Quality requirements for Norwegian official statistics are described in the Statistics Act, section 5:

1. Official statistics shall be developed, produced and disseminated in a professionally independent, impartial, objective, reliable and cost-effective manner. 

2. The development, production and dissemination of official statistics shall be based on uniform standards and harmonised methods. The statistics shall be relevant, accurate, timely, punctual, accessible and clear, comparable and coherent. 

In the Statistics Act, Statistics Norway has been given the responsibility to coordinate and report on the quality of all official statistics, statistics that are covered by the national programme for official statistics. Official statistics in Norway are produced by Statistics Norway and 15 other public authorities

Official statistics shall meet requirements from existing and new users as described in the European Statistics Code of Practice. Users must have confidence in official statistics and have their needs for statistical products met. Quality work is also the key to efficiency and improvement to ensure that resources are used in the best possible way. 

Statistics Norway's work with quality in official statistics is anchored in the Act on Official Statistics and Statistics Norway, Statistics Norway's strategy and the European Statistics Code of Practice. The quality work also uses the UNECE model for the production process described in the Generic Statistical Business Process Model (GSBPM). 

Quality of service

Quality requirements for our services, such as the information service for questions about statistics and research, or other contact with the institution, are formulated in a separate service declaration.

Principles of communication and dissemination

The main principles of Statistics Norway’s communication and dissemination are transparency, accessibility, comprehensibility, independence and confidentiality.

Read also

Report on the quality of official statistics, 2022 (Plans and reports 2022/8)

System for quality assurance of official statistics (Documents 2021/36)

National programme for official statistics (Plans and reports 2021/06) (PDF)

Quality work in Statistics Norway (Documents 2019/08)