Seventh Meeting of the United Nations Network of Economic Statisticians

7:00 am - 7:05 am

Session 1| Opening remarks and objectives of the meeting

• André Loranger, Co-Chair of the United Nations Network of Economic Statisticians and Chief Statistician of Canada

7:05 am - 7:35 am

Session 2| The case for sub-national economic statistics

Like national economic statistics, sub-national statistics are critical for policymaking, allocating government resources, understanding impacts of economic shocks and national disasters, locating business, and evaluating many other decisions. Worldwide, many countries produce regular sub-national economic statistics, including countries in Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. However, there are few if any international forums for economic statisticians to share their experiences compiling sub-national statistics; and few if any international guidelines exist that suggest standards or approaches to sub-national statistics for national statistical offices. In the United States, national accounting statistics (gross domestic product, personal income, etc.) are available for states, metropolitan areas, and counties. The presentation will provide an overview of the top-down approach used to produce these sub-national statistics. The sub-national statistics are fully consistent with the national statistics and comparable with each other as they are prepared using the “top-down” approach starting with the national statistics. The United States approach is only one of several possible approaches to sub-national statistics. The time is right for experts in national statistical offices worldwide to share their approaches, ideas, and challenges compiling sub-national statistics.

• Presentation: The Case for Sub-National Economic Statistics
• Presenter: Mauricio Ortiz, Associate Director for Regional Economics, Bureau of Economic Analysis

Discussion

7:35 am - 8:00 am

Session 3| Recap of recent Network activities and sprints, as well as announcements on planned work by the Network

This session will provide an overview of the ongoing Sprints and inform the participants on the Network's priorities for the upcoming year. Related planned events by the UNSD will also be communicated.

• Presentation: Update on Network activities
• Presenter: André Loranger, Co-Chair of the United Nations Network of Economic Statisticians and Chief Statistician of Canada

Discussion

8:00 am - 8:25 am

Session 4| Update on the activities of the Expert Group on Well-Being Measurement

This presentation will provide an update on the activities of the recently created Expert Group and Well-Being Measurement (EGWM). The EGWM was established by the 55th session of the United Nations Statistical Commission in 2024 to take forward the recommendations of the Beyond GDP sprint 2023 (see decision 55/108 of the report).

• Presentation: UNNES Update
• Presenter: Richard Heys, Deputy Chief Economist, Office of National Statistics and Mohammad Hassan, Executive Director, Statistics and Data Science Sector, United Arab Emirates Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre and Co-Chairs of the Expert Group on Well-Being Measurement

Discussion

8:25 am - 8:30 am

Session 4| Concluding remarks

• André Loranger, Co-Chair of the United Nations Network of Economic Statisticians and Chief Statistician of Canada