International principles governing official statistics at the national level: are they relevant for the statistical work of international organisations as well?

Abstract

On the basis of national official statistics and sometimes other sources, intergovernmental organisations have produced and disseminated international statistics with a quasi-official status. In view of the growing international links of markets, media and governments, demand for international statistics will grow and their relevance for decision-makers and actors in the markets is likely to increase. The institutional framework governing the production and dissemination of international statistics does not reflect this growing importance, however: statistics is still treated as instrument for the other tasks of the organisation in the first right, and not as a multi-purpose and multi-user activity in its own right as in the case for national official statistics in a modern society. If compared to international standards such as the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics or the IMF Special Dissemination Standards, statistical production of international organisations shows deficiencies in important elements such as impartial access, professional independence as regards decisions on methods and concepts, full documentation of sources and methods, or full documentation of the rules governing decision-making on statistical issues within international