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Annual Report 2017

National Statistics Office, Malta

2018

Published by the National Statistics Office

Lascaris, Valletta VLT 2000 Malta

Tel.: (+356) 2599 7000 e-mail: [email protected]

website: http://www.nso.gov.mt

CIP Data Annual Report 2017 / National Statistics Office, Malta. - Valletta: NSO 2018 xvi, 62p. ISBN: 978-99957-29-74-5 NSO publications are available from: Dissemination and Communications Unit National Statistics Office Lascaris Valletta VLT 2000 Malta Tel: (+356) 2599 7219

Printed in Malta at the Government Printing Press

C O N T E N T S

Page

Organisational Chart ..............................................................................................................................................v

Acronyms and Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ ix

Letter to the Chairman ........................................................................................................................................ xiii

Mission Statement ............................................................................................................................................... xv

Director General’s Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1

Malta’s Presidency of the Council of the EU: NSO’s Role and Achievements ...................................................... 3

ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS STATISTICS .................................................................................................................... 7

National Accounts ........................................................................................................................................... 9

Public Finance .............................................................................................................................................. 11

Balance of Payments .................................................................................................................................... 13

International Trade Statistics ........................................................................................................................ 15

Price Statistics .............................................................................................................................................. 17

Structural Business Statistics ........................................................................................................................ 19

Short-term Statistics ..................................................................................................................................... 20

Environment, Energy, Transport and Agriculture Statistics ........................................................................... 21

Business Registers ........................................................................................................................................ 22

SOCIAL AND REGIONAL STATISTICS ......................................................................................................................... 23

Living Conditions and Culture Statistics ........................................................................................................ 25

Labour Market Statistics ............................................................................................................................... 27

Tourism, Education and Information Society Statistics ................................................................................. 29

Regional and Geospatial Statistics Unit ......................................................................................................... 31

Population and Migration Statistics ............................................................................................................... 34

DATA CAPABILITY ................................................................................................................................................. 37

Methodology and Research ........................................................................................................................... 39

IT System ...................................................................................................................................................... 41

Data Management ......................................................................................................................................... 42

CORPORATE SERVICES .......................................................................................................................................... 43

Risk Management and Human Resources ................................................................................................... 45

Dissemination Unit......................................................................................................................................... 53

SUPPORT SERVICES ............................................................................................................................................... 55

Institutional Affairs Unit .................................................................................................................................. 57

International Affairs Unit ................................................................................................................................ 59

Legal Unit ...................................................................................................................................................... 60

Director: Vacant Director: Mr Silvan ZAMMIT Director: Ms Lorraine SPITERI

National Accounts Living Conditions and Culture Statistics Methodology and Research Unit Administration and Procurement Institutional Affairs Unit

Head of Unit: Ms Vanessa DIMECH Head of Unit: Ms Josianne GALEA Head of Unit: Ms Anne Marie PACE Head of Unit: Vacant Head of Unit: Ms Catherine VELLA

Public Finance Labour Market Statistics IT Systems Unit Risk Management and Human Resources International Affairs Unit

Head of Unit: Mr Mark GALEA Head of Unit: Ms Joslyn MAGRO CUSCHIERI Head of Unit: Mr Ivan SALOMONE Head of Unit: Mr Antoine FARRUGIA Head of Unit: Mr Alan CORDINA

Balance of Payments Tourism Education & Information Society Statistics Data Management Unit Dissemination Legal Advisor

Economic & Business Statistics Social & Regional StatisticsDirectorate

Corporate ServicesDirectorate

Organisation Chart for the National Statistics Office as at 31 December 2017

Director: Mr Etienne CARUANA

Data Capability DirectorateDirectorate

Acting Director GeneralMr Etienne CARUANA

Balance of Payments Tourism, Education & Information Society Statistics Data Management Unit Dissemination Legal Advisor

Head of Unit: Ms Lara FRIGGIERI CORDINA Head of Unit: Mr Matthew ZERAFA Head of Unit: Mr Eusebio BEZZINA Head of Unit: Vacant Dr Sarah Jane MELI

International Trade Statistics Regional and Geospatial Statistics

Head of Unit: Mr James BRISCOE Head of Unit: Mr Manuel TABONE

Price Statistics Population and Migration Statistics

Head of Unit: Ms Denise MAGRIN Head of Unit: Ms Dorothy GAUCI

Structural Business Statistics

Head of Unit: Ms Elaine Grace BORG

Short-term Statistics

Head of Unit: Mr Sam SACCO

Head of Unit: Mr Ronald TANTI

Business Registers

Head of Unit: Ms Christianne MICALLEF

Environment, Energy, Transport and Agriculture Statistics

Management and Staff complement of the National Statistics Office

Acronyms and Abbreviations

ADL Accrued-to-date Pension Liabilities

BOP Balance of Payments

BPM Balance of Payments Manual

BR Business Register

CATI Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing

CDRT Centre for Development Research and Training

CES Customs Electronic System

COREPER Committee of Permanent Representatives

CPA Classification of Products by Activity

CPS Culture Participation Survey

DG GROW Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs

DMU Data Management Unit

DPO Data Protection Office

EC European Commission

ECON Economy and Monetary Affairs

e-DAMIS Electronic Dataflow Administration and Management Information System

EDP Excessive Deficit Procedure

EGR European Group Register

EGSS Environmental Goods and Services Sector

EPEA Environmental Protection Expenditure Accounts

ESA European System of Accounts

ESP European Statistical Programme

ESRB European Systemic Risk Board

ESS European Statistical System

ESSC European Statistical System Committee

ESSPROS European System of Integrated Social Protection Statistics

ESTP European Statistical Training Programme

EU MS European Union Member States

EXTRASTAT Statistics of Member States' trade in goods with non Member States

FATS Foreign Affiliates Statistics

FEAD Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived

FRIBS Framework Regulation Integrating Business Statistics

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GDPR General Data Protection Regulation

GFS Government Finance Statistics

GIAQ GNI Inventory Assessment Questionnaire

GIS Geographic Information Systems

GNI Gross National Income

GSBPM Generic Statistical Business Process Model

GVA Gross Value Added

HBS Household Budgetary Survey

HFCS Household Finance and Consumption Survey

HICP Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices

HICP-CT HICP Constant Taxes

HPI House Price Index

ICT Information and Communication Technology

IESS Integrated European Social Statistics

IFS Integrated Farm Statistics

IIP International Investment Position

IMF International Monetary Fund

INFOSTAT Information Statistics

INSPIRE Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community

INTRASTAT Statistics of Member States' Trade in Goods with other Member States

ISO The International Organisation for Standardisation

ITGS International Trade in Goods Statistics

LAU Local Administrative Units

LCC Low Cost Carriers

LFS Labour Force Survey

MEIB Ministry for the Economy, Investment and Small Business

MIA Malta International Airport

MITA Malta Information Technology Agency

NACE Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community

NCPE National Council for the Promotion of Equality

NSIs National Statistical Institutes

NSO National Statistics Office

NUTS Nomenclature des Units Territoriales Statistiques

OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

ONAs Other National Authorities

OOHPI Owner-Occupied Housing Price Index

PA Planning Authority

PPCD The Planning and Priorities Co-ordination Division

PPI Producer Price Index

PPP Purchasing Power Parities

PSI Providers of Statistical Information

PVI Property Volume Index

QMF Quality Management Framework

R&D Research and Development

RCG Research Centre for General Contracts

REGI Regional Development

RPI Retail Price Index

SBS Structural Business Statistics

SDDS Special Data Dissemination Standard

SDGs Sustainable Development Goals

SDIs Sustainable Development Indicators

SDMX Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange

SILC Statistics on Income and Living Conditions

SPPI Services Producer Price Indices

SPSA Statistical Production System Architecture

SSC&P Secondary School Certificate and Profile

STS Short-term Statistics

SUIOT Supply, Use and Input-Output Tables

TEC Trade by Enterprise Characteristics

TERCET Territorial Classifications and Typologies

TIC Trade Invoicing Currency

TSA Tourism Satellite Accounts

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNWTO United Nations World Tourism Organisation

VOR Value Added Tax Own Resources

VPS Valletta Participation Survey

20 June 2018

The Chairman

Malta Statistics Authority

In accordance with the provisions of subsection 5(g) of the Malta Statistics Authority Act XXIV of

2000, I hereby submit to you this report on the operations of the National Statistics Office for the year

ended 31 December 2017.

Etienne Caruana

Acting/Director General

MISSION STATEMENT

“Produce high-quality statistics and analysis for better decision making in Malta.”

CORE VALUES

Independence Produce statistics and analysis that are free from external influence.

Objectivity Present a true and factual picture of economic and social spheres through our statistics.

Dependability Commit ourselves to produce quality statistics and nurture our reliability by delivering on expectations of the public sector, the business community and civil society.

Honesty Stand firm by what is right, being truthful, open, clear and coherent.

DIRECTOR GENERAL’S OVERVIEW

During 2017, the National Statistics Office continued to

execute its role as the main compiler and provider of official

statistics. Among others, such a role entails the provision of

relevant and timely information to a wide and diverse group

of users: policymakers, international agencies, researchers,

the business community, academia and the broader public.

In terms of statistical output, 203 news releases and six publications were produced and

disseminated. Two of the latter: Trends in Malta 2016 and Regional Statistics Malta 2017,

summarised trends in society, the economy and the labour market, among many other areas and

proved very popular with national and international users alike. NSO publications in 2017 were:

• Continuing Vocational Training 2015;

• Regional Statistics Malta 2017 Edition;

• Cultural Participation Survey 2016;

• Tourism Satellite Accounts;

• Trends in Malta 2016;

• Transport Statistics 2016.

All NSO published output is available online and free of charge at: www.nso.gov.mt

Household Budgetary Survey The period under review saw the culmination of the Household Budgetary Survey 2015 project, by

means of which results and detailed tables were finalised in preparation for the official launch in early

2018. The HBS weights were used as a platform for updating the Retail Price Index (RPI) weights, with

the new weighting frame being introduced in early 2017. The HBS has a rich yield of socio-economic

information on households and household members, and its results are much sought after by NSO’s

range of users.

Malta’s Presidency of the Council of the EU - NSO’s Role 2017 was an important year for the NSO in terms of its role in Malta’s Presidency of the Council of the

European Union, spanning the six months between January and June. The Office’s involvement required

intensive preparations, acquiring knowledge of the business processes of the Council and the European

Parliament, recruitment and training. Above all, a crucial task involved building networking channels with

Member States forming part of the Trio Presidency, other Member States, the Commission and Council.

During the Presidency, significant progress was made in the drafting of EU statistical legislation, notably

the extension of the European Statistical Programme to 2018-2020 (ESP); the amending regulation to

Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 as regards the territorial typologies (TERCET); the framework regulation

on Social Statistics (IESS); and the framework regulation on Integrated Farm Statistics (IFS). A detailed

write-up of the part played by the NSO can be seen in the dedicated section in this report.

National Statistics Office, Annual Report 2017 1

The Office also hosted the handover meeting which took place on Tuesday, 27 June, which was

attended by senior officials from Eurostat and representatives from Malta, The Netherlands and Slovakia.

Joining them were representatives of the Trio countries taking over the Presidency between July 2017

and December 2018, namely, Estonia, Bulgaria and Austria.

Quality Management Framework True to its core values, the NSO embarked on a project to develop and implement a formal Quality

Management Framework (QMF). The document is intended to increase NSO’s conformity with the

European Statistics Code of Practice, and will present guidelines, best practices and recommendations

on 23 statistical domains covering institutional, technical and methodological aspects. The launch of the

QMF is envisaged for the second semester of 2018.

Events in 2017 On Tuesday, 12 September, the NSO held a one-day conference in Malta, jointly with Eurostat. The

Conference was themed - Statistics: Helping Malta make better decisions. Experts in various fields

shared their insights on the way statistics can reach wider audiences more effectively, and how they can

feed better into decision-making processes. A special focus of the event was the growth of the Maltese

tourism industry and the development of Maltese society. The speakers here took an analytical

perspective especially regarding socio-economic wellbeing and culture. The event had an excellent

participation and was covered very well in the media.

Conclusion I would like to conclude by thanking the Malta Statistics Authority Board, particularly Prof. Albert Leone

Ganado, Chairman and Dr Aaron G. Grech, Deputy Chairman, for the support and practical advice given

to the Office in pursuing its operations. Additionally, my appreciation is due to the Directors and NSO

staff who daily embraced the holistic vision of improving NSO’s products and services. I would also like to

acknowledge the work and achievements of Mr Reuben Fenech, former Director General, who oversaw

all NSO’s operations during this reporting period. Last but certainly not least, my thanks go to the

respondents: households, individuals and businesses, and to the data providers for their valuable

contributions to NSO’s statistical work. Without their co-operation, it would not be possible to continue

developing NSO’s role as Malta’s national statistical institute on the national and world stage.

Etienne Caruana

Acting Director General

June 2018

2 National Statistics Office, Annual Report 2017

MALTA’S PRESIDENCY OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EU: NSO’S ROLE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

The contribution of the NSO to Malta’s Presidency of the EU necessitated detailed preparations from

many aspects. These included: recruitment, training, networking with colleagues in the Trio

Presidency and in Member States, and knowledge of the business processes of Council and the

European Parliament. Furthermore, two communication channels were set up: a dedicated website

and email account.

This record will consider NSO’s achievements from two approaches:

• Aggregated statistics that quantify the effort made by the Office;

• The work carried out on the individual legislative dossiers.

NSO’s work to take forward the Presidency can be broken down in the following figures:

• 4 main dossiers;

• 1 Proposal impact assessment for analysis and summary;

• 7 Council working parties;

• 8 preparatory briefing sessions within Council and European Parliament;

• 6 informal meetings among selected Member States;

• 2 political trilogues;

• 1 technical trilogue;

• 2 items for COREPER;

• 2 Presidency reports to the ESSC;

• 2 Presidency reports to the Partnership Group;

• 7 written consultations to Member States;

• 2 full compilations of Member States comments - non-anonymised;

• 2 aggregated compilations relating to the above compilations - formal Council documents;

• 5 Presidency compromise texts;

• 1 Note to Delegations;

• 1 handover meeting;

• Many bilaterals with Eurostat and with Member States.

The dossiers Extension of the European statistical programme (ESP) to 2018-2020

The proposal for this regulation was adopted by the Commission on 7 September 2016. By the end of

their presidency, the Slovaks managed to obtain a “General Approach” - an agreed text at Council

working party level - and this was approved by COREPER on 20 December 2016.

The Maltese Presidency’s task was to steer the file through the European Parliament stage. The

responsible EP Committee was ECON (Economic and Monetary Affairs). The vote in ECON took


place on 27 March 2017 and the Presidency started preparations for the trilogues. It analysed the

report as approved by ECON and assessed all the Parliament amendments vis a vis the General

Approach. The first political trilogue was on 11 May 2017 and the Presidency circulated a written

consultation to the Member States with the provisional outcome, also seeking views on the recitals to

be discussed in the second trilogue. This happened on 6 June 2017 where the negotiations were

successfully concluded, and the deliverable was a compromise package for the whole regulation. The

Maltese Presidency’s success, in addition to obtaining the compromise, was that it succeeded in

safeguarding the bulk of the General Approach and in reducing the number of amendments by

Parliament, thus ensuring a significant lowering of the potential new burden on the NSIs when

implementing the ESP. The Presidency immediately informed the Member States of the outcome and

of the Presidency’s intention to inscribe the compromise package on the COREPER agenda. In fact,

COREPER 2 approved the compromise package on 15 June 2017 and the formal letter which is part

of the procedure was sent to the European Parliament by the COREPER Chair on the same day.

Regulation (EU) 2017/1951 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2017

amending Regulation (EU) No 99/2013 on the European statistical programme 2013-17, by extending

it to 2020, was enacted on 25 October 2017.

Amending Regulation to Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 (NUTS Regulation) as regards the territorial

typologies (TERCET)

The proposal for this regulation was adopted by the Commission on 13 December 2016 towards the

end of the Slovak Presidency. The Maltese Presidency opened the file by circulating the first written

consultation to Member States on 3 February 2017 with a deadline of end February. To be more

effective, the Maltese Presidency gained time by inviting Eurostat to present the proposal in the

Council working party of 22 February 2017. In this way, the delegations had the chance to seek

clarifications before the deadline and therefore could send better-informed responses to the written

consultation. In the Council working party of 29 March 2017, the Presidency succeeded in concluding

the first reading of the proposal, following which it drew up a compromise text and sent it to the

Member States. This was discussed in the Council working party of 16 May 2017, where the

Presidency succeeded in reaching a compromise on the Council position on this file. The Presidency

inscribed the agreement as a COREPER item and on 31 May 2017 COREPER 1 provided the

Presidency with a mandate to start negotiations with the European Parliament.

A “simplified procedure” was envisaged for this regulation, meaning that since this proposal had no

implications for the EU budget and sought to give legal recognition to territorial typologies that are

already in use, the Bulgarian rapporteur for the dossier recommended that the responsible

parliamentary committee REGI (Regional Development), as well as the Parliament at plenary stage,

take over the Commission proposal without amendment. Effectively then, the Maltese Presidency

handed over a virtually completed dossier to Estonia.


Regulation (EU) 2017/2391 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC)

No 1059/2003 as regards the territorial typologies, was enacted on 12 December 2017.

Framework Regulation on Social Statistics (IESS)

The proposal for this regulation was adopted by the Commission on 24 August 2016. The Slovak

Presidency opened the file and launched the first written consultation, dedicating two working parties

to it, but actual progress was very modest by the end of their presidency.

The Maltese Presidency advanced the file by concluding the first reading in Council. By the end of

March 2017, the Presidency compiled the first compromise text taking into account not only the

discussions and Member States’ written submissions, but also the opinions of many stakeholders.

The compromise text was sent to Member States on 11 April 2017 and discussed in two subsequent

working parties. Basing on the outcomes, the Presidency drew up a revised compromise text and

circulated it to Member States in time for discussion at the working party of 14 June 2017. During this

last Council working party, the Maltese Presidency succeeded in closing four articles.

The Maltese Presidency then passed a “state of play” text to Estonia, representing an adequate

starting point for them to continue the progress made on the dossier by the Maltese.

The dossier is now at the stage of awaiting European Parliament first reading.

Framework Regulation on Integrated Farm Statistics (IFS)

The proposal for this regulation was adopted by the Commission on 9 December 2016 in the last

month of the Slovak Presidency. The Maltese Presidency opened the file by launching the first written

consultation to Member States on 11 January 2017. The Presidency achieved considerable progress

in the discussions, dedicating two Council working parties to the file.

To consolidate this progress, the Presidency organised a tripartite videoconference at the beginning

of June 2017, with the participation of Malta, Estonia and Eurostat. Subsequently the Presidency put

together a text and sent it to Estonia for their feedback. The Maltese Presidency then circulated a

Presidency text, jointly with Estonia, to the Member States.

This dossier is now at the stage of approval in committee of the text agreed at first reading

interinstitutional negotiations.


Handover meeting

The NSO held a handover meeting on 27 June 2017. In addition to the Trio partners - the Netherlands

and Slovakia - the incoming Trio countries for July 2017 to December 2018 sent representatives:

Estonia, Bulgaria and Austria. Senior officials from Eurostat also participated.


ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS STATISTICS

NATIONAL ACCOUNTS

The ambitious work plan of the National Accounts Unit for 2017 proved itself very challenging. In

March 2017 the unit hosted Eurostat for a Gross National Income (GNI) information visit and

published the first Tourism Satellite Accounts in May 2017.

The unit worked on three Eurostat grants, two of which were completely new projects for 2017 and

analysed the results of Household Budgetary Survey 2015. These will be integrated in the next

benchmark revision.

During the same year, the unit submitted the first ESA quality reports specified in the Commission

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/2304 of 19 December 2016 on the modalities, structure,

periodicity and assessment indicators of the quality reports on data transmitted pursuant to

Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

In the course of 2017, the National Accounts Unit published four news releases related to Gross

Domestic Product (GDP).

Other routine work done during the year included the analysis of the Structural Business Survey of

2015, the compilation of the purchasing power parity tables in relation to rents, VAT and the

expenditure approach, the Value Added Tax Own Resources (VOR) tables, and processed a number

of requests by local stakeholders and private researchers.

Over the past two years the National Accounts Unit has been working on Grant Agreement No.

04121.2015.002-2015.173 in collaboration with the IT Systems Unit on the implementation of SDMX

for the National Accounts transmission programme. SDMX is a standard designed to describe

statistical data and normalise their exchange. This project is expected to be finalised in 2018.

The National Accounts Unit was awarded Grant Agreement No 04121.2016.003-2016.355 in August

2016. This grant agreement is financing two projects and will be finalised in 2019.

These are:

• The production of annual and quarterly gross value added at basic prices in previous year’s

prices and chain linked volumes to satisfy the temporary derogations currently in place for

transmission of table 101 and 301;

• A software for the compilation of Supply, Use and Input-Output Tables (SUIOT) in current and

previous year’s prices.


GNI mission – 14th to 17th March 2017

This information visit was part of Eurostat's evaluation work concerning the application of ESA 2010 in

the Maltese National Accounts and its impact on GNI that is used for fourth own resource purposes.

The main objectives of the visit were:

• To discuss and clarify questions on the sources and methods used for the estimation of GNI

as described in the GNI Inventory and Process Tables sent by NSO to Eurostat in January

2016;

• To identify and agree on action points for NSO (action points A to improve the methodology

and calculations and action points B to submit new information, clarify or correct already

existing information in the GNI Inventory and Process Tables) and Eurostat (action points C);

• To carry out direct verification of selected GNI components;

• To update the GNI Inventory Assessment Questionnaire (GIAQ) on the basis of the outcomes

of the visit together with any further information provided by NSO.

As a result of the mission 13 action points "A" (with possible improvement of methodology) and

several action points "B" (submission of new information, clarification or correction of already existing

information in the GNI Inventory) were placed. These action points need to be addressed by specific

deadlines prior to 2019.

During 2017, the Unit participated in the National Accounts Working Party and the GNI Committee

meeting in May. The unit also participated in the following three seminars and workshops: ‘ESA2010

Metadata reporting’, ‘Measuring global production’ organised by the United Nation’s Group of experts

on National Accounts and a ‘Workshop on Measuring the Economic Impact of Tourism in Europe:

TSA organised’ by UNWTO and DG GROW. Three employees were given the opportunity to attend

courses abroad two in relation to seasonal adjustment and one on input-output tables.


PUBLIC FINANCE

The Public Finance Unit is responsible for the compilation and dissemination of statistics related to

the Government Finance Statistics (GFS), with the highlight being the compilation of Malta’s General

Government fiscal balance (surplus/deficit) and debt levels, as established by the Maastricht Criteria.

The Unit compiles the annual and quarterly non-financial account, financial account and debt of the

General Government Sector in line with the ESA 2010 requirements. Other important domains within

the Unit are the compilation of the Social Protection Account and the Research and Development for

the Government and Higher Education sectors. All the produced data is transmitted to Eurostat and

published locally in 26 NSO News Releases during the year.

In the course of 2017, aside from the run-of-the-mill responsibilities shouldered by the Unit such as

the compilation of the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP), the monthly, quarterly and annual

government finance statistics and the contribution to the GDP figures, the highlights of the Unit were

the following:

1. The accrued-to-date pension liabilities project:

The project on the compilation of the accrued-to-date pension liabilities, in collaboration with

the Research Centre for General Contracts (RCG) of Albert-Ludwigs-Universitate Freiburg,

has been finalised. Following a second workshop in Freiburg, the consultant provided the

NSO the entire model, the users’ guide and the final report, together with the accrued-to-date

pension liabilities (ADL) for 2011 and 2012. The Unit then compiled the ADL for the years

2013 to 2015. The Eurostat deadline established in the grant application was successfully

met at the end of October 2017 with the transmission of ADL data in the supplementary table,

the final report, the pension fact sheets and the sensitivity analyses. Data was also validated

at Eurostat level.

2. Collaboration with IT Unit in the development of new IT software for the following domains:

2.1 ESSPROS statistics (Eurostat grant)

In the second half of 2017, the Unit started the project to improve the collection and

transmission of the ESSPROS data through the development of a new IT system. The

aim of the grant was to meet the Eurostat requirement of sending the ESSPROS

reporting tables (CORE system and the two ESSPROS modules: Net ESSPROS and

Pension Beneficiaries) in SDMX format and within the required voluntary deadlines, that

is a t+15 months. The IT system was developed within the Eurostat grant timeframes.

2.2 R&D statistics

In the first half of 2017 the Unit worked on the development of a new IT system catering

for the R&D statistics of the government and higher education sectors. The R&D


questionnaire which was newly designed to take on board certain necessary

amendments resulting from the new Frascati manual was developed in Excel format and

included a set of in-built validation checks. The new system links with the Business

Register R&D system, such that the three sectors performing R&D in Malta are captured

and processed together in one single report. At the end, the Unit successfully managed to

meet the Eurostat timeframe for the transmission of R&D data in SDMX format by the end

of June 2017.

2.3 Non-Financial accounts of the General Government sector (Eurostat grant)

In the fourth quarter of 2017 the Unit kick started the project on the development of a new

IT system in the area of non-financial accounts pertaining to the general government

sector.

These new IT software will entirely complement NSO’s ambitious Statistical Production

System Architecture (SPSA) Transformation Project.

3. Compilation of the annual financial accounts of the General Government sector for the years

1995-2003:

With the realization that Eurostat was not going to renew the derogation covering the back

data beyond 2017, the Unit had to find ways and means to compile the missing data. This

task was completed prior to the expiration of two ESA 2010 derogations.

In view of all the work done, the main challenges the Unit is expected to face in 2018 shall be:

• The finalisation of the IT software application for the compilation of the non-financial accounts of

the General Government sectors;

• The biennial Eurostat EDP dialogue visit to Malta. (The main purpose of the visit is to ensure the

provision of Eurostat’s Manual on Government Deficit and Debt, as well as to ascertain that,

Eurostat’s decisions are duly implemented in the Maltese EDP and GFS data);

• Publication of the accrued-to-date pension liabilities for the years 2012-2015.


BALANCE OF PAYMENTS

The Balance of Payments Unit is responsible for the collection and reporting of the International

accounts for the Maltese economy. The international accounts for an economy summarise the

economic relationships between residents of that economy and non-residents. They comprise the

following:

(a) The International Investment Position (IIP)— A statement that shows at a point in time

the value of: financial assets of residents of an economy that are claims on non-residents or

are gold bullion held as reserve assets; and the liabilities of residents of an economy to non-

residents.

(b) The Balance of Payments (BOP) —A statement that summarizes economic transactions

between residents and non-residents during a specific time period.

(c) The other changes in financial assets and liabilities accounts—A statement that

shows other flows, such as valuation changes, that reconciles the BOP and IIP for a specific

period, by showing changes due to economic events other than transactions between

residents and non-residents.

The BOP methodology changed in 2014 and data was being requested in line with the new

methodology as per the sixth edition of the Balance of Payments and International Investment

Position Manual. The IT system in place could not accommodate such a change, therefore, a

series of manual interventions are undertaken every submission in order to convert data from

BPM5 methodology to BPM6.

A new IT system, INFOSTAT, is being developed which will enable data to be readily

generated in BPM6. This system is expected to be fully implemented by the end of 2018.

The Unit is committed to meet stakeholders’ needs and to provide them with the required

information. The greatest challenge faced in this respect is the issue of confidentiality since

this may make it more difficult to meet specific requirements.

Although there have been no changes in the commission regulation governing BOP in recent

times, the unit is still in the process of achieving full compliance due to the lack of reporting of

other changes in financial assets and liabilities account since the current IT programme does

not accommodate these statements. This situation is expected to be rectified upon the

implementation of the INFOSTAT programme later in 2018.


The main challenge the BOP unit is currently facing is the implementation of the INFOSTAT

programme later on this year. Apart from improving the current work procedures and

accommodate the latest BOP methodology, this is expected to reduce manual intervention

currently necessary to convert data from BPM5 to BPM6. This will make it possible for our

respondents to submit their returns online and thus reduce manual inputting.

Moreover, following the retirement of the former manager in 2017, the entre BOP

methodology is being reviewed by the new Head of Unit and the necessary revisions will be

implemented later in the year.


INTERNATIONAL TRADE STATISTICS As in previous years, the Unit was primarily occupied with the monthly compilation, checking,

dissemination and transmission of international trade statistics in a timely manner and according to

the pre-release calendar published on the NSO web portal. Trade data is collected from two main

sources: The Supplementary Declaration System (Intrastat) covering trade between EU Member

States, and the Customs Electronic System (CES) covering Extra-EU trade (Extrastat). The Unit

responsibility extends to cover also the development, ongoing production and analysis of all trade

statistics.

Transmissions to Eurostat of aggregated and detailed files, Intrastat and Extrastat, pertaining to both

trade flows were also made according to the established Eurostat deadlines. The Unit participated in

one ITGS Steering Group meeting held in June. The meeting mainly covered conclusions of the

March 2017 compilation and Quality Working Group whose aim was to assist the commission in the

preparation of harmonised rules for data compilation and quality assurance of ITGS. The meeting also

tackled Trade by Enterprise Characteristics (TEC), Trade by Invoicing Currency (TIC), Detailed Intra

and Extra EU Trade, Quality and the Modernisation of Intrastat and Microdata exchange.

Updated trade data was also provided on an Ad Hoc and ongoing basis to a substantial number of

users from both the private and public sectors which amongst others include the Economic Policy

Division and the Central Bank of Malta. Updated merchandise trade data was regularly provided on a

monthly basis to the IMF's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) as well as to the United

Nations Monthly Bulletin of Statistics. In the period under review, trade data was also provided to

update the Selected Indicators web page on the NSO portal.

Throughout the year, the Unit has continued to supply providers of statistical information (PSIs) any

assistance they may have required. This service is always carried out to the best of our abilities with a

view of creating a lasting and positive office/customer relationship enhancing external user’s

appreciation of NSO as a valid institution despite the perceived burden of providing statistical data.

The ultimate aim is that trade data compiled is as complete as possible but this is only possible

through trader participation. This is the main challenge faced by the unit. On the other hand the Unit

does its best to provide correct trade statistical data in the shortest possible time to both internal and

external users.

Late in 2017, the Intrastat online system was upgraded to incorporate the activities of the

Environmental Health Directorate so that traders declaring imported goods requiring approval from

the Environmental Health Directorate, are able to upload the invoice pertaining to the specific goods

so that officials from the Environmental Health (Port Health) Directorate may approve or reject the

declaration via the Intrastat online system. This replaces the need for traders to physically visit the


Port Health Office for approval of their imports. This system is intended to be expanded to incorporate

also the Plant Protection Directorate and the Veterinary Regulation Directorate next year.


PRICE STATISTICS

The work of the Prices Statistics Unit centres around the following elements:

The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP)

The Retail Price Index (RPI)

The Purchasing Power Parities (PPP)

The House Price Index (HPI)

The Owner-Occupied Housing Index (OOHPI)

The compilation of RPI and HICP indices is carried out on a monthly basis. The Price Statistics Unit

has continued with its transmission of HICP data to Eurostat on a regular basis together with their

publication locally in the form of a News Release. As from January 2017, the unit has commenced

with the transmission of HICP flash estimates. The aim of the inflation flash estimates is to predict as

accurately as possible the actual inflation rate within a shorter time period. Since this exercise is part

of a grant agreement, the unit had to submit reports on the compilation of flash estimates.

Furthermore, a new obligation to transmit back data for HICP and HICP-CT (HICP Constant taxes) at

5 digit level was dealt with. This exercise will be completed in 2018.

The unit has continued exploring the possibility of obtaining scanner data from outlets. This refers to

data concerning the sale of consumer goods that is obtained by ‘scanning’ the bar code for individual

products at points of sale.. After contacting several outlets explaining the scope of such an exercise

and the importance of the provision of such data, the Price Statistic Unit has managed to obtain

scanner data from a number of outlets. Scanner data will replace traditional price collection in these

outlets. This data is provided on a monthly basis and is eventually integrated in the HICP and RPI. A

practical guide for processing supermarket scanner data was published in September 2017. This

document provides technical guidelines on the processing, sampling and integration of scanner data.

The exercise of implementing and processing scanner data is to kick off in 2018 and is part of a grant

agreement.

Price collection is carried out on a monthly basis across several outlets in Malta and Gozo. Price

quotations for the new items introduced in the latest RPI and HICP index series started being

collected in December 2016. The basket of consumption items considered for the RPI is reviewed

periodically, in line with the Household Budgetary Survey (HBS) during which information of

household consumption is collected over a 12-month period in order to obtain an estimate of the

average household expenditure. The information collected through the HBS exercise is then further

supplemented by other data sources. Eventually this is collated to reach the final RPI weights. All RPI

indices pertaining to the years prior to 2017 were re-based to December 2016=100.


Another project related to price collection is that of web-scraping. Web scraping is a technique used to

automatically extract data from websites (to scrape). Data obtained from this exercise will be used in

the Consumer Price Index. To this end, a statistician from the Prices Unit attended an ESTP course

named “Automated collection of online prices” that was hosted in the Netherlands. Web-scraping will

enable online price collection, thus replacing manual price collection. This project is part of a grant

agreement the Prices Statistics Unit will be working on in the coming year.

The Purchasing Power Parities Survey is an ongoing survey, conducting for the Organisation for

Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). The surveys carried out in 2017 concerned

Services, Furniture and Health, Rents, Construction and Equipment Goods amongst others.

As for the housing statistics including the HPI and OOHPI, PPI and PVI, these were compiled on a

quarterly basis. The re-referencing for the HPI and OOHPI was presented with the publication of Q1

2017 data. The unit had to rebase the indices for the entire series for the HPI and OOHPI with

reference year 2015=100. Subsequently, these were provided to Eurostat for validation. The OOHPI

inventory highlighted the methodology adopted for this exercise was also submitted to Eurostat. In

addition, the Price Statistics Unit together with the Short-term Statistics Unit started collaborating with

the Central Bank of Malta on the ESRB Recommendation of 31 October 2016 on closing real estate

data gaps. NSO is to explore the possibility of obtaining data from different sources with regards to

the real estate indicators. These mainly comprise of: Commercial Property Price Index, Rental Index,

Rental Yield Index, Vacancy rates and Construction starts. This project will mainly kick off in 2018,

where it is expected that a preliminary report on the current data availability as well as a plan

indicating how unavailable data will be obtained shall be drawn up.

The need for rental indicators is being felt due to the prominence of the rental market in more recent

times. As mentioned in the annual report for 2016, the Price Statistics Unit has continued in

collaborating with real estate agencies on this front. The latter have started providing rents data

(based on actual rent contracts) as from January 2017. With regards to rents of garages, the Price

Statistics Unit together with the collaboration of Data Management Unit and the Methodology and

Research Unit has carried out a CATI survey in November. The aim of this survey is to gather

information on rents of garages including rent price, duration of contract and size of garage.

Respondents will be re-contacted again at the expiry of the contract in order to monitor rent prices.

In 2017, the unit issued 25 News Releases. The news releases were presented in a new format

starting off from 2017.

The unit is committed to continue its work on existing projects, while in 2018 special attention will be

given to the analysis of rent data provided by real estate agents and the project on web-scraping.


STRUCTURAL BUSINESS STATISTICS UNIT The Structural Business Statistics (SBS) Unit is responsible for the data collection, compilation and

dissemination of business statistics data based on macro-economic variables for the local scenario.

The unit also compiles data on Foreign Affiliates (FATS) statistics involving the activities of foreign

subsidiaries resident in Malta (Inward FATS) and subsidiaries abroad controlled by Maltese

Controlling Institutions (Outwards FATS).

SBS 2015 data was compiled and transmitted to Eurostat. The 2015 reference year data included a

list of product breakdowns for both Turnover and Purchases figures, required for internal purposes.

Additional requirements were put forward by Eurostat for this year, based on the revised version of

the statistical classification of products by activity (CPA). These were reflected in product breakdowns

for Business Services activities, aggregation of the special aggregates and minor changes in other

series transmitted. Updates on the implementation of the enterprise as that statistical unit for the SBS

continued and further developments are expected to emerge in the future.

FATS data was compiled for the 2015 reference year, and a news release focusing on Outward FATS

for the period between 2013 and 2015 was published at the end of 2017.

The unit also completed three quality reports and replied to a number of ad-hoc information requests

from external stakeholders – some of which are received annually.

During the first quarter of 2017, the Unit finalised the results of the Family Business Survey. This

project was carried out on behalf of the Ministry for the Economy, Investment and Small Business

(MEIB) under a European grant.


SHORT TERM STATISTICS UNIT

The Short-term Statistics unit is responsible for the production of several early indicators that illustrate

the most recent evolution of the Maltese economy in the domains of industry, construction, wholesale

and retail trade and services.

The indicators falling under the unit’s remit are production, producer prices, turnover, employment,

hours worked, wages and salaries and building permits. Data are published in index form and are

produced in unadjusted, working-day adjusted and seasonally adjusted forms.

During 2017, 32 News Releases were published. Monthly reports were published for the Industrial

Producer Prices and Industrial Production, while quarterly News Releases were published for the

Industrial and Services Indicators which included the turnover, employment, hours worked and wages

and salaries indicators. Around 120 data transmissions were also sent to Eurostat.

The unit also implemented the majority of the elements detailed in the extensive review of its technical

and procedural work carried out in 2016. These included a review of all the sampling strategies with

the help of the Methodology and Research Unit and a number of new policies relating to data quality

checks and preparation of transmissions and news releases across all the STS areas. The re-basing

of all STS indices from 2010 to 2015=100 was also successfully carried out with the help of the IT

unit.

The unit’s compliance score at EU level continued to improve and is now at 9.8/10. The only non-

compliance left is the remaining Services Producer Price Indices (SPPI) and this will continue to be

tackled during the coming years.

The Unit’s priorities for 2018 will be:

• To re-design all STS news releases;

• To continue the remaining work on the SPPI project;

• To bolster the indicators on construction;

• To meet ESRB requirements on commercial real estate indicators.


ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY, TRANSPORT AND AGRICULTURE STATISTICS

The Environment, Energy, Transport and Agriculture statistics unit is responsible for the collection,

compilation and dissemination of data related to different domains. Key topics covered include:

water, waste, environmental accounting, energy, transport, land, fruit and vegetables, animals and

animal products, fish landings and aquaculture. Datasets are regularly maintained and updated to

comply with the unit’s reporting obligations to Eurostat, as specified in the relevant directives and

regulations. The data is also utilised to fulfill national requirements.

During 2017, the Environmental Protection Expenditure Accounts according to Regulation (EC)

691/2011 was successfully compiled for the first time. The unit published 16 news releases and sent

over 100 data transmissions to Eurostat on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis, all within relevant

deadlines. .

The unit’s priorities for 2018 shall be as follows:

• To start preparations for the Agricultural census that will take part in 2020;

• To carry out a Plant Protection Products Use Survey;

• To re-base and re-reference indices to 2015=100;

• To compile the Environmental Goods and Services Sector (EGSS) accounts and improve the

data compilation for the Environmental Protection Expenditure Accounts (EPEA) modules

according to Regulation (EC) 535/2014;

• To enhance quality and relevance of Transport Statistics, through more effective presentation

and dissemination.


BUSINESS REGISTERS The Business Register (BR) provides an exhaustive list of all registered legal units in Malta, and is the

main statistical database used in survey designs. Business demographic data is taken directly from

the BR populations and transmitted to Eurostat.

The Business Registers Unit continued maintaining specific enterprise characteristics, such as the

legal form, economic activity (NACE), employment and turnover. Over 1,000 new legal units were

included in the register each month and an initial questionnaire was mailed to these intended to obtain

structural characteristics of the legal units.

The BR also forms part of the European Group Register (EGR), which is a network of business

registers used for statistical purposes between EU Member States, focusing on multinational

enterprise groups. The structure is based on a bottom-up approach, where each company is linked to

a parent company by an ownership of more than 50 per cent. EGR foreign links need to be identified

through the EGR IS, a tool managed by Eurostat, in order to be part of the group structure.

During 2017, the unit launched the Innovation Survey 2016, covering the period 2014-2016. The

scope of this survey is to collect information across the business sector on new or significantly

improved products or processes and organizational or marketing methods. Innovation statistics are

collected from enterprises employing 10 or more persons, covering a number of sectors, including the

service industries. Approximately 2,000 enterprises are surveyed during each round.

The Business Research and Development (R&D) survey collects data on research carried out by the

private sector. Provisional data for the 2016 R&D survey were transmitted to Eurostat at the end of

October 2017, meeting the official deadlines set in the relevant regilation. Innovation and R&D

indicators are an integral part of the 2020 targets set by the EU.

The Unit also embarked on a project profiling complex group structures whose control is in Malta. This

project will continue over the years to come and is closely monitored by Eurostat. It involves an in-

depth analysis of the group operations and any structure that would need to be considered along the

years.

The forthcoming Framework Regulation Integrating Business Statistics (FRIBS), a cross-cutting legal

framework for the systematic collection, compilation, transmission and dissemination of statistics

related to the structure, economic activity, competitiveness, global transactions and performance of

the European business sector, is expected to come into force in the course of 2019/2010 and will

bring significant improvements and further challenges in the field of business statistics.


SOCIAL AND REGIONAL STATISTICS

LIVING CONDITIONS AND CULTURE STATISTICS

The Living Conditions and Culture Statistics unit is responsible for the provision of statistics on the

living conditions of the Maltese household. This includes variables such as household income

distribution, housing conditions, material deprivation and the rate of people that are at-risk-of-poverty.

Apart from the EU-SILC survey the unit is also responsible for the Household Budgetary Survey,

which was last carried out in 2015. The official results were published early 2018, however the data

collected from this survey was already used in early 2017 to update the weights used to produce the

Retail Price Index.

The other area for which the unit is responsible is Culture Statistics. Culture statistics meet the

requirements of the Creative Economy Working Group within the Ministry of Finance, the Valletta

2018 Foundation, Eurostat, UNESCO and other related institutions. Apart from surveys that are

commissioned by the local entities, the unit is responsible for a number of community culture statistics

surveys, such as Cinemas statistics, Band Clubs Statistics, Theatres Statistics and Libraries

Statistics.

In 2017 the unit was involved in a number of ongoing projects, such as the Survey on Income and

Living Conditions 2016 (EU-SILC) and the Household Budgetary Survey 2015 (HBS). The

achievements registered in this unit vis-a-vis the European requirements are the SILC data

transmission to Eurostat, which was carried out under European Framework Regulation (EC) No

1177/2003, the conclusion of the HBS 2015 and the transmission of the three micro data files to

Eurostat by December 2017.

In 2017 the unit engaged in a number of local projects, especially projects in the field of culture

statistics, such as the Valletta Participation Survey (VPS) 2017 that was commissioned by the Valletta

2018 Foundation and the Culture Participation Survey (CPS) 2016 which was carried out in

collaboration with the Arts Council Malta and the Valletta 2018 Foundation. With reference to Culture

Statistics the major achievement was the publication and the launch of the results of the Culture

Participation Survey 2016.

In 2017 the unit succeeded in the conclusion of analysis concerning the Household Finance and

Consumption Survey (HFCS). The HFCS is a survey that was commissioned by the Central Bank of

Malta, and for which the National Statistics Office was responsible for the data collection and the data

analysis.

Apart from these the unit had a significant number of user requests on the EU-SILC and HBS, mainly

from the Ministry of the Family and Social Solidarity, the Economic Planning Division and a number of

local researchers. One must not forget the number of requests from University students as well.

The major challenges foreseen in 2018 will be an earlier full data transmission of the EU-SILC results.

Eventually shorter deadlines will be made mandatory as the new IESS (Integrated European Social


Statistics Framework) regulation comes into force. Over the last four years the unit has been working

on automated systems that will help reduce the time needed for data analysis without compromising

the results. This work is now starting to pay off and in the first quarter of 2018 the unit transmitted the

EU-SILC 2017 “early transmission” a month and a half earlier than the EU-SILC 2016 early

transmission.

With reference to the Culture Statistics, the main challenge, apart from Valletta Participation Survey,

which in 2018 will be carried out in two waves, in May and in November, will be the preparation and

launch of the culture Participation Survey from a practitioners’ point of view. The unit will be also

working on the launch of a survey which will cover voluntary organisations. This survey is being

discussed with the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations and the Council for the Voluntary

Sector.


LABOUR MARKET STATISTICS The Labour Market Statistics Unit is in charge of the collection and publication of data concerning the

world of work. The information which is produced by this unit is compiled using both administrative as

well as survey data.

Administrative sources are used to produce monthly news releases on registered employment and

registered unemployment and bi-annual releases concerning accidents and fatalities at work. On the

other hand surveys are run on a regular basis to monitor different aspects of the labour market as well

as the use of ICT in households and enterprises.

During 2017, the Labour Market Unit sustained the transmission of Labour Force Survey (LFS)

statistics in 10 weeks. This implies that national data is being provided two weeks ahead of the 12-

week transmission deadline established by EU Regulations in force for this enquiry. In addition, during

the year under review, a themed publication on young people in the labour market was also produced.

This publication was based on the 2016 LFS ad hoc module covering this subject.

During this year the unit held its first user group regarding the 2018 ad hoc module on reconciliation

between work and family life. The objective of this meeting was to have feedback on the questions

related to this ad hoc and to include a number of new questions in the LFS in order to enhance the

information about this topic for national purposes. The extra questions and those ad hoc will only be

collected in 2018. Representatives from the National Council for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE),

Ministry for Family, Children’s Rights and Social Solidarity and Jobsplus were invited for this group.

In the course of this year, work on a memo concerning the under coverage of new households and

foreigners in the LFS was also drawn up. In addition, the unit has sought the assistance of Mr.

Guillaume Osier on improving the weighting techniques of the LFS. The new weighting method

proposed takes into consideration non-response adjustments in all waves of LFS (first wave and

consecutive waves) and calibration with additional updated demographic parameters. Non-response

adjustments have already been carried out on all quarters for 2015 and 2016. Additional work is

expected to be carried out after new demographic estimates become available for the period 2012 to

2017.

Other work undertaken during 2017 relates to the collection of information on job vacancies and

labour costs. Both are enterprise based surveys which are carried out as per EU regulation. The unit

has managed to cover all deliverables associated with the transmission of data and dissemination of

information at a national level.

Upcoming challenges are foreseen in the coming years in connection with the LFS. In this regard LFS

estimates are expected to be revised to align them with the new population levels issued by


Demography in February 2018. In addition, further revisions are intended to be undertaken in

education related variables so as to take on board the new qualification of the Secondary School

Certificate and Profile (SSC&P). In 2021 a new framework regulation concerning social statistics is

expected to be put into force and as a result, a number of simulations and tests are foreseen to be

carried out to assess the impact of this new legal requirement on the survey estimates.


TOURISM, EDUCATION AND INFORMATION SOCIETY STATISTICS The Tourism, Education and Information Society (ICT) Statistics Unit is responsible for the compilation

and dissemination of statistics on tourism, education and ICT.

Tourism is measured both from the demand and supply side. In order to collect information on tourism

demand, the unit carries out an ongoing frontier survey at the Malta International Airport (MIA) and at

the Seaport. Survey results are primarily used to satisfy local needs for tourism statistics. The inbound

tourism news release is published monthly while outbound tourism indicators are released on a

quarterly basis. Supply-side statistics on tourism are collected from the suppliers of tourism services.

The main scope of this exercise is to measure the occupancy levels in hotels, guesthouses and

hostels. A census of accommodation establishments is carried out, and the findings are published in a

quarterly news release. Moreover, monthly results are uploaded to the NSO’s online statistical

database, StatDB. The unit also collects information on National Tourism by means of a quarterly

CATI survey and administrative data on Cruise Passengers from Transport Malta.

Work in the field of Education Statistics focused on fulfilling Malta’s information obligations with

Eurostat. In line with the requirements laid down in EC Regulation No. 912/2013, data collection was

carried out at all levels of education and among all institutions offering courses delivered in Malta.

Data was thus collected on student enrolments, graduates, student mobility, personnel and finance.

The unit was committed to improve the overall quality and timeliness of these statistics. To this end,

more resources were dedicated to the data analysis phase of the process. The Unit also worked on

the Adult Education and Continuing Vocational Training surveys.

The ICT Usage and e-Commerce in Enterprise Survey and the ICT Usage in Households and by

Individuals Survey are the source of all the information disseminated by the office on the topic of

Information Society. These surveys are conducted by the unit following strict guidelines laid down in

EC Regulation No. 808/2004. The data collected from these surveys undergo thorough quality and

consistency checks before they are transmitted to Eurostat. In case of the ICT Enterprise survey only

aggregated data were transmitted while data gathered through the ICT Households survey was

submitted as anonymised micro data.

The unit has achieved full compliance with respect to:

• Regulation (EU) 692/2011 on Tourism Statistics;

• Regulation (EU) 912/2013 on Education and Training Statistics;

• Regulation (EC) 808/2004 on Information Society Statistics.

The unit published one major monthly news release on tourism statistics, namely on Inbound Tourism

and an additional three quarterly news releases on collective accommodation establishments,

outbound tourism and cruise passengers. Added to these were annual news releases on regional


tourism demand, ICT usage by enterprises, ICT usage by individuals and teaching English as a

foreign language. The Unit has also released two extensive publications on Continuing Vocational

Training and Adult Education respectively.


REGIONAL AND GEOSPATIAL STATISTICS UNIT

The Regional and Geospatial Statistics Unit formed part of the Social and Regional Statistics

Directorate and was the only Unit located outside the main premises of NSO located in Valletta,

Malta. All of its functions were performed within the regional office located in Victoria, Gozo. The core

functions of the Unit comprised the collection and production of regional and geospatial statistics for

selected key statistical domains. Statistical output was published in scheduled news releases, annual

publication, miscellaneous statistical requests and periodical Eurostat transmissions. Most regional

assignments were interlinked with national statistics and were conducted in collaboration with other

production Units within NSO. This served to optimise intelligence, efficiency and consistency. The

Unit continued to be NSO’s national and international focal point in areas directly related to regional

and geospatial statistics.

Among the work carried out on the topic of Regional Statistics, the following are worth of a particular

mention:

• Finalised Eurostat Grant: Data collection for sub-national statistics (mainly cities): 2015-2016

(also referred to as Urban Audit Report) with the support of various production Units and

external stakeholders. Submitted successful application covering 2017-2018 period;

• Finalised work related to reconstruction of regional employment estimates NACE A*10/11

(NUTS 3) by place of work till year 2000; restoring respective time-series for period 2000-2016;

• Revised regional Gross Value Added (GVA) at basic prices NACE A*10/11 (NUTS 3) and

regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at market prices (NUTS 3) estimates till year 2000;

restoring time-series for period 2000-2016;

• Updated Eurostat Transmission Table 1200: Regional Gross Value Added at basics prices

(NUTS 3) by industry NACE A*10/11 and corresponding regional statistics for employment in

persons by place of work (NUTS 3) by industry NACE A*10/11 for timeseries 2000-2016;

• Focused on improving the wider context of regional education statistics, covering non-

compulsory and compulsory education statistics for state, independent and church institutions.

Furthermore, the non-compulsory education was split into pre- and post-compulsory. The

former comprising childcare and kindergarten level, whereas the latter included post-secondary

(general and vocational) and tertiary education. Students and graduates were analysed by the

place of residence and location of school;


• Contributed on the joint compilation and publication of the first news release encompassing

Regional Tourism Demand in collaboration with the production unit responsible for Tourism,

Education and Information Society Statistics. Statistics comprised inbound and domestic

tourism flows and characteristics at NUTS 3 level, specifying regional tourism demand for both

collective and private (also referred to as self-catering) accommodation establishments. During

2017, regional tourism statistics (NUTS 3) experienced substantial improvements with respect

to inbound visitor flows featuring new statistics and graphical illustrations related to same-day

visitors, single and twin centre tourism and the contribution of low cost carriers (LCCs).

Geospatial Statistics

• The Unit continued to strengthen its competence in the field of Geographical Information

System (GIS) and assumed responsibility for all output of geospatial statistics produced and

published by NSO. The production of geospatial statistics covered an array of socio-economic

and environmental domains, feature different territorial levels, namely LAU 1 (six districts), LAU

2 (68 localities) and statistical grids of 1km2 and 0.25km2 grid cells; respectively.

• The Unit supplied 27 updated and new shape files to Malta Information Technology Agency

(MITA); being the national coordinator for the INSPIRE Directive.

• Provided comprehensive technical assistance and support on TERCET legislative file opened

during Maltese Presidency of the EU. This was a proposal for a Regulation of the European

Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 as regards the

territorial typologies.

The Unit was involved in work related to Eurostat Grant: Improvement of the use of administrative

sources (ESS.VIP ADMIN WP6 pilot studies and applications) – Action 3: Geocoding of address and

building registers for statistical purposes. The grant mainly involved a thorough review and evaluation

of the possibilities related to the development of geocoded buildings register and to network with other

key stakeholders and potential spatial data sources. External mentoring and training under the grant

assisted the Unit to develop further its internal competence related to the field.

The main project for the Unit and first for NSO was the compilation and release of Regional Statistics

Publication | 2017 edition. This superseded the Gozo in Figures editions and was the first regional

compendium produced and published by the NSO, providing comprehensive coverage of the regional

dimensions in MALTA. The level of spatial granularity varied across chapters; featuring regional

(NUTS 3), district (LAU 1) and locality (LAU 2) level statistics. A variety of graphical and geospatial

statistics were applied throughout the publication.


Statistical output was presented under eight different themes, covering socio-economic and

environmental aspects. Most chapters included substantial improvements in terms of content, quality

and layout. Synergies across the various Units within NSO and key external stakeholders were

instrumental in delivering the desired outcome.

In reflection of the increased impetus to improve regional statistics the Unit shall continue

strengthening its horizontal functions within the Office and targeting collaborative effort with

counterpart production Units within NSO and key external stakeholders. In terms of sources the Unit

shall rely mostly on data already available at the production Units and dedicate more time and

resources on merging multiple data sources and processes. An important challenge remains to the

development of a geocoded buildings register in collaboration with key internal and external

stakeholders.

The Unit is targeting web-based interactive geospatial statistics in collaboration with Dissemination

and Communications, and IT Units. In this respect, the Unit shall be submitting application for

Eurostat Grant 2019 - call for proposals - ESTAT-PA8-2018-03 - Topic B2761-2018 - Merging

statistics and geospatial information in Member States.

The Unit shall be keen to contribute in the SIntegraM Project - Developing Spatial Data Integration for

the Maltese Islands led by Planning Authority (PA) and benefit from SpatialTRAIN scholarship

scheme; both intended to further enhance spatial data and intelligence in Malta in collaboration with

relevant stakeholders.


POPULATION AND MIGRATION STATISTICS The unit is responsible for the compilation of population and migration statistics which includes the

updating of the total population counts. The unit continued to produce estimates of total and Maltese

population counts by gender, age and locality for the previous year. The Unit also produced

household estimates used by internal Units for survey weighting and other processes. The unit also

coordinated with various government departments to obtain information on important demographic

events, including data on births, deaths, adoptions and regular and irregular migration, used for

updating the total population distribution. In addition, data on marriages, separations and divorces

was collected. In 2017 the Unit also took over the remit of Crime Statistics formerly under the Unit for

Living Conditions and Cultural Statistics.

During 2017 the unit achieved full compliance with respect to:

• Regulation 1260/2013 on European demographic statistics;

• Regulation (EC) 862/2007 on migration and international protection.

Apart from meeting the usual regulation deadlines, the Unit undertook a major exercise to address

issues related to migration estimates. This included:

• Developing, testing and implementing a new methodology for the estimation of migration

flows;

• Revision of migration flow estimates 2012-2016;

• Revision of population counts 2012-2016;

• Revision of household population estimates 2012-2016.

As part of its new remit related to Crime Statistics, the Unit signed an agreement with the Commission

for Domestic Violence to provide technical assistance for the compilation of annual statistics on this

topic.

The Unit in collaboration with the Directorate for Data Capability applied for two Eurostat funded grant

projects in 2017 as per below:

• Improvement of the quality of EU census (2021 and post-2021) Aims to investigate and develop methodologies for data collection to be applied in the next

round of the Census with a view of improving the quality of the census exercise, mainly

through the testing of the internet response method. The project will develop and pilot a web-

based version of the 2021 census questionnaire with the aim of assessing the outcome and

feasibility of applying such an approach in the next Census round;


• Testing and piloting survey on Gender-Based Violence

This project aims to test and pilot a survey on gender-based violence in Malta along with

other EU MS with the view of implementing an EU wide comparable survey in the future. The

grant covers the translation, pre-testing and piloting of the questionnaire proposed by the

Taskforce on Gender Based Violence. The project will assess the feasibility of implementing

the proposed tool and the methodology applied to the survey fieldwork.

Both grant projects started in October 2017 and will run through 2018 ending in the first quarter of

2019.

Way forward:

• Preparation for 2021 Census and post-Census strategy

Preparation for the 2021 census is a major undertaking which the Unit will have to manage in

the run up to the census. This involves continuous collaboration with Eurostat through

engagement in Working Groups and the Census Taskforce as well as internal collaboration

with Units through the setting up of an internal census taskforce. In parallel, Eurostat is

working on the post-Census 2021 strategy which aims to cover all the annual data collection

for demographic statistics. The targets being set by Eurostat present particular challenges for

Malta as they focus on the increased use of register based systems with the aim of collecting

census-like data as frequently as annually instead of every ten years. In view of its continued

reliance on a traditional census, Malta still needs to develop such robust register based

systems to meet these future demands;

• Implementing and maintaining the updating processes of register of households and persons

The use of administrative sources for the updating of the register of households and persons

remains a key challenge to be faced by the Unit. In line with the ambitious targets being set

through the post-2021 strategy, new methodologies need to be developed to be able to

implement an efficient updating system for this register. The increased growth of the

population and sudden shifts in migration patterns, mean that the register needs to cater for

such dynamics in the population if it should be effectively used as both a sampling frame as

well as a source for demographic statistics. The lack of a centralised population register

makes this work even more challenging; especially due to the lack of coherence and

coverage issues between different administrative sources.


DATA CAPABILITY

METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH UNIT

The main function of the Methodology and Research Unit is the provision of technical support on

areas related to methodology and quality to other functional units within the NSO. This assistance is

normally required during distinct stages of the statistical process, including: sampling, questionnaire

design, validation of survey data and the anonymisation of micro and tabular data. Also, in line with

the NSO’s commitment to quality, the Unit coordinates the supply and use of administrative data used

by domain units, and is responsible for ensuring that best practices are employed in the application of

standard methodologies and metadata.

1. During 2017, the Unit was involved in the development of a formal Quality Management

Framework (QMF) meant to strengthen compliance with the European Statistics Code of

Practice through the application of specific tools that enhance quality assurance. The QMF

entails a thorough documentation which lays down a set of guidelines covering a number of

pertinent areas, including best practices in the institutional environment and methodological

soundness. The QMF contains technical recommendations on a total of 23 different topics.

With regard to the coordination of administrative data sources, the Unit was involved in the

creation of metadata files for each administrative data source in accordance with a defined

template, and the preparation of standard cooperation agreements with data owners. At the

end of the exercise, a register of all administrative data sources was created.

Moreover, the Unit finalised the systematic documentation of work processes in place in

specific key domains. This was done relative to the Generic Statistical Business Process Model

(GSBPM), which provides a standard framework and harmonised terminology to describe

statistical production processes.

The ‘Sources and Methods’ section on the NSO website was updated with salient

methodological information and presented in a standard way to outline key operational and

methodological aspects of all statistical areas

In line with the unit’s role to coordinate the use of administrative data, the process for re-

organising cooperation agreements with data providers was launched in 2017. A standard

template for such cooperation agreements was devised, and agreements were prepared in line

with it. These agreements can be regarded as a standard towards the establishment of good

practices in the access, use and management of administrative data.

2. The evaluation of statistical business process documentation makes it possible to determine

any deviations from methodological manuals and legislation. Actions for compliance are


subsequently planned, as applicable. This work will involve consultations with domain units and

research on domain specific requirements.


IT SYSTEMS

The role of the IT Systems Unit within the NSO was to support the organisation in IT related matters.

Throughout the period under review the main focus of the Unit remained software development and

desktop support. Alongside this function the Unit took the lead on two extraordinary projects, one

aimed at stepping up information security practices within the Office whilst the other project shall bring

about a complete overhaul of the IT architecture of the organisation.

A total of sixteen software applications were developed by the IT Systems unit during the twelve

months under review. Seven of the applications produced were designed for Computer Assisted

Telephone Interviewing (CATI). The remaining projects consisted of windows based applications that

cover one or more stages of the statistical production chain. Software completed in 2017 includes a

reporting tool for ESSPROS that is intended to compile standard reports that need to be disseminated

both locally and to Eurostat.

A team from the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) also contributed software development

services to the NSO. The effort of this team during 2017 was focused on enhancements and

adaptations of existing software.

The NSO embarked on two multi-year projects, one intended to upgrade internal information security

practices in line with ISO 27001, whilst the other aimed at modernising the statistical production chain

by shifting towards common IT tools governed by a central data warehouse and metadata repository.

The IT Systems Unit is one of the key players in both projects. During 2017 two calls for tenders were

issued to recruit external experts that will complement internal resources and assist the NSO on these

projects.

In 2017 the IT Systems Unit responded to over 650 internal calls for desktop support. These were

mostly software related and therefore were settled internally. Hardware related issues were tackled by

the respective suppliers. The Unit was also responsible for the upkeep of a number of servers used

by the NSO.

The IT Systems Unit was also responsible for maintaining the eDAMIS data transmission portal,

which is used by the various production Units to transmit data to Eurostat. Other IT tools supplied by

Eurostat are also supported by the IT personnel. The Unit was also responsible for the maintenance

of the national infrastructure for the European Census Hub.

Throughout the period covered by this report, the Unit was represented in six international meetings

and workshops.


DATA MANAGEMENT UNIT

The Data Management Unit (DMU) is responsible for the data collection, auditing, and data-entry

(where data collection is still conducted using traditional paper assisted personal interviewing) of

several social surveys.

Besides the Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) and the survey on Information and

Communications Technology among Households (ICT-Households), the unit was also responsible for

other adhoc surveys, namely the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) which is

conducted every 3 years and the survey among Food Assistance Beneficiaries among the most

deprived households (FEAD), which survey was commissioned by the PPCD.

The Data Management Unit’s (DMU’s) mandate is to modernise data collection mechanisms through

computer assisted interviewing. One of the main challenges in this respect was the transformation of

Tourism data collection from paper assisted personal interviewing to electronic data collection making

use of tablets. This new system is currently being tested in-house and will go live with data capture in

the first half of 2018.

During the course of the year, the DMU was commissioned by several internal and external

stakeholders throughout various phases of research projects. The Unit registered a huge increase in

the number of telephone surveys carried out on behalf of third party organisations, this includes a

telephone survey on behalf of the PPCD and the Aġenzija Żgħażagħ, the yearly survey on behalf of

the Valletta 2018 Foundation, a survey on Energy Use, excluding the quarterly telephone survey on

National Tourism and the Broadcasting Audience survey commisioned by the Broadcasting Authority.

In the year 2018, the DMU will have full responsibility of all social surveys’ data collection as the data

capture, validation and audits of the Labour Force Survey will also fall under the remit of the unit. The

DMU has also been entrusted to carry out another major data collection on behalf of the Central Bank

of Malta (the Payment Habits Survey) and other survey data collections on behalf of JobsPlus.


CORPORATE SERVICES

RISK MANAGEMENT AND HUMAN RESOURCES RISK MANAGEMENT The Risk Management and Compliance Unit kept an updated risk register and assessed any risk

mainly in the following categories:

• Operational;

• Reputational;

• Financial;

• Strategic;

• Compliance.

The Risk Management Committee met regularly to assess all potential risks that the Office is exposed

to. For every identified risk, an action plan is formulated to mitigate possible adverse effects on the

Office. The unit was involved in strategic planning and the day-to-day operational issues.

In order to upgrade and have a more holistic approach in this area, expert advice was sought and a

Risk Policy was forwarded to Senior Management.

HUMAN RESOURCES The overall workforce at NSO for the year 2017 - including employees who only worked part of the

year, those seconded to a Ministry, those on a career break or on maternity/parental leave, adds up to

184 persons.

Table 1 shows that 59 per cent of the workforce is female. The statistician grade constitutes the

strongest segment of the workforce accounting for 49 per cent of total employment. The Management

Team comprises the Chairman, a Director General, three Directors, one Legal Advisor, 26 Unit

Managers and one Financial Controller. Other personnel groups include 90 statisticians, 15 executive

staff, 40 clerical staff, three support staff and one apprentice.


Table 1. NSO staff members by function: 2017

Function Males Females Total

Management Team 21 13 34

Legal Officer 0 1 1

Statisticians 31 59 90

Executive staff 8 7 15

Clerical staff 13 27 40

Support staff 2 1 3

Apprentice 1 0 1

Total 76 108 184

Charts 1 and 2 portray the composition of NSO personnel. Apart from the dominating female

concentration, especially with respect to the younger age brackets, one can note a relatively young

workforce, with 71 per cent of the personnel featuring in the age brackets less than 41 years of age.

41%

59%

Chart 1. Workforce composition (2017)

Males Females

184 employees


The NSO regularly undertakes staff intake in possession of high educational attainment. However, the

Office is also committed to retain the majority of its staff thus maintaining a healthy balance between

experience and academic achievement. Chart 3 shows that the majority of the employees have been

working in the Office for more than 10 years.

27

22

12

15

33

48

16

11

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40

18-30

31-40

41-50

51+

number of employees

Chart 2. Staff distributed by sex and age group

Females

Males

28

13

9

26

33

19

14

42

50 40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40

0-5

6-10

11-15

16+

number of employees

Chart 3. Staff distribution by sex and number of years in service

Females

Males


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Post-graduate Degree Graduate Degree Diploma Other

num

ber o

f em

ploy

ees

Chart 4. Staff distribution by highest level of education attainment and sex

Males Females

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Post-graduate Degree Graduate Degree Diploma Other

num

ber o

f em

ploy

ees

Chart 5. Staff distribution by highest level of education attainment and number of years in service

16+

11-15

6-10

0-5


Charts 4 and 5, illustrate the relationship between the level of education attainment and the gender or

work experience of employees inside NSO. In line with the trends explained above, chart 5 shows that

the majority of graduates have been working with the NSO for five years or less, whereas the majority

of the non-graduates have been engaged with the office for more than 15 years. New recruits in the

grade of Statistician are required to possess an Honours degree in Statistics, Economics,

Mathematics, Accountancy, Banking and Finance, or an equivalent professional qualifications with

any of these disciplines as a major area of study.

During 2017, four employees attended courses organised by the Centre for Development Research

and Training (CDRT) in the various courses as shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Courses organised by the CDRT: 2017

Training type No. of participants

Public Management Toolkit 1

Electronic Procurement Course 3

Total 4

The total number of participants for local training courses (incl. CDRT) as shown in Table 3 amounted

to 103.

Table 3. Local courses: 2017

Training type No. of participants % of Total

ICT-related Training Access 30 29.1

SPSS 16 15.6

Blaise 6 5.8

Management Development Training

Public Management Toolkit 1 0.9 3 2.9

Electronic Procurement Course Mental Health First Aid

1 0.9

Continous Development Training

Survey Testing 38 36.9

Globalisation Workshop 8 7.9

Total 103 100.0


A substantial increase in the number of employees attending training and study visits abroad was

registered (Table 4). In 2017, 23 employees attended such courses which were mostly organised by

Eurostat within the European Statistical Training Programme (ESTP) framework.

Table 4. Training abroad: 2017

Training type No. of

participants % of Total

Methodology 19 79.2

Flash Estimates and Higher Frequencies 2 8.2

ESS Vision 2020 Portfolio Management 1 4.2

EU Labour Force Survey 1 4.2

Environmental Goods and Services Sector Accounts 1 4.2

Environmental Protection Expenditure Accounts 1 4.2

LFS Workshop on Methodology-Output 1 4.2

International Migration Statistics using multiple sources 1 4.2

International Migration Statistics on Combined Censuses 2 8.3

Times Series Econometrics 1 4.2

Moving towards registered based statistical system. 2 8.3

European Business Statistics and FRIBS with STS as Focus Module 1 4.2

Quality Improvements for the LFS and Quality Improvement of the MUR 2 8.2

Advance Methods for Sample Surveys 1 4.2

Designing and Conducting Business Surveys for Official Statistics 1 4.2

Automated Collection Online Prices: Sources, Tools and Methodological Aspects 1 4.2

National Accounts and Public Finance 5 20.8

Introduction to Seasonal Adjustment and Jdemetra 2 8.2

Input-Output Statistics 1 4.2

Jdemetra+ for Advanced Users and Hobby Developers 1 4.2

Balance of Payments 1 4.2

Total 24 100.0

Table 5 provides a brief outline of NSO’s business abroad. The profile comprises three sections; the

participation by function, the type of business attended and also the monthly distribution, depicting the

ongoing travelling commitments reflecting pressures on the Office’s human and financial resources.


Table 5. Travel-related profile: 2016 and 2017

Participation by function Business trips Business days Working days

2016 2017 2016 2017 2016 2017

Management Team 114 118 215 233 444 407

Statisticians & Programmer III 37 41 101 101 174 155

Description by type

Conferences and Seminars 8 7 22 16 39 26

Council Meetings, GNI and other Meetings 98 111 176 212 372 379

Study Visits and Training 23 23 75 69 120 103

Working Groups/Parties and Workshops 22 18 43 37 87 54

Distribution by month

January 6 6 15 10 25 24

February 7 15 14 31 26 55

March 14 14 46 31 73 53

April 18 17 35 29 76 52

May 12 22 24 48 48 77

June 19 20 39 41 74 64

July 2 6 4 18 7 26

August 1 1 3 3 4 4

September 10 15 20 32 41 54

October 25 22 49 43 101 72

November 24 18 45 42 92 70

December 13 3 22 6 51 11

In total, NSO staff attended 159 official trips abroad, spread over 334 business days, implying a

monthly average of approximately 13 trips or 28 business days. The majority of travel was conducted

by the Management Team mainly to attend Working Group meetings abroad. Members of the junior

staff (mainly Statisticians) are more likely to attend Study Visits and Training Courses. The latter are

considered as vital for the required capacity building of the personnel since such training programmes

are mentored by field-experts. Together with the in-depth learning opportunities, such programmes

harness and breed the sharing of ideas and experiences with other international counterparts, mainly

among participants from EU Member States.

Table 6 summarises the direct financial burden on the Office related to official business abroad.

Although NSO generally receives some financial support from the European Commission (EC) and

other institutions to cover travelling expenses in connection with Working Groups and Other Meetings,

other expenses such as subsistence allowances and insurances are in most cases borne by NSO. In

2017, the total costs amounted to approximately €161,586.


Table 6. NSO’s travel-related expenses before reimbursement: 2017

Month

Per Diem and other expenses Travel Insurance Total Cost

No. of days * € No. of

trips € No. of persons € €

January 24 4,032 6 1,271 6 84 5,387

February 55 9,904 15 4,423 15 210 14,537

March 53 10,227 14 5,205 14 196 15,628

April 52 8,749 17 6,822 17 238 15,809

May 77 14,992 22 7,152 22 308 22,452

June 64 11,001 20 9,511 20 266 20,778

July 26 4,673 6 1,927 6 84 6,684

August 4 1,052 1 208 1 14 1,274

September 54 9,478 15 5,507 15 210 15,195

October 72 13,019 22 7,526 22 308 20,853

November 70 13,320 18 6,314 18 252 19,886

December 11 2,143 3 918 3 42 3,103

Total 562 102,590 159 56,784 159 2,212 161,586

* including weekends and public holidays


DISSEMINATION UNIT

The work of the Dissemination Unit may in a nutshell be described as a variety of efforts undertaken

with the scope of bringing NSO closer to its end users. This is done by means of the information it

issues – in whichever shape or form, and the events and persons that it hosts. In the course of 2017,

the unit renewed this commitment while attempting to find more different ways of reaching this goal.

The year in question was particularly challenging since for the first six months Malta held the

presidency of the European Union and consequently NSO Malta was host to several European

working parties.

In the course of 2017, the unit assisted NSO’s production units on the publication of 203 thematic

News Releases and six publications. Each one of these was thoroughly checked inside the unit as

well as being presented in the NSO standardised format. This work was undertaken to ensure that

results are displayed correctly. Furthermore abstracts from these were adapted to be used on social

media at times with the addition of infographics or video clips. In two instances the unit steered NSO’s

efforts in the commissioning of video clips to a local media company in an effort to give particular

topics more prominence.

Following the publication of any data on behalf of NSO, the unit monitors how this is picked-up and

presented in the local media to ensure that the information presented is not being misinterpreted or

misquoted. In cases where this is found to be the case it becomes necessary to take remedial action

most often by contacting the newspaper editor offering a more detailed explanation.

The unit is also responsible for the management and provision of dedicated user requests. This

becomes necessary in the event that users cannot find the information they require readily available

on the NSO website. In this case users are invited to query NSO asking specifically for what they

need. In the course of 2017, 482 such requests were received predominantly concerning International

Trade, Population and the Business Register. The average user will receive feedback following an

information request in two business days.

Aside from its role as a distributor of NSO’s outputs, the unit is also responsible for any and all events

organised or hosted by the organisation. These may vary from a Eurostat mission to a high level

meeting. During 2017 five meetings of particular prominence were entirely planned and coordinated

by the unit:

January 2017 - Devstat ESS (Linked) Open Data Workshop 2017

March 2017 - Director General's Seminar on ESS priorities beyond 2020

May2017 - prESS-net VIII meeting

June 2017 - Presidency Handover meeting


Handover Meeting of the Trio Presidency of the Council Working Party on Statistics and presentations

by the incoming Trio Presidency: Estonia – Bulgaria – Austria.

September 2017 - STATISTICS: Helping Malta make better decisions

The National Statistics Office together with Eurostat held a conference during which experts from

various fields provided insights on the way in which statistics can reach wider audiences more

effectively and improve decision making.

As the year went by, a need was felt to expand the unit’s remit, giving more prominence to the

different aspects of communication and to the need to conduct a branding exercise for NSO. A

decision was made by the Director General to recruit a Communications Officer to join the

dissemination team. This recruitment exercise started off in 2017 however the right person was not

identified before 2018. As a consequence of this decision, the unit will be re-designated:

Dissemination and Communications in 2018.


SUPPORT SERVICES

INSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS UNIT At the outset, it is important to state that the NSO, in the past few years, was responsive to evolving

functions and core objectives, and undertook restructuring to its set-up to accommodate such

changes, enabling its units to meet new challenges effectively. In 2016, the External Cooperation Unit

incorporated international affairs, therefore becoming the External Cooperation and International

Affairs Unit. The NSO’s contribution to Malta’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union was

carried out within this unit, among other activities. In the aftermath of the Presidency the necessity

was felt on the one hand, to have a dedicated focus on building and maintaining linkages among

international, EU and national institutions and, on the other, to address more effectively various areas

of activity at the national level. Therefore, External Cooperation and International Affairs was

restructured into two distinct units: Institutional Affairs and EU and International Affairs.

The Institutional Affairs remit includes:

Inter-ministerial/Government department consultation, with special emphasis on institutional

matters;

Building strategic relationships with stakeholders;

Formulation of institutional policies and documents;

Supportive role in institutional events and ad hoc cross-cutting projects.

Since its inception, the unit contributed towards the development of a strategy document which unified

the conceptual basis and practical arrangements of the restructuring exercise. Work was

subsequently directed towards ensuring continuity of tasks throughout the period of transition.

The unit started to build a proper network of entities and organisations to take forward the nationally

important co-ordination of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition to realising various

concrete achievements in this area, the Unit aimed to enhance the role played by the NSO as an

institution. The first step entailed stock-taking meetings with stakeholders such as the Ministry for the

Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change and the Environment and Resources

Authority, as well as communication with the UN Statistics Division and the Food and Agriculture

Organisation regarding specific Sustainable Development Indicators (SDIs). Furthermore, following

Eurostat’s publication of the first monitoring report of SDGs in an EU context, entitled: Sustainable

Development in the European Union, the unit compiled NSO’s contribution to the first review of the

EU SDG indicator set.

The unit participated in various activities that, in addition to the technical, have a marked institutional

nature. These involved the co-ordination of an internal exercise in response to governmental projects

- the NSO’s role consisted of providing the relevant economic indicators. Another comprised

participation in cross-unit reviews of institutional guidelines and documents, such as policies and

agreements with third organisations. This is an ongoing process.


The unit gave assistance in the editing and proof-reading stages of the publication relating to

Household Budgetary Survey 2015, helping to steer the project to its conclusion. It also co-operated

with other units in the organisation of the book launch which took place in January 2018.

Foreseeable challenges in 2018 include continuing to develop strategic relations with Eurostat and

other Commission directorates as regards institutional matters, such as compliance with the

European Statistics Code of Practice. Another challenge is to intensify work in forming relationships

with local stakeholders, including but not limited to working with other units in establishing a number

of local statistical producers as Other National Authorities (ONAs). The unit will also continue its

support to the re-dimensioning of the library project. Now that the weeding exercise according to set

criteria is complete, the NSO needs to look ahead to putting in place a modern research facility.


INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS UNIT

The International Affairs Unit was created in August 2017 with the remit of strengthening the

cooperation with EU and International Institutions, such as the European Statistics System Committee

(ESSC), EU Commission, the United Nations, and other international organizations, and that of

ensuring adequate and effective representation of NSO/Malta’s national position on statistical issues

discussed at EU and International fora.

During past years, in particular throughout the first half of 2017 during the Maltese Presidency of the

Council of the European Union, the international ethos of NSO have by necessity evolved, increasing

its core objectives to meet the ever-increasing institutional standards and the need for international

cooperation. During the Maltese Presidency of the European Union, the inevitability of coordination

and active participation with EU and International Institutions has by default extended by the

realization of the important interlinkages between International, EU, and National institutions. Keeping

track and participating in policy making from its inception, fist at International and then at EU level,

would make sure that Malta’s national positions are factored in, and also better equip the NSO in

preparation for eventual implementation stages.

The remit of the International Affairs Unit includes:

• Coordinating and replying to input requests from EU and International Organisations;

• Formulation of EU legislation;

• Coordinating and following up to reporting to EU obligations;

• Coordinating and preparing instruction notes and briefing notes for EU and International

Meetings;

• Implementation of NSO’s obligations emerging from International organisations;

• Representing NSO at EU and International Meetings.

From August 2017 the unit continued following the work of the Council Working Party on Statistics

and actively participating in discussions on the framework regulations on Agriculture Statistics and

Social Statistics. The unit will continue following the discussions of these draft regulations and

prepare coordinated positions for forthcoming discussions on a new framework regulation on

Business Statistics.


LEGAL UNIT

Set up in January, 2017, the Legal Unit’s main purpose is to provide in-house legal assistance to the

Director General and the units within NSO in executing their public function as mandated by both

Maltese and European legislation.

As a newly established office, the first exercise undertaken by the unit was to hold one to one

meetings with directors and heads of unit to understand the activity of each unit and recognize any

challenges units face that might need legal assistance. From this exercise, the Legal Unit identified a

number of issues that needed addressing and set out a plan to implement mainly:

Raise awareness on legal function of the NSO, its powers and obligations;

The procedure to be followed when the NSO is in negotiations with other entities;

Devise a plan with Directorate of Data Capability on establishing Memoranda of

Understanding with all administrative sources;

Provide legal clarifications to data owners following a request for information by NSO.

The Legal Unit became the only channel through which contracts in which NSO is a party go through.

This provided uniformity in dealing with third parties and a certainty of procedure within the units. As

an ongoing task, the unit assists the technical units in requesting data from private undertakings and

public administrative sources while ensuring that the data being requested is handled within NSO

according to principles and practices established by law and codes of practice. This assistance takes

the form of meetings whereby NSO’s power at law and internal practice in handling data are

explained to data owners and the development of instruments such as Memoranda of Understanding

with various administrative sources, to facilitate a continuous and efficient transmission of data.

In 2017, the unit was committed to analyze the Malta Statistics’ Authority (MSA) Act - Cap. 422 of the

Laws of Malta, which is the main tool NSO operates with. The aim of this analysis was to propose a

number of additions and amendments to the Act to bring it in line with new obligations emanating from

European regulations as well as to reflect recent developments in the field of statistics. The unit

carried out a comparative study of a number of national statistical legislation in other jurisdictions such

as Ireland, Canada and Italy to evaluate the structures within which other national statistical institutes

operate and how different legislation caters for the demands of the production of statistics in today’s

environment. Alongside this exercise, the unit leads internal regular internal meetings whereby

findings of the comparative study were presented and in which all proposed amendments and

additions to the Act where discussed. In particular, the proposals took into consideration the technical

aspects of the NSO with the intent to change the act in a way to make it more efficient and

consequently, make NSO’s work more relevant and efficient.


The final draft including new proposed articles, amendments and justifications was presented by the

Director General to the MSA board for consideration.

Towards the last quarter of 2017, the unit was appointed as the contact point for Freedom of

Information and as Data Protection Office (DPO). For the latter, extensive training was undertaken on

the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). The unit also participated in several meetings with

higher management to discuss NSO’s development in becoming GDPR compliant and establish the

necessary practices. As the DPO, the unit, offers continuous support to management especially

Directorate Corporate Services on handling personal data as well as Data Capability Directorate in

treating collected data and storage issues. The role of DPO will feature extensively in the Legal Unit’s

report of 2018 as the unit assists the NSO in adopting new practices and policies in becoming

compliant with ISO 27001.


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