Legal and institutional foundation of
economic statistics
Overview of international experience
Regional Workshop for African Countries on Compilation of Basic Economic
Statistics
Pretoria, South Africa
23-26 July 2007
Legal and institutional framework
• A national statistical system is defined by a
country's legal framework, infrastructure and
institutional arrangements for the collection,
management and dissemination of official
statistics
– Responsibility of NSOs for collecting, processing, and
disseminating statistics
– Adequate data sharing and coordination among data
producing agencies
– Confidentiality of respondents’ data and their use for
statistical purposes only
– Statistical reporting through legal mandate and/or
measures to encourage response
Legal Framework
•
Law on Statistics
–
–
•
•
Sets out the authority and powers of a NSO and its role in the
overall system including its position in the national
administration
Defines the responsibility of NSO for carrying out statistical
activity by registers and information systems its maintain,
coordination among statistical parties etc.
Any secondary legislation regarding statistical activities
– ministerial decisions, regulations etc.
Country practices in statistical legislation
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/statorg/country_practice
s.asp
Fundamental principles of official
statistics
• Basis for statistical laws of countries
• Define the role of official statistics and
make it clear to governments and other
users of statistics that a good system of
official statistics must meet certain general
criteria
• Assist heads of NSOs to defend the
position of their institutes
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/dnss/fundprinciples.aspx
Institutional arrangements
• Organization of statistical activity
– Centralized statistical systems - production of official
statistics is centralized in the NSO
– Decentralized statistical systems - a number of
institutions involved in data collection and
dissemination (NSO, key ministries, the central bank
and other government institutions
• Data sharing and coordination
– A better approach to organisation and management of
the national statistical system for the NSO is to play a
coordinating, regulatory and supervisory role in
addition to collecting and disseminating those official
statistics that no other institution has the capacity to
collect and compile
Data sharing and coordination
• NSOs incentives to encourage coordination
among agencies
–
–
–
–
Sharing of information
Participation in joint statistical activities
Access to statistical expertise
Influence on the setting of priorities
• Tools for achieving coordination
– Establishing national programmes for statistical
surveys
– Signing agreements with other data producing
agencies
National Statistical Programmes
• Include a multiyear plan for statistical surveys
• Contain detailed characteristics of the surveys
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
theme of the survey
contents and object of the survey
method of conducting the survey
sources and form of data collection
body/ bodies conducting the survey
obligation for data provision
budget for the survey
• Annual operating plans developed in conformity with the
national statistical programmes
– Define the allocation of tasks between different departments and
divisions, including aspects of data exchange
Provision of data for statistical
surveys
• Protection of Confidentiality
• Legal mandate to encourage response
– Response burden
Thank you