1. Statistics beyond the National Level –Regional Experiences
Session 3C International Statistics: Beyond the simple collation of national official statistics
16th conference of IAOS, Paris September 2018
Sabir Al Harbi, Director General
GCC-Stat
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2. Regional Integration and Statistics
Many forms of regional integration (Free –Trade Agreement, Customs Union, Common Market, Economic Union, Political Union)
Different motivators – dependent on specific circumstances e.g. economic cooperation, security
But all forms of Regional integration require comparable statistics to
Inform and evaluate common regional policies
Guide and monitor progress
Assess impact on developmental outcomes, regional and national level
Regional Statistics Agencies
Key source of regional statistics
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3. GCC-Stat – Regional Statistics centre in the GCC
GCC-Stat established 2012 – role includes “meet statistical requirements at the GCC level”.
GCC Regional framework
Gulf Cooperation Council, formed 1981, comprises United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.
GCC Secretariat responsible for cooperation, coordination, planning and programmes for common action, reporting on work undertaken by GCC
Specialist organisations, under umbrella of GCC Secretariat, e.g Gulf Health Council, GCC Standardisation Organisation
Regional Statistical requirements:
Statistics to inform regional policy development and preparation process
High level indicators on direction of region and showcase region
Statistical analysis and information to support GCC Secretariat in monitoring implementation of Leaders’ Decisions
Statistical analysis and reports to specialist GCC organisations
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4. GCC Statistical System
GCC Secretariat
GCC Organisations
GCC-Stat
Country Statistical Systems
International Reporting (e.g. UN, IMF)
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5. Case Study 1: Improving Regional data to support Policy process
GCC level policies
Primarily issues at GCC level, and/or issues common to all member countries
Prepared in GCC technical committees, supported by the GCC Secretariat
Reviewed, endorsed/ amended by relevant Ministerial Council, and annual Supreme Leaders meeting
GCC-Stat
Reviewed policies, identified requirements (eg indicators)
Identified gaps in existing data
Set up project to identify administrative data to meet gaps
Initiated Integrated End to End Platform to enhance supply, management and dissemination of statistics
Strengthened statistical reporting
Enhanced links between policy needs and statistical reports
Example of Policy issue
GCC Citizens have equal access to Education and Health care
Other Impacts on GCC Statistical System
Shaping requirements for Harmonised projects
Helping member countries to provide more data
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6. Case Study 2: Statistical indicators to measure implementation of High Leaders Decisions
Project has
Prepared inventory of decisions and mapped shortlist to GCC policy framework.
Conducted focus groups with Gulf institutions
Collected data, with help of NSIs (2017)
Preparing indicators, to assess extent of compliance
Provided range of reports, including dashboard for decision makers (2018)
Impact on GCC Statistical system
Identifying and including GCC level requirements into Harmonised Projects, e.g.
New standard report requirements for Nationality base indicators (Local Citizen, Citizen of other GCC countries, Non-citizen)
Identifying GCC multinational companies (working across GCC), with implications for other economic statistics projects
Helping to move GCC-Stat from Supply driven (Outputs based on adding up available data) to Demand driven (Outputs that meet the needs of regional users – high quality, relevant, transparent)
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7. Regional Data Challenges
Examples
Data not harmonised (e.g. inconsistent, unclear concepts)
Missing data, Different reporting periods
Delays in reporting
Impact
Unable to provide Regional level statistics
Regional data not timely or relevant
Response
Harmonised projects for priority topics
End to End Platform to improve supply, management and dissemination of data
Administrative based Indicator project to increase supply of data
Investigating Nowcasting, appropriate Missing data treatment
Medium term, alternative sources (e.g. Regional Big data sources)
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8. Discussion Points
Being relevant to Regional Users and supporting Regional Integration means
Providing data about the Region, as a entity
Specific analysis, including adjustments may be required
Regional totals may not just be the sum of country level data
Identifying the appropriate data treatment (eg estimation, nowcasting) to meet user needs
Country level information in Regional reports may be different in to what is shown in country level reports
Discussion Points
If Regional agencies need to estimate or revise data, what key steps should they take to ensure the integrity of the national view of the data is maintained?
To meet their user needs, Regional agencies may need to use statistics not released or provided by NSIs. Should this country level data be publicly available?
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