Statistical system of Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Bosnia and Herzegovina has three governmental statistics offices, each one responsible for a different area of the government. [1] One agency is in charge of whole country statistics (the BHAS), while the other two oversee statistics in BiH's constituent entities, the Republika Srpska and The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This system reflects strong decentralization in the region, and several independent reports have stated that this impedes an efficiently functioning government body. To this end, the three agencies still do not fully agree on several various statistical concepts and definitions. [2] All three agencies were established in 2004 with the passage of the Law on Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina [3] . Also, the Central Bank, though not a statistics agency on its own, is tasked with calculating yearly balances and preparing other financial statistics. [4] [5]

Contents

A chart of the organisation of BiH's statistical system. BiH stats system.svg
A chart of the organisation of BiH's statistical system.

The Law on Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ordered by the High Representative in 2002 and passed in 2004, [6] is the foundation of BiH's statistics system. It defines the legislative framework under which the statistical system should function—how information is to be disseminated, organized, and produced. [4] [7] This national law, and related laws passed in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Republika Srpska, established the BHAS, FIS, and RSIS, respectively. The laws creating the FIS and RSIS have been constructed such that the two agencies are essentially accountable to the BHAS, and that the BHAS decides which data to collect for national statistics.

Professional Independence

The national law does not say much about professional independence, though it does mention that the BHAS staff should not seek help from the government and should maintain "technical autonomy." The laws governing the FIS and RSIS, though, are much more direct. Article 2 of the Law on Statistics of the Federation of BiH states that "All statistical activities shall be implemented following the principle of neutrality, objectivity and professional independency" and Article 8 states that "When implementing the Program the Director and staff of the Federal Institute shall not request or receive instructions from the authorities in the Federation, other state bodies, political parties or other groups of interest...", while Paragraph 2 of Article 17 of the Law on Statistics of Republika Srpska states: "The principles of impartiality, reliability, transparency and statistical confidentiality will be applied in organizing and production of statistics..." and Paragraph 6 states: "The Institute and the authorized bodies and organizations are independent in the production of the statistics from its scope of the activities". [7]

Privacy

BiH privacy laws mean that any data collected from individuals remains anonymous. [8]

Agencies

The Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHAS)

The Agency of Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the state-level statistics office. It oversees the two other offices, one for Republika Srpska and the other for Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina [9] and then disseminates the data to international bodies. [2] The Statistical office of the Brcko district was incorporated into the BHAS in 2006. [7] It tracks and aggregates data on: [4] [10]

In a bid to improve data governance in BiH and to bring it up to European norms, [11] the BHAS has been closely working with non-governmental and inter-governmental organizations such as Eurostat and UNESCO. [2] [7] [8]

The BHAS is a politically independent organization, accountable to the Bosnia and Herzegovina Council of Ministers. According to its rulebook, adopted in 2005, the agency employs a minimum of 74 workers, 66 of which are based in the agency's main office in Sarajevo, and eight of which should work in the branch office in Brcko. [12] Its current organizational structure was adopted in 2007, delegating a Director, two deputy directors, and several sectors and departments.

In 2010, its budget was 2.73 million Euros. [7]

The BHAS has overseen the only census conducted in modern BiH. [13]

The Federal Office of Statistics (FIS)

The Federal Office of Statistics is the primary statistics office of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It collects data on general national statistics of the Federation. [14] The FIS is responsible for 10 of the 17 regional statistics units of BiH, [3] and employs approximately 180 people. [4] The ten regional units are tasked specifically with data collection. [7] It is based in Sarajevo. Since 2007, its sole publication is the annual Statistical Yearbook of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. [15] The leadership of the organization consists of a Director and a Secretary. The FIS primarily collects data on business, economy, and demography, with those three being its only separate departments devoted to a specific statistic. [7]

In 2010, its budget was 9.5 million KM. [7]

Republika Srpska Institute of Statistics (RSIS)

Located in Banja Luka, [16] the RSIS is the governmental body tasked with handling statistics in the Republika Srpska and is responsible for six of the 17 regional statistics units of BiH, [3] and employs around 100 people. [4] It generally publishes ~300 paper publications annually, the most all-encompassing of which is the Statistical Yearbook, which contains all of the data the RSIS has aggregated throughout the year. Since 2008, it has also produced a publication titled "This is Republika Srpska", intended to be a more easily digestible, more accessible format for annual national statistics. The RSIS also produces many online publications. Since 2007, all publications of the Institute are bilingual. [17]

The Leadership of the RSIS consists of a Director and a deputy director, both of which are assisted by and advised by the RS Statistical Council and an independent Board of Professionals. [7]

In 2010 its budget was 3.999 million KM. [7]

The Central Bank

The Central Bank is charged with gathering statistics on finances and balances. This includes macroeconomic data, foreign trade data, foreign debt data, and data on government expenditure and budgeting. [18]

Actions

The organizations are tasked with working together to do several statistics-related activities, such as the census and the Statistical Yearbooks.

Census

There has been one census in BiH since 1991, when the last Yugoslav Census took place. The census process was drawn out and political, as the Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats sought to increase their share of the population. This has been a large aspect holding BiH from European Union membership. [13] Furthermore, there have been very few steps taken toward taking the next census. [19]

Agricultural Census

In 2022, the BHAS proposed an agricultural census. The idea was accepted by the government, and an agricultural census will be taking place from 2023 to 2026. This will be the first agricultural census in the region since 1960. [11]

Relation to international statistics organizations

Much of the work Bosnia and Herzegovina has put into its statistics system is aimed at bringing it in line with European standards. [11] [8] BiH has been making incremental steps to align its statistics system to the EU. [20] An AGA conducted in 2011 stated that the system "could benefit from the usage of administrative sources, the establishment, development and management of statistical registers at the state level; access to microdata for research purposes, etc.". Some of these proposed amendments are adopted de jure, but in practice none of the suggestions are implemented to their full potential. [5]

The EU continues to provide large amounts of funding and support to the BHAS and its affiliates in the form of IPA funding. The EU has also been conducting various projects and programmes aimed at evaluating potential areas of growth for BiH's statistical system. [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bosnia and Herzegovina</span> Country in Southeast Europe

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country in Southeast Europe, situated on the Balkan Peninsula. It borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north and southwest. In the south it has a 20 kilometres long coast on the Adriatic Sea, with the town of Neum being its only access to the sea. Bosnia has a moderate continental climate with hot summers and cold, snowy winters. In the central and eastern regions, the geography is mountainous, in the northwest it is moderately hilly, and in the northeast it is predominantly flat. Herzegovina, the smaller, southern region, has a Mediterranean climate and is mostly mountainous. Sarajevo is the capital and the largest city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Bosnia and Herzegovina</span>

Demographic features of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

The politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina are defined by a parliamentary, representative democratic framework, where the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, named by the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Legislative power is vested in both the Council of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Members of the Parliamentary Assembly are chosen according to a proportional representation system. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republika Srpska</span> Political entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Republika Srpska is one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in the north and east of the country. Its largest city and administrative centre is Banja Luka, lying on the Vrbas river, and with a population of about 138,963 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina</span> Political entity of the sovereign country of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two entities composing Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of ten autonomous cantons with their own governments and legislatures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Posavina Canton</span> Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Posavina Canton is one of ten cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the smallest canton with an area of only 330.85 km2 (128 sq mi). The canton is an exclave of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, being bordered by Republika Srpska and Brčko District to the south and the river Sava and Croatia to the north. Its capital is Orašje and the largest town is Odžak.

There is currently no official flag for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The federation is part of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The federation adopted its own flag in 1996, but the flag and associated coat of arms were deemed unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2007 and now it is considered to be a "de facto" flag. The federation has not yet adopted a new flag, anthem or coat of arms; instead the symbols of the central state are used for official purposes as a provisional solution.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seal of Republika Srpska</span>

The Seal of Republika Srpska with the description: the flag of Republika Srpska and the Cyrillic letters "РС" ("RS"), the red-blue-white tricolor are in the center of the seal, twisted with the golden Oak leaves, a traditional pre-Christian symbol sacred to most Slavs. On the edge of the seal there is an inscription Republika Srpska. The open crown of Kotromanić is shown in the bottom of the seal and the seal itself is topped with a heraldic royal crown.

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References

  1. ↑ "Statistics | EEAS". www.eeas.europa.eu. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Guthrie, Caitlyn, et al. "OECD Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education: Bosnia and Herzegovina." OECD Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education, 31 Mar. 2022, p. NA. Gale OneFile: Business, http://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A768009420/GPS?u=mlin_m_rashi&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=f16b41b4. Accessed 9 Nov. 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Novak, Tatyana; Popova, Ljubinka (17 July 2014). "Report on sector review of the Labour Force Survey in Bosnia and Herzegovina" . Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "UNSD Document". unstats.un.org. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  5. 1 2 Mijatovic, Zlatko (1 July 2016). "Generic Law on Official Statistics Workshop, Ohrid, 7-8 July, 2016" (PDF).
  6. ↑ "Decision Enacting the Law on Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina". Office of the High Representative. 21 October 2002. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Byfuglien, Jan M.; Kopsch, Günter (1 September 2021). "Adapted Global Assessment of the National Statistical System of Bosnia and Herzegovina". European Commission . Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 "Sedmi talas ažuriranja statističkog okvira uzorka u BiH". Poslovne novine (in Bosnian). 18 February 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  9. ↑ "Statistical System of BiH". bhas.gov.ba. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  10. ↑ "Istraživanje o prihodima, siromaštvu i uslovima građana BiH". Poslovne novine (in Bosnian). 23 May 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 "When will the next Agricultural Census be prepared in BiH?". Sarajevo Times. 2 June 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  12. ↑ "Bosnia and Herzegovina AGENCY FOR STATISTICS OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA". unsd.un.org. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  13. 1 2 Cooley, Laurence (18 February 2019). "To be a Bosniak or to be a citizen? Bosnia and Herzegovina's 2013 census as an election". Nations and Nationalism. 25 (3): 1065–1086. doi: 10.1111/nana.12500 . ISSN   1354-5078.
  14. ↑ "Bosnia and Herzegovina: Federal Office of Statistics >> globalEDGE: Your source for Global Business Knowledge". globaledge.msu.edu. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  15. ↑ "Federal Office of Statistics (Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) | GHDx". ghdx.healthdata.org. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  16. ↑ "Републички завод за статистику. Institute of Statistics for the Entity of Republika Srpska (RZSRS), Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  17. ↑ "INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS OF REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA". Andrićgrad. 17 August 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  18. ↑ "Statistics". www.cbbh.ba. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  19. ↑ "Analysis: Key Findings of the 2023 Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina". Sarajevo Times. 9 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  20. ↑ "Eurocommission Report" (PDF). Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  21. ↑ "International Cooperation". bhas.gov.ba. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
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