Official statistics principles compared

Abstract

In 2011, the European Statistical System Committee – a committee of the European Commission (EC) – adopted the European Statistics Code of Practice (http: //ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-manuals-and-gui delines/-/KS-32-11-955) becoming the first of three major organizations to issue new policy guidance in as many years for national statistical agencies. The United Nations approved its Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics (http://unstats.un.org/unsd/dnss/gp /fundprinciples.aspx) in 2013 and the United States White House Office of Management and Budget Office became the third in November 2014 with its issuing of Fundamental Responsibilities of Federal Statistical Agencies and Recognized Statistical Units. (http: //www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-12-02/pdf/201428326.pdf). These three actions collectively affirm the importance of official statistical data to the governance, economy, and democracy of countries around the world. They also affirm the responsibilities of the dedicated statisticians, economists, demographers, sociologists and other professionals working to produce official statistics. Each of the three documents represents an updating of previous guidance. The 2011 European Statistics Code of Practice is a revision of the original 2005 document. The U.N. first adopted its Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics in 1994 but revised and updated the preamble for the 2013 release. The U.S. document – also referred to as Statistical Policy Directive Number 1 – combines previous guidance with new guidance into a unified policy statement, while also expanding its application to three agencies beyond the thirteen primary U.S. federal agencies. The documentation accompanying the U.S. directive’s issuance cites both the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and European Statistics Code of PracTable 1 Ten (10) UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics