Lecture Notes - Nss Nso

KAMAL CHAND SEM 2 2023
INTRODUCTION TO OFFICIAL
STATISTICS
WEEK 4 LECTURE
National Statistical System and Offices
1
Intended Learning Outcomes: at the end of
this lecture students should be able to:
1 2 3
Describe the nature, Explain the roles and Identify how some of
purpose and types of statistical the NSOs operate
coverage of national activities undertaken and how they link
statistical systems. by the NSOs and with others.
other OS providers.
2
Recap
Role of data,
SDG– 17 goals
strengths and
(2015-2030)
challenges.
KAMAL CHAND SEM 2 2023 3

National Statistical Systems
Network of institutions/organizations that are

involved in compiling and disseminating official
statistics in a country.
This system is guided by statistical ethics.

NATIONAL STATISTICAL SYSTEM
Central Bank Academic/Research

Institutes
NSO
International
Agencies
Civil Society
Bodies (NGO)
Private
Sector

National Statistical Systems (Cont’d)
• In 2006, the United Nations Statistical Division launched a website that
gives details on each country practices and achievements.
• It contains information on:
(i) country profiles of NSOs
(ii) key features and good practices of their NSS and
(iii) a handbook of Statistical organizations which covers the

fundamentals of national systems of official statistics:general principles,
data collection and respondent policies, principles of
organization and management, andSEM
KAMAL CHAND dissemination
2 2023 guidelines. 6
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/default.htm
Click on “Methods and Classifications”

United
Nations
Statistical Click on “National Statistical Systems”
Division
Locate your country and read about its
systems

United Nations Statistical Division
(Cont’d)
The Statistical statistical agency and its national administration.

The four main features legislation: This is the role in the overall Most countries have
of NSS are: basis for the authority system, including its their own statistical
and powers of a position in law(s) which
Governance issues in modern statistical

dictates the authority institutional and
national statistical systems which has the
and rules under which organizational
systems: These are for potential to pose
the NSS operate. challenges.
managing the numerous legal,

United Nations Statistical Division
(Cont’d)
Country practices of IT technology: This is

helpful because statistical agencies
Country practices on dissemination policy
benefit from advances in IT but at the
which includes pricing policy,
same time could face new challenges on
confidentiality guarantees, internet
the management of their IT systems and
privacy issues and modes of
procedures including record keeping.
dissemination.
This has a strong bearing on the quality
control and dissemination of statistics.

The major role of the NSO is collate and disseminate

relevant data.
It is the data house for the government and through

The National its legislation, the government has a lot of control on
Statistics the affairs of the NSO.
Office However, availability of data at country level differs

from country to country depending on the extent of
development of the NSO.
In the Pacific, the Fiji Islands Bureau is the most

developed statistical agency.
10
In most countries, even if the NSO is not highly developed, there

are other providers of official statistics.
Other
Official These include government ministers, central bank, intelligence
agencies, private research and consulting institutes, regional
Statistical organizations, and more purposefully, the UN agencies.
Agencies Each of these monitor and store statistics of their interest. For
example, the central bank would have monetary aggregates, data
and interest rate and exchange rates and balance of payments.
Each of these institutional units has their research and planning

division who uses these data for planning and policy.
11
Not all the PICs have well developed National Statistics Office
and that is understandable. This depends on a lot of factors,
technology, skills and human resources, development of
legislations and size of the economy, funding, etc.
As mentioned above, the one in Fiji is the largest and most

developed in structure and systems.
The NSOs of
the Pacific There are two regional bodies that provide technical support
to most of these institutions, the IMF Institute for the Pacific
and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC).
Technical capacity building is also supported by the USP’s

Official Statistics program. Other UN and international
organizations are also involved but on an ad-hoc basis, project
basis.
12
The NSOs of the Pacific
• The main role of these NSOs are similar, however their extent of work and coverage of the
economic characteristics differ. The continued initiatives of the SPC have seen a milestone
development in these organizations and the PRISM (Pacific Regional Information System)
now links most of their databases.
http://www.spc.int/prism/
• In some small countries, the NSO itself is housed under the government’s finance/planning
ministry.
13
The NSOs of the Pacific (Cont’d)
However, there is growing The major constraining factors In addition these institutions
demand for trained officers in are resources and institutional have their own legislations and
official statistics, which is capacity, which has become a acceptable practices which
expected to rise as these policy priority of the region as a ensure that the required quality
organizations and agencies whole. The data quality is maintained. Regardless, this
begin to grow in size, scale of assurances are provided under has always been a contentious
activities. the DQAF of the IMF. issue for most of their datasets.
14
This chapter basically focused on the

NSO, their roles and objectives and
the national statistical systems that
gives the required infrastructure for
them to operate.
Conclusion It would be wise to read further on

these two aspects of any NSO of your
choice to built further understanding
of how the two operate with the
broader UN system.
15

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KAMAL CHAND SEM 2 2023

KAMAL CHAND SEM 2 2023 3

Network of institutions/organizations that are

This system is guided by statistical ethics.

KAMAL CHAND SEM 2 2023 4

Central Bank Academic/Research

KAMAL CHAND SEM 2 2023 5

• It contains information on:

(i) country profiles of NSOs

(ii) key features and good practices of their NSS and

(iii) a handbook of Statistical organizations which covers the

Click on “Methods and Classifications”

KAMAL CHAND SEM 2 2023 7

The Statistical statistical agency and its national administration.

Governance issues in modern statistical

KAMAL CHAND SEM 2 2023 8

Country practices of IT technology: This is

KAMAL CHAND SEM 2 2023 9

The major role of the NSO is collate and disseminate

It is the data house for the government and through

Office However, availability of data at country level differs

In the Pacific, the Fiji Islands Bureau is the most

In most countries, even if the NSO is not highly developed, there

Each of these institutional units has their research and planning

As mentioned above, the one in Fiji is the largest and most

Technical capacity building is also supported by the USP’s

The NSOs of the Pacific

The NSOs of the Pacific (Cont’d)

This chapter basically focused on the

Conclusion It would be wise to read further on

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