Message from the Chief Statistician
This website is an authoritative source of information on various types of data that is compiled and produced by the Statistical Office and encompasses most aspects of the Vincentian society. The function of the Office is enshrined in law, through the Census and Statistics Act, No. 24 of 1983. The act mandates the Statistical Office to produce the following data and outlines the conditions under which the data can be collected and disseminated. This includes:
· National Accounts
· Balance of Payments
· Merchandise Trade Statistics
· Consumer Price Index
· Censuses & Surveys
· Social and Demographic Statistics
I trust that residents, non-residents, local, regional and international organizations will find the information useful. Please feel free to contact us for further assistance.
Organizational Structure
The Statistical Office is a unit within the Economic Planning Department of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning, and Information Technology.
The Economic Planning is headed by the Director of Planning, who has overall responsibility for the operations of all units within the department.
The work of the Statistical Office is governed by the Census and Statistics Act, No. 24 of 1983. The Chief Statistician supervises the administration of the Census and Statistics Act and has immediate control of the day to day operation of the Office. The Statistical Office is divided into two broad areas, each of which is headed by a Senior Statistician.
Demographic and Social Statistics
The primary responsibility of the Demographic and Social Statistics section is to provide statistical data on Births, Deaths, Migration, Housing, Health, Education, Labour, Living Conditions, and other information on the population.
The Demographic and Social Statistics section is also responsible for the compilation of the Compendium of Environmental Statistics, the Digest of Statistics and the Vital Statistics Reports.
The section is responsible for the delivery of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the combined Surveys of Living Conditions and Household Budgets (SLC-HB). In addition, the section provides major support to the Chief Statistician during the conduct of the decennial Population and Housing census.
Economic and Trade Statistics
The Economic and Trade Statistics section of the Office has the responsibility to collect, compile, analyze and disseminate economic statistics relating to National Accounts – quarterly and annual; Balance of Payments (BOP); Consumer Price Index (CPI) and other economic indicators relevant to monitoring economic development.
The section is also responsible for the compilation of merchandise trade statistics. This data can be obtained by type of commodity, volume, value and trading partners.
Information Technology and Geographic Information Systems
A small team of persons manages the Information Technology (IT) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) within the Statistical Office. The IT persons are responsible for:
- Providing support to computer users by managing the office’s hardware, software, network and communication infrastructure
- Providing IT support during the life cycle of surveys
- Maintaining the Statistical Office’s website
- Backup and recovery
The GIS persons are responsible for ensuring that the Enumeration Districts (ED) and Census Districts (CD) boundaries are clearly defined and that enumerators can easily follow these directions to collect data/information on buildings, and households in preparation for censuses and surveys.