The post-pandemic new normal for central bank statistics

Abstract

Official statisticians managed to quickly adapt to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking forward, an important issue is whether, and how, one should be fundamentally rethinking the way to produce and consume data in a “new normal” state of the world. The pandemic underlined that data producers have to provide more and more varied types of information to their users. It was also a reminder that the statistical landscape has to permanently evolve. As regards central banks’ statisticians, this calls for relying more heavily on data science, making a better use of the large amount of micro-level information available in today’s modern societies, adapting statistical frameworks to meet evolving policy objectives and user needs, and continuing to closely cooperate with other relevant stakeholders