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Data systems and Reporting, Global

A globalizing world requires adequate global, transnational, and international data and information systems. Monitoring and understanding intensifying international interdependencies are likely among the driving forces behind the need for more extensive data on a wide range of topics and policy fields: economic trade, employment, communications, climate, travel, finance, diseases, and security, among others.

Whereas until the 1990s, national and international statistical agencies were the lead providers of data and the developers as well as guardians of the statistical methodologies for reporting systems, this has changed in significant ways. For one, private firms such as Dun & Bradstreet, consulting firms like McKinsey, and the Economist Intelligence Unit now provide data on economic and financial performance across markets and cater to specialized demands for information and knowledge. Second, the rise of Internet-based platforms and providers such as Google has allowed for customer-oriented data mining and compilations, given the vastness of the information available. Third, the social sciences have developed international consortia of data collection and analysis and established observatories to monitor specific fields or issues such as the family, welfare, or health. Fourth, the limitations of an international statistical regime based on the nation-state as the main unit of analysis have become increasingly questioned. As a result, in the course of few decades, a greatly expanded and diverse set of international and potentially global data systems emerged, even though most existing systems are still organized on a country-by-country basis and are international rather than transnational at best.

Background and Development

Systematic international statistical reporting began in the early part of the 20th century, mostly after World War I. The main fields covered were health, peace, and security, as well as international finance and trade. Until the 1940s, the League of Nations was responsible for international reporting systems. Early examples include the following:

  • Annual Epidemiological Records (1922–1938)
  • International Health Year Book (1924–1932)
  • Armaments Year Book (1924–1939/1940)
  • Statistical Yearbook of the Trade in Arms, Ammunition and Implements of War (1924–1938)
  • Memoranda on Production and Trade (1926–1945)
  • Money and Banking (1913–1944)
  • Review of World Trade, Balance of Payments and International Trade Statistics (1910–1945)
  • Statistical Yearbook of the League of Nations (1926–1942/1944)
  • World Economic Survey (1931/1932–1942/1944)

After World War II, the United Nations and other international organizations took up global reporting, with the European Union's Eurostat as the world's major regional statistical agency.

Major Organizations Responsible for Global Data Systems

United Nations Statistics Division

The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) supports the United Nations Statistical Commission in the advancement of the global statistical system, in particular the methodological and technical development, production, and distribution of statistical data and technical assistance for nations that are developing and upgrading their national statistical systems. The programmatic emphasis of the UNSD lies in economic, demographic, social, environmental, and energy statistics using international standards to make comparisons possible. The UNSD issues the UN Statistical Yearbook, monthly bulletins, and dedicated series on population statistics, national accounts, energy, social and gender indicators, housing, and other subjects.

The heart of the international statistical system is the System of National Accounts (SNA). The broad objective of the SNA is to provide a comprehensive conceptual and accounting framework for compiling and reporting macroeconomic statistics for analyzing and evaluating the performance of an economy. Originally developed in the late 1940s, the SNA emphasized the need for international statistical standards for the compilation and updating of comparable statistics in support of a large array of policy needs. The SNA has been updated and improved, taking into account changes in national and international economies (e.g., rise of the service industries and communications technologies) and changing policy needs. The 2008 SNA involved a number of organizations: the Statistical Office of the European Commission (Eurostat), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the UNSD, regional commissions of the UN Secretariat, and the World Bank.

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