The proposed core set of
economic statistics for Asia
and the Pacific
Artur Andrysiak
Statistics Development and Analysis Section
ESCAP
E-mail: andrysiak@un.org
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© 2008 by ESCAP
Overview
• Why
– Background
– Decision of the Committee on Statistics
• Who
– TAG
• What
– Core set of economic statistics and Regional Programme
– How it compares with other sets of statistics
• When
– Design process
– Consultation process
• Where
– Where from here?
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Background
• The economic statistics have not received a lot of
attention in the Asia-Pacific region, the main focus
has been on the MDGs
• Many developing countries in the region lack the
capacity to produce and disseminate basic
financial and economic data required for
compiling of a minimum set of national accounts
and short-term economic indicators
• Most developing Asia-Pacific countries have still
not been able to fully implement 1993 SNA
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Milestone levels achieved by
subregion
Percentage of
countries
100
80
60
40
20
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Milestone level
ENEA
4
SEA
SSWA
NCA
Pacific
ESCAP total
© 2008 by ESCAP
Status of SNA implementation in
Asia and the Pacific
Number of ESCAP
countries
35
30
6
25
9
20
15
10
5
8
5
8
0
SNA68
1
1
5
SNA68/93
Pacific
5
3
2
2
2
SNA93
SEA
4
2
SSWA
SNA2008
NCA
No SNA/No info
ENEA
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Availability of selected economic
statistics
Statistical domains
Merchandise Trade
58
Employment/Unemployment
57
National Accounts
56
Consumer Price Index
56
Balance of Payments
49
Wages/Earnings
48
Industrial Production Index
37
Producer Price Index
34
Retail Trade Turnover
26
Volume/Turnover in Services
16
0
10
20
30
40
50
No. of ESCAP Asia-Pacific countries
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Availability of censuses and surveys
Population census
56
Economic census
26
Agricultural census
32
33
25
Household Income and
Expenditure Survey
53
Labour force Survey
5
43
Establishment/Enterprise
survey
15
39
0%
20%
19
40%
Source data used
7
2
60%
80%
100%
Source data not used/No info
© 2008 by ESCAP
Availability of Business Registers
by subregion and income category
NCA
8
ENEA
5
Pacific
2
12
SEA
9
6
SSWA
5
3
7
High-income
8
Middle-income
4
19
Low-income
13
7
0%
20%
7
40%
BR available
8
1
60%
80%
100%
BR not available/No info
© 2008 by ESCAP
Committee on Statistic, 2009
• At 1st session, in February 2009
• Adopted a coordinating governance structure to
guide the development, implementation and
monitoring of an action plan (Regional
Programme) for the development of economic
statistics in the Asian and Pacific region
• Established a technical advisory group to provide
guidance to the Bureau and the ESCAP
secretariat on the development and periodic
revision of a regional programme for the
development of economic statistics
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ESCAP Technical Advisory Group
on the Development of Economic
Statistics (TAG)
Person Nominated
Country/International organization
Mr Michael Smedes
Australia
Mr G.M. Boopathy
India
Ms Lazzat Bulebayeva
Kazakhstan
Mr Slamet Sutomo
Indonesia
Ms Batjargal Badamsetseg
Mongolia
Mr Jeff Cope (Co-chair)
New Zealand
Ms Chellam Palanyandy
ADB
Mr John Frederick de Guia
ASEAN Secretariat
Ms Bayan Adilbekova
ECO Secretariat
Mr Pieter Everaers, Mr James Whitworth as alternate
Eurostat
Mr Jairo Castano
FAO
Mr Manik Shrestha, Mr Kimberly Zieschang (Co-chair)
IMF
Mr Alick Nyasulu
SPC
ESCAP Statistics Division staff providing secretariat functions to the TAG: Mr Jan Smit, Ms Margarita
Guerrero, Mr Artur Andrysiak
© 2008 by ESCAP
Main objectives of the TAG
•
•
Provide guidance to its Bureau and the ESCAP
secretariat on methodological issues related to the
development and periodic revision of a regional
programme (action plan) for the development of
economic statistics.
Formulate a minimum Core Set of Economic Statistics
that each member and associate member in the Asian
and Pacific region would be in a position to produce,
taking into account the varying country needs and work
on the development of economic statistics undertaken by
specialized bodies and related organizations in the
region.
© 2008 by ESCAP
Aim of the Regional Programme
• The primary aim of the programme is to develop
the capacity of ESCAP Members and Associate
Members to produce a core set of economic
statistics by 2020 of appropriate quality required
for short and long term economic analyses and
decision making by both government and nongovernment agencies / organisations.
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Focus of the Programme
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Relationship of the Core Set to the
Regional Programme
• Purpose of the programme is to develop the
capacity to produce a range of economic
statistics, ie remove the constraints preventing
their production.
• The core set fulfils two roles:
– Determines the scope of the programme.
– Provides guidance on the minimum set of economic
statistics to be produced.
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Core Set
The Core Set of Economic Statistics sets a clear
and achievable target for the region by
identifying the minimum set of economic
statistics that all countries in Asia and the Pacific
should have the capacity to produce by 2020
after taking into account their varying needs.
© 2008 by ESCAP
Formulation process
• Expert Group Meeting (17-18 September 2009)
• Workshop to Develop a Regional Programme (9-11
December 2009 )
• Meetings of the TAG (back-to-back with the
above meetings)
• ISWGNA (February 2010)
• Intensive email and phone communication
between the TAG members
© 2008 by ESCAP
Domains of economic statistics
included in the core set
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Prices and costs
Demand and output
Income and wealth
Money and banking
Government
Labour market
Natural resources and the environment
– Within each of the above domains, the Core Set
consists of key statistics, each of which is described
by its frequency and relevant international standard
and/or guideline
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Core Set of Economic Statistics
Infrastructure:
(frameworks, standards, classifications, registers )
Input data
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Processing
Output statistics
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Core Set of Economic Statistics
• A minimum set of statistics needed to monitor the
economy and material wellbeing.
• Includes both primary and derived statistics.
• Flexibility in the type of statistic and its characteristics (other
than frequency) within some statistical categories.
• Applies to all member countries in principle.
• In practice, some statistics may not be relevant given the nature
of the economy of the member country – but that country will
have the capability to produce the core set.
• Not a set of surveys ...but source data needs and best practice
imply the need for certain types of surveys.
• Not a list of source data needed to compile SNA……but..
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Core Set of Economic Statistics
• …..the statistics are compiled within the SNA and related
frameworks.
• …..the statistics are key … so it can be expected that they
will also provide most of the source data needed to
compile the national accounts.
• …the Regional Programme delivers capability. The
outcome should be country capability to produce national
accounts including obtaining source data that may not be
explicitly listed in the core set.
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SNA08
implementation
facilitates
production of
User Needs
Core Set of
Economic Statistics
Required
capabilities to
produce the
statistics
Capability building
initiatives
delivers
determines
The Regional
Programme Content
informs
© 2008 by ESCAP
Comparison of the ESCAP Core Set with
the EWBCI (earlier version) and PGI
• The three datasets have a different purpose
• The EWBCI and PGI focus on the short-term indicators and are
intended to be used as early warning tools
• The core set should result in an information database sufficient to
inform, analyze and monitor. It is a guide for capacity development.
• The three datasets have a significant number of statistics in common
• The Core Set appears to be the most comprehensive of the three
covering short-term and structural statistics
• Some of the statistics that are only included in the Core Set: labour
cost index, economy structure statistics, productivity, natural
resources, etc
• Some of the statistics covered by EWBCI or PGI but not included in
the Core Set: stock market/share indicators, consumer and business
confidence, oil prices (PGI), corporate profits and debt (EWBCI), etc
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Consultation with ESCAP member
States
•
•
Earlier version of the Core Set was submitted
during August/September 2010 for consideration
and comments to all ESCAP members and
associate members
In total eleven member States provided
comments which have been taken into
consideration when finalizing the Core Set
© 2008 by ESCAP
Next steps
• The finalized versions of the Core Set and the
Regional Programme will be submitted for the
consideration and endorsement of the Committee
on Statistics during its second session, scheduled
to take place in December 2010
• Given the need for strengthening national
statistical systems (NSSs) in Asia and the Pacific
through actively advocating for increased
commitment from policymakers, particularly in
government, the Core Set (we hope) will be
subsequently submitted to the ESCAP
Commission.
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Questions?
Thank you
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© 2008 by ESCAP