Country Profile of Guyana
Main statistical agency
Main statistical agency name
Bureau of Statistics (BS)
Web address
www.statisticsguyana.gov.gy/
Position in the government
Bureau of Statistics' (BS) head reports to the Minister of Finance who also holds the position of the Chairman of the Board of the Bureau of Statistics.
Organizational structure and finance
The Board of the Bureau consist of the following:
The Hon. Minister of Finance (Chairman)
The Chief Statistician, who serves as ex-officio Vice Chairman
No less than 3 and no more than 7 other persons appointed by the Minister
The Bureau is headed by the Chief Statistician, and assisted by a Deputy Chief Statistician. The business of the Bureau is conducted through a network of functional departments, which are managed by Heads of Departments. The departments are as follows:
National Accounts
Prices and External Trade
Demography, Social & Vital Statistics
Surveys
Human Resources, Finance and Administration
Information Systems
The Bureau functions with an headquarter staff strength of about 80, although there are 120 approved positions.
Multi-annual or annual work program
The Bureau limits itself to annual work programmes, which the Bureau attempts to fit into three-yearly targets (as opposed to work programs). The main reason for limiting itself to annual work programmes, is the continuous annual loss of key staff members due to migration, which severely compromises the Bureau's ability to proceed the program activities.
Main duties
The functions of the Bureau are as follows:
Conduct censuses
Collect, compile, analyse, and publish socio-economic and other statistical data
Collaborate with other Government departments in collecting, compiling, analysing and publishing statistics derived from administrative records
Organise a co-ordinated scheme of social and economic statistics for Guyana
Brief history and other relevant background information
Brief history and other relevant background information
The Bureau was established as a department in 1957, but prior to this, the collection and publication of statistics was decentralised and assigned to a few key government departments. In the early 1940's the then Sugar Producer's Association was responsible for the compilation of Sugar statistics, the Agriculture Department for statistics on rice and the remainder of the agricultural sector, the then Public Works Department was responsible for statistics on wages and the Customs Department in charge of trade Statistics.
The Bureau of Statistics (BoS) was incorporated as a semi-autonomous body, outside the purview of the traditional Public Service, by an Act of Parliament in October 1990.
The Bureau is the main co-ordinator and producer of economic statistics, including national accounts. The main data on population, economic and social conditions of households stem from censuses and surveys. The Bureau is recognised as the central authority on statistics in this country, and is often requested to advise and assist ministries and private/public sector organisations on statistical matters, and is the obvious member of the Guyana team for reviews of the IMF structural adjustment programmes and similar activities.
Legal basis
Legal basis
The functions of the Bureau which has since 1965 became systemized, are set out in section 4 (1) of the Bureau of Statistics Act No 25 of 1991 and the Statistical Bureau Act Cap 19.09.
Under the provisions of the Statistics Act, the Chief Statistician has authority to collect information on the inhabitants of Guyana, to conduct censuses/surveys, and to access to administrative records.
Other producers of official statistics
Other producers of official statistics
a. The Central Bank
b. Ministries of Health and Education
c. General Register Office.
Statistical advisory bodies
Statistical advisory bodies
BS established Technical Advisory Committee comprising key line agencies/ministries at the periphery of the Statistical System, as well as key NGO and the University. Currently, objectives of the Committee comprise of harmonization and standardization of various statistical entities' outputs, and development of input data for the data processing.
Data collection
Most recent population census
15 September 2002
Access to administrative data
BS has access to the following administrative data: details of government expenditures, births/deaths statistics, migration records, and customs data.
Data confidentiality
The respective law prohibits disclosure of the individual data.
Data dissemination
Release calendar (existence, when and how published)
The Statistical Bulletin is the major regular publication produced by the Bureau and is a comprehensive compilation of a wide range of statistical data on Guyana. It is gathered from key Government agencies and the private sector and covers areas such as population projections, social indicators, production data, financial data and much more. The Bulletin is published on a quarterly basis.
Main publications
Guyana Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2006 (MICS)
The Guyana Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) was carried out by the Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The survey has been conducted as part of the third round of MICS surveys (MICS3), carried out around the world in more than 50 countries, in 2005–2006, following the first two rounds of MICS surveys that were conducted in 1995 and 2000. Survey tools are based on the models and standards developed by the global MICS project, designed to collect information on the situation of children and women in countries around the world. Additional information on the global MICS project may be obtained from http://www.childinfo.org
Guyana MICS Technical Report.
Guyana MICS Summary Report .
Poverty Indicators
Marginality (Poverty status) indices have been computed for each of the 10 Administrative Regions of Guyana and also at NDC Level using selected variables from the 2002 Population and Housing Census.
Marginality Index by NDC.
Child Labour Survey
A survey of child labour was carried out in Parika by the Bureau in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Raising the Profile of Disability in Guyana
A survey of 1,500 persons with disabilities was conducted by the National Commission on Disability (NCD) in 2005 in Regions 4, 6, 7 and 9.
Guyana's External Trade Statistics (1997-2004)
A report of Guyana's External Trade for the period 1997-2004 has been published.
BOS Pending Survey Reports
Data collection activities for Household Budget Survey (HBS) have been completed. HBS collected data on household income and expenditure and also to establish a new basket of goods and services. Work is in advanced stages to complete the analysis of the survey and the reports will be available soon.
Languages of main publications
English.
How are data disseminated (Paper, CD Rom, Website, online databases, databanks)?
CD Rom, Website.
Availability of microdata for research purposes
BS considers each request on the individual basis; the major criterion is that published data shall be anonimous. The Bureau is more receptive to researchers willing to share the results.
|