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The Statistics Advisory Board held a meeting today (December 4) to discuss official statistics work and its recent developments.
At the meeting, Members were informed of the latest progress of the planning of the new round of the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) to be conducted during October 2014 to September 2015.
The Commissioner for Census and Statistics and Chairperson of the Statistics Advisory Board, Mrs Lily Ou-yang, said, "HES is conducted once every five years to collect up-to-date information on the expenditure patterns of households in Hong Kong. The results will be used for updating the expenditure weights of consumer goods and services for compiling the Consumer Price Indices. Preparatory work for the coming round of the survey has already commenced and the results are expected to be released around mid-2016."
Members discussed forthcoming publicity measures introduced by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) to raise public awareness of the General Household Survey and the work of the Department. The publicity measures included publicity on TV and radio; the distribution of posters for display in housing estates; and promoting the importance of statistical surveys to secondary school students.
Members noted that the preparatory work for the 2016 Population By-census (16BC) was underway and extensive consultations on various aspects of 16BC had started. Members also discussed the plan for 16BC at the meeting, including various aspects relating to the sampling scheme and data collection approach.
Members were informed that C&SD had successfully hosted the 2013 World Statistics Congress (WSC), which was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from August 25 to 30, 2013. The 2013 WSC had provided a valuable networking platform for about 2 600 delegates from 108 countries/territories to share experiences, insights and expertise in various statistical fronts.
The Board discussed other major statistical developments since the previous meeting, including professional assistance being rendered by C&SD in analysing the poverty situation and in conducting the Manpower Projection exercise; the release of the updated set of labour force projections of Hong Kong; and the enhancements to the compilation methods of the national income and balance of payments statistics.
The Statistics Advisory Board is a non-statutory advisory body which advises the Commissioner for Census and Statistics on matters pertaining to government statistical work. Its membership consists of established professionals of the business sector, academia and the community, which provides for a wide representation to assist the Commissioner in integrating views of data users, data suppliers and statisticians. The terms of reference and composition of the Board can be found on the C&SD website (www.censtatd.gov.hk/about_us/our_advisory_board/index.jsp).
Ends/Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Issued at HKT 15:00
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