Online Program

Current developments and challenges in business statistics: Some European experience

Keywords: business statistics, business statistics

The National Statistical Institutes, responsible for the establishment of official statistics, currently face various challenges, not only, but especially in the area of business statistics. Of course, the need to change the scope or content of certain statistical domains or to adapt the processes and methodology used to produce the statistics also occurred in the past, and the quality framework valid for the production of official statistics requires to permanently check if there are possibilities to improve the quality of the statistical products. However, it seems that currently the challenges faced are more complex and comprehensive and will require new ways of dealing with them. Furthermore, one can observe that the number and importance of the current challenges are greater than probably at any time in the past.

Response burden reduction, changed user needs, demand for more coherent data, reduction of resources and especially also the issues related to globalization are viewed as the most important challenges, not neglecting that there are a lot of others. In the first part of the presentation the issues will be introduced, while in the main part an overview will be given on selected activities that are being undertaken in order to deal with these issues. This part will be primarily illustrated by projects and developments within the European Statistical System.

These illustrations will show that the challenges are not only of a technical/methodological nature but go deeper into the basic issues of the aims and goals and of the relevance and significance of business statistics both within the statistical system as well as within our societies. Also considerations and discussions of the basic concepts and principles of business statistics are needed.