On 18 December, Dr Jūratė Petrauskienė, Director General of the State Data Agency (Statistics Lithuania) and Tomas Rudys, Head of the Methodology and Data Science Group, participated in the conference "Reducing the administrative burden: is it worth duplicating statistical reports?", held in the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. Representatives of the Government, the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation, Lithuanian Association of Accountants and Auditors, and "Sodra" also spoke in the discussion.

The recording of the conference can be viewed here.

The State Data Agency consistently implements the Statistical Reporting Burden Reduction Policy and the principles of reducing the administrative burden established in the Law on the Reduction of Administrative Burden of the Republic of Lithuania. Currently, administrative data is used by 73 per cent of statistical studies, 57 per cent of them – without interviewing respondents.

"All statistical surveys are carried out in accordance with the legislation of the European Union and the Republic of Lithuania. Currently, we are in possession of 295 studies, of which about 90 per cent are regulated by EU legislation. Regulation defines not only the nature of statistical indicators, but also their detail. Each statistical survey includes a set of indicators needed to make certain decisions. For example, GDP is calculated from a large number of statistical survey indicators that are obtained using administrative and other data sources", T. Rudys commented on the ongoing surveys.

Statistical data required for the preparation of official statistics are collected from economic entities and residents only in cases where the data appear too late in administrative sources, the definitions (scope) of the required data do not meet the requirements of official statistics, the legal acts governing statistics establish a more detailed classification, the required data are not available or the quality is insufficient. For example, under the current regulations, annual financial statements should be submitted by the end of May, but as of 1 June only about 66 per cent, by 10 July – about 80 per cent of all annual financial statements are submitted. This is not enough to prepare statistical information that meets the quality requirements established by legal acts.

Despite the growing needs of statistical information in the state and society, statistical reporting burden, in recent years, has decreased by more than EUR 0.5 million. This was significantly influenced by the abandonment of the quarterly statistical report on financial indicators of companies (F-01) in 2021, when new data sources were switched to and mathematical modelling methods were applied. This year, it is planned to reduce the statistical reporting burden by at least EUR 15 thousand.

Reducing statistical reporting burden is not only the result of the collective integrated work of the institution preparing official statistics, but also of the administrative data processor and data providers. The State Data Agency is ready to cooperate and find solutions that enable the effective use of this data for the needs of the state and society.