Arsen Makarchuk, Chairman of the State Statistics Service
In its 35th year of independence, Ukraine is making steady progress towards membership of the European Union. This process clearly shows that a state’s independence is measured not only by its sovereignty, but also by the capacity of its institutions.
One such institution is the national statistical service – the State Statistics Service.
This is confirmed by a separate negotiating chapter — Chapter 18 “Statistics”, which belongs to the first cluster of negotiations on EU accession — Fundamentals. And this is an important context. European requirements for statistics cover much more than the methodology for calculating GDP, inflation, employment or population and the transmission of these indicators to Eurostat. The entire system of producing official statistics matters: who works with the data and under what rules, under what institutional conditions professional decisions are made, and, ultimately, how much the results of this work can be trusted.
The European formula is clear: official data can be trusted when the producing institution has professional independence, sufficient institutional capacity, and responsibility for the results.
What is institutional capacity? This is the ability of the State Statistics Service actually to fulfill the role of a national statistical institute: to have sufficient human, financial, technological and organisational resources to produce a full range of high-quality statistics according to EU standards; to have a management system protected from external influence; to coordinate the national system of statistics producers, to set methodological and quality standards for it and to monitor their compliance; to have appropriate access to administrative and other data sources and the ability to use new data and technologies; to ensure quality, confidentiality, timeliness and equal access of users to statistics. That is, for the State Statistics Service, European integration means a transition from the status of one of the central executive bodies, which mainly produces its own statistics, to a capable national statistical institute, which not only produces official data, but is also responsible for the integrity, quality and coordination of the national statistical system and represents it before the European Union. Articles 5 and 5a of Regulation No. 223/2009 establish this role; at the same time, European legislation emphasises that sufficient resources are a necessary condition for both professional independence and high-quality statistics.
What does independence mean? The basic regulation for the European statistical system, EU Regulation No. 223/2009, defines it in quite practical terms. Professional decisions on statistical methods, standards and procedures, data sources, and the content and timing of the dissemination of statistics should be made independently of political or other external influence. State authorities and other institutions should not interfere in the adoption of such decisions. At the same time, the national statistical service's management system should create conditions in which this professional autonomy works in practice, rather than remaining a legislative declaration.
Institutional independence does not mean the absence of accountability or responsibility. The European model combines autonomy in professional decisions with responsibility for the quality of statistics, efficient use of resources, compliance with established standards, and coordination of the national statistical system. That is, it is not about a special status for the sake of status itself, but about a clear division of roles: the state determines the public need for quality data and provides the necessary conditions for their production, and the statistical institution professionally and impartially determines how these data should be obtained, processed and published, and is responsible for their quality.
The European Statistics Code of Practice details these principles. Its 16 principles and 84 indicators define the standards by which Eurostat and the national statistical services of the European Union countries work. Professional independence is among the basic principles, along with impartiality, objectivity, confidentiality, quality and accessibility of statistics.
This applies not only at the legislative level. In the European statistical system, independence is manifested in daily rules. Political authorities do not determine the statistical methodology or the timing of publishing a given indicator. Statistical releases follow predetermined rules, and users must have equal access to them. A peer review system regularly assesses compliance with these principles: independent experts review the work of national statistical systems and provide public recommendations. In this way, independence becomes an institutional practice rather than a declaration.
For Ukraine, all this is of quite practical importance.
In 2022, we adopted a new Law “On Official Statistics”, which enshrined the principle of professional independence and significantly brought the Ukrainian system closer to European rules. But European legislation continues to develop. At the end of 2024, Regulation No. 223/2009 was significantly updated - in particular, regarding access to new data sources, the use of private data, and the ability of statistical services to respond quickly to information needs during crises.
Therefore, the next stage of our European integration is not only the further harmonisation of methodologies and the production of indicators necessary for Eurostat. The institutional model of Ukrainian official statistics itself must change.
The institutional model, perceived mainly as a body that collects reports, calculates indicators, and publishes Excel spreadsheets, no longer meets either the country's needs or the European vision of statistics. A modern national statistical service must provide the state with a reliable system of official facts about the country - professionally produced, methodologically sound, comparable with European data and protected from external influence.
The State Statistics Service does not need this for its own sake.
For the government, it is needed to see the real state of affairs and make informed decisions. For business, it is needed to plan and invest, trusting official indicators. It is also useful for international partners, so that Ukrainian data becomes a full-fledged part of the common European statistical space.
And society benefits, so official figures do not depend on how convenient they are for someone.
That is why statistical independence should not be reduced to the independence of the State Statistics Service. It is about the quality of public administration and trust in the data it is based on.
As early as September, we will propose amendments to the legislation on official statistics. They should reflect developments in European legislation and strengthen the institutional capacity of the State Statistics Service, its responsibilities, and its opportunities to fulfil the mandate of a modern national statistical institute.
The law here is a tool. Independence is a necessary condition.
Because the European formula for trust in data is actually quite pragmatic: professional independence, institutional capacity, clear responsibility and transparent rules.
Data matter.
