Description: 2025 Q4 Meeting of the Civil Registration Professionals of South Asia (CR8)Theme: Advancing Priorities for Resilient and Inclusive CRVS Systems in South AsiaVenue: Virtual, Microsoft Teams Date and time: 29 January 2026, 15:00-16:15 Bangkok timeRegistration Link a { text-decoration: none; color: #464feb; } tr th, tr td { border: 1px solid #e6e6e6; } tr th { background-color: #f5f5f5; } This session will reflect on key outcomes of the Ministerial Conference and their impact on CR8 priorities for 2026, explore emerging opportunities in data governance for CRVS, share practical country innovations in data sharing, and initiate planning for the 2026 workplan, including themes, support needs, and a potential face-to-face meeting. Together, we will identify subregional priorities that advance the 2030 vision of resilient, inclusive, and interoperable CRVS systems.
Description: This webinar aims to provide an overview of current and emerging economic issues and how the statistical community is supporting policymakers and researchers. It will explore economic challenges, provide an overview of recent updates to the System of National Accounts (Snull) and Balance of Payments Manual (BPM) to better understand these issues, and outline the implementation plan for adopting the updated standards. The webinar is designed for professionals in economic statistics, analysis, policy development, and statistical research.
Description: Background As countries strive to meet growing demands for granular statistics, national statistical offices (NSOs) are increasingly adopting innovative approaches to complement traditional data sources. Among these, Small Area Estimation (SAE) has emerged as a powerful technique for producing reliable estimates at lower geographic and administrative levels, particularly for development indicators related to poverty, food security, health, and labour markets. The World Bank, through its Knowledge for Change Program (KCP), has supported research and methodological development to integrate georeferenced survey and census data with EO data for SAE purposes. This includes practical resources such as the GeoLink and povmap packages in R, as well as the joint United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD)–World Bank “Primer on Using Geospatial Data for Small Area Estimation”1. To support the implementation and practical adoption of the Primer, ESCAP, ECA, UNSD, and the World Bank have developed a how-to guide2 to provide a step-by-step walkthrough for using geospatial data to perform SAE. Building on this foundation, ESCAP, UNSD, and the World Bank have collaborated to deliver capacity development programs introducing NSOs to these methods and tools. Initiated in 2024, the programs combined e-learning with in-person workshop, with the 2025 cohort of participants attending weeks of online classes and in-person hands-on workshop to learn about the latest tools and techniques for geospatial SAE and apply them to their datasets to produce a range of socio-economic and development estimates. Against this backdrop, ESCAP, in collaboration with UNSD and the World Bank, is organizing a Stats Café to provide an overview of the latest developments in SAE using geospatial data to a wider audience and highlight some country experiences in geospatial SAE. Join us for an interactive session on 27 January 2026 (11:00–12:15 Bangkok time). Register for the Stats Café by clicking on the REGISTER button on the top right of the page or scan the QR code in the flyer. Why attend? In particular, this Stats Café aims to: Demonstrate the applicability and use cases of the how-to guide on geospatial SAE to a wide range of audience, advancing the adoption of SAE as an essential tool to fill data gaps for effective policymaking. In a panel discussion, showcase country experiences in applying geospatial SAE in their work following the November 2025 workshop and facilitated e-learning course. Highlight the latest methodologies and tools available for audience to start experimenting with geospatial SAE in their workstreams. Highlights: Demonstration: Using the how-to guide for geospatial SAE. Panel Discussion: Experiences, challenges, and future plans for integrating SAE with geospatial data. , Stats Café Home: Upcoming events Concluded events
Description: The five-day course, delivered by the IMF's Statistics Department in cooperation with the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Mongolia Regional Capacity Development Center, will focus on how digitalization is impacting financial sector statistics. The digital revolution in finance is not just a technological shift, but a fundamental transformation of the financial landscape, reshaping how financial services are delivered, consumed, and managed. While offering immense opportunities for efficiency and inclusion, digitalization presents a significant challenge for traditional financial sector statistics: how do we accurately capture and reflect these rapidly evolving dynamics? For decades, financial sector statistics have relied on established methodologies and reporting frameworks built around the activities of traditional financial institutions like banks and insurance companies. With the rise of fintech companies, mobile payments, peer-to-peer lending platforms, digital currencies, and crypto assets, it is essential that statistical methodological guidance underlying financial sector statistics as well as data collection accurately capture these emerging instruments and market participants, crucial for maintaining the stability and effectiveness of the financial system. This workshop will focus on how to reflect digitalization in financial sector statistics, discuss the emerging methodologies and underscore the collaborative effort between macroeconomic statisticians, regulators, policymakers, and the private sector to explore non-traditional data sources. Participants are expected to actively contribute to presentations on country practices and exercises. Peer learning will be an essential element of the workshop.
Target Audience: Mid-level government officials from central banks, financial services supervisors and regulators and other agencies involved in financial sector statistics.
Description: This webinar will explore the role of survey quality frameworks in guiding design, implementation, and evaluation of household surveys. It will discuss practical approaches for conducting quality assessments, reviewing widely adopted frameworks and their application in national and comparative contexts. The session will highlight how systematic quality assessments add value by identifying strengths, diagnosing risks, and informing recommendations for improvement to enhance reliability and trust in official statistics.
Description: The CART Initiative is a transformative program designed to strengthen Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) systems across Africa, Asia and the Pacific by building local research capacity. Through a structured blend of training, mentorship, networking and applied research, CART empowers participants, especially government officials and other CRVS practitioners, to investigate and address real-world challenges in CRVS systems. This online event marks the launch of the 3rd cohort of the CART.
Description: This course covers theoretical and practical aspects in the compilation of national accounts statistics based on the conceptual framework of the System of National Accounts 2008 (2008 SNA). The course consists of lectures covering advanced compilation issues of the 2008 SNA and workshops consisting of practical exercises in compiling the accounts. The main aim of the course is to train participants in developing and using more advanced compilation techniques to cover topics including supply and use tables, input-output tables, and price and volume measures. The course will start with a review of the SNA framework and will discuss how the accounts can be extended to address specific user needs. The course will also address key topics in the update of the 2008 SNA (2025 SNA). Emphasis is placed on sharing country experiences among the participants.
Target Audience: Compilers of national accounts statistics employed by agencies responsible for official national accounts statistics and main users.
Description: The Asia-Pacific Stats Café Series on “Chatbots for statistics portals” was held virtually on Monday, 19 January 2026, from 12:00 to 13:00 h (Bangkok time, UTC+7). Presentations Singapore DOS’s AI Chatbot - Statistics ANd Data Retrieval A.I. Assistant (SANDRA) AI-Based Chatbot for NSO India Website , Stats Café Home: Upcoming events Concluded events
Description: This course, presented by the Statistics Department, targets compilers with a certain degree of experience in the compilation and/or analysis of balance of payments and/or IIP. It aims to provide a deep understanding of the concepts, data sources and compilation techniques for balance of payments and IIP statistics and their application in addressing complex methodological issues. The course does not cover the basic balance of payments and IIP concepts. The intermediate level of the course presupposes participants’ familiarity with the basic concepts. The course will also elaborate on the topics being addressed during the current update of BPM6.The course consists of a series of lectures and workshops analyzing country cases with a strong data component and is designed to allow peer learning and sharing of experiences. Recognizing the challenges in compiling data in emerging areas of user interest, the course emphasizes specific topics, such as estimating informal cross-border activities and the treatment of special purpose entities. The course examines themes and challenges emerging from developments in the global economy, and participants have the opportunity to discuss how these impact compilation work. Specific exercises are geared to integrate data compilation with Fund surveillance and policy advice; and to demonstrate the analytical uses of ESS.
Target Audience: Officials responsible for the compilation of external sector statistics (ESS) (balance of payments and/or international investment position (IIP) statistics), and who are familiar with the methodology of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Statistics Manual, sixth edition (BPM6).
Description: This course, presented by the Statistics Department, focuses on both the conceptual framework of government finance statistics (GFS) as presented in the IMF's Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014 (GFSM 2014) and on practical aspects of data compilation. Basic concepts, accounting principles, and detailed classifications are dealt with in the context of the GFSM 2014 methodology, which is harmonized with the System of National Accounts (SNA 2008). The course examines GFS coverage and accounting rules (including accrual accounting), valuation, classification, debt, balance sheets, and the sources and methods used for compiling the statistics. It also deals with reporting data to the IMF. Central to the course is a series of case studies.
Target Audience: Officials whose main responsibility is compilating and disseminating fiscal statistics.
Description: This five-day course, conducted by the Statistics Department familiarizes participants with key climate change related indicators that can be developed to better inform economic and financial policies. The statistics covered include Environmental revenues and expenditures, Natural Resource Accounts, Physical and Transition risk indicators, Air Emission Accounts and indicators of Sustainable Finance. The course consists of a series of lectures giving overview of methods for compiling climate change-related indicators, and insights into the analytical uses of the climate change-related indicators.
Target Audience: Officials from national statistics agencies, ministries of finance, planning and environment, central banks, and other agencies, who are responsible for compiling and/or using environment or climate change related indicators.
Organizer(s): Eurostat ILO IMF OECD ECE World Bank AI Generated
Description: This course presents the concepts, data sources and compilation methods used for the production of the RPPIs. Emphasis is given to the importance of evaluating data sources for compiling RPPIs in terms of coverage, timeliness, richness in terms of supporting an appropriate compilation method, suitability of the price measure, and weighting. Trade-offs involved in selecting data sources are considered, as are strategies for longer-run development of data sources. The methodological component of the course emphasizes the property-mix problem: a change in the mix of properties transacted each period can bias measures of change in average prices. Mix-adjustment by stratification and hedonic regression are the main methods used to solve this issue, and interactive workshops deal with these topics. The course follows the principles of the 2013 Handbook on RPPIs published by Eurostat, International Labor Organization (ILO), IMF, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and the World Bank.
Target Audience: Mid-level to senior officials who are responsible for compiling, or planning to develop, the residential property price index (RPPI). Users of the RPPI will also find the course beneficial.
