Other forms of data collection

Administrative data

Administrative data come from sources that are not primarily created and managed for statistical purposes, e.g. information systems for tax collection, social and health insurance payments, registering incapacity for work, etc. Their owners operate them on the basis of special legal regulations. The State Statistical Service has been using this kind of data for a long time to create statistical information and statistical registers and is largely dependent on it.

The main advantages of using administrative data for statistical purposes are their multiple use, the stability and scope of the captured population and the prevention of duplicate data collection, or replacing statistical surveys with administrative data, which contributes to reducing the administrative burden on respondents due to statistical reporting. In addition, the use of administrative data often entails enhancement of the quality and scope of published statistical information. Main disadvantages of administrative data are especially as follows: unavailability in the required time, different methodological definitions of indicators due to a different primary purpose of their use, or data quality that does not meet the needs of the production of official statistics.

The Czech Statistical Office (CZSO) currently uses data from more than 100 administrative sources to produce statistics. These are both aggregated data for direct publication and individual data for statistical processing. The CZSO either had concluded written agreements with the holders of these sources or the use of administrative data is rooted in legislation.

The authorisation of statistical authorities to draw on administrative (and other) data sources is provided for by Article 17(a) of the Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics. It is further defined in Section 9 of Act No 89/1995 Sb, on the State Statistical Service and is supported by the Government resolution of the Czech Republic of 14 December 2016 No 1135, on the implementation of integrated collection of selected data for public administration (Czech only). The resolution requires members of the Government and heads of other central administrative authorities to cooperate with the CZSO in implementing access to their administrative data sources.

Scanner data

Since 2019, the CZSO regularly uses data from the cash register systems of selected retail chains, so-called scanner data.