On April 15, 2025, the next meeting of the Statistical Council under the State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan was held.

At the beginning of the meeting, Chairman of the State Statistical Committee, Tahir Budagov, informed the members of the Council about the agenda item – the draft “State Program on Improvement of the Official Statistics in the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2026-2030.” He stated that the improvement of the national statistical system in line with international standards and its integration into the global statistical system, aimed at ensuring the international comparability of official statistical data, is associated with the name of the national leader of the Azerbaijani people, Heydar Aliyev. The reforms initiated under his leadership and successfully continued in the following years gave a strong impetus to the development of official statistics, the legal framework of the statistical system was established, and within the framework of 6 consecutively implemented state programs, significant measures were taken in such areas as the development and implementation of national statistical classifications and modern methodologies, establishment of the System of National Accounts, creation and enhancement of new statistical domains, meeting users’ demand for statistical data, development of electronic statistics, reduction of statistical burden on entrepreneurs, improvement of the efficiency of official statistics production processes, implementation of a quality management system, processing of metadata, and strengthening of the material and technical base of statistical agencies. T.Budaqov emphasized that, alongside the aforementioned points, the statistical assessment of the progress towards the goals set out in the “Azerbaijan 2030: National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development”, approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated February 2, 2021, the various state programs and strategies, the achievement of sustainable development goals, the meeting an increasing demand of users, as well as the changes and improvements in the statistical methodology, classifications, and other standards applied to ensure international comparability, all induce the identification and realization of new strategic goals for the development of official statistics. To this end, the draft “State Program on Improvement of the Official Statistics in the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2026-2030” includes issues as the preparation and improvement of the system of statistical indicators and methodologies for various sectors of the economy, conducting surveys, dissemination of collected statistical data, and, as a whole, the strengthening of the legal and informational support of statistical production, international cooperation, the material and technical base of statistical bodies, and human resources, as well as the identification of strategic development priorities for the national statistical system for the next multi-year period – all to ensure the timely and high-quality implementation of the tasks facing official statistics.

Then, Deputy Chairman of the Committee Yusif Yusifov provided the members of the Statistical Council with detailed information about the structure, target indicators, and priority directions of the State Program. It was noted that the draft includes a total of 42 measures, including 24 related to the organization of surveys and the improvement of methodologies in the fields of social, economic, and multi-sectoral statistics, 4 on the legal and informational support of official statistics production, 3 on international cooperation, 8 on strengthening the material and technical base and human resources, and 3 on the identification of strategic development priorities for the national statistical system.

Later, the members of the Statistical Council expressed their positive opinions regarding the draft State Program that had been presented to them in advance, noting that the document was prepared in accordance with legislative requirements and that, taking into account international trends, it addresses the tasks facing the national statistical system in the upcoming period. They considered it appropriate to submit the document to the relevant authorities.