Demographic and Social Statistics

In 2022, the Statistical Commission requested a review of the social and demographic statistics through a Friends of the Chair (FoC) mechanism, as outlined in Decision 53/105 on Working methods of the Statistical Commission.

The Friends of the Chair (FoC) Group on Social and Demographic Statistics is a group created by the 53rd Session of the United Nations Statistical Commission to review these statistical areas and provide recommendations for strengthened social and demographic statistics that better reflect society and its connections with the environment and the economy.

The overall objective of the Friends of the Chair Group is to produce specific recommendations for an agile and more responsive system of social and demographic statistics, in line with the central promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to leave no one behind, while anticipating data needs beyond 2030.

Members of the Group include chief statisticians from Bhutan, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Ghana, Indonesia, Jordan, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Rwanda, South Africa, United Kingdom and Uruguay. Observers include independent expert Gabriella Vukovich and representatives from International Labour Organisation (ILO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), and World Health Organization (WHO).

2023

2024

Background documents