UkrStat initiates dialogue with communities on local statistics development

The State Statistics Service of Ukraine (UkrStat) has held a "Community Statistics" workshop — the first systematic dialogue with key stakeholders regarding the development of local and regional statistics within the framework of the new UkrStat Strategy.

The event was attended by representatives of the Verkhovna Rada and the government, regional administrations and territorial communities, regional units of UkrStat, the expert and analytical community, as well as international partners.

Today, the local statistics system in Ukraine remains fragmented: data is generated from various sources and using different methodologies.

Arsen Makarchuk, Chairperson of UkrStat, emphasised that the development of community statistics is one of the key tasks of the new UkrStat strategy:

"Decisions that directly affect people's lives are made at the community level. That is why local statistics hold immense practical value. Today, we are launching an open dialogue with users — communities, the government, and experts — to collectively determine which data is critical, how to ensure its quality, and how to build a sustainable model for community statistics. We see a clear demand for the creation of a 'community passport' — a systemic profile featuring key socio-economic indicators. This is a shared task."

The project involves forming an updated community profile — featuring indicators for demography, employment, economic activity, budgetary capacity, infrastructure, and access to basic services.

According to Victor Liakh, President of East Europe Foundation, the formation of municipal statistics should become a practical tool for strengthening community capacity.

"For us, the development of local statistics is a continuation of systematic work with communities in the areas of digitalisation, management transparency, and the development of civil society. A strong community begins with an understanding of its own reality. It is impossible to plan development or reconstruction based only on feelings — data is required. We support UkrStat in the digital transformation of the statistical system and see the development of local statistics as a logical continuation of this work."

The international context was presented by Dominika Rogalińska, Vice President of the Central Statistical Office of Poland:

"Regional and local statistics are an integral part of a unified system of official statistics and the basis for monitoring territorial development policies. It is at the local level that data is used for planning and evaluating decisions. For Ukraine, building such a system is not only the implementation of systematic, European approaches to development management but also a practical step on the path to European integration."

The workshop format combined discussion and group work. Participants worked on a shared vision and practical steps for the development of community statistics.

Following the workshop, UkrStat, together with partners, will summarise the proposals developed and use them to form a roadmap.

The "Community Statistics" workshop and the project for the digital transformation of UkrStat are implemented with the support of the Swiss-Ukrainian EGAP Program, executed by East Europe Foundation.