Kingdom annually produces statistical data at cost of JD15m

AMMAN  — The Jordan Economic Forum (JEF) held a dialogue session on Friday to discuss the role of statistics in presenting indices on financial and economic indicators on the Jordanian economy. 

The session was attended by Department of Statistics (DoS) Director General Haidar Freihat, JEF Chairman Mazen Hmoud and some JEF members, Al-Mamlaka TV reported on Saturday.

Accurate statistical data is the "cornerstone" of drawing the economic and development policies, Friehat said, noting that Jordan witnessed "unprecedented" demographic and economic transformations during the last two decades due to successive waves of refugees. 

Such refugee influxes pressured the infrastructure, especially education, health, water and energy sectors, and as a result this requires development planning strategies based on in-depth analysis for figures and trends, Friehat pointed out. 

He also pointed out that DoS plays a pivotal role in providing accurate data to decision-makers, adding that Jordan has become an Arab "role model" in the field of providing accurate, scientific and reliable statistics, as the Department ranks advanced globally according to the World Bank's Statistical Performance Index (SPI), which measures the quality and accuracy of data, and the Open Data Index.

The accuracy of the numbers directly affects the planning process, as any error in measurement may lead to ineffective policies, especially with a time gap between the deadline for the implementation of programmes and projects and the phase of measuring their impact, the DoS director general highlighted.

There are several challenges facing statistical work, most significantly the continuous change in international measurement standards, such as changing the definition of unemployment by the International Labour Organisation, which led to an increase in the unemployment rate in Jordan by two points within a short period, he pointed out.

Freihat also added that the Kingdom, through the department, is currently working on a project to measure the size of the informal economy, to help reveal the size of unmeasured economic activities, allowing the government to truly expand the base of the economy.

Jordan annually produces statistical data at a cost of JD15 million, including surveying, estimation and reporting operations, Freihat said, adding that the goal now is to maximise the benefit of this data, so that it is not limited to production but extends to effective use in planning and decision-making, he added.

Freihat stressed that the statistical future in Jordan is moving towards interactive analysis and artificial intelligence, which will make the data more accurate and easy to use, stressing that decision-makers, whether in the government or in the private sector, will benefit from these transformations in improving strategic planning for sectors.