site.btaNSI Chair Prof. Dr. Atanas Atanasov Comments on NSI's Upcoming OECD Full Membership, 144th Anniversary

The National Statistical Institute, who has been an an associate member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) since 2019, is about to become a full member of the organisation, NSI Chair Prof. Dr. Atanas Atanasov told BTA. NSI was the first organization to finish its integration preparations when Bulgaria joined the EU, and now the same is expected to happen with Bulgaria's membership to the OECD. 

During the 21st meeting of the Committee on Statistics and Statistical Policy Statistics at the OECD was held on 17-18 June in Paris, Bulgaria's accession to the organization was reviewed at a hearing presenting the National Statistical System and the NSI's development after the successful on-site technical missions in the last two years. The institution is waiting for the OECD's official response within the nect 2-3 weeks, said Atanasov , but confirmed that there were no objections during the heaering. 

The NSI will celebrate its 144th anniversary on June 25. "Just one year after the restoration of statehood in Bulgaria, our compatriots realized the need for up-to-date information about the socio-economic processes in the country and created the statistical institution," Atanasov recalled, and expressed satisfaction that there are no doubts about the objectivity of the statistical data. "NSI has managed to shake off political attacks through the years. This happened thanks to both the amount of data we publish and our work to increase the statistical literacy of young people," he added.

Atanasov explained that during the past 144 years, the national statistics have parted ways with some surveys and turned to new ones, according to the needs of society. One of NSI's main, time-tested studies is household income and expenditure. It has been held for 99 years, starting in 1925. Currently, it is quarterly and is the basis of many other data, including the consumer basket, according to which inflation is calculated.

The NSI has had an online digital library for 17 years, one of the first in the world. The library is constantly being supplemented and already contains over 3,000 editions and about 1.3 million pages, said the NSI Chair.

Due to today's unrest related to the prices of goods and services, NSI continues to work on preparing to calculate regional inflation as well. Regional data is becoming more and more in demand not only in Bulgaria, but also all over the world, Atanasov said.