Systems of Economic
Surveys in Malawi
Jameson Ndawala
Head, Economic Statistics Division
National Statistical Office, Malawi
(17th October 2007, ECA, Addis Ababa)
Organisation Chart of NSO
National Statistical
Office
Economic Statistics
Demography and
Social Statistics
Agriculture Statistics
Other Divisions of NSO
• Technical Services Division
– Network and computer services
– Printing and Publications
– Dissemination
• Administration and Financial Services
– Management and Administration
– Personnel Section
– Accounts
– Transport services
Economic Statistics Division
Economics Statistics
Division
National Accounts
And Balance of
Payments
Foreign Trade and
Price Statistics (CPI)
Industrial Statistics
AES, IIP
Tourism
PPI
Economic Surveys
• Index of Industrial Production:
– A sample of 50 manufacturing entities
providing monthly volume production
– Questionnaires are sent by mail
– Currently being rebased to 2005
• Consumer Price Index:
– Monthly price collection in major urban areas
and some selected rural markets throughout
the country
Economic Surveys
• Consumer Price Index: (cont.)
– Obtain price quotations from outlets
– Buy some commodities from markets
– CPI released on the 15th of following month
– Currently series being rebased to 2005
• Annual Economic Survey
– Gives a quantitative description of economic
activity of large and medium scale enterprises
– Sample selected from BIR
Economic Surveys
– Used mail questionnaire since 2000 from
2001 due to low response personal deliveries
and interviews started
– Currently conducting 2006 AES
• Balance of Payments and Investor
Perception Survey
– Used to update private capital flows and
stocks database
– Used also to strengthen the public-private
sector dialogue
Economic Surveys
– Compilation of BOP and international
investment position (IIP) statistics
• Producer Price Index
– Being planned to start this year
• Integrated Household Survey
– Designed to provide information on the
various aspects of household welfare
– Provide data for the poverty profile
– Latest survey 2004-05
Other on-going activities
• Business Information Register (BIR): Last
census update in 2001, currently
developing a new register using tax
records and administrative registers from
other organisations
• National Accounts: Has adopted SNA93
with a complete Supply and Use Table
approach
Other on-going activities
• Foreign Trade Statistics: Compile trade
statistics using records from the Malawi
Revenue Authority
• Tourism Statistics: Compile tourism
statistics from Immigration Exit Cards
Technical Assistance
• Statistics Norway under a Norwegian Grant
supporting National Accounts and Basic
Economic Statistics
• European Union providing technical assistance
to rebasing prices and adoption of a PRIMA
software
• African Development Bank supporting ICP
activities
• IMF and DFID Technical assistance under the
GDDS
Thank you for your
attention