KUWAIT: Many public departments and institutions do important work, but are not well known. For instance, census and other official statistics are very important for public and private institutions and even individuals. The Central Statistical Bureau is one of the institutions in charge of producing important official data. It used to be part of the Ministry of Planning, but in 2007 became an independent body.

Kuwait Times spoke to Mona Khalaf Al-Daas, Assistant Undersecretary for Statistical Affairs at the bureau, who spoke about the role of this institution and the projects it is working on. Law no. 27/1963 on statistics and census gave it the legal framework to practice this activity, especially the responsibility for collecting data. "This applies to both field surveys and administrative records. According to this law, the Central Statistical Bureau is the only reference for statistics in Kuwait. So any statistical figures can only be published through our department," Daas said.

Statistical report

According to the law, the bureau is also responsible for the statistics departments at various ministries and public institutions. "We are in charge of discussing and reviewing any statistical report issued by these institutions, in addition to training the staff," she added.

There is also an international dimension to their work. "Statistical activities started internationally in 1947 with the founding of the Statistics Committee at the United Nations, as it felt the importance of having an international committee. This committee develops the methodologies and frameworks that are necessary to produce any statistical data. Kuwait is a member of this committee, and we attend their meetings annually. This organizes our local activities, as we have to respect the international timing, rating and methodologies used," Daas noted.

Daas graduated from the Social Studies Faculty of the Kuwait University in 1994 with a bachelor's degree. Before being appointed as undersecretary in 2010, she was the head of development studies in 2003, observer of monitoring regional and international changes in 2006, head of the future expectations department and the secretariat general of the Supreme Planning Council between 2007 and 2010.

Issuing Data

The bureau issues 41 specialized periodicals annually. "Some of these periodicals are based on field surveys, such as the inflation rate, which we publish and provide to the Central Bank and some local banks, and we are the only body authorized to issue it, along with data on foreign trade. Manpower surveys and Kuwaiti and expat unemployment rates, which reached 5 percent in 2014 among Kuwaiti citizens, are also provided by us. The latest published inflation rate in Kuwait was recorded at 3.2 percent in October 2015 compared to October 2014," explained Daas.

The rates and data are published on the official website of the Central Statistical Bureau and are immediately sent to Kuwait News Agency, as it is the main source of news in Kuwait. "At the same time of sending the inflation rate to KUNA, we send it to the Central Bank as they depend on these figures in their financial operations. All this data serves decision makers, and even individuals, who can register their personal expenses to get statistics," she pointed out.

"We also conduct the household income and expenditure survey, which shows the priorities of families. These figures have great economic value in planning policies. For instance, if we compare this rate with the rate from 1986, we notice that the structure of family spending has changed. Food was the priority in 1986, while today housing is in first place and constitutes the biggest part of spending," Daas said.

Census

The bureau is obliged to hold a population census every 10 years. "Some countries used to do it every five years, including Kuwait in the past. In Kuwait, we had a census in 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985 and then in 1995 due to the invasion. But the cost of holding a census is very high, so we are now doing it every 10 years, according to the law. The last census was done in 2011 and the next one will take place in 2020, according to the harmonized GCC population census. Even the UN has set 2020 as the international census year," stressed Daas.

The GCC also decided to follow the record census method instead of the field census. "In the past, we used to go personally to collect data from people in the field, which won't be done now. Some countries still use the field census method such as Jordan this year, but using computers instead of papers. Morocco in 2014 also used the field census method as well as Brazil and China. Even the United States uses it, but it's a little different as they also deploy call centers and mail, as they have discipline there. Scandinavian countries and Singapore use the record census method," she stated.

"The GCC countries are not very big and do not have people living on mountains or valleys, so we do not need a field census. For instance, the Public Authority for Civil Information has a register, the Ministry of Justice has records of marriages and divorces, while the Ministry of Interior has records of expats and those who enter and leave the country. The GCC decided that the Central Bureau for Census in each GCC country should collect all the data in a database including the civil ID number," said Daas.

But this is huge work. "Convincing all institutions and ministries to participate in this unified system of census needs great efforts. We have prepared an initial report on this issue and found that 13 institutions keep administrative records. What organizes this process is the UN requirement for public census. We cooperate with the institutions in charge and get the available data, while helping them by providing what they are missing," she added.

The Statistics Center of the GCC was established in 2014, and its headquarters is in Muscat in Oman. Kuwait as well as the other GCC countries finance it and it has a good budget. "The main goal of this center is to build abilities. So we invite all the institutions that are working with us to attend this meeting. If we have visiting experts, we also invite staff from these institutions to attend our workshops to gain experiences and build skills. We hold workshops and train local staff to be ready for the upcoming census," she stated.

Future Projects

One of the most important projects is the total economic statistics. "We set the basis of this project in cooperation with the National Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises that will be financing it. This project will provide data and statistics of all businesses and economic activities of companies and will start in 2016," highlighted Daas.

The other important planned projects include the record statistics project, and the quarterly national accounts that include commitments of various countries, which used to be published annually, but should now be published quarterly. "It provides important data including GDP growth, which is important for economists," she said.

Improving commercial records according to the international classification of economic activities is another project executed by the bureau. "The database of these activities at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is classified locally. We started in this project in 2012 and we have finished about 60 percent of it now," concluded Daas.

By Nawara Fattahova