Statistics

Challenges and opportunities

In today’s rapidly evolving world, the need for high-quality, real-time, and granular data has become increasingly critical for informing policy decisions and monitoring progress toward national development goals as well as global commitments, including the Sustainable Development Goals and the pledge to "Leave No One Behind."

However, the production of population and social statistics in Asia and the Pacific—a region of remarkable diversity that is home to two-thirds of the world’s population—encounters significant challenges. Many national statistical systems in the region face limited institutional and technical capacity, along with resource constraints. Population censuses and household surveys are dominant methods of producing population and social statistics, and many countries collect data through field operations. Although still relevant and necessary, censuses and surveys are no longer sufficient to address the growing data needs.

The potential to modernize statistical systems is promising due to the increasing availability of administrative data and other new data sources, as well as technological advancements. Strengthening the statistical capacity of countries to adopt innovative approaches empowers them to produce the timely and granular data and statistics necessary for inclusive development in the region.

Our response

The Committee on Statistics, in its fifth session in 2016, endorsed a Collective Vision with a holistic approach toward strengthening statistical capacity to address the multifold requests stemming from the 2030 Agenda.

To enhance the regional capacity to take innovative approaches in producing population and social statistics, many initiatives have been launched including:

• Register-Based Census
  • Self-Assessment Tool on the Readiness to Use Administrative Data for Census (SATRAC)
• Gender Data Network
  • Stats café: Reinvigorating the SDGs through gender and inclusive data: Harnessing the power of networks, 30 May 2023
  • GDN at UNWDF video
  • GDN at UNWDF designed report
  • GDN at UNWDF news piece on GDN website
• Every policy is connected tool
• Asia-Pacific Data Integration Community of Practice
  • Asia-Pacific guidelines to data integration for official statistics

Materials/Events

• Report: Research on Emerging trends in census approaches in Asia and the Pacific: with country examples
• Capacity-building workshops to enhance the capacity of countries to utilize administrative data for census purposes
• Virtual Side Event: Harnessing Administrative Data for Census: Assessing Readiness with SATRAC, 20 February 2025, 20:00 - 21:15 (Bangkok time)