First webinar
7:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. New York time
3 September 2025
(Methodologies and Challenges in Compiling Sub-National Statistical Systems)
Second webinar
7:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. New York time
1 October 2025
(Improving Data Dissaggregation: Advances in Sub-National Statistical Systems)
Many countries produce sub-national economic statistics by state, province, territory, metropolitan area, city, etc., that are critical for policymaking, allocating government resources, understanding the impacts of economic shocks and natural disasters, locating businesses, and many other uses. National Statistical offices in Asia, Europe, Africa, North and South America disseminate this type of information on either a regular, or ad-hoc basis. However, there are few, if any, international forums for economic statisticians to share their experience in doing this type of work.
This webinar will act as such a forum by providing the opportunity for practitioners from various organizations, not limited to NSOs, to share their know-how and experiences on compiling sub-national data while addressing data sources and methodological challenges. The participants will also get an international perspective as to why these data are important to produce.
Session 1 – Welcome and Opening Remarks
Andre Loranger Co-Chair of the United Nations Network of Economic Statisticians and Chief Statistician of Canada
Mauricio Ortiz, Associate Director for Regional Economics at the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Session 2 – The Case for Sub-national Economic Statistics
This session will cover the motivation behind the production of sub-national statistics (legislative requirements, policy need, decentralized decision making, etc.) by NSOs and other organizations, including their role of coordinating the production of sub-national data within their country.
City governments and local authorities in emerging economies are increasingly tasked with fostering more productive, inclusive, and sustainable urban economies. However, they are often hampered by a lack of reliable and granular spatial economic data on the nature and geography of jobs, firms, and investment.
This presentation shares insights from the Spatial Economic Activity Data – South Africa (SEAD-SA) initiative, a pioneering collaboration between researchers, government, and the South African revenue authority. It showcases how anonymised administrative tax data can be transformed into cost-effective, policy-relevant spatial statistics to support local economic development planning. The SEAD-SA project demonstrates the potential of using existing data infrastructure to generate regular, detailed, and credible sub-city indicators which is helping to close a long-standing data gap in spatial economic intelligence.
Presenter: Dr. Justin Visagie, Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa
Sub-national statistics are like a bridge that connects national statistics to information that can more directly impact the day-to-day lives and activity of people within a country. They provide context and nuance to the unique characteristics of a nation's economy. They are critical for decision-making and policy choices and execution within a country.
In the United States, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is charged with producing sub-national economic statistics that complement the BEA's national economic statistics. This presentation will highlight the history of BEA's sub-national economic statistics, their formal and informal uses, the data and methods used to produce them, and challenges.
Presenter: Mauricio Ortiz Associate Director for Regional Economics at the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Statistics Canada produces annual macroeconomic statistics for the province of Quebec.
The Institut de la Statistique du Québec (ISQ)—an agency within the Quebec government—produces sub-annual and sub-regional macroeconomic statistics.
The ISQ’s work therefore complements Statistics Canada’s. Once the ISQ’s and Statistics Canada’s data are reconciled, the ISQ’s macroeconomic statistics become the official data for Quebec, especially for recent periods, meaning those after the last year published by Statistics Canada.
Presenter: Mario Beaulieu, Economic Statistics Director, Institut de la Statistique du Quebec
This presentation will highlight the detailed disaggregation of data provided by the Economic Census, with a particular focus on geographic dimensions.
This presentation will highlight the detailed disaggregation of data provided by the Economic Census, with a particular focus on geographic dimensions.
Presenter: Gerardo Franco Parrillat, Deputy Director General of Census and Benito Arciniega Castro, Coordinator of Conceptual Design and Economic Studies, INEGI
Discussion
Session 3 – Methods, Data, Benchmarking and Revisions
Session 3 will showcase examples of work that addresses challenges related to scarce data sources, top-down versus bottom-up approaches to compilation as well as reconciliation methods, timeliness, revisions and accuracy.
Since the early 2000s, the Global Data Lab has created subnational indicators for low and middle income countries (LMICs) by aggregation from representative household surveys and census datasets.
These indicators were first developed for multilevel research on social issues in LMICs. When with the introduction of the SDGs there was a call for subnational data, we decided to make them freely available to the global community. In this presentation, we describe the approach that is used, the kind of indicators that are constructed and provide an in-depth discussion of our subnational versions of the UNDP's Human Development Index and Gender Development Index.
Presenters: Jeroen Smits, Professor of Economic & Human Development | Global Data Lab | Radboud University | Netherlands and Iñaki Permanyer ICREA Research Professor Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics
The presentation offers insights into the structure and significance of Provincial and Territorial Economic Accounts (PTEA), delving into essential concepts, data sources, and methodologies that support these accounts. Key components such as income and expenditure accounts and industry accounts are discussed, along with the challenges involved in producing consistent regional data. Finally, the presentation examines how PTEA aligns with other economic data providers, highlighting efforts to ensure coherence and reliability across datasets.
Presenter: Guillaume Dubé, Assistant Director, Industry Accounts Division StatCan
The presentation provides highlights on the estimation of Gross County Product which is used to quantify the contribution of counties to the economy
Presenter: James Gekara Abuga, Statistician - Kenya National Bureau of Statistics
Discussion
Guillaume Dubé, Assistant Director Industry Accounts, Statistics Canada
This webinar will go beyond the basics of sub-national data compilation by exploring extended and thematic accounts, the challenges of developing and communicating experimental estimates and the important role that partnerships play in the ability of NSOs and other organization to develop quality data that meets user needs.
Session 1 – Welcome, Opening Remarks and Scene Setting
Aishath Shahuda Co-Chair of the United Nations Network of Economic Statisticians and Deputy Chief Statistician Maldives Bureau of Statistics
Joe de Beer Deputy Director-General: Economic Statistics, Statistics South Africa
Mauricio Ortiz, Associate Director for Regional Economics at the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Session 2 – The Role of Partnerships and Data Governance
This session will showcase examples of how partnerships between NSOs and non-NSOs enable the development of sub-national data, as well as the importance of the various aspects of data governance encompassing technical, policy, and regulatory frameworks to ensure the quality, integrity, and responsible use of information.
European regional accounts are a crucial component of the European statistical system, providing detailed economic data at a sub-national level. They strictly adhere to the ESA 2010 (European System of Accounts) regulations. Collected annually, the data is first compiled by national statistical offices and then submitted to Eurostat for final checking, validation, and publication. Eurostat's role is particularly vital, as it ensures data quality and comparability while also computing regional GDP at NUTS 2 and NUTS 3 levels. By providing key economic indicators like regional GDP per capita, the data helps identify regions that are eligible to receive funding from the EU Cohesion Funds, which are designed to reduce economic and social disparities and foster balanced development across the Union. Additionally, the data from regional accounts is widely used for economic analysis, policy formulation, and academic research, providing a deeper understanding of local economic performance to help policymakers craft more targeted and effective strategies.
Presenter: Enrico INFANTE, team leader, Eurostat
Nadim Ahmad Nadim Ahmad, Deputy Director at the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities
The OECD, with support from the UK Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS), is designing a pilot program to include UK regions in the OECD’s Inter-Country Input-Output Tables (ICIO), utilizing detailed UK microdata. These integrated tables allow for a more accurate analysis of how UK regions integrate into global value chains, capturing the complex spillover effects between regional and international economic activities.
The presentation offers an overview of the research project and its findings, and discusses both data-specific and administrative challenges encountered during the work.
Presenter: Juergen Amann, Economist, OECD CFE/EDS
Discussion
Session 3 – Extended and Thematic Accounts and the Role of Experimental Estimates
Extended and thematic satellite accounts, particularly at the sub-national level, provide detailed information beyond core national accounts by focusing on specific themes or extending the scope of the accounts.
Presenter: Christian Awuku-Budu. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Presenter: Dr B Vumbukani-Lepolesa, Stats South Africa
The presentation will explore various thematic accounts related to wellbeing, developed within the framework of the Mexican System of National Accounts.
Presenter: Raúl Figueroa Díaz, INEGI
Panel discussion and Q&A with the presenters
Joe de Beer, Deputy Director-General: Economic Statistics, Statistics South Africa