EFTA and Statistics Norway host NADABAS workshop in Oslo

NADABAS is a software programme designed to support the compilation of national accounts by combining the flexibility of Microsoft Excel with the reliability of an underlying database system. Many countries use Excel-based systems without a database for compilation of national accounts, which can make the process difficult to manage and more prone to errors. NADABAS addresses this issue by allowing users to still use Excel when compiling national accounts but replacing links between workbooks with a database. This makes the compilation of national accounts more structured, transparent, reliable, and improves the overall quality of national accounts.

Over the five-day workshop, the participants were presented with a wide range of topics designed to strengthen their knowledge of national accounts and the use of NADABAS. The topics covered in the workshop included:

• Quarterly national accounts
• Regional accounts
• Natural capital accounts

For most of the topics, participants were introduced to relevant theory and methodology, possible data sources, and received step by step guidance on how different accounts could be set up in NADABAS. The workshop served as an intermediate training and demonstration on the use of NADABAS, including demonstrations of how to set up and use NADABAS when compiling national accounts.  The workshop was highly interactive, with participants sharing their experiences, discussing challenges and making connections with colleagues from other countries.

The EFTA Secretariat supported the participation of 10 experts from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa (EFTA free trade partner countries from the Southern African Customs Union). In addition, Statistics Norway supported participation of several of its cooperation partners, including Angola, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Statistics Division (ASEANStat). The workshop formed part of the 2026 EFTA technical cooperation work programme in the field of statistics, which was approved by the EFTA Council in January 2026.

The EFTA Secretariat would like to thank the participants for their valuable contributions and Statistics Norway for co-organising and hosting the workshop.