United Nations ECE/CES/2022/8

Economic and Social Council Distr.: General

11 April 2022

Original: English

Economic Commission for Europe

Conference of European Statisticians
Seventieth plenary session
Geneva, 20-22 June 2022
Item 6 (f) of the provisional agenda
Reports, guidelines and recommendations prepared under the
umbrella of the Conference: Classification of Statistical
Activities (CSA)

Classification of Statistical Activities (CSA) 2.0 and

explanatory notes

Prepared by the Task Team on updating the Classification of Statistical

Activities

Summary
The document presents the draft updated version of the Classification of Statistical
Activities (CSA), Version 2.0. It is prepared by a Task Team composed of Canada, Ireland,
Mexico (Chair), New Zealand, Eurostat, UNSD and UNECE.
The Bureau of the Conference of European Statisticians (CES) reviewed the document
in February 2022 and asked the Secretariat to send it for electronic consultation to all CES
member countries and international organizations. A technical note on the principles and
process of preparing an updated version of the classification is presented in Annex 1.
Subject to a positive outcome of the consultation, and after addressing the comments
from the electronic consultation, the CSA will be submitted to the 2022 CES plenary session
for endorsement.
It is planned that as a next step, the CSA would become a member of the International
Family of Statistical Classifications and be submitted to the United Nations Statistical
Commission through the United Nations Committee of Experts on International Statistical
Classification to become a global classification. The custodianship of the CSA would be
transferred to United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Therefore, a global consultation
through UNSD is conducted in parallel to gather additional feedback and further advance the
process.

GE.22-05369(E)
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I. The Classification of Statistical Activities, version 2.0

1. The aim of the classification is to classify information about statistical activities (such
as data collection, processing, dissemination, capacity development, statistical events,
working groups, etc.). It provides a top-level structure to make it easier to find information.
The domains 1-5 (subject-matter domains) can also be used to classify statistical data and
products.
2. It is an analytical classification, and its components are not fully mutually exclusive.
In some cases, an item can be classified in several areas and users can decide where to place
it according to their specific need.

A. Domain 1 – Demographic and social statistics

1.1 Population
1.2 Migration
1.3 Labour
1.4 Education
1.5 Health
1.6 Income and consumption
1.7 Social protection
1.8 Human settlements and housing
1.9 Culture
1.10 Time-Use

B. Domain 2 – Economic statistics

2.1 Macroeconomic accounts and statistics

2.1.1 System of National Accounts
2.1.2 Balance of payments and international investment position
2.1.3 Government finance statistics
2.1.4 Monetary and financial statistics
2.1.5 System of Environmental Economic Accounting
2.1.6 Other macroeconomic statistics

2.2 Business statistics

2.2.1 Short-term business statistics
2.2.2 Structural business statistics
2.2.3 Business demography and business dynamics
2.2.4 Entrepreneurship
2.2.5 Multinational enterprise statistics
2.2.6 Other business statistics

2.3 Agriculture, forestry, fisheries

2.4 Energy
2.5 Mining, manufacturing, construction

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2.6 Transport
2.7 Tourism
2.8 Banking, insurance, financial statistics
2.9 Commerce and other services
2.10 International trade
2.11 Prices
2.12 Science, technology, and innovation

C. Domain 3 – Environment statistics

3.1 Environmental conditions and quality

3.2 Environmental resources and their use
3.3 Environmental residuals
3.4 Hazardous events and disasters
3.5 Human settlements and environmental health
3.6 Environmental protection, management and engagement

D. Domain 4 – Governance statistics

4.1 Non-discrimination and equality

4.2 Participation
4.3 Openness
4.4 Access to and quality of justice
4.5 Responsiveness
4.6 Absence of corruption
4.7 Trust
4.8 Safety and security

E. Domain 5 – Cross-cutting statistics

5.1 Sustainable development

5.2 Human rights
5.3 Gender and special population groups
5.4 Living conditions and poverty
5.5 Climate change
5.6 Information society and digitalization
5.7 Circular economy
5.8 Other cross-cutting statistics

F. Domain 6 – Statistical infrastructure and methodology

6.1 Metadata
6.2 Statistical infrastructure

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6.2.1 Classifications
6.2.2 Statistical business registers
6.2.3 Registers of population
6.2.4 Registers of dwellings and buildings
6.2.5 Agricultural registers
6.3 Data sources
6.3.1 Population and housing censuses
6.3.2 Business and agricultural censuses
6.3.3 Household surveys
6.3.4 Business and agricultural surveys
6.3.5 Administrative sources
6.3.6 Data science
6.3.7 Geospatial data

6.4 Data exchange and data sharing

6.5 Data editing and data linkage
6.6 Data analysis
6.7 Data disaggregation
6.8 Statistical confidentiality and disclosure protection
6.9 Data dissemination and communication

G. Domain 7 – Strategic and managerial issues

7.1 Institutional frameworks and principles; role and organization of official statistics
7.2 National statistical coordination
7.3 Quality management
7.4 Management of human resources
7.5 Management of IT, information and knowledge
7.6 Management of other resources
7.7 International statistical coordination
7.8 Capacity development

II. Explanatory notes

A. Domain 1 – Demographic and social statistics

1.1 Population
Covers population and demographic statistics; topics like demography, vital statistics,
population structures and growth, demographic projections, families and households
(marriages, divorces, household size).
Excludes:
• Causes of death (1.5)

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1.2 Migration
Covers statistics on the movement of people, refugees, asylum seekers, workers, the duration
of migration stay or absence, immigration, emigration, migrant flows and stocks, etc.
Excludes:
• Human trafficking (4.8)

1.3 Labour
Covers statistics on labour force, labour market, employment and unemployment; the more
detailed topics include economically active population, labour conditions, health and safety
at work (accidents at work, occupational injuries and diseases, work-related health problems),
working time and other working conditions, strikes and lockouts, job vacancies, job creation,
wages and salaries and labour costs.
Excludes:
• Migrant workers (1.2)
• Unemployment insurance and unemployment benefits (1.7)
• Trade union membership (4.2)
• Labour statistics collected from businesses (2.2).

1.4 Education
Covers educational participation, illiteracy, educational institutions and systems, human and
financial resources invested in education, lifelong learning, vocational training and adult
learning, impact of education, assessments of student performance, etc.

1.5 Health
Covers health and mortality related statistical activities, including topics like life expectancy,
health status, health and safety, health determinants (including lifestyle, nutrition, smoking,
alcohol abuse), health resources and expenditure, health care systems, morbidity and
mortality (including infant and child mortality), hospital admission, causes of illness and
death, specific diseases (e.g. AIDS), disabilities, pharmaceutical consumption and sales,
health personnel, remuneration of health professions, environmental health status, health
inequality, health accounts.
Excludes:
• Work related health and safety (1.3)
• Victimization from criminal behaviour (4.8)
• Traffic accidents and injuries (2.6).

1.6 Income and consumption

Covers statistics on household income and expenditures from the household or individual
viewpoint (all types of income and expenditure), including topics like distribution of
incomes, in-kind income, income transfers received and paid, income or expenditure-based
measures of poverty, consumer protection, consumption patterns, consumer goods and
durables, household wealth and debts.
Excludes:
• Social protection schemes against various risks (1.7)
• Tax schemes (2.1.3)
• Poverty in a multidimensional sense (5.4)
• Living conditions (5.4).

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1.7 Social protection

Covers statistics on measures to protect people against the risks of inadequate incomes
associated with unemployment, ill health, invalidity, old age, parental responsibilities, or
following the loss of a spouse or parent, etc., includes statistics on pension beneficiaries,
social security schemes, social protection expenditure, etc.
Excludes:
• Insurance companies as economic actors (2.8)
• Pension funds as actors in financial markets (2.8).

1.8 Human settlements and housing

Covers statistical activities on housing, dwellings and human settlements.
Excludes:
• Rents (2.11).

1.9 Culture
Covers statistics dealing with cultural activities in society, such as theatre, cinemas,
museums, libraries, mass media, book production, sports and recreation, expenditure and
financing of culture.

1.10 Time Use

Covers statistics on the use of time by individuals, often related to work-life balance
(reconciling family responsibilities and paid work) and unpaid work.
Excludes:
• Working time (1.3).

B. Domain 2 – Economic statistics

2.1 Macroeconomic accounts and statistics

Covers the compilation of macroeconomic accounts and macroeconomic statistics. It
includes institutional sectors and industries. This category includes the aggregation,
consolidation and reconciliation of the different components of economic statistics.

2.1.1 System of National Accounts

Covers the compilation of National Accounts. It includes the sequence of accounts,
institutional sector accounts, satellite accounts, and regional accounts. It can be further
broken down into: GDP production and expenditure accounts, supply and use tables and
input-output tables.
Excludes:
• Balance of payments and international investment position (2.1.2)
• Government finance statistics (2.1.3)
• Monetary and financial statistics (2.1.4)
• System of Environmental Economic Accounting (2.1.5)
• Composite indicators covering multiple areas of the economy (2.1.6).

2.1.2 Balance of payments and international investment position

Covers balance of payments and international investment positions.
Excludes:
• International trade on goods and services statistics (2.10).

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2.1.3 Government finance statistics

Covers statistics on government finance.

2.1.4 Monetary and financial statistics

Covers monetary and financial statistics of the private sector. Includes Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) statistics.
Excludes:
• Government finance (2.1.3).

2.1.5 System of Environmental Economic Accounting

Covers the System of Environmental-economic Accounting (SEEA). Includes ecosystem
accounts and thematic accounts such as water accounts, energy accounts, forest accounts,
ocean accounts etc. Excludes traditional environment statistics which are not compiled in the
format of accounts.
Excludes:
• Agriculture, forestry and fishery statistics (2.3)
• Energy statistics (2.4)
• Environment statistics (3)
• Environmental resources and their use (3.2).

2.1.6 Other macroeconomic statistics

Covers macroeconomic indicators that are nowhere else classified. It includes business cycle
analysis, composite indicators, etc.

2.2 Business statistics

Covers economy-wide statistics on the activities of businesses across different sectors (as
opposed to 2.3-2.9 that deal with specific individual sectors). Covers topics like statistics on
economic activities of businesses, business demography, business investment, business
services, demand for services, industrial performance, enterprises by size class, industrial
production, commodities, structure of sales and services, outputs of the service industries,
non-profit institutions, labour statistics collected from businesses.
Excludes:
• Statistics on specific industry groups (2.3-2.9)
• Statistical business registers (6.2.2).

2.2.1 Short-term business statistics

Covers the compilation of business statistics with higher than annual frequency (e.g.,
quarterly, monthly, etc.) across multiple industries. It includes business tendency surveys,
and employment and wages surveys if they are conducted among businesses.
Excludes:
• Wages reported as a source of household income (1.6)
• Short-term statistics on a specific industry (2.3-2.9)
• Short-term indicators on international trade (2.10)
• PPI (2.11).

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2.2.2 Structural business statistics

Covers the structure, economic activity, and performance of businesses across multiple
industries on an annual basis.
Excludes:
• Business demography and business dynamics (2.2.3)
• Entrepreneurship (2.2.4)
• Statistics on the performance of a specific industry (2.3-2.9)
• TEC and STEC (2.10).

2.2.3 Business demography and business dynamics

Covers demographic events on businesses such as birth, death, survival and other
demographic events in the entire economy or in specific industries.
Excludes:
• Structural business statistics (2.2.2)
• Entrepreneurship (2.2.4).

2.2.4 Entrepreneurship
Covers the measurement of the determinants, performance and impact of entrepreneurial
activities of people and organizations. It also includes the studies of entrepreneurship from
the perspective of gender and other population sub-groups.

2.2.5 Multinational enterprise statistics

Covers the study of multinational enterprises across different industries. It also includes
foreign affiliate statistics (FATS) but excludes foreign direct investments of multinational
enterprises.
Excludes:
• FDI (2.1.4).

2.2.6 Other business statistics

Covers other areas of business statistics that are not elsewhere classified. Includes, for
example, statistics on the impact of businesses on well-being and sustainability, etc.

2.3 Agriculture, forestry, fisheries

Covers statistics related to agriculture, forestry and fishery. Includes agricultural monetary
statistics (agricultural economic accounts), agricultural structures (farm structure), trade in
agricultural products, crop and animal production, agricultural commodities, agro-industry
statistics (including food production and safety), organic farming and organic food, products
source and use tables, forest and forest product statistics, trade in forest products, fisheries.
Excludes:
• Agricultural labour input (1.3)
• Government expenditure for agriculture, forestry, and fisheries (2.1.3)
• Forest resource assessment (2.1.5)
• Environmental accounting for agriculture, forestry, fisheries (2.1.5)
• Forest fire (3.4).

2.4 Energy
Covers energy supply, energy use, energy balances, security of supply, energy markets,
domestic trade in energy, energy efficiency, renewable energy sources.

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Excludes:
- Expenditure of households on energy consumption (1.6)
- Government expenditure on energy (2.1.3)
- Energy accounts (2.1.5)
- International trade in energy products (2.10)
- Prices of energy products (2.11).

2.5 Mining, manufacturing, construction

Covers statistics on the specific industrial activities of mining, manufacturing and
construction.
Excludes:
• Prices of manufactured products and PPI (2.11).

2.6 Transport
Covers statistics on all modes of domestic transport (air, rail, road, inland waterways, sea,
pipelines); includes topics like transport infrastructure, equipment, traffic flows, personal
mobility, safety, transport accidents, energy consumption, transport enterprises, passengers
and freight transport, transport sector trends, road traffic accidents.
Excludes:
• Transport for tourism (2.7)
• International transport (2.10)
• Cost of transport services (2.11).

2.7 Tourism
Covers statistics regarding visitor activity (such as arrivals/departures, overnight stays,
expenditures, purpose of the visit, etc.) associated to different forms of tourism (inbound,
domestic and outbound), tourism industries activity and infrastructure, and employment as
reported by tourism industries.
Excludes:
• Tourism satellite accounts (2.1.1)
• Prices for tourist services (2.11)
• Environmental impacts of tourism (3.5).

2.8 Banking, insurance, financial statistics

Covers monetary, banking and financial market statistics, including financial accounts,
money supply, interest rates, exchange rates, stock market indicators, securities, bank
profitability, private sector insurance and statistics on the management of pension funds,
financial soundness indicators.
Excludes:
• Beneficiaries of private pension funds (1.7)
• Financing of state pension and of other state social security schemes (1.7).

2.9 Commerce and other services

Covers domestic commerce and services. It includes trade in goods and services, and service
industries not elsewhere classified.
Excludes:
• Transport (2.6)

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• Tourism (2.7)
• Financial services (2.8)
• International commerce (2.10).

2.10 International trade

Covers trans-border trade in goods and services. Includes statistics on trade in goods by
enterprise characteristics (TEC) and services trade by enterprise characteristics (STEC),
international transport, tariffs, market access, foreign aid, development assistance, resource
flows to developing countries.
Excludes:
• Balance of payments (2.1.2)
• Foreign direct investment (FDI) (2.1.4)
• Foreign affiliates statistics (FATS) (2.2.5).

2.11 Prices
Covers any statistical activity dealing with prices, including Purchasing Power Parities
(PPPs) and international comparisons of GDP; covers topics like Consumer Price Indices
(CPI), inflation, Producer Price Indices (PPI), price indices for specific products and services
(e.g., Information and Communication Technology products or rents).
Excludes:
• Wages (1.6 and 2.2.1)
• Interest rates (2.8)
• Exchange rates (2.8).

2.12 Science, technology, and innovation

Covers Research and Development (R&D), innovation, patents, human resources in science,
technology, and innovation, high-tech industries and knowledge-based services,
biotechnology, financing of R&D, and innovation.
Excludes:
• ICT (5.6).

C. Domain 3 – Environment statistics

The breakdown in this domain follows the structure of the Framework for the Development
of Environment Statistics (FDES) approved by the UN Statistical Commission in 2013. More
detailed breakdown of statistical areas can be found in the FDES.
Excludes:
• System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (2.1.5).

3.1 Environmental conditions and quality

Covers statistics about the physical, biological and chemical characteristics of the
environment. FDES further breaks it down to three subcomponents: (1) physical conditions
of the atmosphere, hydrographical information, geological and topographic information, and
soil characteristics; (2) land cover, ecosystems and biodiversity, protected areas and species;
and (3) quality of air, water and soil.

3.2 Environmental resources and their use

Covers statistics on environmental resources (assets) and is closely related to the asset and
physical flow accounts of the System of Environmental-economic Accounting Central

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Framework (SEEA-CF). The statistical area covers the stocks, changes, production, trade and
use (consumption) of both renewable and non-renewable natural resources, including aquatic
resources, crops and livestock.

3.3 Environmental residuals

Covers statistics on the amount and characteristics of residuals generated by human
production and consumption processes, their management and final release to the
environment. The main groups of residuals are emissions to air (including greenhouse gases),
water or soil, wastewater and waste, and the release of chemical substances.

3.4 Hazardous events and disasters

Covers statistics on the occurrence of hazardous events and disasters and their impacts on
human well-being and the infrastructure. It covers both natural and technological hazardous
events and disasters. The area covers statistics on the occurrence, frequency and intensity of
hazardous events and disasters, as well as their impact on human lives and habitats, and the
environment as a whole.

3.5 Human settlements and environmental health

Covers statistics on the environment in which humans live and work, particularly with regard
to living conditions and environmental health. FDES breaks it further down to two
subcomponents: (1) human settlements, infrastructure and exposure to potentially harmful
environmental conditions; (2) environmental health, i.e., the impacts of environmental
conditions and pollution on human health.

3.6 Environmental protection, management and engagement

Covers the statistics on resources dedicated to environmental protection, management and
engagement. It includes four subcomponents: (1) environmental protection and resource
management expenditure, (2) environmental governance and regulation, (3) hazardous event
preparedness and disaster management, and (4) environmental information and awareness.

D. Domain 4 – Governance statistics

The breakdown in this domain follows the structure of the Handbook of Governance
Statistics (HGS) approved by the UN Statistical Commission in 2020. More detailed
breakdown on statistical areas can be found in the HGS. (This Domain replaces and expands
subdomain 1.8 ‘Justice and crime’ of the earlier version of the classification (CSA 2009)).

4.1 Non-discrimination and equality

Covers statistics measuring any differential treatment based on age, sex, disability, race,
ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status that has the intention or effect of
impairing human rights and fundamental freedoms. It covers both direct and indirect
discrimination.

4.2 Participation
Covers statistics on the ways in which individuals take part in political and public affairs,
including by registering to vote, voting or standing as a candidate in elections; being members
of legislative, executive and judicial bodies; accessing positions in the public service; being
a member of a trade union; and engaging, individually or as members of political parties and
other non-governmental organizations, in political activities.

4.3 Openness
Covers statistics on the extent to which public institutions provide access to information and
are transparent in their decision- and policy-making processes. More specifically, covers
access to information, open government provisions, freedom of expression and media
pluralism.

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4.4 Access to and quality of justice

Covers statistics on the ability of people to defend and enforce their rights and obtain just
resolution of justiciable problems, through impartial formal or informal institutions of justice
and with appropriate legal support. Covers both criminal and civil justice, including the
accessibility, effectiveness and quality of legal assistance, processes, decisions and
outcomes.

4.5 Responsiveness
Covers statistics on whether people have a say in what government does and whether they
are satisfied with the government’s performance.

4.6 Absence of corruption

Covers statistics on: (1) the level of intolerance to corruption (i.e., ethical values, principles
and norms that strengthen resistance to corruption practices); (2) the levels and patterns of
corrupt practices; and (3) the response to corruption by the state.

4.7 Trust
Covers statistics on people’s trust in institutions as well as in other people, with a primary
focus on the former, e.g., the parliament, the national government and the justice system.

4.8 Safety and security

Covers statistics on crime, victimization, violence, perceptions of safety, human trafficking,
measurement of casualties directly provoked by armed operations, and the quality of law
enforcement and criminal justice institutions.

E. Domain 5 – Cross-cutting statistics

Deals with conceptual or data work based on thematic approaches that require bringing
together data across different domains to meet the data needs for policy agendas for
development. This domain also covers statistical work that spans two or more of the previous
subject-matter domains, or is not elsewhere classified.

5.1 Sustainable development

Covers work on indicators and frameworks to monitor sustainable development, well-being,
etc., including indicators for assessing progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
Excludes:
• Environmental accounting (2.1.5)
• Environment statistics (3).

5.2 Human rights

Covers work on indicators and frameworks to monitor human rights (e.g., Human Rights-
Based Approach to Data, Protocol of San Salvador indicators).

5.3 Gender and special population groups

Covers work on indicators and frameworks to monitor gender and special population groups,
such as children, youth, older persons, persons with disabilities, minority groups, etc. (e.g.,
sets of gender indicators, indicators on ageing).

5.4 Living conditions and poverty

Covers work on indicators and frameworks to monitor living conditions and poverty,
covering its different aspects: economic, social, etc. (e.g., Human Development Index,
Multidimensional Poverty Index). Includes work on multidimensional methods to measure

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poverty, living conditions in the broad sense, social inclusion/exclusion, social indicators,
and social situation.

5.5 Climate change

Covers work on climate change-related statistics, indicators and frameworks (e.g., sets of
climate change-related indicators and statistics). This can concern the greenhouse gas
emissions, climate change drivers, impacts, mitigation and adaptation.
Excludes:
• Environmental accounting (2.1.5)
• Environment statistics (3).

5.6 Information society and digitalization

Covers work on statistics, indicators and frameworks to monitor digital transformation and
the use and impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) on society. Looks
at these topics in a wider sense than economic aspects, including well-being in a digital
society. Includes work on internet use, internet application, information and communications
technology trade, computer use, broadband connectivity, e-commerce, etc.
Excludes:
• Business statistics (2.2).

5.7 Circular economy

Covers work on indicators to monitor the progress towards a circular economy (e.g., the
European Commission’s Circular Economy Indicators, the OECD Inventory of Circular
Economy Indicators).
Excludes:
• Business statistics (2.2).

5.8 Other cross-cutting statistics, not elsewhere classified

Covers statistical subject-matter areas that are not classified in Domains 1-4 above or any of
the previous cross-cutting statistics. Serves as a place-holder for any over-arching policy
frameworks that may appear.

F. Domain 6 – Statistical infrastructure and methodology

6.1 Metadata
Covers developing, harmonizing and standardizing metadata models, structures and
frameworks in the context of statistical information processing and dissemination, deals also
with harmonizing statistical terminology and definitions.

6.2 Statistical infrastructure

6.2.1 Classifications
Activities related to developing, managing, maintaining and harmonizing classifications used
in statistics, in subject matter areas (economic, social, environmental and governance
statistics), as well as in methodology and management of official statistics.

6.2.2 Statistical business registers

Development and maintenance of statistical business registers.
Excludes:
• Agricultural registers (6.2.5)

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• Business and agricultural censuses (6.3.2).

6.2.3 Registers of population

Development and maintenance of statistical population registers, covering the whole resident
population. Includes civil and vital events registers.
Excludes:
• Register-based censuses (6.3.1)
• Registers of dwellings and buildings (6.2.4)
• Infrastructure (6.2.4).

6.2.4 Registers of dwellings and buildings

Development and maintenance of statistical registers of buildings, dwellings and
infrastructure, covering all residential, non-residential buildings and dwellings, and elements
of infrastructure.

6.2.5 Agricultural registers

Development and maintenance of agricultural registers.
Excludes:
• Statistical business registers (6.2.2)
• Business and agricultural censuses (6.3.2).

6.3 Data sources

Deals with different methods of data collection from respondents and different forms of data
sources at national level. Includes activities on electronic data reporting and Internet
reporting which are not directly related to specific censuses or surveys. The two digit-level
includes only activities that cannot be allocated to a three-digit item.
Excludes:
• Methods by which international organizations collect data from national producers
(7.7)

6.3.1 Population and housing censuses

Covers methodology and organization of population and housing censuses, including
register-based censuses.
Excludes:
• Development and maintenance of statistical registers of population (6.2.3)
• Collection and dissemination of national statistical results from population censuses
by international organizations (1.1. or other relevant area of Domain 1)
• Civil and vital events registers (6.2.3)
• Administrative sources on persons generated by the social security system or kept for
special population groups in their use for other statistical activities than population
and housing censuses (6.3.5).

6.3.2 Business and agricultural censuses

Covers methodology and organization of economic and agricultural censuses.
Excludes:
• Development and maintenance of statistical business registers (6.2.2)
• Development and maintenance of agricultural registers (6.2.5)

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• Administrative sources on subsets of agricultural holdings or businesses and their

activities in their use for other statistical activities than business and agricultural
censuses (6.3.5)

6.3.3 Household and individual surveys

Covers methodology and organization of household sample surveys, and sample surveys of
individuals, including sample designs; international surveys with direct data collection from
households such as Living Standard Measurement Survey or World Health Survey.

6.3.4 Business and agricultural surveys

Covers methodology and organization of business and agricultural surveys, including
sampling, and international surveys with direct data collection from businesses.

6.3.5 Administrative sources

Addresses the suitability of administrative sources for official statistics, the legal,
organizational and conceptual problems of accessing administrative sources, the use of
registers and other administrative sources in other contexts than censuses.

6.3.6 Data science

Addresses the practical use of combining multiple data sources (including big data) with the
purpose of producing experimental and official statistics: methodological issues, covering
quality concerns and fitness for purpose; legal and other issues in respect of access to data
sources.

6.3.7 Geospatial data

Data and information having an explicit association with a location relative to Earth, such as
topographic data, remote sensing, geodesy, satellite imagery and Earth observation data.

6.4 Data exchange and data sharing

Covers issues related to data sharing and data exchange at the collection, analysis, and
dissemination phases, including data access, confidentiality and privacy issues. Covers data
sharing and exchange both at national and international level.
Excludes:
• Confidentiality and disclosure protection in the dissemination phase (6.8).

6.5 Data editing

Covers methodological, organizational and legal issues related to data editing at the
collection phase, including data quality control, data imputation and use of geo-referenced
data. Includes alignment to classifications and other statistical standards that facilitate data
integration.

6.6 Data analysis

Covers methods of data analysis in official statistics for other purposes than editing/quality
management, e.g., seasonal adjustment, methods for constructing composite indicators,
identification of causal factors, extrapolation, scenario and model building, etc.
Excludes:
• Data editing and imputation for data quality control at the collection phase (6.5)
• Methods for data disaggregation (6.7).

6.7 Data disaggregation

Covers conceptual and methodological aspects to consider for data disaggregation. Includes
small area estimation and use of novel sources to disaggregate traditional data.

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6.8 Statistical confidentiality and disclosure protection

Covers legal, organizational and technical measures to safeguard confidentiality of statistical
data; methods of releasing microdata while protecting against disclosure of individual data.

6.9 Data dissemination and communication

Policies, strategies, methods and techniques of data dissemination, design and organization
of output databases such as data warehouses, data lakes and virtualized data. Includes
feedback from users, data and metadata presentation, electronic dissemination (Internet),
statistical portals and open data. Includes best practices for communicating with the media
and work of NSO press offices.

G. Domain 7 – Strategic and managerial issues

The statistical areas in the domain are linked to the Generic Activity Model for Statistical
Organizations (GAMSO). The updated structure of this domain is in line with the previous
version of the CSA and includes also international activities, therefore the structure is
somewhat different from GAMSO.

7.1 Institutional frameworks and principles; role and organization of official statistics
Covers activities dealing with developing, harmonizing and revising the institutional
framework and principles of official statistics at national and international level, such as
fundamental principles of official statistics, codes of practice, organizational and legal
aspects of national statistical systems, functioning of the statistical systems, organization of
statistical offices, ethics, value and promotion of official statistics, and the increasing role of
national statistical offices in a wider data ecosystem including data stewardship.
Corresponds to GAMSO categories 1 Strategy and leadership (including 1.1 Define vision
and 1.2 Govern and lead) and part of 3.1 related to managing legislation.

7.2 National statistical coordination

Covers the coordination within national statistical systems, as well as strategic partnerships
with other data producers within a country. Covers the processes for setting up national
statistical programs, including relationship with users and respondents etc.
Corresponds to GAMSO category 1.3 Manage strategic collaboration and cooperation
Excludes:
• Coordination between international statistical agencies (7.7).

7.3 Quality management

Covers quality frameworks and measurement of performance of statistical systems and
offices: developing and administering a quality framework and tools to assure quality, i.e.
compliance with the quality framework that should cover quality linked to the organizational
framework, processes and products. Comprises work on quality indicators, user surveys, self-
assessments, quality reviews or audits, certification and labelling of statistics. Quality
documentation here refers to the organizational level and covers quality declarations, policies
and relevant guidelines such as guidelines on handling of errors and revisions.
Corresponds to GAMSO category 3.10 Manage quality.

7.4 Management of human resources

Covers managing employee performance, recruitment, skills development, talent
management and succession planning.
Corresponds to GAMSO category 3.8 Manage human resources.

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7.5 Management of IT, information and knowledge

Covers coordination and management of information technology and information and
knowledge. Management of IT includes management of the physical security of data and IT,
IT assets and services, and managing technological change. Information and knowledge
management includes the ownership or custody of records, documents, information and other
intellectual assets held by the organization and the governance of information collection,
arrangement, storage, maintenance, retrieval, dissemination and destruction. It also includes
maintaining the policies, guidelines and standards regarding information management and
governance.
Corresponds to GAMSO categories 3.4 Manage IT and 3.6 Manage information and
knowledge.
Excludes:
• Data exchange and data sharing (6.4)
• Metadata (6.1)
• Data warehousing (6.9).

7.6 Management of other resources

Covers management of finances, buildings and physical space, and of any other resources
not covered elsewhere in the classification. Managing finances covers the use of financial
and accounting information to measure, operate and predict the efficiency and effectiveness
of its activities, including procurement and contracts. Managing buildings and physical space
covers maintenance of the building and allocation of physical space the organization
occupies, including office space.
Corresponds to GAMSO categories 3.2 Manage finances and 3.9 Manage buildings and
physical space.

7.7 International statistical coordination

Covers coordination of statistical activities across international and supranational statistical
organizations, such as work of the UN Statistical Commission, Conference of European
Statisticians and the Coordinating Committee of Statistical Activities.

7.8 Capacity development

Covers general bilateral and multilateral capacity development and technical cooperation
activities, including coordination of capacity development.
Relates to GAMSO category 2 Capability management but is wider. GAMSO is focused on
a view within a statistical organization while this area covers mainly international capacity
development assistance offered by different kinds of donors (funds, countries, international
organizations, etc.).
Excludes:
• Capacity development in specific subject areas (given under the relevant areas in
Domains 1-5).

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Annex

Process and approach of updating the Classification of

Statistical Activities (CSA)

I. Background
1. The Classification of International Statistical Activities was established in 2005. The
Bureau of the Conference of European Statisticians (CES) is the owner of the Classification
and responsible for its maintenance and authorisation of revisions as necessary. The CSA
started as a regional classification for a specific use (Database of International Statistical
Activities). Over time, its use has widened to international organizations and countries from
different regions. In February 2020, the Bureau approved the procedure for updating the
Classification to include new, emerging areas of international statistical work.

II. The updating process

2. As requested by the Bureau, the practical work on the update was undertaken by a
small Task Team including representatives from Canada, Ireland, Mexico (Chair), New
Zealand, Eurostat, UNSD and UNECE 1.
3. The Task Team conducted a targeted survey among international organizations to get
more information about how CSA is used and identify the needs for updates. Fourteen
organizations responded that they are using CSA. In addition, some countries are also
currently using it (New Zealand, South Africa) or considering its use in the future (Canada).
Several users have adapted CSA to fit their needs, either by selecting a subset of the
classification or by adding more elements.
4. The survey showed that the Classification is used for two main purposes:
(a) Organizing information about statistical events, capacity building, training
materials, publications, working groups, reference documents, or statistical standards and
classifications;
(b) Organizing data and metadata (to define subject matter areas, classify
indicators and data products).
5. The user feedback also provided suggestions for updating the CSA, including the
following:
• Make environment statistics a separate domain;
• Add new statistical areas, such as: governance statistics, climate-change related
statistics, geospatial statistics, digitalisation, circular economy, data science
(including big data), AI, data exchange and data sharing, disaggregation, legislation,
statistical literacy, etc.;
• Regroup some statistical activities (e.g., make migration statistics a separate statistical
area; merge macroeconomic statistics and accounts);
• Provide more guidance on where to classify content that can go into several statistical
areas (particularly in the cross-cutting statistics domain);
• Align with standards such as GSBPM and GAMSO.

1Members of the Task Team were: Franklin Assoumou Ndong (Canada), Ciara Cummins and Don
Forde (in the final phase) (Ireland), Andrea Fernández Conde and Manuel Cuéllar (Co-Chairs,
Mexico), Andrew Hancock (New Zealand), Márta Nagy-Rothengass, Martin Karlberg and Maurizio
Capaccioli (Eurostat), Sabine Warschburger (in initial phase), Ilaria Di Matteo, Zhiyuan Qian and Ivo
Havinga (UNSD), Tiina Luige, Stela Derivolcov and Martijn Kind (UNECE).

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6. Reflecting the variety of users and uses, the feedback from the consultation included
very different approaches to improve the classification and the Task Team members also had
different perspectives. These were discussed over fifteen teleconferences consolidating views
and producing various versions of the update.
7. The current proposal for the CSA update reflects the consensus of the Task Team after
analysing and incorporating user feedback while aiming to retain the classification’s
coherence. The Task Team was also trying to align as much as possible with the existing
statistical frameworks (e.g., the Framework for Development of Environment Statistics
(FDES), Praia City Group Handbook on Governance Statistics, Handbook on Management
and Organization of National Statistical Systems, etc.).
8. The CES Bureau reviewed the draft updated Classification (CSA 2.0) at its February
2022 meeting, and asked the Secretariat to circulate it for electronic consultation among all
CES members. Subject to a positive outcome of the consultation, the CSA 2.0 will be
submitted to the 2022 CES plenary session for endorsement. The Bureau agreed with further
steps to make the CSA a global standard, which would imply a move of custodianship to
UNSD.

III. Main changes to the classification compared to the 2009

version
9. To take into account user feedback and developments in international statistical work,
two subject-matter domains were added to the classification:
(a) Environment statistics (new domain 3) aligned with the Framework for
Development of Environment Statistics (FDES, adopted by the UN Statistical Commission
in 2013) and the components of the basic set of environment statistics (UNSD, 2018 2). The
statistical areas in this domain follow the structure of FDES;
(b) Governance statistics (new domain 4) aligned with the Handbook on
Governance Statistics3 developed by the Praia Group and endorsed by the UN Statistical
Commission in March 2020. The statistical areas in this domain follow the structure agreed
by the Praia Group.
10. As a consequence of adding two domains, the next ones are renumbered, bringing the
total number of domains to seven.
11. The domain 5 is renamed to “Cross-cutting statistics” (in the CSA 2009 this was
domain 3: “Environment and multi-domain statistics”). Domain 5 now covers statistical
areas that require bringing together data across different domains to meet the data needs for
policy agendas for development, such as SDGs, climate change, etc. It also includes policy-
relevant topics that should be mainstreamed in different statistical areas, providing a ‘lens’
through which to view the other topics, such as gender and human rights. This is also in line
with the increasing need for data on these topics beyond social or economic statistics.
12. The domain 6 is renamed to “Statistical infrastructure and methodology” (in the CSA
2009 this was Domain 4 “Methodology of data collection, processing, dissemination and
analysis”). The Task Team was aiming to align it with the Generic Statistical Business
Process Model (GSBPM) but found it not to be practical for the purposes that the
classification is used. GSBPM is a model of a statistical production process. CSA is a
classification for information that is used throughout the different phases in the production
process4. For the purposes that CSA is used, the Task Team considered the concept of
‘common statistical infrastructure’ from the Handbook on Management and Organization of

2 https://unstats.un.org/unsd/environment/fdes/FDES-2015-supporting-tools/FDES.pdf;
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/envstats/fdes/basicset.cshtml
3 https://unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom/51st-session/documents/Handbook_on_GovernanceStatistics-

Draft_for_global_consultation-E.pdf
4 For example, statistical events, training courses, or expert groups on population censuses (statistical

area 6.3.1 in the CSA) deal with all phases of a census; statistical classifications (6.2.1) and metadata
(6.1) are relevant in all phases of the production process.

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National Statistical Systems5 (endorsed by UNSC in 2021) quite useful, as it covers explicitly
metadata, classifications, and registers.
13. Domain 7 “Strategic and managerial issues of official statistics” is closely aligned
with the Generic Activity Model for Statistical Organizations (GAMSO), with some
simplifications.
14. A list detailing the proposed changes compared to CSA 2009 is available in Annex 2.

IV. Purpose and intended uses of the updated Classification of

Statistical Activities
15. The aim of the CSA is to be used to classify statistical activities. According to the
definition used in the work of the High-level Group for Modernization of Official Statistics
(HLG-MOS), statistical activity is a statistical production activity or activity that directly
supports it. Therefore, in addition to collecting, producing and disseminating data, statistical
activities also include providing leadership, capability development and corporate support to
statistical production.
16. The classification is hierarchical and has three levels. The first level comprises
“domains” which relate to the broad type of statistical activities. The second level specifies
“activities” within these domains. The third level covers a more detailed breakdown that is
not meant to be exhaustive.
17. CSA can be used at different levels of detail driven by the user needs and purposes.
Users can limit to the 2-digit level without a further breakdown. Or users can create their own
more detailed breakdown at 4-digit level for specific areas of interest.
18. The first five domains of the classification cover subject-matter activities. These
activities may result in data outputs. As such, these domains can provide a backbone for
alignment and standardization of topics/themes or sections on data dissemination websites of
NSOs and international organizations. This is also suitable for the continuance of SDMX
usage of the CSA and for classifying indicators and other data products. The Domain 5 can
be used to classify data collections such as SDG-indicator sets, gender relevant indicators,
and more.
19. Domain 6 is used for classifying statistical activities related to infrastructure and
methodology, and Domain 7 for strategic and managerial issues for official statistics.
20. The main purposes of using the classification are:
(a) Based on the process related to the statistical activity, CSA can be used to
classify statistical events, capacity building activities or working groups, using all 7 domains.
Within this purpose, domains 1 to 5 can be used to classify methodological work aimed at
developing or revising standards, and activities related to technical cooperation or training
specific to a subject area.
(b) Based on the output of the statistical activity, CSA can be used to classify data
and metadata (particularly domains 1 to 5 which are related to subject-matter activities).
21. The classification is not designed to be mutually exclusive. CSA is an analytical
classification. It is not used in the production of statistics and therefore there is no problem
with double counting. This does not represent a break from the Best Practice Guidelines for
Developing International Statistical Classification 6. In some cases, an item can be classified
in several areas and users can decide where to place it according to their specific need. The
updated explanatory notes are prepared to guide the user through exclusions and inclusions.

5 See https://unstats.un.org/capacity-development/handbook/index.cshtml
6 See https://unstats.un.org/unsd/classifications/bestpractices/Best_practice_Nov_2013.pdf

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V. Next steps
22. The CES Bureau is the current custodian of the CSA. The CSA started as a regional
classification for a specific use (Database of International Statistical Activities). Over time,
its use has widened to international organizations and countries from different regions.
Therefore, after the approval process under CES, the Task Team recommends the CSA to
become a global classification. It is advisable to define an operational point of contact for the
Classification to be responsible for the implementation, maintenance and updating cycle of
the CSA. The contact point could also help guide users in using the Classification.
23. The best practices for developing statistical classifications and criteria for the
international statistical classifications7 should also be considered in the next steps. The CSA
would become a member of the International Family of Statistical Classifications and be
submitted to the UN Statistical Commission through the UN Committee of Experts on
International Statistical Classifications (UN CEISC), a body that is required to approve the
compliance status of the classifications. The custodianship of CSA would be transferred to
UNSD.
24. The CES Bureau discussed the draft updated CSA 2.0 at its February 2022 meeting
and agreed with further steps to make the CSA a global standard. In view of this, a global
consultation is carried out in parallel to the CES consultation to gather additional feedback
and further advance the process.

7 See https://unstats.un.org/unsd/classifications/bestpractices

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