Transcript Hallgrímur Snorrason National Statistical Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic The 7th SPECA Project Group on Statistics Improving the Coherence of Economic Statistics through Coordination.

Hallgrímur Snorrason
National Statistical Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic
The 7th SPECA Project Group on Statistics
Improving the Coherence of Economic Statistics
through Coordination of National Statistical Systems
Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan 27-30 August 2012
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Background: The Speaker
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Hallgrímur Snorrason, born 1947, Icelandic
Educated in Iceland, Scotland and Sweden
National Economic Institute, Iceland 1972-1984
Director General of Statistics Iceland 1985-2007
Active participant in international statistical cooperation –
Nordic stat. coop., EFTA, UNECE, UN Statistical Commission,
European Union (European Statistical System), IAOS (President
1993-1995), ISI Vice-President 2009-2013
Consultant/lecturer on official statistics (e.g. Baltic, Balkan,
African, and Arab countries, Ukraine, Greece; work for EFTA,
Eurostat, World Bank, IMF, Nordic statistical institutes)
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What is meant by coherence?
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Dictionary:
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The quality of being logical and consistent
The quality of forming a unified whole
Coherent statistics are logical, consistent and form a unified
whole – incoherent stats are inconsistent and fragmented
Requirements for coherent economic statistics:
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Based on harmonized definitions, classifications & methodologies
If not based on same data sources, the source data must be
harmonized or reconciled
Must be presented in a uniform manner making sure that they are
consistent – over time, between subjects and between institutions
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Relevance – economic and other statistics
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Economic statistics follow international systems which are
based on a common set of assumptions, definitions and
classifications and are inter-linked
These systems have been designed so as to render max clarity of
economic activities and processes and form the best possible
basis for economic policy analysis and formulation
Hence, economic statistics need to be coherent
Social statistics may focus more on specific phenomena, in
particular survey based statistics. However, there is the same
need for consistency and comparability
The need for coherence applies to all kinds of official statistics
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Why coherence in economic statistics?
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Some main perspectives:
User perspective
Producer perspective
Internal NSI coherence – within the national/central statistical
office
National coherence – within the national statistical system of
each country
External or international coherence
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Improving coherence - user perspective
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To improve clarity for users – government, politicians, media,
researchers
To avoid conflicting statistical information
To minimize uncertainty and maximize the focus on what are
the most applicable statistics for formulation of economic
policies, public debate and economic research
To improve the use, the applicability and the value of the
statistics; in comparison over time, between sectors, regions and
with other countries
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Improving coherence – producer perspective
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For reducing / minimizing uncertainty of the statistical material,
its origins and content
For increasing quality – ensuring quality is always a major
challenge; coherent statistics are pre-requisite for quality and
uniformity of the economic statistics
For increasing efficiency – coherent statistical definitions,
methods, classifcations make for efficiency in the processing
Coherent statistics are more trustworthy than incoherent/
inconsistent statistics; they require less explanations, less
defence by the producer and enhance the image of both the
statistics and the producer
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Improving coherence - internal perspective
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Importance of ensuring coherence (consistency) within the
National Statistical Institute and other statistical institutions
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Of definitions, methods and procedures
Of classifications, not only using the same main classifications but
also the same issues (rev. 1, rev.2 etc.) of the classifications
Decisions on the application of these should be a matter for
centralized policy, monitoring and control
Dissemination practices should be coherent – meaning consistent,
standardized over time, between subjects etc.
Coherence (logic, consistency and uniformity) would be aided by
promotion of consistent practices – see the European Statistics
Code of Practice, UNSD handbook on statistical practices etc.
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Improving coherence – national perspective
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Why?
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To improve the usefulness of the statistics – for policy making, for
analysis, for general information purposes
To enable participation in international cooperation
To increase the use of the statistics – by policy makers, analysts,
media, in education and research, by general public
This applies to both quality and coverage
How?
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By organizing or reorganizing the national statistical system (NSS)
By coordination within the NSS
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Organizing and coordinating the NSS
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In most countries there are several producers of official statistics
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A central statistical office designated as the national statistical
institute (NSI)
Ministries – ministries of finance often most important, also
subject matter ministries like health, education etc
The central bank
Other stakeholders like statistical councils
The producers of official statistics and stakeholders must be
organized to form a coherent system of official statistics
The system should be based on a legal act – statistics act
The system should have a strong coordinator – the NSI
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Pre-requisites for effective coordination
and cooperation within the NSS
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Legal reqirement for coordinated statistical activities
The roles of the different players/institutions should be carved
out in the statistics act
The NSI should be responsible for central coordination within
the national statistical system (NSS)
The NSI should decide on the application of definitions,
methodes and classifications for statistical purposes within the
NSS following international recommendations
Public institutions should be obliged to supply their source data
for official statistical purposes as required by the NSI
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Coordination and cooperation in practice
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Necessary to agree on the roles and responsibilities of the
different institutions
Basic assumption: The NSI is the specialized professional
institution in official statistics
Other institutions are specialized in their own fields (policy
making, government finance, administration) and use data for
monitoring of their activities but hand over data for statistical
purposes
The cooperation may be further spelled out in memoranda of
cooperation
The cooperation may be discussed in a coordinating body led by
the NSI
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Obligations of supply of public source data
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Public institutions (including ministries, social security
institutions, tax and customs authorities) should be obliged to
supply the NSI or grant the NSI access to statistical source data,
including administrative records and registers
The obligation to supply data for statistical purposes should
include individual data concerning both households and firms –
the obligation of ensuring confidentiality becomes the duty of
the NSI
The supply of and granting access to source data should be free
of charge, be in the most efficient format as decided by the NSO
and at times and with frequencies decided by the NSI with a
view to national and international obligations
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External or international coherence
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Most countries are to some extent involved in international
cooperation. This invariably includes direct or indirect
involvement or obligations concerning statistics
Indirect involvement – the cooperation requires data or statistics
for monitoring and measuring progress
Direct involvement – obligations to deliver statistics for general
statistical cooperation, e.g. UN, World Bank, IMF, or for
specific development programmes, e.g. EU, devel. agencies
The statistics have to be comparable and consistent, between
countries and over time
Hence, the countries are obliged to organize, produce and
deliver coherent statistics
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Conclusions
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Organizing the NSS for producing coherent official statistics is
inevitable for satisfying both national needs and those following
from international cooperation
Coordinating the statistical activities of public institutions is
inevitable for aquiring the goal of producing and disseminating
coherent statistics
Coordination must include the use of source data, application of
definitions, methods and classifications for statistical purposes
The coordination must recognize the different specialization of
the agencies within the NSS – the NSI is specialized in statistics,
ministries, public institutions are specialized in their own areas
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Coherence through coordinating the NSS
Thank you for your attention
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