Digitalisation is driving and changing our society and economy substantially. Official statistics, which are subject to the principles of “neutrality, objectivity and professional independence”, must reflect reality in an adequate manner. This is why they do not remain unaffected by these changes. On the one hand, the “mass phenomena” on which the statistical offices are obliged to “collect and compile” data and, on the other, the “appropriate methods and information technology” employed to obtain “data by making use of scientific findings” are subject to changes. The passages quoted are taken from Section 1 of the Federal Statistics Act (BStatG), the so-called “Basic Law” of federal statistics.
To fulfil their legal mandates, statistical offices worldwide must develop in both technical and methodical terms. Using new data and methods, numerous feasibility studies are currently being developed and conducted with the aim to integrate the successful results into the continuous calculations. At the moment, however, the majority of the results of these studies are still of an experimental nature. Both the degree of maturity and quality of experimental statistics (EXSTAT) differ from those of official statistics, for example regarding harmonisation, coverage and methodology. Nonetheless these are results of the statistical offices of the Federation and the Länder.
A distinctive feature of official statistics is transparency. For this reason, a number of the statistical offices, now also including the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), have started to publish results of their feasibility studies in a special format.
In line with the principle of transparency, new and innovative project results will from now on be regularly published in the new EXSTAT - Experimental statistics section of the Federal Statistical Office. We are looking forward to receiving a lot of valuable feedback from you, our readers, on the relevant methods and procedures. Not all of the experimental data and procedures will prove to be useful. The results presented here are of an experimental nature for a limited time. Some of them will be finally classified ‘only’ as “experiments”, while others will be incorporated in and enhance official statistical products.
More information on experimental studies from official statistics at the national and international level is available here.