EFTA organises high-level seminar on “official statistics in a changing world"

High-ranking officials from the national statistical institutes of the partner countries also attended the seminar to be sure of having the tools and knowledge necessary to face future challenges, which in turn will ensure reliable, responsive and comparable statistics across the region. The availability of comparable, high-quality official statistics at international level is vital for EFTA to continue its work in facilitating trade and economic cooperation between the EFTA States and their partner countries.

The seminar began with participants sharing recent developments within their respective organisations and national statistical systems, before moving onto the main topics of the value of official statistics, efficiency in producing official statistics and preparing for the future. EFTA, UNECE and Eurostat also presented the upcoming peer reviews, global assessments and technical cooperation activities.

Experts from Statistics Iceland and Statistics Norway gave presentations on behalf of EFTA on the following topics: “Working with the media to promote the value of official statistics in times of information disorder”, “How to communicate and promote official statistics and its value” and “A showcase of efficiencies gained from utilising administrative and/or privately-held data sources”.

Jens Stoltenberg, Minister of Finance of Norway and statistician on leave from Statistics Norway, Illustrated the importance of official statistics in the following quote:

“In an era of alternative facts and weakened trust, it is crucial to have an independent statistical agency that is highly trusted – that delivers both research and facts.”

The seminar was attended by experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iceland, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Eurostat, EFTA, and UNECE. It formed part of the 2025 EFTA technical cooperation work programme in the field of statistics, as approved by the four EFTA States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) in the EFTA Council.

We would like to thank Eurostat, UNECE, Statistics Iceland and Statistics Norway for their help with organising the seminar, as well as the participants from EFTA’s partner countries for their contributions. 

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