At its twenty-ninth session, the Statistical Commission considered its agenda item "Critical problems in economic statistics" on the basis of the Report of the Expert Group on Critical Problems in Economic Statistics (E/CN.3/1997/2, annex) and a note by the Secretary-General transmitting reports on selected problems in economic statistics (E/CN.3/1997/3 and Add.1). On the subject of the International Comparison Programme (ICP) the Commission agreed on the need to conduct an evaluation of the global ICP to address the reservations by certain member States about ICP implementation and the uses of ICP results.1/

Pursuant to this conclusion, the International Monetary Fund, the Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, and the World Bank commissioned an evaluation report from Jacob Ryten as consultant to the three organizations.

This report was submitted to the Statistical Commission at its thirteenth session, in 1999. Click here for the consultant's report in English (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish)(E/CN.3/1999/8). Click here for the report of the Commission in English (Arabic, Chinese French, Russian, Spanish)(E/CN.3/1999/29), which contains its conclusions on this topic in para. 59.

The Commission considered the International Comparison Programme again at its thirty-first session, in 2000. Click here for the report of the Commission on its 2000 session (E/CN.3/2000/21) in English (French, Spanish), which contains its consideration and conclusions on this agenda item in paras. 11-12.

Publications available from the UN Statistics Division.

Handbook of the International Comparison Programme, United Nations publication (1992)

World Comparison of Real Gross Domestic Product and Purchasing Power, 1985, United Nations publication (1994)

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