Statistical cooperation - introduction

Article last updated: June 2025.

This article is part of a series of background articles which present the international statistical cooperation activities of the European Union (EU) with non-member countries (also known as non-EU countries or third countries), in the context of the enlargement policy, European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and European Development Policy.

Eurostat plays a leading role in the European Statistical System (ESS) and has accumulated a wide range of experience, know-how and knowledge, relating to the development of both statistics and statistical systems. It shares this expertise with non-EU countries within the context of statistical cooperation activities, which through capacity development aim to support, upgrade and enhance the statistical systems of these non-EU countries. The beneficiaries of this support include:

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo^[1], Republic of Moldova^[2], Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine – also called the enlargement countries or the candidate countries and potential candidate. Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine are also ENP-East countries.
European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) countries:
- ENP-East countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus^[3], Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine;
- ENP-South countries: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine^[4], Syria and Tunisia;
African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries;
Latin American countries;
Asian countries.

Why statistical cooperation?

Why do we need official statistics nationally, within the EU and internationally?

Official statistics are statistics produced within a national statistical system. National statistical systems include statistical authorities within a country that develop, produce and disseminate official statistics. Official statistics are usually collected within a legal framework, according to basic quality principles, such as professional independence, impartiality and objectivity. Official statistics serve as a basis for evidence-based policymaking: democratic societies cannot function properly without reliable, trustworthy and objective statistics. They also guide operational decisions in the private sector.

However, official statistics are not only for decision makers, they concern citizens as well. They can answer questions arising in everyday life: Is society heading in the direction promised by politicians? Is unemployment up or down? Are there more CO₂ emissions than ten years ago? How many women are in paid employment? How does my country's economic performance compare to other countries? Reliable official statistics are therefore crucial for planning, monitoring and evaluating policies, holding governments accountable to citizens and fighting disinformation that is spreading so rapidly.

Thus, official statistics are key components of governance nationally (for instance, monitoring economic performance), within the EU (for example the European Green Deal), and globally (for example, on climate change, education for all or the 2030 agenda for sustainable development), as well as for providing information to the general public.

The increased availability of high-quality statistics helps societies in many ways, for example:

identifying issues, such as inequalities in income and wealth;
designing or refining policies, such as economic or employment policy;
making forecasts, for example, on the sustainability of public debt;
monitoring recent or current policies, for example, whether an increase in healthcare expenditure impacts the infant mortality rate.

The increasing demand for statistics calls for data that is comparable over time and across geographical areas. To achieve comparability, statisticians agree on harmonised definitions, concepts and classifications, and implement these in data collection and production processes. In the harmonisation process, Eurostat and statistical agencies of international organisations play a central role.

Why do we cooperate in statistics?

Cooperation in statistics has gradually become an integral part of broader development policies as well as the enlargement and European neighbourhood policy. Despite an improvement in the statistical capacity of the enlargement and European neighbourhood countries, data gaps remain, and support is therefore targeted to compensate for the fact that some countries lack financial and human resources, administrative systems or equipment needed to develop, produce and disseminate certain data.

Eurostat cooperates actively in the field of statistics with the enlargement countries. This statistical cooperation feeds into the wider context of the EU’s enlargement policy, with statistics being seen as a fundamental part of the public administration in these countries. Indeed, statistics are the basis for monitoring the progress of the candidate countries and the potential candidate towards alignment with the EU acquis, supporting accession negotiations by providing good quality data in key areas, such as macroeconomics, business, agriculture or social statistics. Statistical offices in the Western Balkans and Türkiye are beneficiaries of the EU’s Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA), in which statistics are supported under both national and multi-country programmes. The aim of the support is to help the Western Balkans and Türkiye to develop sustainable and reliable statistical systems capable of producing statistics in compliance with the EU acquis and the European Statistics Code of Practice. Currently Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine are supported through the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument - Global Europe. They also benefit from Eurostat capacity building projects with the ENP-East countries.

Regional cooperation activities for the ENP-East countries include an annual high-level seminar for heads of national statistical offices, training courses in statistics adapted to their needs and standardised assessments and reviews of their statistical systems. A new regional statistical cooperation programme for the ENP-East counties, STAT-East, is operational from January 2026. The ENP-South countries have benefited from regional cooperation activities such as the MEDSTAT programme, training courses and annual meetings with the heads of the national statistical offices. ENP-East and ENP-South countries all benefit from the release by Eurostat of statistics and dedicated publications that are based on the data they provide.

On the African continent, the EU supports the integration process in Africa led by the African Union (Agenda 2063) in line with the Joint Africa-Europe Strategy (JAES) and the Strategy for the Harmonization of Statistics in Africa (SHaSA 2) via the Pan-African Statistics Programme II (PAS II). Developing and strengthening cooperation in statistics is based on a strategic partnership between the national statistical offices (NSOs) and international organisations (such as Eurostat). These partnerships enhance the shared accountability between the parties, as illustrated by the Cape Town Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data and the subsequent Medellín Framework for Action on Data for Sustainable Development. From the beneficiaries’ perspective, statistical development is now considered an integral part of national strategies for poverty reduction, while a strong statistical system may also be viewed as a key component for good governance. From the donors’ perspective, aid and development policies require statistics that have been produced and disseminated according to international standards. Only such statistics make it possible for donors to assess whether their aid has been used effectively and to measure the resulting impact on policy objectives, such as the European consensus on development.

Furthermore, the EU has vast experience in developing its own regional statistical system and this experience could be of interest to other regional organisations across the globe who are seeking to create similar systems, for example, the African Union or the ASEAN.

Why is Eurostat involved and how is statistical cooperation undertaken?

Eurostat’s role as the statistical office of the EU is to provide high-quality statistics and data on Europe to enable comparisons between countries and regions, as well as to provide statistics for the EU as a whole. Moreover, Eurostat coordinates statistical activities at EU level and inside the European Commission (EC), it has been specifically entrusted with the task of coordinating statistical activities across the Commission. Within the broader context, Eurostat is involved in international cooperation with non-EU countries that are either part of the ESS or associated with the EU enlargement policy, European Neighbourhood Policy or European Development Policy. In addition to ensuring European statistics are produced according to established rules and statistical principles, notably those laid down in the ES CoP, Eurostat actively supports partner countries in developing and improving their statistical systems. Through its involvement in statistical cooperation, Eurostat supports the enlargement policy, European Neighbourhood Policy and European Development Policy.

Eurostat’s role in the enlargement policy is to support the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood (DG ENEST) and EU delegations in monitoring the national statistical systems of the candidate countries and potential candidate. It provides technical assistance in the production and dissemination of harmonised high-quality data that conform to European standards. It also verifies that the respective national practices in a wide range of statistical domains comply with the EU acquis in statistics (as described in Chapter 18 of the EU acquis). This role is detailed in Eurostat’s IPA strategy for 2021-2027. The strategy, prepared in 2021, does not cover the 3 new candidate countries, Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine.
Eurostat’s role in relation to the ENP is to support DG ENEST, the Directorate-General for Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf (DG MENA), the European External Action Service (EEAS) and EU delegations in their activities with many of the EU’s neighbours. From a statistical perspective, Eurostat encourages ENP countries to develop their statistical systems in line with best European practice in order to produce and disseminate good quality statistics.
Eurostat’s role in development cooperation policy is to support the Commission's Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) and the EEAS in enhancing development policies and overseeing the programming of aid. To this end, improved statistics allow progress towards poverty reduction and the agenda for sustainable development to be assessed – as identified by the European consensus on development – and funds to be allocated. Eurostat supports cooperation partners to build their statistical capacity and to advance their statistics so that they align with international standards.

As a result of these activities, the European Commission (including Eurostat) benefits from greater availability of quality data disseminated by non-EU countries.

Besides the support it gives to EU policymaking, Eurostat also plays an active role in statistical cooperation with international organisations. Eurostat represents the EU in the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC), in the Conference of European Statisticians (CES) organised by the UNECE and in the OECD's committee on statistics and statistical policy (CSSP). Eurostat also has bilateral relationships with international institutions (such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). All the statistical departments of these international organisations cooperate to set-up international standards for statistics, to improve the comparability of statistical information, to improve the coordination of international statistics-related activities, and to support national statistical systems.

Forms and areas of Eurostat cooperation in statistics

Cooperation activities in statistics encompass all aspects of the statistical infrastructure and every stage of the statistical production processes. They usually involve the exchange of information and practices, methodological advice, co-authorship of statistical publications, and organisation of workshops and seminars. Cooperation activities help to reinforce the institutional framework of national statistical systems, for instance, through the adoption of the United Nations’ Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, the European Statistics Code of Practice, the African Charter on Statistics and the Statistics Code of Practice for ENP-South countries. They can also focus on specific statistical domains according to the partner country’s primary needs (e.g. poverty, health, economic statistics etc.).

The transfer of know-how or direct investment from Eurostat to the partner countries also aims to improve their ability to respond to user needs. This can be achieved by improving the capacity of their national statistical systems to deliver high-quality, reliable data promptly and to adapt swiftly to emerging needs.

Assistance may be organised through multi-beneficiary programmes with several partner countries when synergies between countries can be established, or through bilateral national programmes targeting more country-specific needs.

Types of statistical cooperation vary according to the policy frameworks, which in turn depend on the geographical region in question. Eurostat has a global engagement, cooperating with the candidate countries and the potential candidate, ENP countries, ACP countries, and Asian and Latin American countries.

Candidate countries and potential candidate – With the enlargement countries, statistical cooperation is broader and also more intensive than with other countries, as cooperation aims at preparing them for accession to the EU and ensuring full compliance with the EU acquis and standards. Official statistics play a double role in the enlargement process for the candidate countries and potential candidate: they are part of the EU acquis as screened through Chapter 18 on statistics (enlargement package); and they serve other EU policy areas by providing data for monitoring changes and assessing the impact of policies chosen. More details can be found in the Statistics Explained article Enlargement policy and statistical cooperation.
European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) countries – ENP countries are divided into 2 broad geographic groups: ENP-East countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) and ENP-South countries (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia). Within the overall package of ENP initiatives, ENP countries are supported in the process of approximating their statistical systems to those of the EU. More details can be found in the Statistics Explained articles: Statistical cooperation – European Neighbourhood Policy, Statistical cooperation – European Neighbourhood Policy-East (ENP-E) and Statistical cooperation – European Neighbourhood Policy-South (ENP-S).
For the candidate countries and potential candidate and the ENP countries, practical assistance is also provided through Twinning programmes and the technical assistance and information exchange instrument (TAIEX), addressing government institutions in the public sector.
The Western Balkans and Türkiye benefit from IPA programmes, of which there are both multi-beneficiary and national programmes.
Statistical cooperation activities with other non-member countries are grouped together either on a geographic or income basis: ACP countries, Asian and Latin American (ALA) countries on the one hand and low-income, lower-middle-income, upper-middle-income and high-income economies on the other.
Within Africa, Eurostat supports the African Union Commission (AUC) working in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), to implement the Strategy for the Harmonization of Statistics in Africa (SHaSA). Eurostat manages 4 of the 6 components of the Pan-African Statistics programme II (PAS II), as part of an overall Pan-African programme. The overall objective of the programme is to support African integration by improving the availability and quality of statistical information required for informed decision-making and policy monitoring. The PAS II implementation started in 2022 and will run until the end of 2025.
Within Asia, Latin America and the Pacific, Eurostat supports statistical development mainly through training courses, statistical workshops and the involvement of the heads of the NSOs in the discussion about developments in statistics. As part of the cooperation with Central Asia, covering Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, Eurostat also participates in statistical assessments in these countries led by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

In practice, assistance takes several forms, such as peer reviews, support for data collection and the transfer of know-how through participation in meetings within the ESS, high-level seminars in partner regions to share EU values and standards in statistics, technical assistance provided by experts, statistical training courses, support for the use of common statistical tools, traineeships and study visits.

Eurostat also supports the design and implementation of national strategies for the development of statistics in partner countries.

Eurostat has developed a suite of strategic, programming and operational tools to help regional and national development partners build sustainable statistical systems and processes. The objective is to strengthen the capacity to produce quality statistics in line with international standards and user needs. By providing assistance at strategic, programming and operational level, the tools are useful for a wide range of stakeholders involved in development cooperation. For instance:

Eurotrace: a software tool that helps countries and regions manage their international trade statistics (including managing data, processing data, carrying out quality checks, and calculating aggregates and indices);
Eretes: a software tool used to compile national accounts statistics according to the 2008 System of National Accounts (SNA);
Essential SNA: a practical handbook for implementing national accounts based on the 2008 SNA. This capacity-building tool also supports partner countries by providing e-learning materials;
Snapshot: a user-friendly tool that provides partner countries with an assessment of the maturity of their statistical systems and the quality of their key indicators. The tool was initially based on the extensively tested and refined statistical quality framework developed by the ESS. The 2023 version, available in 4 languages, also covers other international frameworks, in particular the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and the United Nations National Quality Assurance Framework.

These tools have been tested, reviewed, and updated over a number of years. Many partner countries and EU delegations use them on a regular basis.

Moreover, Eurostat developed the Guide to statistics in European Commission development cooperation. It is an important tool for supporting European Commission Directorates and EU delegations in improving the efficiency and quality of their cooperation targeting statistical development. It provides information on how to identify and develop actions in support of essential statistics, and how to use data and indicators to define and follow up on cooperation programmes.

Footnotes

This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence. ↑
On 14-15 December 2023, the European Council decided to open accession negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine, and granted the status of candidate country to Georgia. These three countries are also ENP-East countries. ↑
Cooperation with Belarus has been suspended as of March 2022 (Council Regulation 2022/398). ↑
This designation shall not be construed as recognition of a State of Palestine and is without prejudice to the individual positions of the EU Member States on this issue. ↑

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Database

Available data on the candidate countries and potential candidate are disseminated with the data of the EU Member States in Eurostat's database.
Data on the ENP countries are disseminated in specific sub-sections in Eurostat's database, under:

Detailed datasets / General and regional statistics / Non-EU countries (noneu):

Eastern European Neighbourhood Policy countries (ENP-East) (enpe)

Southern European Neighbourhood Policy countries (ENP-South) (enps)