Data revision policy, in accordance with the good European practices, approved by the NBS

30.08.2022 790 Print

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in order to improve the transparency of the revision processes, to ensure good information and efficient communication with users, has developed and approved by Order No. 35 of 30 August 2022 the Data Revision Policy. The document presents a set of guidelines, general and specific principles governing the revisions of statistical information produced by the NBS.

The revision policy is based on the fundamental principles of official statistics established in Article 5 of the Law no. 93 of 26 May 2017 on official statistics. The document defines the rules and principles for the revision of statistical data, in accordance with the European Statistics Code of Practice, adopted by the European Statistical System Committee in November 2017 and with the European Statistical System guidelines on revision policy for Principal European Economic Indicators, 2013 edition, which includes the principles of a common revision policy of European statistics.

Revisions, broadly defined, are any change in the values of a statistical indicator disseminated to the public, in printed or electronic version. This is necessary in the process of statistical data production. For example, in some cases, it is not possible to publish final data quickly enough in time, and therefore they are disseminated as preliminary data, being followed by final data. Revisions are also determined by the updates related to the appearance of new data sources or completion of existing ones, etc.

In this sense, the revisions should be seen as an ordinary phenomenon, their purpose being to progressively increase the quality of statistical data as new, more complete information is obtained and as a result of the revision of statistical clarifications or methodologies. They may occur for various reasons, e.g.:

updating/adjustment of data by respondents to correct the initial reports which contain errors, missing data, etc.;
the emergence of new methodologies or/and improvement of existing methodologies used in the statistics production;
conceptual changes (e.g.: new definitions, new classifications, etc.);
modifications of data sources (e.g. availability of new data sources, replacement of the statistical data with administrative data, etc.);
seasonal effects for short-term series correction;
errors in statistical calculation occurring only for technical reasons, etc.

Revision policy is an important aspect of good governance in statistics. Therefore, the planned revisions will be included in a pre-established calendar that will be made public on the NBS website. In the case of unplanned revisions, the NBS (similar to the current practice) will inform the public on the website of the institution, as they occur, providing the necessary explanations.

More detailed information about specific revisions on statistical domain is published in the reference metadata, available on the NBS website.

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