plan.pdf
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