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The United Nations Statistics Division is committed to the advancement of the

global statistical system. We compile and disseminate global statistical

information, develop standards and norms for statistical activities, and support

countries' efforts to strengthen their national statistical systems. We facilitate

the coordination of international statistical activities and support the functioning

of the United Nations Statistical Commission as the apex entity of the global

statistical system.

staff photo taken on the 70th Anniversary of the UN Statistical Commission, March 2017

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Message from the Director

2017 was an exceptional year for all of us; it will be remembered for a long time! In January, we kicked off the year with the first UN World Data Forum, bringing together 1400 participants! Together with data stakeholders from around the world, the official statistics community clearly demonstrated its commitment to constructive collaboration for better data to improve people’s lives. The UN World Data Forum culminated in the launch of the Cape Town Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data, which not only sets out a shared global vision for better data, but also contains a concrete “to do” list, guiding our steps ahead. The agreement by the Statistical Commission on a global indicator framework for the goals and targets of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 was another highlight of 2017. Over the summer, the hard work of the global statistical community was honoured by unanimous support in the Economic and Social Council and the UN General Assembly. This extraordinary achievement allows us all to shift gears now and fully focus on implementation: Assisting countries to build strong national information systems will be the central commitment of UNSD for the next decade! In this booklet we showcase not only what UNSD has accomplished in the past year, but we are also looking ahead at our plans and priorities for 2018. The booklet’s structure follows closely the work of UNSD’s subject matter teams. In addition to the programme, I am particularly proud to show you also the ‘faces’ of UNSD in a beautiful group photo taken right after the successful conclusion of the 2017 Statistical Commission session. Everyone here, at the UN Statistics Division, understands very well our duty to serve the global statistical system and we are whole-heartedly committed to this task. I hope you will enjoy reading this year’s edition of the brochure. Stefan Schweinfest Director United Nations Statistics Division

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Data Collection, processing and

dissemination of statistical information

Methodology Standardization of statistical methods,

classifications and definitions

Capacity Development Technical cooperation programme

Coordination Coordination of international statistical activities and support of the functioning of the UN Statistical Commission

UNSD Work Programme:

Statistical Classifications Big data for official statistics Development indicators

Geospatial Information Demographic and Social Statistics Gender Statistics Environment Statistics Environmental-Economic Accounting

Tourism Statistics National Accounts Energy Statistics Industry Statistics Trade Statistics

UNSD Priorities for 2018

Ensure success of first UN

World Congress on Geospatial

Information in Deqing, China,

19-21 November 2018

Support the implementation of the

global indicator framework for the

follow-up and review of the 2030

Agenda for Sustainable Development

Complete the research and

development programme mandated

by UN Statistical Commission to

strengthen future data production for

the SDGs

Comprehensive programme to

strengthen national statistical and

geospatial systems through the

development of standards

Ensure the success and wide reach

of the UN World Data Forum in

Dubai, 22-24 October 2018

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UNSD THROUGH THE YEARS

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• Priorities for 2018: • Focus on the Guidelines for Assessing the Quality

of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics.

• Finalise the Guidelines on the Use of Electronic Data Collection Technologies in Population and Housing Censuses.

• Focus on the revision of the Guidelines and Principles for the Development of Disability Statistics.

• Finalise a technical report on statistics on entrepreneurship and continue to provide technical assistance to countries on how to measure asset ownership and entrepreneurship from a gender perspective, including through elearning.

• Organize, in collaboration with the Government of Japan, the 7th Global Forum on Gender Statistics in Tokyo from 14 to 16 November 2018.

• Continue the work on international migration statistics, co-organizing the first International Forum on Migration Statistics and undertaking a series of advisory missions in selected countries.

Demographic and Social Statistics

Achievements in 2017: • Finalised the Handbook on Management of

Population and Housing Censuses and conducted regional workshops promoting contemporary methods and approaches presented in the Handbook.

• Under the EDGE (Evidence and Data for Gender Equality) project (a) finalised the guidelines to measure assets ownership from a gender perspective (b) trained national statistical offices on the use of the guidelines.

• The International Classification of Activities for Time Use Statistics 2016 (ICATUS 2016) has been finalised and endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission in March 2017 as the international framework for the production of internationally comparable time use data.

2020 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses was adopted by ECOSOC in 2015, urging member states to conduct at least one population and housing census under the programme.

Since 1948, the Demographic Yearbook disseminates statistics on population size and composition, births, deaths, marriage and divorce, as well as respective rates, based on data collected through a set of questionnaires dispatched annually to over 230 national statistical offices.

Evidence and Data for Gender Equality

The EDGE project is a joint initiative of the United Nations Statistics Division and UN Women that seeks to improve the integration of gender issues into the regular production of official statistics for better, evidence-based policies.

Demographic Yearbook

2020 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses

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Contains further and more detailed explanations of the recommendations and provides practical guidance for compilers of energy statistics and energy balances by describing country practices.

UNSD Environmental Indicators disseminate global environment statistics on ten indicator themes compiled from a wide range of data sources. Indicator tables, charts and maps with relatively good quality and coverage across countries and links to international sources are provided.

Marks out the scope of environment statistics and provides an organizing structure to guide the collection and compilation of environment statistics at the national level.

Environment and Energy Statistics

Achievements in 2017: • Successful finalisation of the project on

“Supporting member states in developing and strengthening environment statistics and integrated environmental-economic accounting for improved monitoring of sustainable development”.

• Continued implementation of the Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics (FDES 2013) in several countries in different regions.

• Successful completion of the revision of the Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose

• Completion of the Energy Statistics Compilers Manual

• Priorities for 2018: • Launching of the ninth round of

environmental data collection in which several variables contribute to the monitoring of SDG indicators on waste and water.

• Launching of the global consultation on climate change statistics and indicators in response to the request of the Statistical Commission.

• Continued implementation of the International Recommendations for Energy Statistics, supporting SDG Goal 7

• Increased technical assistance on short-term indicators.

Energy Statistics Compilers Manual

UNSD Environmental Indicators

Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics

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The Handbook provides practical guidance on the calculation and allocation of the production of various types of financial services and issues related to the compilation of the financial account and balance sheets by institutional sector in the context of from-whom-to-whom relationships.

Technical Recommendations in support of the System of Environmental-Economic

Accounting 2012–Experimental Ecosystem Accounting

The Technical Recommendations provide a range of content to support testing and research on ecosystem accounting and summarise a wide range of data sources and methods that are relevant in compiling the various components of the ecosystem accounts.

National Accounts Main Aggregates Database

The National Accounts Main Aggregates Database presents a series of analytical national accounts tables from 1970 onwards for more than 200 countries and areas of the world.

Economic Statistics

Achievements in 2017: • Provided services to the Committee on

Contributions (COC) and the Fifth Committee in its review of the scale of assessment methodology.

• Contributed to the global research and capacity building agendas of the System of National Accounts 2008 (globalization, digital economy and well-being and sustainability).

• Contributed to the in-country implementation and advancement of the research agenda of the System of Environmental Economic Accounting 2012, including water, forest, energy and ecosystem accounts.

• Launched the EU funded project Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services

• Priorities for 2018 • Organize, together with the members of the

Intersecretariat Working Group on National Accounts, the 10-year celebration of the 2008 SNA with the launch of a renewed research agenda “beyond the 2008 SNA” and a capacity building program “leaving no country behind”.

• Launch the revision of the SEEA Experimental Ecosystem Accounts to reflect the advancement of the methodology.

• Step-up in-country implementation of the SEEA through rolling out e-learning programmes.

• Deliver, in collaboration with partners in the public and private sector, the Proof of Concept of the United Nations Global Working Group Platform for Trusted Data Collaboration.

Handbook of National Accounting: Financial Production, Flows and Stocks

in the System of National Accounts

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The International Trade Statistics Yearbook: Volume II - Trade by Product presents international trade for 257 individual commodities and for the 11 main Extended Balance of Payments Services (EBOPS) categories.

This manual provides recommendations that are globally applicable and operational. It follows an integrated approach to economic statistics, including the use of common concepts, definitions, classifications and data-compilation strategies.

Trade Statistics

Achievements in 2017: • The first ever UN Comtrade Data Fair was held

in Geneva, attended by about 150 persons. The main objective was to explain and demonstrate the latest tools and applications for international trade data and their analytical use for trade-related research and policies.

• Global Working Group on Big Data for Official Statistics conducted its first four training workshops on satellite data, mobile phone data, scanner data and social media data.

• The 4th Global Conference on Big Data for Official Statistics was held in Bogota on 8-10 November 2017, organized by the Global Working Group on Big Data and UNSD in close cooperation with DANE of Colombia, attended by almost 400 statisticians, data scientists and IT specialists from around the world.

• First workshop on Compilation of the Tourism Satellite Account was organized in Manila, Philippines by UNSD, in close collaboration with the World Tourism Organization and hosted by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

• Priorities for 2018: • Finalisation of the Handbook on Accounting for

Global Value Chains by the Expert Group on international trade and economic globalization statistics.

• Finalisation of the UN Guidelines for Statistical Business Registers by the new Expert Group on business statistics.

• Finalisation of the Compilation Guide for the Tourism Satellite Account.

• Completion of upgrade of the UN Comtrade system, including new data elements and possibility to link with business statistics.

• Publication of the report of the 2017 decennial International Merchandise Trade Statistics National Compilation and Dissemination Practices (NCDP) Survey.

UN COMTRADE is the largest repository of international trade data. It contains over 3 billion data records since 1962, with over 170 reporter countries/areas reporting annual and monthly international trade statistics data detailed by commodities and service categories and partner countries.

UN Comtrade Database

International Trade Statistics Yearbook

International Merchandise Trade Statistics: Concepts and Definitions

2010

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• Priorities for 2018: • Convene the Eighth Session of UN-GGIM in

New York from 1-3 August 2018.

• Develop and implement the Integrated Geospatial Framework that can be referenced by Member States when developing and strengthening national geospatial information management and systems.

• Draft Rules of Procedure and a new meeting agenda to be presented to ECOSOC in 2018, in preparation for the first meeting of the new UNGEGN in April 2019.

• Convene the first United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress in Deqing, Zhejiang Province, China, from 19-21 November 2018.

The 5th High Level Forum on Global Geospatial Information Management, with the theme "Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals: The Role of Geospatial Technology and Innovation"

Future trends in geospatial information management

Strategic Framework on Geospatial Information and Services for Disasters

The Strategic Framework will optimize the benefits of using geospatial information and services by Member States and other concerned entities across all phases of Disaster Risk Management.

The Future Trends report recognizes that the most significant changes in the geospatial industry will come not through a single technology, but rather from linking multiple technologies and policies.

Geospatial Information

Achievements in 2017: • Strengthened arrangements in global

geospatial information management through the adoption of: the Strategic Framework on Geospatial Information and Services for Disasters; the Global Fundamental Geospatial Data Themes; National Institutional Arrangements in Global Geospatial Information Management; and the implementation of a UNSD/World Bank collaboration to develop an Integrated Geospatial Framework as a reference for developing countries.

• ECOSOC adopted a UN Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) resolution entitled “Future organization and methods of work of the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names”. This represents a major step in rationalizing the number of geographical bodies reporting to ECOSOC; five bodies have been reduced to two – UNGEGN and UN-GGIM.

High Level Forum on Global Geospatial Information Management

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The Report provides a snapshot of efforts to date. It stresses that high-level political leadership and new partnerships will be essential for sustaining momentum.

The Global SDG Indicators Database provides access to data compiled through the UN System in preparation for the Secretary-General's annual report.

Statistical Services

Achievements in 2017: • The General Assembly adopted the resolution

on data and statistics for the 2030 Agenda, which contains the global indicator framework for the SDGs. The resolution gives a high-level of attention to the importance of data and statistics, including from new/innovative data sources.

• Data visualizations and a new Global SDG Indicators Application Programming Interface were launched, empowering users to access the global SDG Indicators Database to build their own applications and analyses.

• A project funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) on SDG monitoring was launched, which will support over 20 countries to establish national platforms and exchange data on SDGs.

• The first UN World Data Forum drew over 1,400 data producers and users from public and private sector, policy makers, academia and civil society representatives to work together to harness the power of data for sustainable development.

• Priorities for 2018: • Continue supporting the implementation of the

global indicator framework for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including through servicing the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators.

• Continue innovating and improving tools for experts, policy makers and the general public to have open access to statistical data and methodological information.

• Develop UN recommendations on national quality assurance and an updated UN National Quality Assurance Framework which covers quality assurance for new data sources and providers, and addresses the need for quality assurance for the SDG indicators.

The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2017

The first Forum: 15-18 January 2017 hosted by Statistics South Africa in Cape Town. The second Forum: 22-24 October 2018 hosted by the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority of the United Arab Emirates in Dubai.

SDG Indicators: Global Database

UN World Data Forum

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• Priorities for 2018: • In the context of the Cape Town Global Action

Plan for Sustainable Development Data, the capacity building programme in 2018 will focus on the development and strengthening of institutional and technical capacities in developing countries for the production of high-quality, timely, reliable and disaggregated statistical and geospatial information, which can assist policy-makers in shaping evidence-based policies.

• Continue the implementation of the 4 development account projects and 7 multi-year donor funded projects in conjunction with the regular programme for technical cooperation by seeking synergies and linkages across them as well as partnerships to enhance the coherence and maximize the impact of the capacity building programme

Capacity Development

Achievements in 2017: • Successfully provided an increased volume of

capacity building support to developing countries to develop and transform their national statistical and geospatial information systems to meet the widening, increasing and evolving data needs of policy-makers and other users, including for monitoring and reporting on progress towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and beyond

• Organized 55 capacity building workshops and seminars in all regions of the world (twice more than in 2016) whereby a total of 3,672 statisticians and geo-spatial experts representing 114 countries received training to be able to measure, monitor, assess and report on progress towards achieving the SDGs.

• Launched e-learning courses in several areas, such as environmental-economic accounting, trade statistics and civil registration and vital statistics, to reach a wider audience

2017

55 capacity building workshops and seminars

3,672 professionals from 114 countries

2018

Number of events and participants continues to grow

Capacity Development Portfolio

4 Development

Account Projects

7 Donor-Funded Projects

Regular Programme for

Technical Cooperation

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UNSD at work

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E-Products

World Statistics Pocketbook on Google Play and the App Store

Data Visualization & Infographics

On Twitter @UNstats

Databases

E-Learning

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contact information

Website: http://unstats.un.org/

Twitter: @UNStats

E-mail: statistics@un.org

Fax: +1 212 963 9851

Demographic and social statistics demostat@un.org System of National Accounts (SNA) and economic statistics sna@un.org Environmental-economic accounting (SEEA) seea@un.org Energy statistics energy_stat@un.org Environment statistics envstats@un.org Industry statistics industry@un.org Classifications chl@un.org International merchandise trade statistics comtrade@un.org Statistics of international trade in services tradeserv@un.org Monthly bulletin of statistics mbs@un.org Publications (print and electronic) statistics@un.org

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