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 History
of the Institute
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Towards the end of the 19th century Argentina underwent unprecedented demographic and economic changes whose appraisal and measurement were of vital interest to the ruling classes that were forging ahead with the so-called National Organization process. Statistical research aimed at increasing knowledge about the population growth and the consequences of immigration, as well as obtaining information about the conditions of economic production. Such knowledge was essential to the diagnosis and design of government policies. Thus, in 1869 the first National Population Census was carried out throughout the entire Argentine territory. In 1929, as a consequence of developments in the country's social and productive structure, derived in turn from the new international economic conditions as well as from the effects of successive waves of European immigration on Argentina's population patterns, particularly in the aftermath of both World Wars, there arose new demands for further national statistical researches. A list of the Argentine government agencies in charge of the production of public statistics in the last hundred years follows, with an indication of its insertion in the government structure. 1894: Dirección General de Estadística (General Direction of Statistics), an agency of the Ministerio de Hacienda (Ministry of Public Finances). 1944: Consejo Nacional de Estadística y Censos (National Council of Statistics and Censuses), an agency of the Consejo de Defensa Nacional, Ministerio del Interior (Council of National Defense in the Ministry of Interior), and of the Secretaría Técnica de la Presidencia de la Nación (Technical Secretariat of the Argentine Presidency). 1950: Dirección General del Sistema Estadístico Nacional (General Direction of the National Statistical System), an agency of the Dirección Nacional de Servicios Técnicos del Estado, Ministerio de Asuntos Técnicos (National Direction of the Technical Services of the State, in the Ministry of Technical Affairs). 1952: Dirección Nacional de Servicio Estadístico (National Direction of Statistical Service), an agency of both the Ministry of Technical Affairs and the Ministry of Public Finances. 1956: Dirección Nacional de Estadística y Censos (National Direction of Statistics and Censuses), an agency of the Ministerio de Economía (Ministry of Economy). 1968: The INDEC is created. From its inception, it was successively subordinated to various agencies and departments of the Executive branch, preserving in all cases its independence regarding the production of public statistics. At present it is an agency of the Secretaría de Programación Económica y Regional, Ministerio de Economía y Obras y Servicios Públicos de la Nación (Secretariat of Economic and Regional Planning in the National Ministry of Economy and Public Works and Services). The INDEC as such started to operate in 1968 under the provisions of its founding act, National Law No. 17622. This law not only created the Institute but also specified its two main operational purposes and objectives: - To direct and supervise all public statistics. - To organize and direct the National Statistical System (SEN). The INDEC coordinates the SEN operations under the principle of procedural, methodological and standards' centralization coupled with operative decentralization. It draws up the Annual Program of Statistics and Censuses and develops the methods and standards that will ensure the comparability of statistical information originated in different sources. Besides governing all SEN operations, the aforementioned national law sets forth the obligation for all persons in the Argentine territory to provide data and information of statistical interest as may be required by agencies included in the SEN, under the assurance that the secrecy of such individual data will be duly preserved. In accordance to the provisions of its governing law, the INDEC publishes the results of all its surveys and censuses in aggregate compilations, so as to preserve individual or specific business information from undue publicity or exploitation and to prevent the identification of any individual personal or business source. The consolidation of democracy after 1983 reinforced the citizens' role in demanding accountability from public officials. - The deregulation of the national economy and the integration of Argentina into the global markets, as well as the transformation of the country's production structure, required an increased availability of timely statistical data in the decision making process. In 1991 a thorough "reform of the State" and deregulation of the economy were implemented, both of which increased the need for efficient indicators to describe the results of government policies. - In that context, the previous information gaps about education, health, housing and social services' coverage, as well as the impact of technolog ical and economic changes on employment and on the population's consumption patterns, reinforced the need for updated and reliable public statistics. - These developments caused the INDEC to diversify its production and to accelerate the publication of its results, as well as ensuring its widespread dissemination. For these purposes, the Institute's work and research procedures were updated, the operations of the SEN (National Statistical System) were redesigned, and the production of provincial, regional and municipal statistics was intensified, always ensuring their comparability and their dissemination after publication, as well as welcoming the demands and needs of new users. Social and economic developments give rise to demands of statistical information that trigger the INDEC's statistical production cycle. The cycle starts with the definition of a theoretical frame for the study of the selected research object. Specific indicators are designed to measure the phenomenon in question and relevant data collection activities are carried out in the community under study. Validation procedures established by the INDEC are performed, and the resulting data are processed to obtain statistical information that will be disseminated among public officials, interested researchers throughout the world, as well as the population at large. When this information is analyzed and interpreted, different users will base on it their decision making process, and as a consequence of such interactions new demands for statistical information will arise. Thus the INDEC produces relevant data which provide social and economic agents with an information infrastructure extremely useful for interpreting the real world. The main trait of this type of information is the rigorous scientific methodology used in its production and applied to research procedures, data collection and processing, as well as to data quality control safeguards. In addition, the INDEC offers technical assistance to other agencies concerning methodological design, organization, implementation and data processing of statistical surveys. These attributes have earned the INDEC widespread recognition as a highly qualified technical agency, independent from political influences, whose activity is oriented to provide timely answers to current specific demands for statistical information. The Institute generates two basic types of information: -social, demographic and economic information, obtained from censuses, surveys and public registries/records; -indexes and short-term indicators. Upon recommendation of international organizations, in order to facilitate international comparability of results, national censuses are carried out periodically to survey the basic characteristics of the country's population and housing conditions, agricultural and other economic activities. The various units surveyed during national and provincial censuses provide the sample framework for surveys carried out in intercensual periods to measure the evolution of indicators among the population under study. These surveys are used to extend the results obtained from a sample to the total reference population. Such procedures are applied in the Encuesta Permanente de Hogares (National Household Survey), the Encuesta Nacional de Gastos de los Hogares (National Household Expenditures Survey), the Encuesta Industrial Mensual/Anual (Monthly Industrial Survey and Yearly Industrial Survey), the Encuesta Nacional Agropecuaria (ENA, National Agricultural Survey), et cetera. Other indexes and indicators are derived from primary or secondary data-they make possible an accurate and synthetic followup of developments in various fields of activity. Some such indicators are the Índice de Precios al Consumidor (IPC, Consumer Price Index), the Índice del Costo de la Construcción (ICC, Construction Cost Index), the Sistema de Índices de Precios Mayoristas (System of Wholesale Prices Indexes) and the Intercambio Comercial Argentino (Argentine Foreign Trade) indicators. The Institute also carries out special studies (Estudios Especiales) used in decision-making diagnoses, such as research modules on specific subject matter, standardization of classifications and nomenclatures, as well as methodological investigation. Through the various activities of its Dissemination/Communications Division (Dirección de Difusión) the INDEC is in permanent contact with users from both the public and the private sectors, in Argentina as well as abroad. The launching of its Statistical Services Center (CES, Centro Estadístico de Servicios) brought about an across-the-board reappraisal of the Institute's relations to the different groups of information users. Thus the INDEC is now committed to make full use of all technologically available communication channels in order to achieve effective contact with the general public. The Institute's operational structure is organized into three basic areas:
The department of publications and statistics dissemination (Dirección de Difusión) makes the results available to the community at large in order to satisfy the general public's information needs as well as those of special users. In due turn, the analysis and interpretation by different types of users in their own decision-making process stimulate changes in statistical approaches and spur new demands for information to be provided by the INDEC. Lastly, the technical support sector provides adequate facilities, backing and maintenance to the other two areas enabling them to carry out their statistical endeavors and to disseminate their results. Thus the INDEC's support area clears out budget snags and solves logistic, computer and technological problems; it also trains human resources and effectively paves the way for the obtention and dissemination of public statistics. In recent years the use of statistical information in decision making has increased considerably. The immediate consequence of this growth for the agencies producing public statistics has been a marked increase in user demand for objectivity, disaggregation and timeliness, both in the production and dissemination of information. With the purpose of maintaining continuous communication with the international community of public statistics, the INDEC cooperates on a permanent basis with both government and non-government international organizations, as well as with other countries' national statistical agencies. Thus the participation of National Statistical System officials in training activities abroad is consistently promoted. At the same time, the Institute also promotes the active cooperation of foreign public statistical experts in the INDEC's activities as well as the exchange of technical missions with other countries and agencies. Throughout the world, the impact of public statistics on policy-making decisions in economic, demographic, social and environmental matters makes it necessary to ensure the quality and reliability of statistical data. Because of this need, the United Nations Statistical Commission adopted the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics drawn up in 1992 by the Economic Commission for Europe in view of promoting their acceptance and implementation in other regions. The INDEC endorses these recommendations and carries out its activities in accordance to the following guidelines: 1. Public statistics are an essential element in a free democratic society's information system. They provide economic, demographic, social and environmental data to the government, to the economic actors and to the general public. For these purposes, official statistical agencies should impartially compile and disseminate public statistics of proven practical usefulness enabling the citizenry to assert its rights to adequate public information. 2. In order to preserve the public trust in official statistics, the agencies responsible for public statistics should base their decisions solely on strictly professional considerations, including adequate scientific criteria and professional ethical standards, whenever methods and procedures for the collection, processing, storage and presentation of statistical data are involved. 3. In order to enable a correct interpretation of data, statistical agencies should present their information in accordance to scientific standards concerning sources, methods and procedures. 4. Public statistical agencies have the right criticize erroneous interpretations and the improper use of official statistics. 5. Data for statistical purposes may be obtained from a variety of sources, including statistical surveys/censuses and administrative records. Statistical agencies should select their sources taking into consideration quality, timeliness, cost, and burden on the informant population. 6. Data gathered by public statistical agencies for compilation purposes, involving either individuals or firms, should be handled in strictly confidential terms and used exclusively for statistical purposes. 7. The general public should be clearly informed about the public laws, regulations and provisions governing the operation of statistical systems. 8. Coordination among official statistical agencies throughout the nation is indispensable to warrant consistency and efficiency in the system of public statistics. 9. The use of international concepts, classifications and methods by each country's official statistical agencies promotes consistency and efficiency in the respective national system of statistics. 10. In every country, bilateral and multilateral cooperation in statistical matters contributes to the improvement of the respective national statistical systems.
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INDEC - Av. Julio A. Roca 615, PB (1067) Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Teléfono: 54 11 4349-9200
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