With constant dynamics in our societies, economies and environment, there are always new things that need to be counted and measured. And as the amount and variety of data increases, and the technologies available to gather and analyze data grow, there is always new work to be done to ensure that official statistics can measure what matters, efficiently and accurately.

The Conference of European Statisticians, UNECE’s highest governing body on statistics, undertakes in-depth reviews on cutting-edge topics in official statistics.

These can be statistical themes, such as how to measure gender identity, the economic and social impacts of climate change and responses to it, or quality of employment. Or they can be methodological or strategic topics, such as data ethics and partnering with the private sector.

We gather leading experts from across the UNECE region and other CES countries, to assess the current state of knowledge, see who's doing what, and figure out what still needs to be done.

Our in-depth reviews help identify gaps and avoid overlaps between different organizations. Led by the national statistical offices of one or two countries, they examine current practice; ask whether we need better concepts and definitions; look for lessons learned that countries can share; and determine whether CES should launch a targeted project to take things further. They write up their findings for the whole community. Our Bureau holds dedicated discussions, then every year the conclusions are taken to the CES plenary for endorsement.

Our June 2024 plenary session endorsed three new reviews, on linking data across domains and sources; timeliness, frequency and granularity of official statistics; and use cases for supplementary population bases.