What is Statistics Netherlands and what does it do?

The facts about what is happening in our society

CBS is a government organization with more than 2,000 employees. It has three office locations – exist The HagueHeerlen and Bonaire. 1899CBS 600 different Every year, surveys and studies are conducted on a wide range of topics. These topics include population growth, inflation, crime, imports and exports, among others. The facts and figures published by CBS paint a detailed picture of the state of our society and economy in a completely objective and unbiased manner. In a world where the amount of available information is growing exponentially, including misinformation and disinformation, it is vital that people have access to reliable factual data. One of the main functions of CBS is to be the leading independent source of authoritative, socially relevant statistics and information. This provides society with valuable insights so that decisions can be made in a fully informed, fact-based manner. CBS data also informs social debates and the development of new policies.

What does Statistics Netherlands do?

The CBS has a statutory task to compile a range of statistics of importance to society and to make its results available to the public. To do this, the CBS collects data on individuals and businesses. Once collected, these data are processed into statistics. The CBS uses a variety of methods to collect data. First, it surveys individual citizens and businesses. This is mainly done digitally, but sometimes written surveys or face-to-face interviews are still used. Second, in recent decades, the CBS has increasingly begun to use existing administrative resources, such as Personal records database or by Netherlands Chamber of CommerceIn addition to government records, CBS also began using commercial data – Such Data from supermarkets Bill, please- to calculate price changes. The main advantage of using existing data sources is that CBS no longer needs to contact individuals and businesses frequently, making the process less cumbersome and time-consuming for all parties involved.

Privacy protection is always the top priority

When collecting personal and corporate data, an important factor is to ensure that the data is kept confidential. Therefore, privacy protection has always been a top priority for CBS, and the organization regularly invites external experts to evaluate the various existing privacy measures and – When necessary – One of these privacy measures is that CBS immediately encrypts all data it receives so that it cannot be traced back to a specific person or company. Likewise, CBS never publishes data that could identify an individual, nor does it make such data available to external parties. CBS uses encrypted versions of the data for statistical research. Needless to say, CBS also complies with all relevant legislative requirements to protect data privacy. These include the General Data Protection Regulation (AVG), CBS Act (CBS-wet), the European Code of Conduct for Statistics and the Statistics Act (European Regulation 223/2009). Finally, CBS has its own Code of Conduct, which includes strict privacy provisions.

Where can I find CBS data?

The CBS has a statutory obligation to make all its results available to everyone at the same time. This is laid down in the European Code of Conduct for Statistics. The publication dates of statistical studies are announced in the publication programme, which is available to everyone on the CBS website. Press releases, background articles, descriptions of methods, tables etc. can also be found on the website. Users can access all this material free of charge. The CBS also collects historical statistical material and makes it available to the public. For this purpose a separate website has been created which includes census data. 1795–1971business surveys, occupational surveys and housing surveys.

International Cooperation

International comparability has become a key concept in statistics in recent decades. In order to facilitate international comparisons, European countries must compile statistics in a consistent way. – include Netherlands. this European Union CBS also participates in the European Statistical System (ESS), which brings together all national statistical agencies. 27 EU Member States, and European Union CBS is also active in various international institutions in and outside Europe. – no Not only with other statistical agencies and governments, but also with e.g. United Nations (United Nations) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)- So this is another important aspect of the work of CBS.