THE ACTIVITIES OF TAJIKISTAN’S STATISTICAL AUTHORITY ARE ALIGNED WITH INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

Every country needs reliable and factual information to effectively conduct socio‑economic policy and make sound decisions, and in this respect state statistical authorities play a key role. It is through official statistics that we can analyze economic growth rates, living standards, demographic changes and other major social trends.

During the sovereignty period of the Republic of Tajikistan, the statistical authorities became one of the key state institutions and underwent significant development. With the special attention of the country’s leadership and under the wise guidance of the Leader of the Nation — the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Honorable Emomali Rahmon, the statistical sector entered a qualitatively new phase, and today the official statistics of the country correspond to international standards and are recognized globally.

Every year on October 20 the World Statistics Day is celebrated. This date is not only a professional holiday for statistics workers, but also a day that appreciates the round‑the‑clock efforts of those who work with numbers, analyses and reports, thus providing a reliable information basis for the sustainable development of the state.

Today the need for accurate data and deep analysis is felt more than ever. Therefore, the role of statistical authorities in drafting state programs, economic outlooks and in assessing the welfare level of citizens is extremely significant.

On the eve of the celebration of World Statistics Day, we decided to conduct a special interview with Mr Jamshed Nurmahmadzoda, Director of the Agency on Statistics under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, about achievements, modern practices and prospects of the sector.

• Dear Director, firstly we would like to ask: what is the current stage of digitisation implementation in the state statistical authority and what are the steps being taken?
• Full digitalisation is one of the key directions of the state statistics authorities’ activity. Within the transition to electronic reporting and the implementation of the Concept of e‑government in the Republic of Tajikistan, as well as in accordance with the Message of the Leader of the Nation — President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon to the Majlisi Oli on 28 December 2024, effective initiatives are being implemented. For digitisation in the sector three phases have been defined: the transition to electronic document flow, preparation of qualified personnel and full transition to e‑reporting — all of which are being implemented step by step.
• The transition to electronic reporting is one of the important components of digitalisation. What has been done so far and what obstacles do you face? What results does full implementation yield?
  — In statistics an electronic system for 231 statistical reporting forms has been launched, of which 131 are state statistics and 100 are inter‑agency forms. The process of integration of statistical data with ministries and agencies continues; in this area certain difficulties exist, such as the lack of modern servers and specialised software in ministries. It is clear that the launch of such a system has given a further push to the national statistical system and to improving the reliability of the country’s macro‑economic indicators. In addition, it has given reporting‑entities the possibility of submitting reports electronically via personal rooms, without visiting statistical authorities, reducing administrative burden and contributing to digital transformation.
• How is the digitisation of the local community bookkeeping (jamoat books) carried out and what results is it producing?
  — As mentioned already, in order to digitise the national statistical system and enhance informational management at local level in the Republic of Tajikistan a gradual transition to the electronic method of keeping jamoat accounting books is being implemented. These books, which used to be on paper and contained key information about the population, civil status events, movement of population and other important social data, are now maintained with specialised software and electronic information bases. This approach yields an important effect in ensuring data accuracy and timeliness, reducing human errors and duplicates, providing rapid and easy access to data for statistical and management purposes, and integration with other state information systems.
• What measures have been taken in the field of price accounting for food and non‑food products using modern technologies?
  — In order to ensure timely accounting and guarantee the accuracy of food and non‑food product prices, data collection using tablets and the «Price Tool» programme, developed in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has been launched. Weekly price registration is also carried out within this programme. In this context, average prices for food products, alcoholic beverages, fuel and the exchange rate are collected from 25 cities and districts of the republic, and this information is published on the site of the Statistical Agency and available in three languages.
• Naturally, the progress of any sector depends on experienced personnel. What initiatives have been implemented recently to raise staff qualifications?
  — In order to raise specialisation and skills, information‑technology specialists of the state statistics authorities constantly participate in training courses and seminars both domestically and abroad. For example: international seminar on “Big Data for official statistics”, 14‑17 November 2023, Hangzhou, China; training course on “Data centre operations”, 11‑13 December 2023, Moscow; course “Telecommunications and networks in data centres”, 13‑15 May 2024, Moscow; AI & data sprint webinar for economic statistics, Bangkok, 21‑25 October; regional training seminar on SDMX, Istanbul, Turkey, 4‑6 December 2024; course VMware vSphere: installation, configuration, management, 10‑14 February 2025, Baku. These courses allow specialists to adapt their knowledge and skills to modern digital requirements and international experience.
• In fact, for reforming the sector, a dedicated working group has been set up in the Agency that visits cities and districts, to conduct consultations not only with local statistics staff but also with reporting‑entities…
  — Indeed, this matter must be noted. For the development of the statistical system and effective work of statistical authorities at regional level, by order of the leadership of the Agency a working group was formed consisting of specialists from the central office and the State Institution “General Calculations Centre” of the Agency. The main purpose of the group is to organise instructional seminars for jamoat workers on correct filling of household books, the necessity of collecting accurate and timely data at local level, planning and implementing strategic documents, explanatory work with reporting‑entities, correct conduction of sample surveys at jamoat level, at‑home submission of preliminary reports across various sectors, and overall sector reform. Also should be said that in the first nine months of the current year the working group, in order to ensure reliability of statistical reports and provide practical assistance to regional statistical bodies of Khatlon province, Sughd region and districts under republican subordination, made field missions, verified actual indicators in agriculture — e.g., actual sowing of potatoes, onions and carrots in several cities and districts — identified gaps and requested their elimination.
  — We believe that creation of such groups and conducting explanatory work with reporting‑entities and responsible persons for statistics at jamoats, cities and districts seriously contributes to ensuring transparency of statistical data.
  — Also in sphere of conducting training classes on agriculture statistics, by specialists of the statistical authority the topic “Formation of agricultural statistics reporting” was offered for heads, lead specialists of agricultural statistics of local statistical authorities and reporting‑entities of the agricultural statistics sector in cities and districts of Khatlon province and districts under republican subordination, and these tasks are ongoing.
• One of the main foundations of effective application of information technologies in the work of state statistics authorities is the material‑technical base…
  — Certainly: without modern equipment and a stable digital infrastructure, transition to electronic forms of data collection, processing and dissemination is impossible. Under the “Modernising the National Statistical System” project the Agency established a Data Processing Centre (DPC) equipped with 7 state‑of‑the‑art servers, 2 firewalls, 2 central switches and 2 data storage systems (DSS). For uninterrupted operation the DPC is connected to a diesel generator and UPS, enabling operation up to 24 hours during power outages. All electronic programmes of the Agency currently operate through the DPC. Also, in the regional agency office in the city of Bokhtar (Khatlon region) a Reserve Data Processing Centre was prepared, equipped with 6 new servers, 2 firewalls, 2 central switches and 2 DSS, also connected to a diesel generator and UPS. These two centres are connected by internal VPN network and data are automatically archived in the reserve centre.
• It is said that for cotton accounting a new mechanism using a digital “token‑key” has been introduced. Could you explain how this system works?
  — It is worth noting that cotton is a strategic product of the Republic of Tajikistan and as raw material it plays a decisive role for the textile industry. First, a control measurement of cotton sowing was conducted together with the State Committee for Land Management and Geodesy in all cotton‑producing cities and districts of the republic and cases of discrepancy in cotton harvesting data were revealed. With the aim of correcting shortcomings in collection and processing of statistical data and given the high significance of this sector, the statistical authority introduced an electronic accounting mechanism using a digital “token‑key” in industrial enterprises. This process contributes to improving accuracy and reliability of statistical data. Data are transmitted directly from industrial enterprises without intermediary statistical bodies, which diminishes human factor influence and potential corruption. In addition, implementation of this mechanism provides for:
  • ensuring transparency in data collection;
  • full monitoring of cotton intake, processing and export;
  • improvement of tax indicators and enrichment of the state budget.
  Thus, the use of the digital token in cotton accounting is an important strategic step in digitalisation of the sector and ensuring transparency of statistical data.
• Please tell us: within the “Modernising the National Statistical System in Tajikistan” project what electronic programmes have been introduced for digitising document flow and how they affect work efficiency?
  — Under the project the modern electronic document‑flow management system Bitrix24 was procured and effectively implemented. Now all internal document flow of the Agency is done electronically through this system. Also, cooperation has been expanded with the Agency of Innovation and Digital Technologies under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan for implementing the Unified Electronic Document Flow System (EDO). In June 2025, a training seminar on the use of EDO system was held with participation of sector specialists, and all Agency staff were supplied with personal login and password for access to the programme.
• Could you tell us about the Agency’s cooperation with statistical bodies of foreign countries…
  — Certainly: the Agency’s international cooperation grew significantly last year. At the beginning of the year a Memorandum of Understanding was developed between the Agency on Statistics under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Statistical Centre of Iran during the visit of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Tajikistan in January. Also, a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the Agency and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) was signed for data exchange and development of statistical indicators. Meanwhile, following meetings of the Agency’s director with leadership of the statistical bodies of the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Turkey, a draft memorandum was prepared. In June this year, in Dushanbe with participation of representatives of statistical bodies of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and the CISStatistics Committee a meeting of experts from participating CIS countries on improving information support of national statistical services of the region was held. The meeting was organised to expand joint cooperation in the application of IT‑technologies, advancement of artificial intelligence, open data and their formation based on international standards, including statistical forms on trade processes and in general using modern tools of data processing and transmission in various sectors. In parallel the Agency on Statistics under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan this year organised one of the key events in the national statistical system — a global assessment by international experts. This assessment covered all aspects of the national statistical activity. The last global assessment of the national statistical system of the Republic of Tajikistan was conducted in 2012, and its results and experts’ recommendations have since been used in developing the strategy and programmes for national statistics development. Also, our cooperation with institutions of the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) has been strengthened.
• Today the official website of the Statistical Agency is very active and has many readers. In terms of digitisation of statistics and access to official information what measures have been implemented and what results have they given?
  — Today the official website of the Agency on Statistics under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan has been significantly enhanced and has transformed into an important and accessible resource for users of statistical data. Currently most analytical data, statistical tables, compendia and bulletins are available on the website for general use. For example, the monthly report “Socio‑Economic Situation of the Republic of Tajikistan” is regularly published. Access to data on the website has improved the Republic of Tajikistan’s standing in the Open Data Index. In 2025, Tajikistan scored 56 points in the global ranking, raising 26 positions among 195 countries. This indicator reflects the growth in transparency and public access to official information. In the first half of 2025 alone, over 60 000 users visited the Agency’s official website — 6 times more than the same period last year.
• Happy professional holiday, dear Director!
• Thank you for the sincere interview.