BULGARIAN NATIONAL STATISTICAL SYSTEM Assoc. Prof. Mariana Kotzeva President of the National Statistical Institute September 29th, 2010 DGINS Sofia

REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA

 Geographic co-ordinates – N, E;  Area sq. km;  Climate - four seasons, temporate with snowy winters and warm summers;  Administrative and territorial division - 28 districts (oblasti). REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA Main Indicators:  Population (Mill.)– 7.6;  Life Expectancy (for the period ):  Females – 76.6;  Males – 69.5.

REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA State government PARLIAMENTARY REPUBLIC NATIONAL ASSEMBLY Head of the state PRESIDENT The NATIONAL STATISTICAL INSTITUTE (NSI) has a statute of a state agency. Council of Ministers Prime Minister 16 Ministries 4 State agencies

130 years of history of the Bulgarian official statistics First period – Second period – Third period Nowadays – 2007 onwards

The most important historical dates  1880 – The Statistical Division was created at the Ministry of Finance (June 25 th, 1880);  The First Population Census took place as of January 1 st, 1881;  Statistical Division turned into an independent Statistical Office;  1897 – A Law on the Statistics Directorate in the Principality of Bulgaria and a Law on Population Census, Housing Fund and Livestock were adopted;  1910 – The first Statistical Yearbook was published;  1925 – The first Household Budget Survey took place.

 1991 – A Law on Statistics was adopted – the National Statistical Institute (NSI) was created;  A Law on Statistics in compliance with the EU legislation;  2000 – The preliminary EU negotiations on Chapter 12 Statistics were closed;  2003 – Bulgaria officially joined the IMF’s Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS);  2007 – The Bulgarian Statistics was integrated into the European Statistical System;  2008 – The Law on Statistics was amended in compliance with the draft of the future regulation – EC 223/2009;  2009 – A Law on Population Census and Housing Fund The most important historical dates

National Statistical System (NSS)  The National Statistical System (NSS) carries out activities related to:  Collecting, processing, analyzing and storing of statistical data;  Provision and dissemination of statistical information in the country.  The NSS consist of the National Statistical Institute (NSI), the Bodies of Statistics and the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB);  The NSI plays the leading methodological and coordinating role;  The statistical activity is regulated by:  The law on Statistics;  EC Regulations in the field of statistics.  The vision, the objectives and priorities of development of NSS – Strategy for development of the National Statistical System of the Republic of Bulgaria,

Bodies of Statistics - structural units at the State Administration, which are Bodies of Statistics according to the Law on Statistics, article 3 BODIES OF STATISTICSADMINISTRATION Intrastat Directorate National Revenue Agency MINISTRY OF FINANCE Customs Statistics and Analyses Division Customs Statistics and Automation Directorate Customs Agency Directorate "Agrarian Statistics"MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD National Centre for Health Information (NCHI)MINISTRY OF HEALTH Port Registers and Control Directorate Executive Agency "Port Administration" MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT Registers and Statistics Department Financial and Administrative, Legal and Information Directorate Directorate General "Civil Aviation Administration" Directorate General "Analyses, Planning and Prognoses" NATIONAL SOCIAL SECURITY INSTITUTE Environmental Monitoring Directorate Executive Environmental Agency MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND WATER

The National Statistical Council  Established as early as in 1908  Currently is a body that defines the policies and strategies of the NSS;  The preparation and the implementation of the National Statistical Programme is under its direct responsibility;  Its members are appointed and dismissed by Order of the Prime Minister upon a request of the Heads of the respective institutions.

Structure of the NSI  One President;  Three Vice Presidents;  Ten Departments:  Business Statistics;  Demographic and Social Statistics;  Regional and Multi-domain Statistics;  Macroeconomic Statistics;  European, International Cooperation and Coordination;  Information and Communications Technologies;  Crisis Management ZOV-C, OMP;  Human Resources and Property Management;  Financial, Economic and Legal Activities;  Dissemination of Information.

Regional Statistical Offices - RSO

 Implement state policy in the field of statistics on the territory of the district where they are situated;  Carry out collection of statistical data for surveys in all fields of statistics on the territory of the district where they are situated;  Collect, process and analyze statistical information according to the approved methodologies and methods for conducting statistical surveys included in the National Statistical Programme and upon request of external users;  Keep in contact with the local authorities of the state administration and the local bodies of self-government;  Transmit/receive data to/from another NSI structures, according to the Rules for Dissemination of Statistical Information Products and Services. Regional Statistical Offices - RSO

Vision for the development of the NSS The NSS is a system, which produces and disseminates objective, timely and accurate statistical information by using in full the possibilities of contemporary information and communication technologies and observing the principles of the European Statistics Code of Practice.

Improvement of the development, production and dissemination of statistical information for all user groups; Improvement of the institutional capacity of the system; Implementation of contemporary information and communication technologies. Vision for the development of the NSS

Principles of the NSS  Political independence and impartiality of statistical activities;  Active collaboration and cooperation within NSS and with the statistical systems of other European countries;  High professional knowledge;  High quality of provided information products and services;  Respect for respondents.

Priorities of NSS development, important for implementation of the basic goals for the 2008– 2012 period, are as follows: reduction of response burden on reporting units; improvement of statistical information quality; improvement of statistical information storage and dissemination; speeded implementation of new ICT and integration of IT activities within NSS; development of human resources and improvement of labour conditions; development of European partnership and international cooperation; achievement of more effective interaction and coordination within NSS; promotion of confidence in official statistics.

Putting users first  Inflation Rate Calculator was introduced on the Internet site;  Press conferences at the Head Office and at the 28 RSO were simultaneously conducted;  Access for external users to the the Electronic Library (via the RSO) - all statistical yearbooks are digitalized and accessible through the Electronic Library;  Experts provide consultations, user support and information for statistical data users at the NSI’s Reception desk;  The results of the statistical surveys are being disseminated simultaneously to all users’ groups, on a fixed hour – 11 o’clock, according to the Release calendar;  Quarterly current statistical data on the economic and social development of the Republic of Bulgaria are being disseminated to the Bulgarian Embassies abroad.

The new publications’ design

The new Internet site

Reducing response burden Using administrative sources; On-line data collection Simplification of questionnaires; Critical Review of existing surveys and identifying negative priorities

Information system “Business statistics”

Information system “Foreign trade”

International Co-operation: Active participation in the EU and international organization meetings; Developing South-eastern co-operation; Providing technical assistance to Tadjikistan, Azerbaidjan; Developing bylateral co-operation;

Bulgarian statistics The numbers of the changing world