1 Meeting of the OECD Short-term Economic Statistics Expert Group June 2002 FUTURE OF SHORT-TERM ECONOMIC STATISTICS DISSEMINATED BY THE OECD

2 Future of Short-term Economic Statistics Disseminated by the OECD Aims of session: Outline a view of the future of OECD short-term economic statistics. Provide a frame of reference for the work of STESEG: for this years meeting for work over the next 12 months Intended as an initial version only

3 Future of Short-term Economic Statistics Disseminated by the OECD Objective of STESEG to: Improve the quality (including comparability and timeliness) of short-term indicators in priority areas of OECD and Member country need. It aims to do this through the provision of a forum for exchanging information on current best practice and the preparation of recommendations to OECD Secretariat and Member country statistical agencies for implementation.

4 Future of Short-term Economic Statistics Disseminated by the OECD Work of STESEG Appropriate balance between: work on specific indicators; and consideration of cross cutting issues covering all short- term indicators

5 Future of Short-term Economic Statistics Disseminated by the OECD Strengths of group: Provides an opportunity for statisticians from Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania to meet and exchange views. Can also tap into in-house OECD experience as users of indicators. Need to emphasize the co-ordination of work with other international organisations such as Eurostat.

6 OECD need for short-term economic statistics OECD economic short-term economic statistics are a subset of broader range of statistics (social, annual) collected to meet the needs of internal users and users in Member countries

7 OECD need for short-term economic statistics Objective of OECD statistics: The provision of quality statistics to meet the internal requirements of the Organisation and those of Member country government agencies.

8 OECD need for short-term economic statistics Objective of OECD statistics: The provision of quality statistics to meet the internal requirements of the Organisation and those of Member country government agencies. Comparability is a key issue. For short-term economic statistics, timeliness is also important

9 Future of Short-term Economic Statistics Disseminated by the OECD Quality dimensions: relevance accuracy credibility timeliness punctuality accessibility interpretability coherence Essentially the same issues as in quality work of Eurostat, IMF, national agencies (e.g. Statistics Canada)

10 Future of Short-term Economic Statistics Disseminated by the OECD All quality dimensions are important and need to be addressed by STESEG But are some more important for the work of the Group? relevance accuracy credibility timeliness punctuality accessibility interpretability coherence Cant do everything. Need to pick priority areas.

11 Future of Short-term Economic Statistics Disseminated by the OECD Some key issues: Are all areas of need adequately covered? Services arent. Others? Use of target lists of indicators. What can be done at national level to improve timeliness? OECD vision is to have indicators on databases the day of their release. What can be done to improve accessibility? Internet is the key. Comparability. What does it really mean? Can statistics be completely comparable? Role of metadata. Consistency/coherence of data published at national level and by international organisations