Overview
National Accounts and Economic Statistics Division (NA&ESD) is probably the oldest and largest division of Statistics Sierra Leone as the then Central Statistics Office (CSO) was established in 1963 mainly to process import, export and other foreign trade statistics using customs declaration forms. National Accounts and Economic Statistics Division today is responsible for providing robust economic data for development planning, monitoring progress towards meeting the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) criteria on inflation, fiscal deficit, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) etc.
National Accounts and Economic Statistics Division also compiles poverty and poverty-related statistics such as head count, employment and unemployment statistics, and per capita income statistics. The Division is also providing macroeconomic data required by multilateral agencies such as International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), etc.
The Vision
The vision of the NAESD, therefore, is to compile and disseminate high quality macro-economic statistics by a well-trained and motivated Team of Professional Staff.
Key Statistics Compiled
The key statistics compiled by the Division include:
- Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and related aggregates
- Business Confidence Index
- Consumer Price Index (CPI)
- Direction of Foreign Trade Statistics
- Producer Price Index (PPI)
- Business Register Facilities
- Employment and Labour Statistics
- Poverty Statistics
- Agricultural production and Food Security Statistics
Sections and Their Functions
National Accounts Statistics Section
This Section is responsible for the compilation of National Accounts Statistics using the UN System of National Accounts (SNA), which is the internationally agreed standard set of recommendations on how to compile measures of economic activity in accordance with established accounting conventions based on economic principles.
The National Accounts Aggregates include the-
- Gross Domestic Product (GDP)- Total monetary value of all goods and services produced domestically over a period of one year.
- Gross Domestic Expenditure
- The Gross National Income (GNI) plus net primary income from abroad
- Gross National Disposable Income (GNDI) is the sum of GNI plus net current transfers from the rest of the world.
- Fixed Capital Formation and several others
The Section is also responsible for compiling the Sierra Leone Business Confidence Index (SLBCI)- which is a tool to gauge expectations and perception of top business executives and managers of business establishments on the past/current and future political and macroeconomic developments and indicators as they affect business performance and operations.
Price and Labour Statistics Section
This Section is responsible for the compilation of the consumer price index (CPI). CPI is the main measure of inflation in Sierra Leone, published monthly for a fixed basket of 400 goods and services popularly consumed in Sierra Leone. The CPI is estimated as a modified traditional Laspeyres weighted aggregate. Regional coverage - Kenema and Koidu- East (6 markets), Bo-South (3 markets), Makeni-North (3 markets), and Freetown-Western Area (6 markets). CPI is compiled using the Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) for Household Final Consumption Expenditure with 2008 reference year.
Foreign Trade Statistics Section
Foreign trade statistics provide information on the goods trade between Sierra Leone and the other countries in the world.
We produce import and export of goods data. Stats SL uses EUROTRACE software to process ASYCUDA++ file system of trade data from the National Revenue Authority customs department.
Also, data is obtained from other institutions especially National Mineral Agency (NMA), Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Sierra Leone Ports Authority, and Bank of Sierra Leone (BSL). The data compiled provides including direction of trade by country of destination and origin, imports by Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) and the harmonized system (HS) of classifying foreign trade transactions. In addition, visits are made to the out-station customs posts to assess the level of informal trade activities between the neighboring countries.
Business and Industry Statistics Section
This section is responsible for maintaining and updating an active business register, which is a list or directory of businesses operating in the country. The business register is used as the sampling frame for the conduct of establishment-based surveys required in the compilation of economic statistics. The Section is also responsible for the compilation of Producer Price Index (PPI). The Producer Price Index measures average changes in prices received by domestic producers for their output.
It provides a Laspeyres weighted average of the price changes in a group of products between one-time period and another. The purpose of the producer price index is to measure changes in prices that producers initially receive for goods and services. The PPI covers the manufacturing, mining, electricity and water industries of the economy.
Agriculture Statistics Section
This section is responsible for compiling data on agricultural products. Agriculture, which is the mainstay of the economy, comprises crop, Livestock, forestry, fishery, and food security statistics.
The main crops produced in the country include: rice, cassava, sweet potato, palm oil, ground nut, vegetable & fruits, cocoa, coffee, and kola nut. Livestock include cattle, goat, sheep, poultry and poultry products, and ducks.
Forestry products include charcoal, logs and fence sticks harvested from the forest. Fishery include all fishes and sea products; food security include market access information, weather data, early warning system data, etc. Data is compiled in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS).
