Figure 1. Global commitments to statistics, million USD CRS, Sector code
PRESS Questionnaire
CRS, other sectors
Total
$578m
$600m
$95m
$500m
$577m $524m $56m
$408m $400m $324m $27m
$300m
$125m
$65m
$410m
$42m
$333m
$123m
$93m
$366m
$162m
$371m
$347m
$217m $200m
$41m
$188m
$470m
$347m $219m
$136m
$74m $100m
$203m $102m
$109m
$104m
2006
2007
2008
$68m 2009
Data sources The aim of the PRESS is to provide a full picture of international support to statistics. The main source of information is the OECD Creditor Reporting System (CRS), which records data from members of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and some non-DAC donors with the goal to provide a comprehensive accounting of ODA. Donors report specific codes for the sector targeted by their aid activity. Statistical capacity building (SCB) is designated by code 16062. However, when SCB is a component of a larger project, it is not identified by this code, causing the CRS figures to underestimate actual levels of support of international aid for statistics. PARIS21 seeks to reduce this downward bias by searching project descriptions in the CRS for terms indicating a component of SCB. Finally, the PARIS21 Secretariat supplements this data with an online questionnaire completed by a global network of reporters. The questionnaire covers Box 1: PRESS 2016 Highlights Total financial support to statistics
$470 M
Share of Official Development Assistance dedicated to statistics
0.25%
Demographic & social statistics received the most support
$141 M
Percent of commitments from top 5 providers
72%
2010
$117m
$97m
$105m
2011
2012
2013
$58m 2014
a subset of the variables collected in the CRS and some additional variables specific to statistical capacity building. Reporting to the questionnaire is voluntary, offering an opportunity for actors to share information on their statistical activities. Reporters to this questionnaire include countries that do not report to the CRS as well as multilateral institutions with large portfolios of statistical projects that have been requested to report to the PARIS21 Secretariat directly. Methodological challenges and solutions Measuring support to statistics comes with many methodological challenges, meaning that the financial figures presented in the PRESS need to be interpreted with some care. For instance, despite the efforts described above, full coverage of all programmes cannot be guaranteed. However, to arrive at estimates that are as robust as possible, the PRESS methodology has developed solutions to address the most important reporting challenges: 1. Double counting of projects may occur when the donor and project implementer report on the same project or when all project co-financers report project totals. To circumvent this problem, multilateral reporters to the PRESS questionnaire indicate their role as “implementer” (vs. “donor”) when they manage or implement a project financed by another donor. Such reporting allows the PARIS21 Secretariat to ensure that these commitments appear only once in the global number, resulting in a more accurate estimate.
Issue No. 65, November 2016 - The OECD Statistics Newsletter 19