In 1974, the Statistical Commission adopted international recommendations on statistics of distributive trades and services and requested that the present manual on the organization and conduct of surveys be issued as a methodological supplement to the recommendations. This manual also is a practical guide to the planning and management of censuses and surveys of distributive trades and services, with particular attention to the problems faced by countries at an early stage of statistical development. In view of the similarities between industrial and distributive-trade inquiries, the manual includes a discussion of some methods and procedures that are applicable also to industrial surveys.

Custodian: UNSD