16
The Importance of Statistical Development in Cambodia
The Importance of Statistical Development in Cambodia
National Institute of Statistics, Ministry of Planning#386, Preah Monivong Blvd, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
www.nis.gov.khTelephone: 023 21 99 46
“We need quality statistcal information for strategic planing and important decision making, but not ad-hoc evidence.” H.E. Chhay Than
Senior Minister
Ministry of Planning
“It is important to have sufficent, reliable, and timely statstics for development”
H.E. Hang Lina
Director General
National Institute of Statistics
THE IMPORTANCEOF STATISTICSIn the modern, globalised world, statistical information has been emerging as a critical factor in supporting national and international demand for evidence-base planning and policy formulation, and monitoring and evaluation processes.
In Cambodia, statistics are an indispensable part of government strategic plans, and regional and international cooperation, including:
• National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP)• Cambodia Millennium Development Goals• National Programme to Rehabilitate and Develop Cambodia
(NPRD)• Five-Year Socio-Economic Development Plan (SEDP)• Rectangular Strategy for Growth, Employment, Equity and
Efficiency• Financial Sector Strategy 2006-2015 and the Public Financial
Management Reform Programme• Requirement for data exchange and data sharing to
international organizations and development partners as well as private users.
National Institute of Statistics (NIS)
Statistical policy-making, coordinating
and production of general purpose
statistics
National Bank of CambodiaStatistics Department
Produces money and banking statistics
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Bureau of Agricultural StatisticsProduces agricultural statistics
Ministry of Education, Youth and SportOffice of Education
Management Information System
Produces education statistics
Ministry of HealthBureau of Health Statistics
Produces health statistics
Ministry of TourismStatistics Office
Produces tourism statistics
The National Institute of Statistics, the National Statistical System, and its legal framework were established and mandated in response to the need of official statistics. By Sub Decree, “The National Institute of Statistics is the official statistical policy-making body of the Royal Government in establishing and leading an integrated national statistical system which covers all designated official statistics of ministries, government institutions and the statistical units of provinces, municipalities, districts, khans and statistical staff in communes and sangkats.”, and “The National Statistical System is established as the official statistical system of the Royal Government. The national statistical system shall consist of the National Institute of Statistics, other designated statistical units and the staff employed in those statistical units. Each statistical unit shall be led by a head and a number of vice-heads according to the actuality.”
In addressing the multi-sectoral characteristic of statistics, the Statistics Coordination Committee (SCC), and Statistics Advisory Council (SAC) were established by law to assist in technical coordination of official statistics, and to facilitate in decision making for development of the NSS, respectively.
THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS (NIS) AND THE NATIONAL STATISTICAL SYSTEM (NSS)
THE STATISTICAL MASTER PLAN
Cambodia’s Statistical Master Plan (SMP) 2008-2015, which sets out the long-term plan for its national statistical system (NSS) and is in sync with the country’s National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP), was launched in 2007 and reviewed in 2012.
The SMP is a strategic document setting out the vision and goals for the NSS, specifically outlining the kinds of statistics it will produce in order to meet the present and future needs of Cambodian society. These needs also include regional commitments (e.g., the ASEAN Community Statistical System) and international commitments (e.g., the Millennium Development Goals).
The SMP’s vision is described through five principles: Relevance, Integrity, Accessibility, Professionalism, and Trust, with seven objectives.
The mid-term review of the SMP assessed the accomplishment of statistical activities and arrangements and how it contributed to the implementation of the SMP.
Seven Objectives of the SMP
1. A coordinated and improved national statistical system for the Kingdom of Cambodia
2. An NIS statistical service that is timely, relevant, responsive, and respected for its integrity and quality
3. Informed and increased use of official statistics
4. An active participant in international statistical activities that are important to the Kingdom of Cambodia and Southeast Asian Region
5. An institution that encourages learning, innovation, and high performance in all its statistical activities and development
6. The trust and cooperation of NIS data providers
7. Strong recognition and support for the NIS amongst decision makers and the community
SMP MILESTONES
Thanks to concerted effort of the NSS and its development partners, significant achievements has been realised:
• Integration of the MDG monitoring framework into national policy evaluation.
• Two-thirds of the MDG indicators at the national level have at least two data points between 1990 and 2011.
• Conduct of the 2008 Population Census, 2010 Cambodia Demographic Health Survey, annual Cambodian Socio Economic Survey
• Improvements have been made in the coordination of the content and timing of survey activities.
• For improving the statistical system, the Royal Government of Cambodia allocated in total 3.9 million in 2009 which increased to 4.6 million in 2011, an increase of 18 percentage points. On the specific activities, for example increasingly funding the various censuses and for statistics produced in 2009-2011, government financing has risen from 20 percent to 33 percent of the NIS budget.
• Positive government decision to support a significant part of the Agricultural Census 2013.
• Skills in statistics have improved since 2007 (funding support for master’s degree on population studies, and participation in local and international workshop in various statistical issues).
• The World Bank provides an annual measure of statistical capacity in countries, on a scale of 0¬–100. The scores show that Cambodia’s capacity increased from a score of 45 in 1999 to 68 in 2012.
CHALLENGES
Despite great efforts and significant progress made, many challenges remain to be addressed for building and maintaining a sustainable statistical system.
• A funding gap persists at roughly 65 per cent of the total budget requirement for statistics with only a minor part of the priority statistical activities being financed.
• A significant amount of financing is provided by the donor community. However, to ensure a sustainable statistical system, more systematic funding is required from the government.
• Further development is needed on methodological issues, standardized questions, common approaches to data processing and analysis, and use of National Institute of Statistics (NIS) field work capacity.
• Further enhancing the capacities and skills of the NSS to carry out surveys and censuses is necessary. User awareness on the use of statistics also needs to be raised and advocated for.
• Capacity needs to be maintained with proper use and encouragement.
• Insufficient statistics and their disaggregation for increasing local and regional demand.
Some insights on the Post-2015 developmentThe next round of the MDGs will likely include goals on emerging topics such as social cohesion and well-being. Measuring progress towards these new goals will require increased investment in the Cambodian statistical system.
VISION FOR THE FUTURE
To meet national and international demands, the NIS and its NSS have determined the following strategic tasks.
SMP to be an integrated part of the NSDP, the Ministry of Planning Strategic Plan and the Annual
Report of the National Statistical System
Establish a statistical business register
Increase government funding by at least 20-25 percent annually until 2015
Data collection priorities should include the conduct of the following:
Censuses (at least every ten years)Population, Agriculture, Economic
Surveys (annually or quarterly)household expenditure, employment/labour force, consumer prices, industrial production, agricultural
commodity and producer prices, monetary and financial statistics, international trade and services,
international investment
Surveys (between every 2-5 years)demographic and health, disability, literacy and
education, poverty indicators
Indi
cato
r20
0720
0820
0920
1020
1120
12So
urce
s
Tota
l pop
ulat
ion
(mill
ions
)
13.4
13.9
14.1
14.3
14.5
Gene
ral P
opul
atio
n Ce
nsus
200
8 a
nd
popu
latio
n pr
ojec
tion
2008
-203
0
Popu
latio
n gr
owth
rate
1.
51.
41.
31.
341.
3Ge
nera
l Pop
ulat
ion
Cens
us 2
008
and
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pula
tion
proj
ectio
n 20
08-2
030
Tota
l fer
tility
rate
3.
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92.
92.
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nera
l Pop
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us 2
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and
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n 20
08-2
030
Mat
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46
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206
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mog
raph
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ealth
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rvey
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Life
exp
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61
6161
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Gene
ral P
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2008
-203
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Life
exp
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irth
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emal
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nera
l Pop
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us 2
008
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-203
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Labo
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Sur
vey
(C
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Unem
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80.
60.
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mbo
dia
Soci
o Ec
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ic S
urve
y
(CSE
S)
Lite
racy
rate
(6 a
nd o
ver)
65.9
70.8
72.5
71.2
73.5
76.0
Cam
bodi
a So
cio
Econ
omic
Sur
vey
(C
SES)
Popu
latio
n be
low
nat
iona
l po
vert
y lin
e (p
erce
nt)
47.8
29.9
22.9
21.2
19.8
Ca
mbo
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Soci
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urve
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(CSE
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54.5
55.0
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Sur
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an im
prov
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32.8
34.0
40.0
43.6
45.2
Cam
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Econ
omic
Sur
vey
(C
SES)
Key Indicators for NSDP and CMDG
Indi
cato
r20
0720
0820
0920
1020
1120
12So
urce
s
Tota
l pop
ulat
ion
(mill
ions
)
13.4
13.9
14.1
14.3
14.5
Gene
ral P
opul
atio
n Ce
nsus
200
8 a
nd
popu
latio
n pr
ojec
tion
2008
-203
0
Popu
latio
n gr
owth
rate
1.
51.
41.
31.
341.
3Ge
nera
l Pop
ulat
ion
Cens
us 2
008
and
po
pula
tion
proj
ectio
n 20
08-2
030
Tota
l fer
tility
rate
3.
13.
02.
92.
92.
8Ge
nera
l Pop
ulat
ion
Cens
us 2
008
and
po
pula
tion
proj
ectio
n 20
08-2
030
Mat
erna
l mor
talit
y ra
te
(per
100
,000
live
bir
ths)
46
1
206
Cam
bodi
a De
mog
raph
ic a
nd H
ealth
Su
rvey
(CDH
S)
Life
exp
ecta
ncy
at b
irth
(M
ale)
61
6161
6263
Gene
ral P
opul
atio
n Ce
nsus
200
8 a
nd
popu
latio
n pr
ojec
tion
2008
-203
0
Life
exp
ecta
ncy
at b
irth
(F
emal
e)
6467
6868
69Ge
nera
l Pop
ulat
ion
Cens
us 2
008
and
popu
latio
n pr
ojec
tion
2008
-203
0
Labo
ur fo
rce
par
ticip
atio
n ra
te (1
5-64
)83
.781
.884
.487
.087
.5 8
4.2
Cam
bodi
a So
cio
Econ
omic
Sur
vey
(C
SES)
Unem
ploy
men
t rat
e0.
70.
40.
30.
80.
60.
2Ca
mbo
dia
Soci
o Ec
onom
ic S
urve
y
(CSE
S)
Lite
racy
rate
(6 a
nd o
ver)
65.9
70.8
72.5
71.2
73.5
76.0
Cam
bodi
a So
cio
Econ
omic
Sur
vey
(C
SES)
Popu
latio
n be
low
nat
iona
l po
vert
y lin
e (p
erce
nt)
47.8
29.9
22.9
21.2
19.8
Ca
mbo
dia
Soci
o Ec
onom
ic S
urve
y
(CSE
S)Pe
rcen
tage
of p
opul
atio
n
usin
g an
impr
oved
dr
inki
ng w
ater
sour
ces
54.5
55.0
48.7
48.2
50.5
50.7
Cam
bodi
a So
cio
Econ
omic
Sur
vey
(C
SES)
Perc
enta
ge o
f pop
ulat
ion
us
ing
an im
prov
ed
sani
tatio
n fa
cilit
ies
30.5
32.8
34.0
40.0
43.6
45.2
Cam
bodi
a So
cio
Econ
omic
Sur
vey
(C
SES)
This booklet was produced by the National Institute of Statistics of Cambodia with support from the secretariat of the Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21).
Photos courtesy of World Bank, Ethan Crowley, Dennis Jarvis, Pierre Lasage, Lorena Pajares, and Ross Websdale
National Institute of Statistics, Ministry of Planning#386, Preah Monivong Blvd, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
www.nis.gov.khTelephone: 023 21 99 46
