2.4 National statistical offices and national statistical systems

In most countries, the main activities and the leadership in official statistics are entrusted to a government agency specialised in the field. In very many countries and in this handbook, this agency is called the national statistical office (NSO). Different countries use different names, such as a central statistical office (CSO), national statistical institute (NSI), or some other name that indicates that the office is public and that it is charged with statistical issues that concern the nation as a whole. Other public agencies may work on official statistics alongside the NSO, such as statistical departments or units of government ministries. This very much depends on the areas of responsibilities of the departments and ministries. In some countries, the specialised departments and ministries, like ministries of education, health, labour and transport, to name a few examples, may develop statistics on their subject alongside their main functions of formulating and implementing policy and performing their administrative duties. Moreover, ministries of finance may be responsible for government finance statistics, partly or wholly. It is also quite common that central banks are responsible for monetary and balance of payments statistics. In many countries, the NSO has been entrusted with the bulk of official statistics irrespective of domains in its capacity as the specialised statistical organization. In those cases, the ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) are often essential data sources for the official statistics compiled by the NSO.

Historical and institutional reasons can often explain the division of labour between the NSO and the different ministries and departments. Still, it may also be the result of deliberate policies. While there are no specific norms or rules for that, two main issues need to be observed in all cases: - that no matter where they are carried out, the statistical activities are very specialised and require specific skills and expertise besides the subject matter knowledge, and - irrespective of the division of responsibilities, there is a need for close cooperation between the NSO and other producers of official statistics in the MDAs.

There are several reasons for the need for cooperation: It is necessary to ensure that the coverage of the official statistics is adequate, both as regards subject matters and geographic coverage. There is also the need to avoid duplication of collection of data and other statistical activities. It is also necessary that all official statistics are based on scientific methods and standards and that they have a common base of agreed and established concepts, classifications, and procedures. Otherwise, there is a danger that the official statistics are fragmented, that there is confusion as to their coverage, quality, and applicability, and that they are not comparable, over time, within and between countries.

The national statistical system (NSS) of a country comprises the national statistical office and all other producers of official statistics in the country. The governing and coordination arrangements of the NSS vary from country to country. These arrangements may be legally binding and required by the statistical laws of the country, or they may be somewhat informal and pragmatic. The cooperation may also be centred around the statistical programmes for the entire NSS. In many countries, the arrangements for cooperation are reinforced by formal agreements, such as memoranda of understanding (MoUs) setting out in detail the role and responsibilities of the different partners. Close cooperation between the NSO and other producers of official statistics is strongly recommended in international fora and is exercised in most countries.

Most countries recognise the role of the NSO in providing the professional leadership of the NSS. The NSO is the designated specialised statistical agency of the government. Official statistics are its main – and often only – concern. It is expected to have the greatest oversight over the needs for official statistics and the extent to which they are satisfied. Moreover, the NSO is most often the country’s representative in the international statistical cooperation with the responsibility of ensuring that international standards and recognised scientific methods and procedures are followed.

That role of leading the NSS includes taking the initiative in coordinating activities of all institutions involved with the aim that the official statistics follow the UNFPOS, specifically including that international statistical methods and standards are applied, and the users are provided with timely and reliable statistics. In some countries, the coordination is based on formal or semi-formal consultations or meetings between the NSS partners, convened by the head of the NSO. In many countries, as mentioned above, cooperation and coordination are centred around the annual statistical programme of the country, in which the parts played by the NSO and the different institutions are set out. Most often, the cooperation within the NSS takes place at different levels of the organizations. Thus, the main decisions and agreements, such as the priorities of the statistical programme and the modes of cooperation, are taken by the head of the NSO in consultation with the other producers of official statistics in the MDAs. The detailed cooperation is then carried out by statistical professionals in different subject matter areas in the different institutions. Thus, the NSS is most often a network of professionals in many institutions working on the statistical programme of the country and official statistics in general along agreed lines of cooperation and division of responsibilities.

In developing countries, statistical development programmes financed by international institutions and other development partners emphasise as a rule how important it is that there is a functional NSS in the country within which statistical cooperation is coordinated and carried out regularly. In the absence of an NSS, they may aim to help countries establish and operate such a system. Hence, medium-term programmes, like the national strategies for the development of statistics (NSDS) advocated and often facilitated by the Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21) and other development partners, are invariably directed at the official statistics of the country through the NSS. Thus, such programmes require full cooperation and coordination by the NSO and the NSS partners.