INOGATE & Energy statistics

Reliable, timely, accurate, accessible and comparable energy statistics are the precondition for the development of coherent national energy policies, strategies and plans that will contribute to a country's energy security, enhance investment in energy, facilitate planning and trade and monitor the energy sector's greenhouse gas emissions.

Energy data is a fundamental input for compilating energy balances and analyses, developing forecasts for policymaking and investment planning, and calculating CO2 emissions and indicators to monitor policies.

The INOGATE Partner Countries (PCs) still have many challenges to achieving harmonised, well-functioning and useful statistics. The statistics functions of a majority of the PCs often lack financial and human resources as well as consumption and supply side data that is harmonised with international standards. Old software is often used for the collection, processing and dissemination of energy data, institutional structures are often weak or inefficient and few methodologies are in place for consumption surveys. Each INOGATE PC needs a national administration for its statistics function, headed by a formal and independent statistics authority, with a strong sense for international cooperation and a commitment to statistical quality.

In 2012, INOGATE began working in this new area of cooperation with Partner Countries, in cooperation with Eurostat and the International Energy Agency (IEA). As a first step, INOGATE developed 11 Energy Statistics Actions Plans (ESAPs) – one for each INOGATE Partner Country – together with the national statistics institutes and ministries in charge of energy for each country. Nine of ESAPs were adopted by the Partner Countries, six through Memoranda on Statistical Cooperation (Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Ukraine) and three through Approval Documents (Azerbaijan, Belarus and Tajikistan).

Technical assistance provided by INOGATE focuses on increasing the capacity of national statistical institutes and other statistical bodies in the production and dissemination of consistent energy statistics, balances and indicators for the future. INOGATE has established an Energy Statistics Network, hosted an International Conference in Copenhagen highlighting the role of energy statistics in decision making and carried out intensive training to PC stakeholders on energy statistics and balances, together with study visits to well-known European National Statistical Institutes targeting exchange of experiences.

These activities are a unique and first-time attempt to bring together energy companies (data providers) and national statistical institutes and ministries (data users) to exchange ideas and opinions for the further improvement of energy statistics systems in INOGATE PCs and enhance their mutual communication.

Already, INOGATE has helped a number of Partner Countries produce, for the first time, energy balances in line with international standards. In the next phase of support, INOGATE targets the increased use of statistics in the formulation of energy policy, assisting decision making in the region.

The brochure presents the important role that energy statistics play in the socio-economic development and the  INOGATE Programme support towards regional cooperation in this field.