35% of users satisfied with existing BBS data: Survey

Only 35% of users are satisfied with the existing data produced by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) while 65% expect more statistical data in different domains in addition to the available data, a BBS survey has found.

The User Satisfaction Survey 2022 – conducted for the first time by the state-run statistical agency – which was released on Wednesday shows that the level of satisfaction is the highest when it comes to population, demographic, and vital statistics with 55.19% of the respondents saying official data provided in this area are sufficient. Then come national accounts that are cited by 54.41% of the respondents to be adequate.

On the contrary, users of official statistics who sought data from the BBS were most (58.67%) dissatisfied with the price statistics data. 

The survey report says users are mostly dissatisfied with the timeliness of the statistics produced. According to the users, the most prevalent reason for dissatisfaction with official statistics is outdated data.

The second most widespread reason for user dissatisfaction is that the "data is not useful".

Some 69% of users think that foreign trade-related statistics are outdated, followed by 63.64% for industry statistics, 50% for labour statistics, 56.25% for population statistics, 51.85% for health statistics, and 60% for education-related statistics.

Meanwhile, 45% of the respondents said the price-related statistics were not useful and 40.48% others felt poverty statistics were not beneficial.

The size of the sample was 609 but the BBS was able to collect data from 580 respondents in the first-ever survey of its kind. 

The survey has found that only 0.36% of the users use official statistics every alternate day, 11.25% daily, 11.07% monthly, and 9.49% annually.

Md Dilder Hossain, Director of the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics Implementation Support Project, presented the survey at a programme held in the BBS Building in the capital's Agargaon.

State Minister of Planning Dr Shamsul Alam who attended the event as chief guest claimed that BBS statistics are now reliable. 

"Aggregated data do not give a hundred percent correct picture in any country in the world. Some inaccuracies will remain. As such, BBS data can be trusted," he said.

Ahsan H Mansur, a noted economist, and director of the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh, said the BBS should be given the opportunity to work independently. 

Such institutions work independently in different countries of the world, he mentioned, adding that if it is kept free of any political pressure, the BBS will be able to produce data the credibility of which will not come under question.

Dr Shahnaz Arefin, secretary of the Statistics and Information Management Division, observed that the BBS has some limitations, which have been reflected in this survey and other surveys. 

There is a shortage of skilled manpower, budget constraints, and time constraints, she noted, adding that initiatives have been taken to address the problems.