Improving statistical capacity has seen uneven progress
Although some countries have seen improvements in statistical capacity in recent decades, the results have not been universal. Today, a third of national statistical offices feel that statistical capacity development programmes are not meeting their needs. The survey on the implementation of the Cape Town Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data carried out in 2021 revealed that despite gradual improvements, a transformative change in national statistical capacities has yet to be realised, particularly in low- and middle-income economies.
Countries urgently need to develop systems and strategies to track progress towards more advanced statistical capacities; and to enable donors to invest in more and better data for development. Moreover, countries should use common criteria to evaluate their past, ongoing or planned NSDS processes, and thus improve their data planning processes. PARIS21’s Statistical Capacity Monitor was launched in April 2019 to describe global, regional and national statistical capacity trends. The Monitor features around 100 indicators on statistical capacity, and an intuitive interactive interface makes geographic and sectoral comparison, benchmarking and analysis quick and simple.
How can the Statistical Capacity Monitor help?
The PARIS21 Statistical Capacity Monitor is a free online portal that lets anyone see and compare countries according to their statistical capacity, based on the most up-to-date and comprehensive set of statistical capacity indicators available. The data are verified by our country partners and used in regional and national reporting frameworks.
Users of the PARIS21 Statistical Capacity Monitor can view, manipulate and download country data on more than 150 statistical capacity indicators, as well as comparing countries and regions across multiple dimensions of statistical capacity.
The PARIS21 Statistical Capacity Monitor helps governments, development partners, academics and others understand what countries’ capacity needs are in order to better align programme supply and demand, enhance co-ordination and advance knowledge.
Who is it for?
- National statistical offices (Statistical authorities)
- Government agencies (Ministries of planning; ministries of finance; line ministries or public agencies)
- Academia (Universities; research institutes; statistical training institutes)
- Development co-operation providers (Multilateral organisations; regional banks; national development co-operation agencies)
- Civil society (NGOs; think tanks; civil society organisations)
- Media (journalists; bloggers / citizen Journalists)
- Citizens
Want to know more about measuring statistical capacity?
Statistics about statistics: How do we measure statistical performance? A World Bank blog