Î.M. Motuzka,

PhD (Economics),

Associate Professor, Department for Management

of Foreign Economic Activities,

National Academy of Statistics, Accounting and Audit

 

ANALYSIS OF THE STATISTICAL SYSTEM OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC

 

The Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic is the main producer and coordinator of the official statistics in the National Statistical System of the Slovak Republic.

The Office's status, tasks and competencies are defined in the act regulating the production of official statistics in the Slovak Republic Act no 540/2001 coll. on state statistics, in force from 1st January 2002.

In line with the Act, the Statistical Council was established which represents the permanent expert advisory body for the President of the Office in the field of official statistics.

From the long-term point of view, the Office is managed according to the main strategic statements formulated in the year 2004; these are the vision, mission and the shared values. All three statements emphasize the Office as an independent, user / customer oriented information and knowledge institution highly committed to quality of its statistical products.

The Office commitment to quality was specified in the Quality declaration of the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic and the Quality policy of the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic  adopted in 2003 and 2004.

Therefore, Strategic statements together with the main quality documents form the basic framework of the Office's development strategy and its integral part Quality objectives.

The Office implemented the Quality Management System according to ISO 9001:2000 standards. The system was certified in October 2012. The certificate awarded proves that the system creates appropriate conditions for further improvements of the services / products quality and development of the Office as a whole.

Statistical surveys are regulated by the Program of State Statistical Surveys for three years period, compiled by the Office in collaboration with ministries and state organizations. The program contains all important and essential surveys including the surveys organized and performed by other central bodies and ministries. Besides surveys included in the Program, the Office also performs specific surveys of natural persons (e. g. population census, census of area, etc.)

Tasks of the official statistics are performed by the central office in Bratislava and eight regional offices located in Bratislava, Trnava, Nitra, Trenčín, Žilina, Banská Bystrica, Košice a Prešov.

The analysis shows, that in compliance with the Act on State Statistics, the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic:

elaborates and disclosures the conception of the state statistics;

compiles the program of surveys in line with ministries and state bodies;

determines the methodology of state surveys, collects and processes statistical data;

determines the methodology of the national accounts system keeping and compiles national accounts;

creates, disclosures and administers statistical classifications, code lists and registers in line with ministries and state organizations;

determines the way of registers creation, assigns and announces identification numbers;

elaborates analyses of selected characteristics of socio-economic and ecological development of the Slovak Republic;

cooperates with international bodies and organizations in introducing standards and classifications in specific branches of statistics;

organizes and performs representative studies of public opinion on socio-economic questions;

disclosures statistical survey results for the SR and for individual territorial and administrative units, regularly informs the public on socio-economic and demographic development, provides statistical information, issues statistical publications and carries out next tasks in accordance with the legal acts on official statistics.

The Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic, in cooperation with the ministries and State agencies, creates statistical classifications and statistical codes and provides information thereof. The classifications and codes shall be binding for bodies collecting official statistics and for reporting units providing data to statistical surveys, data processing and in the cases stipulated by the special regulation.

 

References

 

1. Act on State Statistics of the Slovak Republic. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/ess/slovakia/management-issues/

2. Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. Retrieved from https://slovak.statistics.sk/