United Nations Statistics Division
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The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), under the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), serves as the central mechanism within the Secretariat of the United Nations to supply the statistical needs and coordinating activities of the global statistical system. The Division is overseen by the United Nations Statistical Commission, established in 1947, as the apex entity of the global statistical system and highest decision making body for coordinating international statistical activities. It brings together the Chief Statisticians from member states from around the world.
The Division compiles and disseminates global statistical information, develops standards and norms for statistical activities, and supports countries’ efforts to strengthen their national statistical systems.
The Division regularly publishes data updates, including the Statistical Yearbook and World Statistics Pocketbook, and books and reports on statistics and statistical methods. Many of the Division's databases are also available at its site (See below), as electronic publications and data files in the form of CD-ROMs, diskettes and magnetic tapes, or as printed publications. UNdata, a new internet-based data service for the global user community brings UN Statistical databases within easy reach of users through a single entry point. Users can search and download a variety of statistical resources of the UN system.
Professor Paul Cheung[1], a national of Singapore, is the current Director of United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. Prior to his appointment, Professor Cheung has served as Chief Statistician of the Government of Singapore (1991-2004). In this role, he has been the National Statistical Coordinator as well as the Chief Executive of the Singapore Department of Statistics. He has served as President of the International Association of Official Statistics, (2001-2003), Chairman of the Governing Board, Statistical Institute of Asia and the Pacific (UN-SIAP), the UNESCAP Committee on Statistics, as well as Chairman of the Regional Advisory Board of the Asian Development Bank's International Comparison Program for Asia and the Pacific.
