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UN Statistical Commission opens 56th session to adopt new national accounts and advance global census round
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Summary
At the United Nations headquarters, the UN Statistical Commission opened its 56th session, with delegates preparing to adopt a new System of National Accounts and to press forward on the global census round to improve international comparability of key statistics including GDP, a presenter said.
Speaker 1, a presenter at the opening of the United Nations Statistical Commission’s 56th session at UN headquarters, said the meeting will adopt a new System of National Accounts and will focus on the global census round.
"This year, we have 2 big topics. We will adopt a new system of national accounts, which is how we do our economic statistics, and the most famous element is, of course, gross domestic product, GDP," Speaker 1 said.
The presenter emphasized why standardized data matter for public policy and everyday decisions, saying, "Data are really critically important for everyone, and all the decisions that you take in your life, you're basing them on data." He cited examples ranging from weather-based choices to planning health services: "When you're managing health, you need to know where are your hospitals, what types of hospitals you have. So this detailed information is critically important to improve the provision of health services."
The session also will address the global census round, which the presenter described as a commitment by countries "to conduct the census" so that there are reliable population counts for national and international planning. The presenter framed both agenda items—the System of National Accounts and the census round—as efforts to make statistics comparable across countries: "The system of national accounts is the guidebook to do it the same way whether you are in Mongolia or in Paraguay."
Speakers at the opening noted that the Statistical Commission has grown in membership and scope and that the data landscape has broadened beyond traditional surveys to include private-sector sources, big data and geospatial information. "Nowadays we have much more interesting data sources, we have private sector data, big data, geographical geospatial data," Speaker 1 said, and added that a central challenge is "bringing this all together in an organized framework and to assure the quality."
The presenter closed by linking the session’s work to the UN’s broader aim to improve statistical systems worldwide: "The statistical family of the world will meet here in United Nations headquarters to ensure we have better data for better lives." The transcript did not record formal votes or specific adoption text during the excerpt provided.
The session is expected to proceed through deliberations and formal agenda items on the System of National Accounts and the global census round; further details on timing, participating delegations, and formal decisions were not specified in the provided transcript excerpt.
