Machine Learning for Official Statistics

National Statistics Offices (NSOs) are exploring how machine learning (ML) can be used to increase the relevance and quality of official statistics in an environment of growing demands for trusted information, rapidly developing and accessible technologies, and numerous competitors. While the specific business environments may vary depending on the country, NSOs face similar types of challenges which can benefit from sharing knowledge, experiences and collaborating on developing common solutions within the broad official statistical community. This publication describes some of the ML application areas in the official statistics community, quality considerations needed and lessons learned based on two international initiatives conducted from 2019 to 2021.