annual report on data collections · web viewthe oecd publishes a report on regional statistics and...

ANNUAL REPORT ON DATA COLLECTIONS 2007

1. Introduction and overview

This report is prepared at the request of the OECD Committee on Statistics. It contains a description of some of the problems related to data reporting by OECD Member countries, and shows, in a number of summary tables, whether the OECD Secretariat considers the transmission by the Member country, for the given domain of statistics, satisfactory (“Yes”) or non-satisfactory (“No”)1. Some of the transmissions may be satisfactory in content, but not in terms of delay (“Yes (delay)”). This is when quarterly data is not available immediately after publication at national level and annual data for 2005 is not yet available in October 2006. If data for 2005 is not yet available in March 2007, this is indicated by "Yes (important delay)". A few other remarks are given in some tables, such as source if this is relevant or necessary.

The report covers the following domains:

1. National accounts

1.1. Annual non-financial data1.2. Annual financial accounts1.3. Quarterly data1.4. Metadata1.5. Other financial statistical and methodological data.

2. Main Economic Indicators (MEI) and Annual Labour Force Statistics (ALFS)

2.1. Price statistics2.2. Labour Force Statistics2.3. Business and consumer opinion surveys2.4. Real and financial indicators2.5. Balance of payments

3. International Trade in Goods

3.1. Monthly data3.2. Annual data

1 . It is important to note that this appraisal is limited to the transmission of the data to the OECD. It is not an evaluation of the global quality of the data.

1

4. International Trade in Services

5. Revenue Statistics

6. Regional Statistics

Compared to the 2006 report, this report includes assessments for one new domain, namely regional statistics. In table1, a summary comparison is presented, domain by domain, to highlight changes in data reporting for those activities which were also covered by the 2006 report.

Overall, the tendency is towards improvements, especially for some collections in the area of annual national accounts. However, problems of timeliness and data availability still remain in several domains. The situation is particularly bad as far as capital stock and balance sheets are concerned. Improvements are also necessary in several countries for monthly international trade indices.

Countries are invited to analyse the situation and take necessary actions, where necessary, to improve the current situation. According to the request made by some Permanent delegations to the OECD, this report will be sent to them for information. The Committee is also invited to agree on the publication of this report on the OECD web site.

2

Table 1 - Overview of changes in reporting quality since last reported year (only statistics which were also examined in last year’s report

Quarterly national accounts Annual national accounts Prices

Labour force statistics

Business & consumer opinion surveys

Real & financial

indicators

Balan-ce of Pay-

ments

International Trade in Goods

International Trade in Services

Regio-nal

stati-stics

GD

P an

d C

ount

erpa

rts

Maj

or b

reak

dow

n of

GD

P

Det

aile

d ta

ble

by in

dust

ry &

ho

useh

old

cons

umpt

ion

Inst

itutio

nal S

ecto

r A

ccou

nts

Gen

eral

Gov

ernm

ent A

ccou

nts

Cap

ital S

tock

and

Bal

ance

She

ets

Con

sum

er p

rice

s

Prod

ucer

pri

ces

Con

stru

ctio

n pr

ices

Infr

a-an

nual

dat

a

Popu

latio

n an

d vi

tal s

tatis

tics

Lab

our

forc

e st

atis

tics

Bus

ines

s ten

denc

y su

rvey

s

Con

sum

er o

pini

on su

rvey

s

Prod

uctio

n an

d sa

les i

ndic

ator

s

Fina

ncia

l Ind

icat

ors

Mon

thly

dat

a by

par

tner

cou

ntry

Mon

thly

dat

a by

SIT

C se

ctio

ns

Mon

thly

indi

ces

Ann

ual d

ata

Dat

a by

type

of s

ervi

ce

Dat

a by

par

tner

cou

ntry

Australia + + - - - Austria + - - - + Belgium + + Canada + + - Czech Republic

+

Denmark - + Finland + France - - Germany - - - Greece + + Hungary - Iceland Ireland - Italy - +

Note: “+”: improvement compared to the previous year; “-” : deterioration compared to the previous year; : serious problem of timeliness;: not satisfactory situation (lack of data, etc.)

3

Quarterly national accounts Annual national accounts Prices

Labour force statistics

Business consumer opinion surveys

Real and financial

indicators

Balance of

Payments

International Trade in Goods

International Trade in Services

Regio-nal

stati-stics

GD

P an

d C

ount

erpa

rts

Maj

or b

reak

dow

n of

G

DP

Det

aile

d ta

ble

by

indu

stry

& h

ouse

hold

Inst

itutio

nal S

ecto

r A

ccou

nts

Gen

eral

Gov

ernm

ent

Acc

ount

s

Cap

ital S

tock

and

B

alan

ce S

heet

s

Con

sum

er p

rice

s

Prod

ucer

pri

ces

Con

stru

ctio

n pr

ices

Infr

a-an

nual

dat

a

Popu

latio

n an

d vi

tal

stat

istic

sL

abou

r fo

rce

stat

istic

s

Bus

ines

s ten

denc

y su

rvey

sC

onsu

mer

opi

nion

su

rvey

sPr

oduc

tion

and

sale

s in

dica

tors

Fina

ncia

l Ind

icat

ors

Mon

thly

dat

a by

pa

rtne

r co

untr

yM

onth

ly d

ata

by S

ITC

se

ctio

nsM

onth

ly in

dice

s

Ann

ual d

ata

Dat

a by

type

of s

ervi

ce

Dat

a by

par

tner

co

untr

y

Japan + + +Korea - + + Luxembourg + - Mexico - + + Netherlands - + - New Zealand -

+

Norway - Poland + - +Portugal + - - - +Slovak Republic

+

-

Spain + - Sweden + + - Switzerland + + + - - Turkey - - - - + - UK - - - + + US + + + + +

Note: See first page of table

4

2. National accounts

Regarding national accounts (see table 2), the Secretariat would like Member countries to adopt the two following principles: 1) transmit to the OECD the data on the day of their publication on a national basis; 2) for European countries, send to the OECD the exact same data that is transmitted to Eurostat and copy to OECD any exchange of messages with Eurostat regarding the content of the transmitted files. While the second principle is largely, but not always, respected, it is fair to say that the first principle is largely not respected. It is important to stress that OECD databases are used by numerous economists (starting with OECD economists) as privileged sources to update their analytical and forecasting models. Delays in the transmission of the data are therefore costly for these national and international users.

2.1 Annual national accounts

It is first to be noted that, generally speaking, progress was recorded in the extent and timeliness of the transmission of the data compared to the previous year (see the number of “+” signs in Table 1 for the columns of National Accounts) except for the United Kingdom. However, there are still cases of missing data, even for very statistically developed countries, in particular concerning capital stock and balance sheet data (most importantly, for non-financial assets, which is table 2600 of the joint OECD/Eurostat questionnaire), for which the situation has not improved. In many cases, the data exist at the national level but they are not transmitted to the OECD because countries have not completely developed the conversion table between their database format and the transmission format. In these cases, countries should complete these conversion tables. If this were done, it would be possible to achieve the ideal of supplying all the available data required by the OECD on the day of publication.

This year 2007 will be special with the introduction of the new format of the joint OECD/Eurostat questionnaire, which will, unfortunately generate some additional work for our correspondents. We thank them in advance for their adaptation to the new formats, which, in the end, should be beneficial to all.

2.3 Quarterly national accounts

In principle, data should be transmitted in the agreed format on the day of publication or made accessible on the NSO’s web site or other output database that can be accessed by the OECD. Quite often NSOs change the format of the data on the spreadsheets they supply without warning. Therefore, it would be greatly appreciated if data sent to the OECD were sent on the day of publication and the OECD were given reasonable warning of any format changes.

In 2006, improvements were made regarding transmission by Belgium, Finland, Greece, Portugal and Sweden. In 2007, the Secretariat would like efforts to be made regarding Quarterly National Accounts prompt transmission by United Kingdom and Korea.

2.4 Metadata

The OECD also releases metadata relating to countries’ national accounts. While the OECD endeavours to ensure that this information is as accurate and as current as possible, this is not always easy to do. It would be a great help if NSOs could check the metadata released by the OECD from time to time and, in particular, advise the OECD when changes are going to be needed.

2.5 Other financial statistical and methodological data

Two other databases and publications, relating to finance statistics, are also managed by the OECD Statistics Directorate: Central Government Debt (CGD) and Bank Profitability (BP). For both of them, the

5

OECD asks Central banks, Ministries of Finance or any other institutions in charge of these statistics of all OECD countries to complete a questionnaire and to transmit the data to the OECD.

· In 2004, new requests on duration and maturity have been added to the CGD questionnaire and most countries have transmitted data on these items in 2005. Generally speaking, progress was recorded in the extent and timeliness of the transmission of the data compared to the previous year. Furthermore, a quality review has been launched, analysed and presented to the Working Group (WPGDM, a subsidiary body of the Committee of Financial Markets) responsible for this very specific financial subject.

· For BP data, the last transmission of data from Member countries was in 2004: at that time, countries were requested to update 2002 and 2003. Generally speaking, progress was recorded in the timeliness of the transmission of the last year data compared to the previous transmission. However, no improvement in the coverage of the banking sector has been recorded.

Methodological surveys are sent with the statistical questionnaires on CGD and BP to ensure that information on sources, coverage and methods is as accurate and as current as possible. Countries used to amend and complete the information any time changes occur.

6

Table 2. National Accounts, by domain

Yes = satisfactory, Yes (delay) = satisfactory on substance but delay in transmission, No = not satisfactory

Quarterly accounts

Annual Accounts

GDP and Counterparts

Major breakdown of GDP

Detailed table by industry & household consumption

Institutional Sector Accounts

General Government Accounts

Capital Stock and Balance Sheets

Financial Accounts

Australia Yes Yes Yes (delay) Yes (no detailed accounts)

Yes Yes Yes (but no ‘non consolidated’ data)

Austria Yes (delay once)

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (not detailed)

Yes

Belgium Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (important delay)

Yes

Canada Yes Yes Yes Yes (no detailed accounts)

Yes (no detailed expenditures)

No Yes (delay and no ‘consolidated’ data)

Czech republic Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes (important delay; 2005 available for S13 only; no ‘consolidated’ data’)

Denmark Yes Yes Yes Yes (delay) Yes Yes (important delay)

Yes

Finland Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes France Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (not

detailed)Yes

Germany Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No (some inconsistencies)Greece Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No YesHungary Yes Yes Yes No Yes No YesIceland Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No financial accountsIreland Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No (only sector S13 is

available)Italy Yes Yes Yes Yes (delay) Yes Yes (important

delay, not detailed)

Yes

Japan Yes Yes (delay) Yes (delay) Yes (delay) Yes (delay) Yes (not detailed)

Yes (important delay; no ‘consolidated’ data)

7

Korea Yes (delay) Yes Yes Yes ( part only) Yes No No (important delay; new data based on SNA93 but no “consolidated’ data)

Luxembourg Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No (only sector S13 available)

8

Table 2 (continued). National Accounts, by domain

Quarterly accounts

Annual Accounts

GDP and Counterparts

Major breakdown of GDP

Detailed breakdown of GDP

Institutional Sector Accounts

General Government Accounts

Capital Stock and Balance Sheets

Financial Accounts

Mexico Yes Yes (important delay)

Yes (important delay) Yes (important delay)

Yes (important delay, no sub-sectors)

No Yes (important delay; but new data from new sources provided for all accounts for the 1st time)

Netherlands Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes New Zealand Yes Yes (delay) Yes (delay) No Yes (important

delay)No No financial accounts

Norway Yes Yes Yes Yes (important delay)

Yes No Yes

Poland Yes Yes Yes (format, quality) Yes (delay, quality)

Yes No Yes

Portugal Yes Yes Yes Yes (important delay)

Yes Yes (important delay, not detailed)

Yes

Slovakia Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Spain Yes Yes Yes (delay) Yes Yes No Yes Sweden Yes Yes Yes (important delay) Yes Yes No Yes Switzerland Yes Yes) Yes Yes (delay) Yes (delay) Yes (not

detailed)No (important delay; transmission of ‘non consolidated’ balance sheets over a short period)

Turkey Yes Yes No No No No No (transmission of data for the financial sector over a very short period)

United Kingdom No Yes (problems of quality)

Yes (delay, problems of quality)

Yes (problems of quality)

Yes No Yes (but no ‘consolidated’ data)

United States Yes Yes Yes Yes ( no detailed

Yes Yes Yes (no ‘consolidated’ data, except for S13)

9

accounts)

10

3. Main Economic Indicators (MEI) and Annual Labour Force Statistics (ALFS)

The following tables outline national data collection experience for statistics collected for dissemination in the OECD Main Economic Indicators (MEI) and Annual Labour Force Statistics (ALFS) databases. The report covers: prices, labour force, population and vital statistics, business and consumer opinion surveys, real indicators, financial indicators, and balance of payments.

As previously reported to CSTAT, data for the MEI are mainly obtained by the OECD via on-line access to national databases through websites and by national transmission of files to the OECD. On-line access to national databases and time series on-line through websites are the preferred access mechanism and account for just over 50% of the data flows between source agencies and the OECD for MEI. The OECD encourages all Member countries to locate as much data as possible on such databases.

3.1 Price statistics

Price statistics are obtained from direct access to national databases in 19 countries and from files sent by 12 countries; within these 12 countries some data are available from press releases published on the NSO’s web sites.

Table 3. Price statistics

Country Source Consumer prices Producer prices Construction prices

Australia NSO/CB, D.A. Yes Yes n.c.Austria NSO, D.A. Yes Yes YesBelgium CB Yes Yes n.c.Canada NSO, D.A. Yes Yes YesCzech Republic NSO Yes Yes n.a.Denmark NSO, D.A. Yes Yes YesFinland NSO, D.A. Yes Yes YesFrance NSO, D.A. Yes Yes YesGermany NSO, D.A. Yes Yes YesGreece NSO Yes Yes YesHungary NSO Yes Yes n.a.Iceland NSO Yes Yes YesIreland NSO, D.A. Yes Yes n.a.Italy NSO, D.A. Yes Yes YesJapan NSO for CPI and CB for PPI Yes Yes n.a.Korea NSO/CB Yes Yes n.a.Luxembourg NSO Yes Yes n.a.Mexico CB, D.A. Yes Yes YesNetherlands NSO, D.A. Yes Yes YesNew Zealand NSO, D.A. Yes Yes n.c.Norway NSO, D.A. Yes Yes YesPoland NSO Yes Yes n.a.Portugal NSO Yes Yes YesSlovak Republic NSO Yes Yes n.a.Spain D.A. Yes Yes YesSweden NSO, D.A. Yes Yes YesSwitzerland NSO Yes Yes n.a.Turkey NSO Yes Yes YesUnited Kingdom NSO, D.A. Yes Yes n.a.United States NSO, D.A. Yes Yes YesEuro area Eurostat, D.A. Yes Yes n.a.

Note: Yes = satisfactory; Yes (delay) = satisfactory on substance but delay in transmission; Yes (substance) = satisfactory on delay but issues with substance; No = not satisfactory; n.a. = not applicable; n.c. = not collected ; D.A. Yes = Direct access mainly by OECD to national database or through internet and satisfactory on substance

11

3.2 Labour Force Statistics

Labour force statistics are collected by the OECD for dissemination to internal and external users in two databases, monthly MEI and annual Labour Force Statistics (ALFS).

Data for the ALFS publication are primarily collected in an Excel file questionnaire prepared by the Statistics Directorate and sent around the end of January each year. This collection is co-ordinated with the OECD’s Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Directorate (ELSA). The entire set of “questionnaires” comprises around 12 Excel files, most of which collect detailed data not published in ALFS but service the needs of ELSA. Around 80% of Member countries generally forward their ALFS information either by the due date or soon thereafter and speed of transmission is generally not of major concern. However, considerable OECD resources are used in obtaining information where data are incomplete.

An issue to be resolved in future is the development of efficient processes for the direct extraction of annual LFS series from national websites, etc., in lieu of NSIs providing the required data in completed questionnaires. At the moment such extractions are undertaken manually. Over the next 12 months the feasibility of using SDMX standards and guidelines will be investigated.

Table 4. Labour force statistics

Country

Infra-annual statistics (published in Main Economic

Indicators)

Annual labour force statistics (ALFS)

Population and vital statistics Labour force statistics

Source Assessment Source Assessment Source Assessment

Australia NSO Yes NSO Yes (2007) NSO No (2007) issue (a)

Austria WIFO D.A Yes NSO No (2007) NSO No (2007)

Belgium NSO&CB Yes CB No - issue (b) CB No -issue (b)

Canada NSO D.A Yes NSO Yes (2007) NSO Yes (2007) issue (c)

Czech Republic

NSO Yes NSO Yes (2007) NSO Yes (2007)

Denmark NSO D.A Yes NSO Yes (2007) NSO Yes (2007)

Finland NSO D.A Yes NSO Yes (2007) NSO Yes (2007)

France NSO D.A, Yes NSO No (2007) NSO No (2007)

Germany NSO D.A ,No (1) NSO No (2007) NSO No (2007)

Greece NSO Yes NSO No (2007) NSO Yes (2007)

Hungary NSO Yes NSO Yes (2007) NSO Yes (2007)

Iceland NSO & CB

Yes NSO Yes (2007) NSO Yes (2007)

Ireland NSO D.A Yes (2) NSO Yes (2007) NSO Yes (2007)

Italy NSO No (3) NSO Yes (2007) NSO Yes (2007)

Japan NSO & CB

Yes NSO Yes (2007) NSO Yes (2007)

Korea NSO Yes NSO Yes (2007) NSO Yes (2007)

12

Luxembourg NSO Yes NSO No (2007) NSO No (2007)

Mexico NSO D.A Yes NSO Yes (2007 )substance (d) NSO Yes (2007)

Netherlands NSO D.A Yes NSO No - issue (e) NSO No - issue (e)

New Zealand NSO D.A Yes NSO Yes (2007) NSO Yes (2007)Norway NSO D.A Yes NSO Yes (2007) substance (f) NSO Yes (2007)Poland NSO Yes NSO Yes (2007) NSO No (2007)Portugal NSO &

CBYes NSO Yes (2007)

Substance (g)NSO Yes (2007)

Slovak Republic

NSO Yes NSO No (2007) NSO Yes (2007)

Spain MIN & CB

D.A Yes NSO Yes (2007)Substance (h)

NSO Yes (2007)

Sweden NSO D.A Yes NSO Yes (2007) NSO Yes (2007)Switzerland CB D.A Yes NSO No (2007) NSO Yes (2007)Turkey NSO Yes NSO No (2007)

Substance (i)NSO Yes (2007)

United Kingdom

NSO (4) D.A No NSO No (2007) NSO Yes (2007)

United States NSO & DRI

D.A Yes Census Bureau

No (2007) NSO Yes (2007) issue since 2005 (j)

Note: (2007) = For population and vital statistics and labour force statistics of ALFS relates to the forthcoming 2007 edition of ALFS. Infra annual statistics ( rolling monthly and quarterly update)Yes = satisfactory; Yes (delay) = satisfactory on substance but delay in transmission; Yes (substance) = satisfactory on delay but issues with substance; No = not satisfactory; D.A. Yes = Direct access mainly by OECD to national database or through internet and satisfactory on substance Notes: (1) Germany: The provision of quarterly labour force statistics has stopped.(2) Italy: there are problems with the figures for the armed forces.(3) Ireland: D.A not feasible with the new data dissemination service.(4) United Kingdom: the provision of quarterly labour force statistics has stopped.

Annual statistics (the questionnaire was due mid-March, this assessment was conducted on 2 May). Yes (2007) = the questionnaire was on time and satisfactory; Yes (2007) substance = the questionnaire was on time but there are issues on substance; No (2007) = the questionnaire was not on time; Yes or No (2007) issue= there are data collection issues; Notes:(a) Australia: STD was requested to extract the data from national Internet site which implies specific treatment.(b) Belgium: STD was requested to extract data from Eurostat and national Internet site which implies specific treatment and manual updates.(c) Canada: The questionnaire was returned back with another format which implies a manual treatment.(d) Mexico: Vital statistics are not provided.(e) Netherlands: : STD was requested to extract data from Eurostat and national Internet site which implies specific treatment and manual updates.(f) Norway: Data diverge from data published on the national internet site. (g) Portugal: Last updates of components of change in population refer to 2004. (h) Spain: Components of change in Population not updated for 2006. (i) Turkey: Inconsistencies for components of change in population. (j) The United States: Employment by activity is not provided according to ISIC and there are no correspondence table.

.

13

3.3 Business and consumer opinion surveys

Business and consumer opinion survey statistics are obtained from both NSOs and private research institutes. Statistics for EU countries are obtained from the European Commission in lieu of direct collection from national agencies.

Metadata relating to business and consumer opinion survey statistics are also released by the OECD. Survey questionnaires in national languages are also available for selected countries on the OECD web at a site focusing on international development work and co-ordination of these types of surveys.

14

Table 5. Business and consumer opinion surveys

Country Business tendency surveys Consumer opinion surveysSource Assessment Source Assessment

Australia Research Institute Yes Research Institute YesAustria European Commission D.A, Yes European Commission

Research InstituteD.A, YesYes

Belgium European CommissionCentral Bank

D.A, YesYes

European Commission D.A, Yes

Canada NSO D.A, Yes Research Institute YesCzech Republic European Commission D.A, Yes European Commission D.A, YesDenmark European Commission

NSOD.A, YesYes

European CommissionNSO

D.A, YesYes

Finland European CommissionNSO

D.A, YesD.A, Yes


France European CommissionNSO

D.A, Yes European Commission D.A, Yes

Germany European CommissionResearch Institute

D.A, YesYes


Greece European CommissionResearch Institute

D.A, YesYes


Hungary European Commission D.A, Yes European Commission D.A, YesIceland n.a. n.a.Ireland European Commission



Italy European CommissionResearch Institute

D.A, YesYes


Japan Central Bank D.A, Yes Research Institute YesKorea Central Bank D.A, Yes NSO YesLuxembourg European Commission D.A, Yes European Commission D.A, YesMexico Central Bank D.A, Yes NSO YesNetherlands European Commission

NSOD.A, YesYes


New Zealand Research Institute Yes Research Institute YesNorway NSO Yes n.a.Poland European Commission D.A, Yes European Commission D.A, YesPortugal European Commission D.A, Yes European Commission D.A, YesSlovak Republic European Commission D.A, Yes European Commission D.A, YesSpain European Commission

NSOD.A, YesYes


Sweden European CommissionResearch Institute

D.A, YesYes


Switzerland Research Institute Yes Research Institute YesTurkey NSO Yes NSO YesUK European Commission



US Research Institute D.A, Yes Research Institute YesEuro area European Commission D.A, Yes European Commission D.A, Yes

Note: Yes = satisfactory; Yes (delay) = satisfactory on substance but delay in transmission; Yes (substance) = satisfactory on delay but issues with substance; No = not satisfactory; n.a. = not applicable ; D.A. Yes = Direct access mainly by OECD to national database or through internet and satisfactory on substance

15

3.4 Real and financial indicators

Table 6. Production and sales indicators, and Real financial indicators

Country Production and sales indicators Financial indicatorsSource Assessment Source Assessment

Australia NSO (Files) Yes NSO/Web YesAustria Wifo (Web Query) Yes NSO/Bank/Web YesBelgium NB, but data are provided by

CB (File) + Eurostat (Web Query)

Yes NSO/Bank/Web Yes

Canada CANSIM (Web Query) Yes NSO/Bank/Web YesCzech Republic NSO (File) Yes NSO/Bank/Web YesDenmark NSO (Web Query) Yes NSO/Bank/Web YesFinland ASTIKA (Direct access) D.A, Yes NSO/Bank/Web YesFrance NSO (Web query + Web +

File)D.A. (for most series), Yes

NSO/Bank/Web Yes

Germany NSO (Direct access) + CB (Web Query)

D.A. (for a part of the series), Yes

NSO/Bank/Web Yes

Greece NSO (File) Yes (delay) NSO/Bank/Web Yes Hungary NSO (File) Yes NSO/Bank/Web YesIceland NSO (File) Yes NSO/Bank/Web YesIreland NSO (Web query) Yes NSO/Bank/Web YesItaly NSO (Direct access + file) D.A. (for a part of

the series), YesNSO/Bank/Web Yes

Japan NSO (Files + Web Query) Yes and Yes NSO/Bank/Web Yes (delay)Korea NSO (file) Yes NSO Yes (delay)Luxembourg NSO (file) Yes (delay) NSO/Bank/Web YesMexico NSO (file + web query) Yes (substance) NSO/Bank/Web YesNetherlands NSO (Web query + file) Yes NSO/Bank/Web YesNew Zealand NSO (Direct access) + QNA D.A.,Yes NSO/Bank/Web YesNorway NSO (Web query) Yes NSO/Bank/Web YesPoland NSO (File) Yes NSO/Bank/Web YesPortugal NSO (File) Yes (substance

delay)NSO/Bank/Web Yes

Slovak Republic NSO (File) + Eurostat (Web Query)

Yes NSO/Bank/Web Yes

Spain NSO (File) + Web Query Yes (substance delay)

NSO/Bank/Web Yes

Sweden NSO (Web query) Yes NSO/Bank/Web YesSwitzerland NSO (File) Yes (delay) NSO/Bank/Web YesTurkey NSO (File) Yes (delay) NSO/Bank/Web YesUK NSO (Direct access + file) D.A.,Yes NSO/Bank/Web YesUS NSO (Web Query) Yes NSO/Bank/Web YesEuro area NSO (Web query) Yes NSO/Bank/Web Yes


3.5 Balance of payments

Balance of payments statistics are obtained from NSOs for 8 countries. Central Banks provide data for 19 countries and the Euro Area, with the remaining 3 countries' data come from a combination of NSOs, Central Banks and other institutions. When available, data are recovered directly from internet sites or national databases though some countries send electronic files, sometimes in combination with other data for MEI to the OECD. The data collection process has generally improved in efficiency over the year.

16

Austria conducted a major methodological review of balance of payments in 2006, during which only a skeleton of key series were published. Normal service is expected to resume in 2007. Summary data is also collected for six major non member economies.

17

Table 7. Balance of payments

Country Source Frequency Assessment

Australia NSO Q Yes

Austria

CB

Q

No. Data interruption in 2006, only few series provided

Belgium CB Q D.A. YesCanada NSO Q YesCzech Republic CB M YesDenmark NSO Q Yes Finland CB M D.A. YesFrance CB M YesGermany CB M Yes Greece CB M Yes Hungary CB Q YesIceland CB Q YesIreland NSO Q YesItaly CB M Yes (delay)

Japan NSO transmits data (produced by Ministry. of Finance +CB) M Yes

Korea NSO M D.A. YesLuxembourg NSO + CB Q D.A. YesMexico CB Q YesNetherlands CB Q YesNew Zealand NSO Q D.A. YesNorway NSO Q YesPoland CB M D.A. YesPortugal CB M D.A. YesSlovak Republic CB M YesSpain CB M D.A. YesSweden CB Q YesSwitzerland CB Q D.A. YesTurkey CB Q D.A. Yes United Kingdom NSO Q D.A. YesUnited States BEA Q + M D.A. YesEuro area CB M D.A. Yes


4. International Trade in Goods

4.1 Monthly data

Monthly trade data are either provided to OECD by countries directly (data files attached to emails) or downloaded from databases accessible on Internet sites or copied from electronic and paper publications. More standardized and automated data collection process have been developed in co-operation with NSOs in order to improve timeliness, accuracy and reliability.

4.2 Annual data

Thanks to a deliberate effort, the situation with respect to the provision of detailed yearly merchandise trade data has been significantly improved year after year. Timeliness is satisfactory with the latest 2005 data received in November 2006 that is 11 months after the reference year for the latest reporting country.

18

According to the Memorandum of Understanding, UNSD is now obtaining annual trade data from the OECD for all OECD countries and both organizations feed the data into a joint world-wide trade database system.

Table 8. International trade in goods

Monthly data Annual data

Source Monthly data by partner country

Trade databy SITC Sections

Indices Source Assessment

Australia NSO Yes Yes No data NSO YesAustria NSO Yes Yes Yes (delay) NSO YesBelgium CB Yes

(delay)Yes Yes CB Yes

Canada NSO Yes Yes Yes NSO YesSwitzerland Customs Yes Yes Yes Customs YesCzech Republic NSO Yes Yes Yes NSO YesGermany NSO Yes Yes Yes NSO YesDenmark NSO Yes Yes Yes (delay) NSO YesSpain Customs, NSO Yes Yes Yes NSO DA, YesFinland Customs Yes Yes Yes Customs YesFrance Customs, NSO Yes Yes Yes Customs YesUnited Kingdom Customs, NSO Yes Yes Yes Customs YesGreece NSO No No No data NSO YesHungary NSO Yes Yes Yes NSO YesIreland NSO Yes Yes Yes (delay) NSO YesIceland NSO Yes Yes No data NSO YesItaly NSO Yes Yes Yes NSO YesJapan Min., NSO, Prof. Ass.Yes Yes Yes Ministry YesKorea NSO, CB Yes Yes Yes (delay) Customs YesLuxembourg NSO Yes Yes No data NSO YesMexico CB Yes No data Yes NSO DA, YesNetherlands NSO Yes Yes Yes (delay) NSO YesNorway NSO Yes Yes Yes NSO YesNew Zealand NSO Yes Yes

(recentpdates Yes NSO Yes

Poland NSO Yes Yes Yes NSO YesPortugal NSO Yes Yes No data NSO Yes (delay)Slovak Republic NSO Yes Yes Yes (delay) NSO YesSweden NSO Yes Yes Yes NSO YesTurkey NSO Yes Yes Yes Delegation YesUnited States Census Yes

(delay)Yes (delay) Yes Census Yes

Note: Yes = satisfactory, Yes (delay) = satisfactory on substance but delay in transmission, No = not satisfactory, DA = Direct Access through Internet or FTP siteNSO = National Statistical Office, CB = Central Bank, Min = Ministry, Prof. Ass. = Professional Association.

5. International Trade in Services

International trade in services data are collected by OECD as two datasets:· International trade in services by type of service: statistical data by detailed type of service. There is

cooperation with Eurostat in the collection of these data. For OECD member countries that are

19

members of the EU, the OECD downloads the data from New Cronos - the Eurostat database. Non-EU member country statistics are collected via a questionnaire. Denmark has considerably increased the level of detail reported this year, following the introduction of a new survey.

· International trade in services by partner country: The Non-EU country information is collected by questionnaire. The OECD Secretariat then formats data and makes any necessary geographical adjustments. EU member country statistics are downloaded from New Cronos except for Germany, which sends data direct to OECD. The EU has increased the level of partner country detail available this year as part of the implementation of a Regulation on International Trade in Services. Data for Hong Kong and Russia are also collected.

Table 9. Trade in servicesCountry Source Assessment

By type of serviceAssessment

By partner countryAustralia NSO Yes Yes Austria CB and Eurostat Yes YesBelgium CB and Eurostat Yes YesCanada NSO Yes YesCzech Republic CB, NSO and Eurostat Yes YesDenmark NSO and Eurostat Yes YesFinland CB and Eurostat Yes YesFrance CB and Eurostat Yes YesGermany CB and Eurostat Yes YesGreece CB and Eurostat Yes YesHungary NSO and Eurostat Yes YesIceland CB Yes No data producedIreland NSO and Eurostat Yes YesItaly CB, Ufficio dei Cambi and

EurostatYes Yes

Japan CB and Ministry of Finance Yes YesKorea CB Yes YesLuxembourg CB, NSO, Eurostat Yes YesMexico CB and IMF Yes Yes (substance)Netherlands CB and Eurostat Yes YesNew Zealand NSO Yes Yes (substance)Norway NSO Yes YesPoland CB and Eurostat Yes Yes Portugal CB and Eurostat Yes YesSlovak Republic CB and Eurostat Yes YesSpain CB and Eurostat Yes YesSweden CB and Eurostat Yes YesSwitzerland CB Yes No data producedTurkey CB Yes Yes (substance)United Kingdom NSO and Eurostat Yes YesUnited States BEA Yes D.A. YesEU Eurostat Yes YesEuro area CB and Eurostat Yes Yes

Note: Yes = satisfactory; Yes (delay) = satisfactory on substance but delay in transmission; Yes (substance) = satisfactory on delay but only partial provison of data; No = not satisfactory; n.a. = not applicable; D.A. Yes = Direct access mainly by OECD to national database or through internet and satisfactory on substance

20

6. Revenue Statistics

The OECD publishes the Revenue Statistics each year, usually in October. This publication reports the tax revenues collected by OECD countries in considerable detail. It classifies the taxes according to its own system, which is similar to that of the IMF’s Government Finance Statistics but is different from that used in the national accounts. However, a bridge table has been developed to describe the relationship between the two classification systems. The publication consists of four main sets of tables: i) international comparative tables that show the revenues received from each of the main tax categories, ii) detailed tables for individual countries that report tax revenues at the most detailed possible level of disaggregation, iii) tables that report the allocation of tax revenues by sub-sector of general government, (iv) tables for individual countries that report non-tax revenues. The data for iv) are provided by the IMF, while the rest of the data are supplied through the Delegates to the Working Party on Tax Policy Analysis and Tax Statistics of the Committee on Fiscal Affairs. The Delegates mainly come from ministries of finance, and they obtain the data either from national accounts (suitably adjusted) or the tax administration.

Since 2004, the OECD has requested countries to provide the tax revenue data on an accrual basis and to provide conciliation with the tax revenue data reported in their national accounts. In each year, the OECD asks for provisional data for the preceding tax year and for ‘definitive’ data for the year before that. It also invites countries to report any revisions to data from earlier years. In order to allow the publication to come out in a timely fashion but give countries a good opportunity to provide the latest data, two deadlines are set: one in early June for all years before the preceding tax year, the other in early July for the preceding tax year. While countries are encouraged to report revenue data at the greatest possible level of detail, a key requirement is that they provide enough detail to allow the international comparative tables to be completed. Also, for those countries that have ‘non-wastable’ (sometimes called ‘payable’ or ‘refundable’) tax credits, the OECD asks that they provide information on the amounts of these credits that are set against tax that would otherwise be payable and the amount that is paid directly to the tax payer. This allows the Revenue Statistics to show how the reported tax revenue figures can be affected by alternative approaches to recording such credits.

Table 10 reports the extent to which countries were able to comply with these requests for the production of the 2005 edition of Revenue Statistics, as reported last year. The main results were as follows:

· The ‘accrual’ column shows that most countries were able to provide data on an accrual basis although six countries reported on a cash basis.

· The ‘conciliation with NA’ column shows that only one country that reported on an accrual basis did not provide conciliation with national accounts.

· The ‘data for 2004’ column shows that most countries were able to provide data for the immediately preceding tax year by early July 2005. However, Australia was not able to do so because its preceding tax year ended on 30 June 2005; Japan and Mexico were only able to report central government taxes; Greece, Poland and Portugal were unable to provide any data for 2004 despite the fact that the preceding tax year had ended on 31 December 2004. Also, Hungary and the Netherlands provided their 2004 data more than a week after the deadline, causing difficulties in finalising the publication.

· The ‘enough detail’ column shows that most countries were able to provide their tax revenue data in sufficient detail for the comparative tables. However, Mexico could not provide enough detail on the 1000 (income taxes) and 2000 (social security contributions) classifications, Poland could not provide enough detail on the 2000 classification, and - for 2003 only – Portugal was unable to provide enough detail on the 2000 classification.

21

· The ‘tax credit details’ column shows that most countries do not have such tax credits (n.a.), but that most of the countries with such credits were able to report the requested details. The exceptions were Iceland, Mexico and the United States.

The 2006 edition saw some improvements. These were that Japan and Poland have now started to report on an accrual basis. However, there are still problems with timeliness: several countries are providing data very late, causing difficulties in checking the data before publication.

Table 10. Revenue statistics

Accrual Conciliation with National Accounts

Data for 2004 Enough detail Tax credit details

Timeliness for 2003 and earlier data

Australia Yes NoNo (late tax

year) Yes Yes lateAustria Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes on timeBelgium Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes okCanada Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes lateCzech Republic Yes Yes Yes Yes n.a. okDenmark Yes Yes Yes Yes n.a. on timeFinland Yes Yes Yes Yes n.a. on timeFrance Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes very lateGermany Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes very lateGreece Yes Yes No Yes n.a. okHungary Yes Yes Yes (delay) Yes n.a. okIceland Yes Yes Yes Yes No on timeIreland Yes Yes Yes Yes n.a. on timeItaly Yes Yes Yes Yes n.a. on time

Japan No NoCentral

governm. only Yes n.a. lateKorea No No Yes Yes n.a. lateLuxembourg Yes Yes Yes Yes n.a. on time

Mexico No NoCentral

governm. only No (1, 2) No on timeNetherlands Yes Yes Yes (delay) Yes n.a. okNew Zealand Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes lateNorway Yes Yes Yes Yes n.a. on timePoland No No No No (2) n.a. latePortugal Yes Yes No No (2) for 2003 n.a. very lateSlovakia Yes Yes Yes Yes n.a. okSpain Yes Yes Yes Yes n.a. very lateSweden Yes Yes Yes Yes n.a. okSwitzerland No No Yes Yes n.a. okTurkey No No Yes Yes n.a. okUnited Kingdom Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes lateUnited States Yes Yes Yes Yes No late

Yes = satisfactory, Yes (delay) = satisfactory on substance but delay in transmission, No = not satisfactory; n.a.= not applicable; (1) not enough detail on income taxes; (2) not enough detail on social security contributions

22

7. Regional statistics

The OECD Regional Database (RDB) provides quantitative information on socio-economic issues at sub-national level in 30 OECD member countries. Regions in each member country have been classified based on two territorial levels (TLs). The higher level, Territorial Level 2 (TL2), consists of 335 macro-regions while the lower level, Territorial Level 3 (TL3), is composed of 1 679 micro-regions.2

This classification – which, for European countries, is largely consistent with the Eurostat classification3 – facilitates greater comparability of regions at the same territorial level. In fact, these two levels are officially established and relatively stable in all member countries and are used by governments as a framework for implementing regional policies.

As regional statistics cover a wide range of themes (demographic, economic, social issues) data are generally collected directly through access to the web-sites of National Statistical Offices (NSOs) and other official institutions. For European countries Eurostat New Cronos is the main source of data. A questionnaire is sent to member countries every year at the end of January to collect data not accessible elsewhere and for the validation of data already collected by the OECD secretariat.

The regional database is updated yearly as soon as data become available from member countries. The data collection for Belgium, Iceland, Ireland and Spain is done only via web-site downloads as these countries do not respond to the annual questionnaire. In contrast, most of the data for Japan and Korea are collected through the annual questionnaire, as only a small part of regional data is available in English.

On-line access to national databases is the preferred mechanism to obtain and update regional data and accounts for about 80% of the data flow between source agencies and the OECD secretariat, for what concerns the RDB. The OECD secretariat encourages all member countries to make available as much data as possible in their on-line databases.

Long time series are not usually available for regional data. Since changes in the regional boundaries are not infrequent, in general survey-based data can be estimated for just one or two years before the change. Census data are for most countries the only source for which long time series are available. The OECD secretariat would like member countries to put more effort in providing long time series for data at the sub-national level.

The timeliness of the data transmission for European countries largely depends on Eurostat and the delays with the current year vary normally between 2 to 3 years. For non European countries, data are usually published with shorter delays, but questionnaires sent to member countries are often returned after the requested deadline. For some countries the delay is significant.

The main problem of data obtained through questionnaires is the scarcity of its associated metadata. When figures are published on-line its associated metadata is usually available, while member countries have the tendency to overlook the metadata when filling the questionnaire. Metadata are of major importance to ensure the quality and comparability of data.

Data comparability is a major issue when data from different countries are gathered together for analytical purposes. If for national data international statistical standards ease the task of comparing figures across different countries, at the sub-national level a certain degree of looseness makes comparisons still arduous (i.e. the calculation of the regional accounts aggregates). Some progress has been made in this

2 Level 0 indicates the territory of the whole country and Level 1 denotes groups of macro-regions.3 For Belgium, Greece and the Netherlands, NUTS2 = TL3 and NUTS1 = TL2. For Germany NUTS3 is

different from TL3.

23

direction; however efforts still need to be made by member countries jointly with international institutions, to make sub-national statistics more suitable for international comparison.

7.1 Demographic data

Data on total population and population by age and sex are usually easily available for large regions (TL2), from Eurostat for European countries and from NSOs for non-European countries. For small regions (TL3) data on population by age and sex are collected through the annual questionnaire for both European and non-European countries since Eurostat do not publish population by age and sex at the NUTS 3 level, and NSOs do not always publish these statistics. The same is true for data on deaths.

7.2 Economic data

The main problem of regional economic data is the delay in publication for EU countries. Eurostat publishes regional GDP with a 3 years time lag (i.e. in 2007 the latest available year is 2004). Also the latest data available for Norway (value added) refer to the year 2002 and to the year 2001 for Turkey. For non-European countries data have 1 or maximum 2 year time lag.

Iceland, New Zealand and Switzerland still do not produce any sub-national GDP estimates, while Australia, Canada, Mexico and United States only produce estimates for large regions (TL2).

Data concerning the status of the labour force are available with a 2 year delay for most countries. However, time series for EU countries are relatively short (back to 1999 only) while for non-EU countries longer series are usually available.

7.3 Social data

Social data include a large range of indicators and are only available for large regions (TL2). Most of these figures are collected through NSOs web-sites and questionnaires. For EU countries the information coming from Eurostat includes student enrolment, educational attainments and, for some countries, municipal waste.

7.4 Diffusion

The OECD publishes a report on regional statistics and indicators - OECD Regions at a Glance - every second year (last issue published in May 2007). OECD Regions at a Glance compares major territorial patterns and regional trends across OECD countries. It assesses the impact of regions on national growth. It identifies unused resources that can be mobilised to improve regional competitiveness. And it tackles more intangible factors that can make the difference: it shows how regions compete in terms of well-being (access to higher education, health services, safety etc.).

24

STD/CSTAT(2006)15

Table x. Regional statistics

Population (total, by age and

sex) GDPLabour statistics

Patent applications

Educational attainments

Student enrollment

Crime indicators

Environ-ment

indicators PovertyAustralia Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QAustria DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC Q Q QBelgium DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA DA NoCanada

Q (delay)Q

(delay)Q

(delay) Q (delay) Q (delay) Q (delay) Q (delay) Q (delay) NoCzech Republic DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA* DA NC NoDenmark DA NC DA NC DA NC DA DA* DA* DA DA* NoFinland DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC Q Q* NoFrance DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA DA NoGermany DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC No DA NC QGreece DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC Q* DA NC NoHungary DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC No DA NC NoIceland DA No DA No DA DA DA* DA* NoIreland DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA DA NC NoItaly DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC Q DA NC NoJapan

Q (delay)Q

(delay)Q

(delay) Q (delay) DA* Q (delay) Q (delay) Q (delay) NoKorea

Q (delay)Q

(delay)Q

(delay) Q (delay) Q* Q (delay) Q* Q (delay)* NoLuxembourg DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA* DA NC NoMexico

Q (delay)Q

(delay)Q

(delay) Q (delay) Q (delay) Q (delay) Q (delay) Q NoNetherlands DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC Q DA NoNew Zealand Q No Q No Q No Q No NoNorway

Q (delay)Q

(delay)Q

(delay) DA NC DA* Q (delay) Q (delay) DA NC Q (delay)Poland DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC Q Q NoPortugal DA NC DA NC DA NC Q DA NC DA NC Q Q NoSlovak Republic DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC Q Q NoSpain DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA* DA NC NoSweden DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC Q DA NC Q DA NC NoSwitzerland Q No Q No Q No Q No NoTurkey Q Q Q Q DA* Q Q DA NC* NoUnited Kingdom DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC DA NC Q DA QUnited States DA DA DA DA DA* DA DA DA* No

Q = Questionnaire satisfactoryQ (delay) = Questionnaire satisfactory on substance but delay in transmissionQ (substance) = Questionnaire satisfactory in delay but issues with substanceDA = Direct access by OECD to national databasesDA NC = Direct access by OECD to Eurostat New CronosNo = data not available neither via questionnaire or direct access to data sources* = partially available

25

annual report on data collections · web viewthe oecd publishes a report on regional statistics and...

Documents