SDMX, a Key Standard for Central Banks’ Statistics

Bruno Tissot

BIS, Basel, Switzerland

Abstract: Having structured and well-documented statistics on the economy and the financial system is an essential objective for central banks. This is reinforced by the fact that they collect, compile, share and disseminate a wide range of data – even more so since the Great Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007/09 and the significant data needs unveiled on this occasion. The Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange (SDMX) standard provides both an information model and a syntax that enables standardisation for the structure as well as the presentation of statistical datasets and supporting metadata. Triggered and supported by international organisations, this standard is now widely used by central banks to facilitate and streamline their statistical work, especially as regards the IT-related aspects. This is indeed a key conclusion of a related survey published by the Irving Fisher Committee on Central Bank Statistics (IFC) in 2016. Yet the SDMX standard needs to evolve further, not least to better deal with the handling of large micro data sets that are in high demand after the crisis.

Keywords: central banking, great financial crisis, statistical system, micro data.

Pages: 22 – 30 | Full PDF Paper