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Country Profile of Norway

Main statistical agency
Main statistical agency name
Statistics Norway
Web address
http://www.ssb.no/en/
Position in the government
Statistics Norway reports to the Ministry of Finance, highest administrative level.
The Statistics Act stipulates that Statistics Norway is an independent institution in its field which includes a comprehensive research activity.
Organizational structure and finance
http://www.ssb.no/en/omssb/om-oss/organisasjonskart
Multi-annual or annual work program
http://www.ssb.no/en/omssb/styringsdokumenter/strategier
Main duties
Statistics Norway:

is responsible for the total statistical product within the guidelines and budgets set by superior bodies
determines the statistical methods which are to form the basis for preparation of given statistics
is responsible for how and when statistics are published. For more information: http://www.ssb.no/en/omssb/om-oss/kort-om-ssb


Brief history and other relevant background information
Brief history and other relevant background information
Statistics Norway was established in 1876 with 15 employees. The number of employees an level of activity increased significantly from the 1950s onwards and as of 2016 nearly 900 are employed.


Legal basis
Legal basis
The Statistics Act of 1989 stipulates that the institution is the central body for preparation and dissemination of official statistics. For details, see
http://www.ssb.no/en/omssb/styringsdokumenter/lover-og-prinsipper/the-statistics-act-of-1989




Other producers of official statistics
Other producers of official statistics
Statistics Norway is responsible for coordinating statistics that are produced by governmental agencies according to the Statistics Act.
Statistics Norway produces 85-90 per cent of official statistics in Norway.
In 2016 22 other producers are members of the Statistics Council who are the coordination body for the national statistical system.


Statistical advisory bodies
Statistical advisory bodies
The Statistics Council shall strengthen the coordination of official statistics in Norway.

The mandate of the Statistics Council
1. The Statistics Council is a consultative body for Statistics Norway and other producers of official statistics in Norway.

2. The Statistics Council shall:

a.Contribute to the coordination of production and dissemination of official statistics.

b. Contribute to establish standards for official statistics with regard to professional independence, quality (relevance and coverage, accuracy, timeliness and punctuality, comparability and coherence, availability and documentation), confidentiality and (the lowest possible) response burden.

c. Promote forms of cooperation that contribute to meet these standards and lead to an efficient production of statistics.

d. Be a forum for competence development, sharing of best practices and good solutions for data collection, production and dissemination of statistics, and data distribution to researchers. This could be done by arranging courses and seminars among other things.

e. Contribute to the coordination of international statistics cooperation as necessary.

3. The Statistics Council shall provide input to an annual report on official statistics in Norway.

4. The Council is headed by the Director General of Statistics Norway and the Council meets at least once a year.

The Statistics Council does not replace other forms or forums for cooperation between the institutions.



Data collection
Most recent population census
19 november 2011
The 2011 census was a fully register based population census.
Access to administrative data
Access to administrative data is granted by the Statistics Act. Statistics Norway has agreements about this with most public institutions responsible for administrative registers.
Data confidentiality
Table cells with less than 3 units are often suppressed. A method of changing 1 and 2 to 0 or 3 until marginals are 'correct enough' has been developed and used in the Population and housing census 2001. However, some (non sensitive) figures such as figures on population by sex and age are released in databases and tables for small geographical areas. Some data on legal entities can also be disclosed. A committee has been set up to consider cases of doubt.


Data dissemination
Release calendar (existence, when and how published)
All statistics are released on ssb.no according to a release calendar: http://www.ssb.no/en/kalender

Access is according to a non-differential treatment of users.
Languages of main publications
Norwegian, English.
How are data disseminated (Paper, CD Rom, Website, online databases, databanks)?
www.ssb.no, including the online database StatBank.
Availability of microdata for research purposes
Researchers and planners with license from the Data Inspectorate can receive microdata, and procedures for this have been developed. The principle is reflected in the Statistics Act. A Personal Data Act and the Data Inspectorate give rules and procedures for the protection of information on individuals in Norway.




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