65% people expect more data from BBS: Survey

About 65 per cent of respondents among users of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) expect more statistical data in its different domains, according to the User Satisfaction Survey 2022.

However, 35 per cent were satisfied with the existing data presented by the BBS, stated the survey that was revealed by BBS at its auditorium in the capital on Wednesday.

Speaking as the chief guest at the event, State Minister for Planning Prof Shamsul Alam said, BBS data is dependable and believable.

Accurate and timely statistics are essential for battling the challenges of the 21st century and implementing and monitoring the SDG indicators, the 8th Five-Year Plan and the Delta Plan, the state minister said, adding that, “As the national statistical agency, BBS has to play a leading role inthis regard.”

Project Director of National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) Implement Support Project, Md Dilder Hossain said, BBS has conducted this survey for the first time using the data provided by 580 respondents among 609. BBS data is mostly used for education and research, he said.

According to the data obtained in the survey, 70.52 per cent of the respondents used statistics related to population, demographics and births, deaths, and marriages, Hossain said.

About a quarter of users think that not enough details were provided in cases of agriculture, industry, labour, poverty, health, education and environment statistics, the survey showed.

Meanwhile, the level of dissatisfaction was highest when it comes to gender statistics, while 50 per cent of respondents stated that adequate details were not provided.

About 69 per cent of users think that foreign trade-related statistics are outdated. It is 63.64 per cent for industry statistics, 50 per cent for labour statistics, 56.25 per cent for population statistics, 51.85 per cent for health statistics, and 60 per cent for education-related statistics,” the survey said.

Over 45 per cent of users said that the price-related statistics were not useful and 40.48 per cent of users opined that poverty statistics are not beneficial, it added.

The survey showed that 85.67 per cent of the users were satisfied with the overall quality of the information provided by BBS.

The survey showed only 0.36 per cent of the users use official statistics every alternate day, 11.25 per cent daily, 11.07 per cent monthly, and 9.49 per cent annually.