Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva

The Republic of Serbia is undergoing a process of intensive activities in the field of harmonization with EU standards and practices. Monitoring and measuring the results of these activities, in particular in economy, largely represents an obligation for official statistics. As this obligation is lasting and will be particularly important in the period following EU accession, efforts should be invested into strengthening and developing the official statistical system.

The most important task of the official statistics is to provide a realistic overview of social and economic trends in the country, as well as a reliable foundation for decision making on all levels – from public administration and other institutions to economic entities and interested citizens.

A lot of attention was directed at preparing and conducting major statistical activities over the past three years: the Census of the Population, Households and Homes 2011 and the Agricultural Census 2012, with significant financial assistance by the EU. We will have a comprehensive insight into agricultural production for the first time in over 50 years. Data collected through the Population Census was used as a basis for implementing the Agricultural Census. The Agricultural Census started on 1 October and will last until 15 December 2012. The 6,200 census takers will, during this period, be tasked with recording every inch of used arable land, every single head of cattle, and every single legal person engaged in agricultural activities. The Agricultural Census will provide data on the location of farms, agricultural fund, irrigation, use of fertilizers and chemicals for the protection of plants, number of heads of cattle and beehives, organic production, agricultural machinery, fish ponds, forested surfaces, etc.

In addition to these large-scale activities, the Republic Statistical Office is also implementing its regular activities, working on further harmonization with EU regulations.

At this point it is certain that, as of next year, we will begin implementing the survey considered by European countries to be the most relevant for monitoring poverty, social inclusion, inequality and living standards in general – Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC). The implementation of this survey in EU countries started in 2003, whereas for us it represents an obligation within European integration. Although the EU has not, as of yet, officially required Serbia to introduce this survey, the RSO, aiming to be ready for this official requirement, is moving one step ahead and intensively working on training staff, drafting methodological instructions, and creating instruments for the implementation of this survey.

Monitoring poverty has been based on data obtained through the Household Budget Survey (HBS). However, data collection for this survey lasts for a year, and processing is possible only subsequently, with a focus on household consumption. In order to obtain data on poverty comparable with the EU, our methodology needs to be fully harmonized with the EU methodology, wherein poverty is expressed relatively, i.e. against the total population, based on total household income. This, unfortunately, means that we will not have data comparable with the data from the period prior to the introduction of SILC, but we will have data comparable to other countries. An additional value for the new survey, and a novelty in poverty statistics, is that we will be able to monitor poverty in the long term, since each household selected for the sample during one year will be monitored during the following three years, providing us insight into how certain policies (adopted to reduce poverty and increase social inclusion) affect vulnerable households.

The Labour Force Survey is one of the regular RSO surveys, fully harmonized with European statistics. The survey is implemented twice every year (in April and October), across a sample of approximately 8,000 households, providing a large number of economic and social inclusion indicators. The plan is for this survey to be implemented quarterly, i.e. four times a year, as of 2013.

The Statistical Office was engaged, in cooperation with partners, in the Time Use Survey, important since its data indicates differences in time use between various groups and categories of the population. The key differences are those in activities and workloads of women and men in the Republic of Serbia, particularly in regards to paid and unpaid activities in the household. The data thus collected represents a valuable source of data that can aid in developing and applying relevant social policies in regards labour and division of labour, culture, sports, youth living conditions, living conditions for the elderly, etc. This survey is also important from a gender equality perspective, since it contains data on the participation of women and men in basic daily activities.

In 2004 the Republic Statistical Office, with the help of UNICEF, initiated the ChildInfo database, later to be named DevInfo. The Republic DevInfo database is used for monitoring the realization of the Millennium Development Goals for development, social inclusion and poverty reduction, the National Action Plan for Children, as well as gender equality policies. Recently, the Municipal DevInfo database was also formed, containing official statistical data and key indicators up to the municipal level, aiming to monitor the state and development of municipalities. In late 2006 the DevInfo system was proclaimed to be a special interest tool for the Republic of Serbia and became part of the regular programme of the Republic Statistics Office.

The Republic Statistics Office was one of the best assessed institutions in the latest European Commission Progress Report for Serbia (2012). Progress in the field of statistics regarding the application and harmonization of methodologies with EU standards was assessed as excellent, along with the excellent implementation of the Population Census in 2012, and the start of the Agricultural Census in 2012. We are exceptionally pleased by this and it gives us additional motivation to improve the work of the official statistics.

Prof. Dragan Vukmirović PhD, Director of the Republic Statistical Office