Understanding Economic Statistics: An OECD Perspective
Hide / Show Abstract

Understanding Economic Statistics: An OECD Perspective

Drawing on OECD statistics in particular, ‘Understanding Economic Statistics: an OECD perspective' shows readers how to use statistics to understand the world economy. It gives an overview of the history, key concepts and the main providers of economic statistics. A detailed chapter provides a comprehensive picture of the main statistical activities of the OECD.  Finally, the book explores the crucial issue of quality assurance and the implications for public trust.

Publication Date :
08 Oct 2008
DOI :
10.1787/9789264046986-en
 
Chapter
 

An Overview of OECD Economic Statistics You do not have access to this content

Authors:
OECD
Pages :
77–183
DOI :
10.1787/9789264046986-5-en

Hide / Show Abstract

How can we compare the economic structure of OECD countries? Are small and medium enterprises more efficient than the large ones? How can we measure innovation or globalisation? Are the official measures of inflation reliable? This chapter shows how economic statistics published by the OECD can help in answering these and other questions relevant both for analytical and policy purposes. In particular, for each topic (statistics on agriculture, energy, industry and services, national accounts, etc.) the key definitions used to compile internationally comparable statistics are presented, together with the sources. The chapter also describes some of the activities already underway or planned to improve the quality of OECD statistics. Finally, charts and tables are used to highlight just a subset of data available in OECD databases and publications.