Country presentation Maldives How useful are administrative data for statistical purposes

Overview  A decentralized statistical system  Various government ministries and agencies generating statistics through censuses, surveys and through by-product of administrative and regulatory functions  The Statistics Division (SD) of the Ministry of Planning and National Development (MPND) occupies a key role in generating all-purpose statistics  It has the critical role of coordinating the statistical activities in the country

Administrative statistics compiled by some Ministries and Agencies (1) o Maldives Monetary Authority:- Balance of Payments and Financial and monetary statistics o Ministry of Finance, Inland Revenue:- Government finance statistics including budgeted expenditure and revenue, current and capital expenditure. o Ministry of Trade and Industry :- Register of companies, partnerships and proprietorships (lists and annual reports of profit and loss and balance sheets of companies)

Administrative statistics compiled by some Ministries and Agencies (2) o Ministry of Health :- Vital registration and health statistics o Ministry of Education :- Education statistics o Maldives Customs Service:- External trade statistics, duty exemptions.

Administrative statistics compiled by some Ministries and Agencies (3) o Ministry of Tourism :- Tourism related statistics (number of tourists, resorts and tourism manpower) o Ministry of Higher Education, Employment and Social Security :- Manpower, labor and employment statistics (expatriate labor, vacancies and job seekers, and overseas training of government staff) o Ministry of Justice :- Judicial statistics

In Addition, MPND compiles and publishes the annual series of the Maldives Statistical Yearbook which includes comprehensive statistical information on various aspects of the economy and social conditions in the Maldives.

Some important administrative data and how it is used for statistical purposes Vital registration and health statistics

 As part of the service delivery and regulatory function of the Ministry of Health, it generates statistics derived from vital registration and on the delivery and facilities of health services from hospitals, health centers and private health clinics

Health Information System (HIS) consists of various subsystems. Vital Registration System Diseases Surveillance Immunization Nutrition Safe Motherhood Reproductive Health and Family Planning Hospital data and other service based data

Education statistics  Student enrolment (by age, grade, sex)  Number of teachers (by qualification, level, region)  Staff characteristics at schools  In-service training of teachers  Number of classes by session  New entrants to grade one  Number of school leavers at different levels  Allocation of subject period to teachers  Facilities available  Number of classrooms, toilets, water tanks, etc  Income/expenditure

Labour statistics The Ministry of Higher Education, Employment and Social Security collects statistics as a by product of its administrative and regulatory functions. It is in charge of giving quota for foreign workers working in the country and allocation of overseas training of government personnel. It also collects information on secondary school graduates, employment vacancies advertised and job seekers.

Data on expatriate employment are collected through two forms application for quota (to be completed in order to get or to increase quota to bring expatriates) and application for work permit (to get permission to bring expatriates). Information on these forms includes: name, address, passport number, application date, employer’s name/company, sex, type of employment, work site, visa duration, occupation and salary.

Judicial statistics As by-product of the judicial function of the Ministry of Justice, it collects and release statistics on judicial cases handled by the courts in Male’ and all the other islands of the country. The statistics cover marriages and divorces, finished and unfinished cases and new assigned cases. The data on convicts by different crimes are disaggregated by age and sex.

Economic statistics GDP (Real sector accounts) is compiled using Macro Economic Extrapolation methodology whereby, short term volume indicators are used. These area administrative data obtained from various sectors such as tourism, fisheries etc. Government finance statistics is compiled by the Ministry of Finance using Budget and statement of government expenditures and revenues Balance of Payment and other financial statistics is compiled by the Maldives Monetary Authority using statistics collected as a regulatory functions of the banks and other financial institutions.

Conclusion  The need for statistics has been acknowledged and accepted by almost every sector.  There is a great demand for statistics by all agencies, including public, private, NGOs as well as international organizations.  With the rapid economic and socio-demographic development, timely data is very much on demand.  Improvements in administrative data would result in minimizing data collection through censuses and surveys.

Thank you for your attention