Assessing National Statistical Systems
PARIS21 Task Team Meeting
Washington, DC
May 21-23, 2001
Principles of official statistics
Statistical system is part of the information system,
provides statistical data as a public good.
 Statistical agencies make decisions on the methods
and procedures for the collection, processing,
storage and presentation of statistical data.
 Presents data in a certain format.
 Statistical agencies are entitled to comment on
erroneous interpretation and misuse of statistics.
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Principles of official statistics (cont.)
Draws data from statistical surveys and
administrative records.
 Data collected by statistical agencies are to be
strictly confidential and used exclusively for
statistical purposes.
 The laws, regulations and measures under which
the statistical systems operate are to be made
public.
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Principles of official statistics (cont.)
Coordination among statistical agencies is
essential.
 Statistical agencies use international concepts,
classifications and methods promotes the
consistency and efficiency of statistical systems at
all official levels.
 Bilateral and multilateral cooperation in statistics
contributes to the improvement of systems of
official statistics in all countries.
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Assessments of National Statistical System
Review current outputs and assess their relevance
to users.
 Determine national priority statistical outputs, their
contents and periodicity.
 Define the information production system,
including data collection, processing, storage and
dissemination capabilities.
 Propose an adequate legislative and institutional
framework.
 Propose a statistical development plan.
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Components of a National Statistical System
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The structure of the national statistical
system
 National
Statistical Agency.
 Line ministries.
 Regional and local offices.
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Coordination and management
 Centralized.
 Decentralized.
 Strategies
and targets.
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Human resources
 General
management.
 Financial management.
 Human resource management.
 Technical statistical analysis.
 Survey design and management.
 Cartography.
 Communications, publications and design.
 Computer systems analysis and programming.
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Infrastructure and equipment
For
 Data collection.
 Data processing and analysis.
 Data dissemination.
To
 Increase efficiency.
 Increase accessibility.
 Reduce costs.
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Management Process
The ways a statistical agency is managed. For:
 Setting goals.
 Developing system wide values.
 Measuring progress.
 Assessing staff performance.
 Communicating at all levels.
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Components of a National Statistical System
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The statistical legislation
The statistical law governs:
 The responsibilities and functions of the statistical
agency.
 The organizational structure of the national
statistical system.
 The rules for the obligatory supply of information.
 The relationships between data suppliers and
users.
 Being accountable for its actions and outputs on a
regular basis.
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Statistical legislation (cont.)
Statistical law guarantees:
 Confidentiality and non-disclosure of information
supplied.
 Publishing and disseminating information free from
political interference.
 Preparing and publishing an advance publication
calendar.
 Independence of the statistical agency from political
control.
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Budgets
Statistics are a public good and financed from
government revenue allocated through the budget.
 The capacity of the statistical system is determined to a
large extent by the level and stability of the financial
resources it receives.
 The more successful national statistical systems are
ones where increased resources are seen to result in
improved outputs.
 Balancing donor funding and budgetary funding and
improving budget management.
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Accountability and reporting
 Accountability
and reporting must be open,
transparent and regular on
 how
those resources have been used
 what products have been produced and
 what plans are in place to improve performance.
 The
statistical agency may be required to
make an annual report to
 parliament
or
 to an independent statistical commission or board.
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Relationships with users and customers
 A wide
spectrum of users - policy makers,
administrators, planners, researchers,
activists, citizens, students, and media
representatives.
 The needs of users can be explored formally
or informally.
 Scientific cooperation with professional
associations, institutes, universities, and
scholars.
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Relationships with users and customers
(cont.)
Consultation with users and suppliers for:
 Planning services to best meet the needs and
expectations of users.
 Monitoring the effectiveness of services and the
load placed on suppliers.
 Prioritizing services and resources.
 Setting relevant performance standards.
 Fostering good relations.

Providing early warning of problems.
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The public image of the statistical system

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Being more open about methods, techniques and how
resources are being used.
Campaigning for the need for reliable, trustworthy and
timely data.
Improving the design and structure of statistical reports,
abstracts and other products.
Providing training and special briefings for data users.
Providing briefings for journalists and other media
workers.
Using external processes to provide a framework against
which progress can be assessed.
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