Working with data providers to improve the quality, timeliness and availability of official statistics
Philipsburg – The Department of Statistics (STAT) is strengthening its cooperation with government departments, public entities, businesses and other data providers as part of its ongoing efforts to improve the quality, timeliness and availability of official statistics for St. Maarten.
Much of the statistical information produced by STAT depends on the data provided by other organizations. Strong cooperation between STAT and these data providers is therefore essential to ensure that statistics are based on complete, accurate and timely information.
Through its stakeholder engagement efforts, STAT is working to gain a better insight into the information needs and availability across the public and private sectors, identify data gaps in statistical information and establish clear arrangements for the sharing of data.
This includes strengthening cooperation around administrative data, improving data-sharing arrangements and working towards greater consistency in definitions, classifications and methodologies.
These efforts also support the 2026 Caribbean statistical theme, “Harmonizing Data, Strengthening Resilience,” as stronger cooperation and more harmonized data contribute to a stronger national statistical system.
As part of this effort, STAT is developing a Statistical Publication Calendar. The calendar will provide users with information on when statistical publications and key indicators are expected to be released. This will give policymakers, businesses, researchers, journalists, and members of the public greater clarity when new statistical information can be expected.
STAT recognizes that timely statistics are important to its users. At the same time, the production of statistics often depends on information received from external data providers. This will be achieved by ensuring that stakeholders provide timely, accurate and complete data, and establishing clear data-sharing arrangements are essential to enabling STAT to produce and disseminate reliable, consistent, and timely statistical releases. The active cooperation of all stakeholders in fulfilling their data-provision responsibilities is critical.
STAT will continue engaging with stakeholders to identify priority data needs, improve data flows, and explore opportunities to make greater use of administrative data alongside traditional statistical surveys. A critical factor to consider is our small population size, which must be taken into account to avoid repeatedly asking the same individuals to participate in surveys, which is called Survey Fatigue. It is also important to encourage our community to participate in surveys when invited, as sufficient responses are essential for producing reliable statistics and drawing accurate conclusions.
The Department will also continue working with regional and international statistical partners to strengthen statistical standards and practices. Representatives from STAT are participating in the CARICOM regional statistical meeting during the week of October 26, 2026, providing an opportunity to exchange experiences, methodologies, and strengthen regional cooperation in statistics.
“Quality statistics depend on cooperation. STAT cannot produce the statistics needed by St. Maarten in isolation. We rely on our partners to provide timely and accurate information, and we are committed to strengthening those relationships and making the process more transparent, timely and comprehensive for everyone.”
