The Use of Administrative
Sources for Statistical
Purposes (National
Accounts)
Margaret Kevin Nakirya
Uganda Bureau of Statistics
Sources and uses
of Administrative
DATA
Data Type
Administrative Authority
Source
Customs data
Application
Estimation of net exports for the expenditure
approach and also estimate net consumption for
Uganda Revenue Authority selected indicators
Income data (Revenue Authority)
Uganda Revenue Authority GO/VA for large establishments - on trial
Value Added Tax (Revenue Authority) Uganda Revenue Authority
Respective statutory
Cash crop procurement
organistaions
Monetary and Finance statistics ( Fin.
Svcs & FISIM)
Bank of Uganda
Respective govt
Periodic financial reports (NSSF, NWSC, corporations
Health (Drug disbursements, inpatients, out-patients, immunisation
coverage etc)
Min. Of Health
Education (enrolment)
GFS (Salaries, cost of goods, other
expenditures)
GO/VA for formal sector - on trial
Estimation of harvests for coffee, tea, cotton and
Tobacco
GO/VA for financial Services and FISIM
GO /VA for selected government corporations
Computation of an index to extrapolate QVA for
private Health
Computation of an index to extrapolate QVA for
Min. Of Education & Sports private education
Mined and quarry production data
MFPED
Min. Energy and Mineral
Resources ,Geology
department
Migration (arrivals & departures)
Registration systems for persons /
businesses / property /
Min. Of internal Affairs
Respective registration
bodies
GO /VA for public administration
Computation of an index to extrapolate QVA for
Mining & quarrying
Computation of an index to extrapolate QVA for
hotels and restaurants
Compilation of volume indicies to extrapolate VA for
selected activities
Advantages of using Administrative
data
• Needs less resources (staff and funds) for data
collection since its free compared to surveys &
censuses
• Reduces response burden on data suppliers hence
allowing statistics to be produced with no extra
burden
• Usually has bigger/full coverage hence providing
better estimates
– No survey errors
– Better small area/unit estimates
Advantages of using Administrative
data
• Production of statistics from admin.data is
quicker (routine prodn), hence timely
release of information because there is no
need for;
– Form design
– Pilot surveys
– Samplging , etc
Application of administrative
data
• Revenue Authority data is used for
– Customs data is used for compiling external
trade statistics which is used for estimation of
exports and imports in expenditure approach
– Income tax and VAT is going to be used for
estimation of GO for the formal sector
• Monetary and Financial statistics
– Estimation of GO for the financial services
Limitations of data from admin.
sources
• Methodology (concepts & definition) used may not
conform to accepted statistical standards hence inaccurate
reporting
• Because administrative data is usually aggregated at a
broader level, some information content is lost relating to
individual variation and equity concerns.
• Records are incomplete in most cases
• Wrongly classified in most cases
• Administrative data particularly that related to health
service provision is inherently biased, as it is only
representative of the population that has sought out the
services.
Question
• How best can we harmonise concepts and
definitions of administrative data with their
use in an integrated statistical system?
ACASE FOR UGANDA
Steps taken towards integration
of Economic Statistics
• The Bureau continuously updates and implements statistical standards
- Compendium of Concepts and Definitions, meta data, methodology
in statistical production and management within the NSS.
• Frequent producer-producer workshops are held to update on new
concepts and resolve any outstanding issues through the NSS
coordination mandate
• The Bureau developed and implemented a harmonized data
production, usage policy, and dissemination framework in the NSS.
• UBOS has two standards for statistical production that were approved
by Uganda National Bureau of Standards;
- Code of practice for official statistics
- Guidelines for production of quality statistics