Department of Economic and Social Affairs Statistics Division Compilation of Basic Economic Statistics in African Context: Challenges and Good Practices New York, December 2009 1 Table of contents Preface................................................................................................................................4 Acknowledgements ...........................................................................................................5 Introduction.......................................................................................................................6 1. Scope of Basic Economic Statistics............................................................................6 2. Status of Basic Economic Statistics compilation in Africa........................................6 3. Content of the Handbook............................................................................................7 I. Basic economic statistics in Africa: An overview...................................................9 1. Introduction.................................................................................................................9 2. General information..................................................................................................11 3. Institutional arrangements.........................................................................................12 4. Economic census.......................................................................................................13 5. Economic surveys of the formal sector: survey frames............................................14 6. Economic surveys of the formal sector: coverage and periodicity...........................16 7. Data contents of economic surveys...........................................................................17 8. Informal sector..........................................................................................................18 9. Supplementary topics................................................................................................21 II. Experiences of selected African countries........................................................23 Algeria...........................................................................................................................23 Angola...........................................................................................................................25 Botswana.......................................................................................................................27 Cameroon......................................................................................................................32 Central African Republic..............................................................................................34 Egypt.............................................................................................................................36 Ethiopia.........................................................................................................................39 Gabon............................................................................................................................46 Ghana............................................................................................................................48 Kenya............................................................................................................................60 Malawi..........................................................................................................................63 Mali...............................................................................................................................69 Mauritius.......................................................................................................................71 Morocco........................................................................................................................78 Mozambique..................................................................................................................81 Namibia.........................................................................................................................83 Niger..............................................................................................................................86 Nigeria...........................................................................................................................89 Senegal..........................................................................................................................97 Seychelles....................................................................................................................102 Sierra Leone................................................................................................................105 South Africa................................................................................................................110 Swaziland....................................................................................................................121 2 Tanzania......................................................................................................................123 Tunisia.........................................................................................................................127 Uganda........................................................................................................................131 Zambia........................................................................................................................135 III. The way forward: good practices and their implementation........................139 1. Strengthening national statistical infrastructure......................................................139 2. Economic surveys...................................................................................................142 3. Use of administrative data.......................................................................................146 4. Statistical business register.....................................................................................149 5. Informal sector........................................................................................................150 6. Basic economic statistics and national accounts.....................................................152 7. Data quality and metadata.......................................................................................153 8. Dissemination and work with users........................................................................160 9. Reducing the response burden and improving the response rates..........................164 10. Role of international, regional and sub-regional organizations............................168 IV. Annexes..............................................................................................................169 Annex 1: Recommendations of the Delhi Group on the informal sector...................169 Annex 2: Measuring the informal sector....................................................................172 Annex 3: Data Quality Assessment Frameworks.......................................................181 Annex 4: Metadata Components.................................................................................184 Annex 5: Country Note Questionnaire.......................................................................189 3 Preface Over the years, the United Nations Statistical Commission has considered a number of conceptual and practical issues pertinent to the compilation of economic statistics. The Commission has also been concerned with the capacity of national statistical systems to meet the high demand for timely economic statistics of high quality, produced in the most cost effective manner. At its thirty-seventh session held in March 2006, the Commission endorsed the United Nations Statistics Division’s initiative to promote an integrated approach to compilation of economic statistics1. Such an integrated approach would encompass both industrial and services statistics aiming at compilation of basic economic data across sectors, consistent with macroeconomic statistics, and would result in an integrated data system responsive to the need for a wide range of data for a wide range of data users, including policymakers in Governments, industry and the business community. The Commission further recommended that good practices in this area should be identified, documented and made available to the interested countries to assist in their practical work. The Handbook “Compilation of Basic Economic Statistics in African Context: Challenges and Good Practices” was prepared in accordance with this initiative. The purpose of this Handbook is to assist African countries to strengthen their capacity to compile high quality basic economic statistics by learning from each other’s experience using the information on country practices presented in a structured and coherent manner. It is hoped that description of good practices in the compilation and dissemination of basic economic statistics will provide useful guidance for overcoming critical issues and challenges in the future. The proceedings of the two workshops on the compilation of basic economic statistics organized jointly by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and the African Center for Statistics (ACS) (16-19 October 2007, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), and by the United Nations Statistics Division and Statistics South Africa (SSA) (23-26 July 2007, Pretoria, South Africa) as well as the results from the survey of African countries practices in basic economic statistics carried out by UNSD during 2008 and 2009, provided the major inputs for the preparation of the Handbook. The Handbook also benefited from numerous comments received from country and regional organizations experts. The main target audience for this Handbook is the staff of national statistical offices responsible for the compilation of economic statistics, though it is also useful reference for regional and international organizations collecting and disseminating economic statistics aggregates as well as for the users of these statistics. 1 United Nations Economic and Social Council , Statistical Commission 2006, Document E/CN.3/2006/5 4 Acknowledgements The Handbook “Compilation of basic economic statistics in African context: challenges and good practices” was prepared by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) in collaboration with the African Center for Statistics (ACS) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and participants from national statistical offices in the African region and from the following regional and sub-regional partner organizations: African Union (AU), African Development Bank (ADB) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Members of the national statistical offices included (in alphabetical order): Abebe Kirkos (Ethiopia), Adriano Matsimbe (Mozambique), Akoly Gentry (Togo), Araba Forson (Ghana), Atai Imelda Musana (Uganda), Awatef Abou-Gendy (Egypt), Brehima Sanogo (Mali), Fasil Engida (Ethiopia), Frederick J. Von Reibnitz (South Africa), George Oparaku (Nigeria), Gerda Bruer (South Africa), Iharimamy Andriamarozaka (Madagascar), Itani Magwaba (South Africa), James William Mubiru (Uganda), Jameson Ndawala (Malawi), Joyce Essel-Mensah (South Africa), Khalil El Gazri (Senegal), Li Fa Cheung Kai Su (Mauritius), Litia Simbangala (Zambia), Mageru Haile (Ethiopia), Mamadou Niang (Senegal), Mamadou Sarr (Senegal), Marietha Gouws (South Africa), Matthews Sewanyana (Uganda), Michael Manamela (South Africa), Ndamona Kali (Namibia), Olivier Tchamago Kouedeu (Cameroon), Patrick Naidoo (South Africa), Philip Amara (Sierra Leone), Phillip Lesame (South Africa), Rashad Cassim (South Africa), Ria Louw (South Africa), Ruth K. Mothibi (Bostwana), Salem Amari (Tunisia), Samuel Njuru (Kenya), Shebo Nalishebo (Zambia), Titus Mwisomba (Tanzania), and Yasin Mossa Ali (Ethiopia). Members of regional and sub-regional organizations included: Beejaye Kokil (ADB), Jose Awong Alene (AU), Joseph Tinfissi Ilboudo (ECOWAS), and Yeo Dossina (AU). The United Nations Statistics Division is grateful to the participants for their fruitful collaboration. Their valuable contributions throughout the drafting of the Handbook and during the two workshops on basic economic statistics held in 2007 in South Africa and Ethiopia respectively were essential to the preparation of this manual. The preparation of the Handbook was undertaken under guidance and supervision of Mr. Vladimir Markhonko. Mr. Thierno Aliou Balde was responsible for the preparation of the text under the direct supervision of Ms. Youlia Antonova who provided guidance and review of the document in its minute details. They were also supported by Ms. Arlene Adriano. 5 Introduction 1. Scope of Basic Economic Statistics 1. Basic economic statistics are produced with the main objective to provide information about the structure of an economy and its sectors to policy makers and business community to assist them in facts based decision making as well as to provide a foundation for the compilation of sound national accounts. These statistics reflects characteristics and activities of units engaged in production of goods and services obtained by means of direct statistical observation (census or survey) or derived from administrative sources. The production units of both formal and informal sectors, as well as producers of market and non-market services are in scope of basic economic statistics. 2. The term “basic economic statistics” (BES), as used in the Handbook, refers to a subset of economic statistics primarily concerned with the characteristics and activities of units engaged in the production of goods and services for market purposes only. Taking into account the role of the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, Revision 3.1 (ISIC, Rev.3.1)2 as the activity classification for use in all applicable areas of economic statistics, the BES could be defined in terms of ISIC as covering all units classifiable in ISIC sections A - Agriculture, hunting, forestry, B - Fishing, C - Mining and quarrying, D - Manufacturing, E - Electricity, gas and water supply, F - Construction, G - Wholesale and retail trade, H - Hotels and restaurants, I - Transport, storage and communications, J - Financial intermediation, K - Real estate, renting and business activities, M - Education, N - Health and social work, and O - Other community, social and personal service activities. If certain units classifiable in those sections are engaged in non-market production, they are not covered in the scope of BES. Examples of such units are those providing non-market services in education, health or community, social and personal service activities. Activities of entities in L - Public administration and defense; compulsory social security, P - Activities of private households as employers and undifferentiated production activities of private households and Q - Extraterritorial organizations and bodies are also excluded. 3. For practical reasons certain economy wide types of economic statistics such as balance of payments statistics, monetary and financial statistics, government finance statistics, statistics of merchandise trade as well as price and labor force statistics are also left out from the scope of this publication. 2. Status of Basic Economic Statistics compilation in Africa 4. The compilation of high quality basic economic statistics is essential to the ability of national statistical offices to meet the data needs of policy-makers, business community and to compile sound national accounts. In many countries however, 2 United Nations publication, Sales No. E.03.XVII.4. 6 including African countries, basic economic statistics are not complete or are of poor quality. A number of assessments of statistical development in the African region have highlighted serious problems and challenges with the compilation and dissemination of statistical data, resulting in inadequate statistical information in general. 5. The status of basic economic statistics in Africa is characterized by many difficulties and weaknesses, the most important of which being a frequent non compliance of economic censuses and surveys with international statistical standards and sound statistical techniques in sampling and data processing; absence of or outdated business registers; inadequate frequency of data collection; low response rates; lack of or inadequate coverage of informal and services sectors by existing surveys and, as a consequence a non compliance with the System of National Accounts, 1993 (1993 SNA)3. The existing institutional problems such as insufficient resources in the national statistical offices and unsatisfactory level of collaboration between the various agencies of the national statistical system, especially between the Central Bank, line ministries and the national statistical office also hamper the advancement of BES compilation in African region. 6. Concerned with the difficulties faced by African countries in the efforts for strengthening their statistical capacity, the United Nations Statistics Division has decided to put significantly more attention to the enhancement of basic economic statistics compilation in its statistical capacity building programme for African countries. Accordingly, the Statistics Division has cooperated closely with the African Center for Statistics at the UNECA and other regional and sub-regional partners, including among others, the African Union (AU), the African Development Bank (AFDB), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) etc., in order to create as much synergy as possible with their ongoing activities and to use the available resources in the most efficient way. Publication of this handbook is one concrete step in this direction. 3. Content of the Handbook 7. The Handbook “Compilation of Basic Economic Statistics in African Context: Challenges and Good Practices” was developed to ensure that the information about African countries’ work programmes in economic statistics, their practices and needs are made available in one document to allow for a better exchange of experience and ideas as well as for monitoring the progress in the implementation of the integrated economic statistics framework. Also, the Handbook identifies and addresses a number of critical issues and challenges faced by African countries in compilation and dissemination of basic economic statistics. Finally, it describes good practices which, when implemented taking into account specific circumstances of each country, will contribute towards improvement of the compilation and dissemination of these statistics. 3 United Nations publication, Sales No. 94.XVII.4 7 8. The Handbook had been prepared by UNSD pursuant to the conclusions of the two workshops on basic economic statistics for African countries organized in 2007 in Pretoria, South Africa and in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia respectively. The workshops provided an excellent opportunity for African countries to have an overview of a wide range of issues relevant to compilation of basic economic statistics, exchange both positive and negative experiences, review priorities and strategies and to set the stage for further work. 9. The Handbook incorporates also inputs from the national statistical offices of African countries received during the survey on the country practices and the subsequent consultations with them on the Handbook’s content. The survey was first conducted among the participants of the second workshop held in Addis Ababa and later on, it was extended to the remaining countries. Topics covered in the survey included issues of key importance for the organization and conduct of economic statistics programmes at national level, such as the institutional environment, the types of economic surveys/censuses conducted for both the formal and informal sector, the methods of data collection and enumeration, the types of collected variables, the data collection and processing techniques used, the future plans, and the major issues and challenges encountered by countries in the area of basic economic statistics. Regional and sub- regional partners also contributed to the review of the document and proposed ways of improving the text. 10. The content of the Handbook is organized into three chapters. The first chapter “Basic economic statistics in Africa: An overview” gives a summary of the status of basic economic statistics compilation in African countries, based on the aggregated results of the conducted survey. The second chapter “Experiences of selected African countries” contains a detailed description of national practices in compilation and dissemination of basic economic statistics. The individual country information in this chapter is organized according to the structure of the survey questionnaire. Information from additional methodological documents provided by countries and clarifying specific parts of basic economic statistics compilation is also included. The last chapter “The way forward: good practices and their implementation” identifies good practices and provides guidance on their implementation intended to help African countries in dealing with the issues and challenges encountered in their daily activities in the area basic economic statistics. 8 I. Basic economic statistics in Africa: An overview 1. Introduction 1. This chapter gives an overview of the state of basic economic statistics compilation in Africa by presenting the aggregated results of the survey study on African country practices conducted by UNSD in July 2007-December 2008. In addition to the information provided from filled questionnaires, the official websites of countries have been used to complement their replies. The survey questionnaire4 has been prepared in English and French in order to increase the response rate by allowing African countries to respond in their own official language. It has been designed to provide a clear picture of the current country practices in the compilation of basic economic statistics, while at the same time allow for comparisons between the practices of individual countries. The structure of this chapter, in terms of the contents of the sections, follows closely the one adopted in the questionnaire. 2. The questionnaire had eight sections: - Section entitled General information asked about the legal environment for the production of official statistics in the country such as the existence of a statistical law or other regulations that define rights and responsibilities of the statistical office. Also, this section inquired how the work on economic statistics is organized within the statistical office by requesting the organizational chart and the work programme in the area of economic statistics; - Section 1. Institutional arrangements was intended to collect information on the organization of the statistical system with respect to the production of economic statistics. The section asked whether there are other agencies besides the National Statistical Office responsible for the compilation of statistics for particular economic activities; - Section 2. Economic census was focused on one of the most commonly used data sources for compilation of economic statistics – the economic census. The topics covered included the periodicity of conducted economic censuses, units surveyed and whether a specific threshold was applied, as well as, whether administrative data were used to supplement direct enumeration. Countries had the opportunity to indicate their plans for conduct of an economic census in the future; - Section 3. Survey frames used in surveys of formal sector collected information about units of formal sector of the economy and types of survey frames used (area based frame, list based frame, etc.). Business register maintained by countries for statistical purposes is recommended as the most appropriate source from which to derive the sampling frame for BES surveys. If Statistical Business Register does 4 See Annex 5 for the content of the questionnaire. 9 not exist, countries were asked to indicate their plans on establishing statistical business registers in the future; - Section 4. Coverage and periodicity of economic surveys of formal sector asked countries to indicate which one of the following options they apply: (i) the survey may completely enumerate all units above a given cut-off point and sample the others; or (ii) estimates for the small units may be made from administrative data sources. In addition, countries should indicate the periodicity of these surveys (infrequent, annual, quarterly or monthly) as well as the collection method; - Section 5. Data contents of economic surveys and their periodicity aimed to collect information about what type of data items/variables countries include in their economic surveys according to their periodicity; - Section 6. Informal sector concentrated on one of the major challenges for developing countries – statistical coverage and measurement of the informal sector units and their activities. The section included questions about the means of statistical observation through which data about activities of the economic units in the informal sector are collected and compiled, their periodicity and the type of data items collected; - Section 7. Supplementary topics asked countries to provide information on several other important issues that accompany the production of basic economic statistics at national level such as the dissemination of the data and metadata, the availability of advance release calendar, relations with users and factors and challenges that impede the compilation of basic economic statistics. 3. A total of 27 African countries responded to the questionnaire and many of them provided additional information on their practices in the compilation and dissemination of basic economic statistics. In terms of GDP and total number of population these countries represent 84 percent5 from the regional GDP and 73 percent6 of the total population in Africa during 2006 (see Table 1 below). These results are judged representative enough and sufficient to allow for a meaningful analysis of the current state of basic economic statistics compilation in African region. 5 Source: UNSD National Accounts Main Aggregates Database, available at: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/snaama/selectionbasicFast.asp. 6 Source: UNSD Demographic Yearbook, 2006. 10