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www.insee.fr

Annual Report 2015

INSEE 2015 Annual Report

1

2 Editorial

4 Head Office organisation chart

6 INSEE: a nationwide presence

7 Highlights of 2015 8 Interpreting and understanding the new French regions:

INSEE’s ambition for 2015 11 Generalising and improving online response and exchange methods 14 INSEE at the heart of the European Statistical System 17 A new vision of poverty and inequalities in France

21 INSEE’s major operations 22 INSEE measures unemployment, growth and price changes 24 INSEE conducts the population census 26 INSEE carries out business surveys 28 INSEE carries out household surveys 30 INSEE disseminates its statistics far and wide 32 INSEE exploits data from administrative records 34 INSEE manages major registers: SIRENE and BRPP 36 INSEE prepares short-term economic analyses and forecasts 38 INSEE analyses key economic and social issues 40 INSEE conducts studies with its regional partners and sheds light

on regional and local issues 42 INSEE improves its methods and coordinates the official statistical system

45 Working at INSEE 46 The men and women at INSEE 47 Workforce by region and by category 48 The profession of survey manager 50 Training of INSEE personnel in 2015 50 INSEE budget 51 A few of the year’s events

Contents


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Editorial

H ow can we talk about 2015 without mentioning the ser ies of dramatic events tha t h i t ou r count r y? Su re l y they can only motivate us to be even more wi l l ing to m e e t t h e d e m a n d s o f d e m o c r a cy. To ensure that the who le of soc iet y i s bet te r re f lec ted in a l l i ts d i ve rs i t y and complex i t y.

I n 2 0 1 5 , I N S E E s t a y e d o n c o u r s e t o achieve our a im of provid ing ever more accurate and comprehensive information that is always more up-to-date and clear. More comprehensive in format ion came with the publ icat ion for the f i rst t ime of local ised data on disposable income and monetary pover ty. These f igures were prov ided by the new F iLoSoF i sys tem (Soc i a l and f i sca l l oca l i sed i ncomes ) cover ing income for 2012. Every year, F i L o S o F i w i l l p ro d u c e d e c l a r e d a n d disposable incomes, standards of l iv ing a n d p o v e r t y r a t e s d o w n t o t h e s u b -m u n i c i p a l l e v e l , b a s e d o n y e a r N - 3 . Th is represents cons iderab le progress compared w i th i t s p redecesso rs , t he Local ised Tax Income system (Revenus f iscaux local isés, RFL ) and the Local ised D i s p o s a b l e I n c o m e s u r v e y ( R e v e n u s disponibles local isés , RDL ) .

More up-to-date information with data on the new French regions from January, then for a l l regions in Apr i l in France and i ts terr i tor ies . More up-to-date informat ion t oo w i t h an advance es t ima te o f t he poverty rate. The micro-s imulat ion that has produced this estimate is at the very cu t t i ng edge o f o f f i c i a l s ta t i s t i cs and

app l ied research and INSEE is one o f the f i rst nat ional stat ist ica l inst i tutes to put these model l ing techniques to work.

For ever c leare r in fo rmat ion , I be l i eve we shou ld look to the many t imes tha t our publ icat ions were p icked up by the press th is year, inc luding Enterpr ises in France and most of our sectoral studies on the product ive fabr ic, and in the area of demographic and social issues, Insee Ré fé rences Coup les and fam i l i es and the new es t imates on migra tory f lows.

A l l t h i s p ro g re s s h a s b e e n p o s s i b l e not on ly because INSEE has been ab le t o m a k e i m p r o v e m e n t s t o o u r d a t a c o l l e c t i o n a n d p ro d u c t i o n m e t h o d s , but a lso because our Inst i tute has been able to modern ise, adapt and make the very most of our organisat ion and what we have to o f fe r.

In terms of data col lect ion and response m e t h o d s , I N S E E c o n t i n u e s t o m a k e progress by improv ing and ro l l i ng out our onl ine tools which are now avai lable to both ind iv idua ls and to bus inesses .

Indeed, 2015 was the year that saw the on l ine census come in to genera l use . A l t hough t he co l l ec t i on me thods a re st i l l spl i t between a paper quest ionnaire and an on l ine response , we a re in no d o u b t t h a t t h e e l e c t r o n i c r o u t e h a s b e e n a s u c c e s s ! T h i r t y - t w o p e rc e n t o f h o u s e h o l d s c o n c e r n e d b y t h e census chose to rep ly us ing the on l ine quest ionna i re .

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A t e n t e r p r i s e l e v e l , t h e a i m o f t h e COLTRANE (Cross-d isc ip l inary Survey Data Collection) project is to bring together a l l on l ine responses not on ly to INSEE surveys but also to surveys by our partners in the Off ic ial Stat ist ical System. Access is via a single portal, communication with the relevant departments is easier, and every th ing is done to reduce the t ime companies have to spend. At the same time, the survey departments also benef i t . In 2015, COLTRANE was used to collect data for the European Innovation Survey and the ACEMO survey, the quarter ly Labour Force Activity and Employment Conditions survey conducted by the Department for the Coord inat ion of Research, Studies and Stat ist ics of the Ministry for Labour.

INSEE has a lso changed i ts te r r i to r ia l organisation to adapt to the new regional map: the Inst i tute wi l l group the regional studies departments together to strengthen them, but wi l l st i l l continue to carry out local analyses at detai led levels.

2015 was a lso the year for recognit ion from, and for new opportunities offered by the European Off ic ial Stat ist ical System. INSEE underwent a peer- rev iew aud i t by our European counterparts to ensure compliance with the Code of Practice, and the qual i ty of our stat ist ical product ion was confirmed. In addition, the amendment to the regu la t ion govern ing European statistics strengthened the independence and prerogatives of the National Statistical Institutes and this is undoubtedly an asset for our future.

2015 was also a pivotal year in our strategic thinking for imagining what INSEE will be in 2025. Thanks to the active participation of many staff members, INSEE’s future plans l ie in four strategic directions: making the f igures talk and reaching out to al l types o f pub l ic ; innovat ing and be ing at the forefront with data sources; contr ibut ing act ively to working with al l of the Off ic ial

Statistical System and European statistics too; demonstrat ing col lect ive agi l i ty and restraint. These strategic directions will be clearly def ined in an action plan in 2016.

In the short term, from the start of 2016, INSEE w i l l pub l i sh t he f i r s t qua r t e r l y es t imates o f GDP, unemployment and inf lat ion earl ier in the year. In future, an init ia l est imate of GDP wi l l be publ ished 30 days a f te r the end o f the qua r te r, whereas this had taken 45 days until now. Unlike other European countries, who also currently publish within 30 days, in France this publ icat ion wi l l be accompanied by the ful l GDP information sheet, including an estimate of consumption, investments, foreign trade and inventory. The quarterly publication of unemployment figures, and more general ly of al l the employment and labour market indicators taken from the Labour Force Survey, wil l also be brought fo rward 15 days . Last l y, a prov is iona l estimate of inflation will now be published on the las t day o f each month , wh ich again is two weeks earl ier than before.

The draf t D ig i ta l Republ ic b i l l w i l l a lso bring in change for official statistics. After exploit ing administrat ive records, which are now key for us to be able to observe income and wages, this draft bil l wil l open up access to databases held by companies. In future, i t wi l l be possible to calculate pr ice ind ices f rom the scanner data of d i s t r ibu t ion en te rp r i ses , fo r examp le . These are the kind of new opportunit ies that INSEE must seize to ensure that we continue to innovate.

Jean-Luc Tavernier Director-General of INSEE


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Head Office organisation chart

Executive Committee

General Secretariat

Alain Bayet

Demographic and Social Statistics Directorate

Fabrice LenglartDemography Demographic

and Social StudiesConsumer Price Index

and Household SurveysHousehold Resources and Living Conditions

Employment and Earnings

Business Statistics Directorate

Fabienne Rosenwald** Registers, Infrastructures and Structural Statistics Sectoral Economic OutlooksShort-Term Statistics

Methodology, Statistical Coordination and International

Relations Directorate

Stéphane Gregoir*

Statistical Methods

Statistical and International CoordinationQuality

Economic Studies and National Accounts Directorate

Éric Dubois***

Short-Term Economic Analysis National AccountsGeneral Economic Studies

Dissemination and Regional Action Directorate

Françoise MaurelINSEE Info-Service

National Council for Statistical Information

(CNIS) SecretariatLibrary Resources

and ArchivesRegional ActionDissemination

Information Technology Services

Olivier Lefebvre

Software Development and Projects

IT Production and Infrastructure

Financial Affairs and Planning of Work resources

Living and Working ConditionsHuman Resources ManagementHuman Resources

Development

Coordinator of the managers

of regional offices

Étienne Traynard

Legal Affairs and Litigation

Coordinator of the executive secretaries

of regional officesStatistical Centre

of Metz

*** replaced in December by Sylvie Lagarde*** replaced in December by Christel Colin*** replaced on 1st January 2016 by Didier Blanchet

Jean-Luc Tavernier Director General

Valérie AlbouyDirector General's Office

Philippe CuneoInternal Audit Unit


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INSEE’s regional organization

INSEE resources are d ist r ibuted across i ts Head Off ice located in Par is and the stat is t ica l Center of Metz, Regional Off ices, and nat ional comput ing centers and serv ices. In France’s overseas départements (DOMs), the Regional Off ices take the form of Inter-Regional Off ices supported by regional serv ices.

Our Head Off ice def ines stat ist ical and economic work programs, al locat ing the tasks involved between i ts own units, the Regional Off ices, and the nat ional computing centers and serv ices. I t coordinates France’s off ic ia l stat ist ical service, and manages the Inst i tute’s human, f inancial, and informat ion-technology ( IT) resources.

Our Stat ist ica l Center of Metz, which opened in 2011, performs a range of funct ions in three areas: human resources management, IT product ion, and socia l and local stat ist ics.

INSEE Regional Offices collect most of the statistical data and handle a large share of their processing. In cont inuous contact with local p layers, they prepare studies and disseminate economic and socia l informat ion local ly. Their main inter locutors are decentra l ized centra l-government uni ts and local author i t ies.

Our na t iona l comput ing cente rs and se rv ices a re in charge o f IT p ro jec ts and make the necessary software, hardware, and remote-transmission resources avai lable to the Inst i tute.

INSEE: a nationwide presence At December 31st, 2015

Regional Office Manager Regional Office Manager

Alsace Joël Creusat Languedoc-Roussillon Christian Toulet

Antilles-Guyane Didier Blaizeau Limousin Yves Calderini

Aquitaine Yvonne Pérot Lorraine Aurélien Daubaire

Auvergne Arnaud Stéphany Midi-Pyrénées Jean-Philippe Grouthier

Bourgogne Moïse Mayo Nord - Pas-de-Calais Daniel Huart

Bretagne Olivier Biau Basse-Normandie Daniel Brondel

Centre Jean-Michel Quellec Haute-Normandie Jean-Christophe Fanouillet

Champagne-Ardenne Laurence Bloch Pays de la Loire Pascal Seguin

Corse Alain Tempier Picardie Arnaud Degorre

Franche-Comté Patrick Pétour Poitou-Charentes Fabienne Le Hellaye

Île-de-France Sylvie Lagarde Provence - Alpes - Côte d'Azur Patrick Redor

La Réunion - Mayotte Valérie Roux Rhône-Alpes Pascal Oger

7Highlights of 2015


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Thanks to its Regional Of f ices, over many years INSEE has deve loped a deta i led knowledge of the different French territories in its own areas of exper tise: population, economy, society. INSEE has always been attentive to the needs of regional public s takeho lde rs thanks to the ve r y c lose relationships that have been established, especially with regional prefectures, regional governing councils and regional economic, social and environmental councils (Conseils économiques, sociaux, et environnementaux régionaux, CESERs ), but now it must meet the need for information and analyses at the scale of the new regions.

Anticipating the arrival of the “new regions”

From 2014 when the new administrative landscape of France was f irst envisioned,

INSEE prepared to produce the analyses and ad hoc data that would be required. The Institute embraced this project at both national and local levels.

In June 2014, work was begun on aggregating data on the scale of these new regions.

In September 2014, the Institute decided to ensure that it had the capability to publish France and its territories in 2015 with data on the new regions. Mission accomplished, and the study came out in June 2015. It took into account the new regions that would be introduced in 2016 as wel l as the regions that were sti l l in force in 2015. For almost nine months, the INSEE teams worked on the databases to provide results at both leve ls. The panoramas of each region provided the key pointers in terms of population, employment, unemployment and sector of activity for the future regions.

In January 2016, the new French regions came into being. One year earlier, INSEE published its first study of one of these new regions, Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes. Many more publications followed, including the first to cover the entire country, France and its territories, which was published on 14 April 2015. It was as early as 2014 that INSEE looked ahead to the introduction of the new administrative landscape in France with the aim of supporting local decision-makers for a better understanding of these new territories.

Interpreting and understanding the new French regions: INSEE’s ambition for 2015

http://www.insee.fr/fr/publications-et-services/sommaire.asp?reg_id=0&ref_id=FST15

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The 22 themed information sheets gave indicators at regional level on basic topics such as “Population change”, “Employment by sector of activ ity” or “Pass rate for the baccalauréat”, to draw a detai led picture and compare the current and future regions.

In the course of 2015, studies were launched on the new regions, with the first produced in January on Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes, the aim being to fully appreciate the influence and the impact of these “large terr itor ies”.

Thinking “new region”: the example of Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes

The launch of the annual census campaign, which marks the start of every year, provided the oppor tunity to highl ight newly found knowledge about the population. This has been a tradition for INSEE in the Poitou-Charentes region for several years.

For January 2015, i t soon became clear that i t would be appropr iate to prov ide data at the leve l of the new Aqui ta ine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes region (ALPC). In order to achieve this, in the second half of 2014, the three heads of the studies and d isseminat ion depar tments in the three original regions worked together to produce what was needed: Pierre Valadou for Aquitaine, Oliv ier Frouté for Limousin and Gérard Moreau for Poitou-Charentes.

They put in place a multisite project team with one project manager based in Poitiers, three researchers, one in Bordeaux and two in L imoges, and one editor- in-chief i n Bordeaux. In j us t th ree weeks, the INSEE staff, who were all very experienced, had r isen to the challenge and produced Aquita ine, L imousin, Poi tou-Charentes: 5.8 mil l ion inhabitants in 2012.

The study was publ ished in January as p lanned, and a p ress confe rence was held simultaneously in Bordeaux, Limoges and Poitiers.

Gérard Moreau comments.

“ At first it seemed a simple thing to produce such a document, because for population data, the task was mainly one

of aggregation. However, the complexity lay in the study, which had to summarise but not simply juxtapose analyses of each of the original regions. Our job was to consolidate a global view of the new region, which also took detailed information about the territories into account. Having worked for several years at the Poitou-Charentes level, we had an accurate knowledge of zones or phenomena that were homogenous. When we moved up to the scale of Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes, however, we had different questions, such as, “Can we consider the Aquitaine coast and the Charentes coast as homogenous?” The same for the inland areas of the Creuse and the Dordogne? The change in scale was important: 1.7 million inhabitants in Poitou-Charentes against 5.8 in the new large region. We had to acknowledge from the outset that the original three regions did not face the same challenges in meeting these new requirements: what new analytical rationale could we propose to report on population and demographic dynamics at the scale of ALPC?”

The success of the project shows that it is possible to present the reality of these new regional levels without losing all our detailed knowledge of the territories within them. If fur ther proof were needed, more studies were published in the following months on the economic and social aspects of ALPC, not to mention the other French regions!

Key dates in territorial reform27 January 2014 MAPAM Law (Modernisation of territorial public action and affirmation of metropolitan areas)

16 January 2015 Law on the delimitation of regional boundaries and on regional and departmental elections

7 August 2015 NOTRe Law (New territorial organisation of the Republic)

1st January 2016birth of the new regions


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New regions, new dynamics

The te r r i to r ia l re form has redef ined the powers of local governments and general government se r v ices. The miss ions of stakeholders and INSEE’s par tners have c ha nge d, w h i l e new p l aye r s , l i ke the met ropo l i t an a reas , a re t ak ing shape and are becoming INSEE’s new contacts.

T he e conom ic powe r s o f the re g i ons have been s t reng thened, as has the i r ro le of te r r i to r ia l coord inat ion, s ince i t i s now par t of the i r remi t to def ine two s t ruc tu ra l p lans : the reg iona l p lan fo r economic deve lopment, innovat ion and i n te r na t i ona l i s a t i on , and the re g iona l p l a n fo r u r ba n p l a n n i n g , s u s t a i n a b l e d eve l o p m e n t a n d te r r i to r i a l e q u a l i t y. At depar tment leve l, inte r vent ion in the a rea of soc ia l and te r r i to r ia l so l ida r i t y i s r e i n fo rc e d w i t h t h e d e f i n i t i o n o f a d e pa r tm e n ta l p l a n to im p rove p u b l i c acc e s s ib i l i t y to se r v i c e s . T he ro l e o f p u b l i c i n t e r- m u n i c i p a l c o o p e r a t i o n establ ishments (Établ issements publ ics de coopérat ion inte rcommuna le, EPCI ) has a lso been ex tended. These are a l l stakeholders that INSEE must now keep informed on the economic, demographic and soc ia l rea l i t ies of the i r te r r i to r ies.

To accompany these changes, INSEE has developed a dual approach. The Regional D i rectors and the i r teams bui ld up loca l networks with their key par tners, i.e. the Prefecture, the Genera l Secretar iat for

reg iona l af fa i rs (Secrétar iat généra l aux af fa i res reg ionales, SGAR ) , the regional gove rn i ng counc i l ( Conse i l r e g iona l ) , etc. and at the same t ime the Reg iona l Act ion depar tment at Head Of f ice acts at nat iona l leve l to coord inate act ions.

Based on the observation that many local stakeholders are represented at national l e ve l , r e g i o n a l a c t i o n c a n a n t i c i p a te needs a t the top o f the ne t work . The a im is to use the d i f fe rent s tructures to co-construct a common foundat ion of act ions or ser v ices that INSEE can then prov ide and dep loy at loca l leve l.

I n 2015, INSEE s i gn e d a pa r tn e r s h ip agreement with the general commissariat f o r te r r i to r i a l e q u a l i t y ( Commissa r i a t général à l ’égal i té des terr i to i res, CGET ) p ropos ing a un i fo rm of fe r to a l l o f the d i f fe rent SGARs. The key feature of th is agreement was mak ing INSEE data and cross-disciplinary research or consultancy ava i lab le to the CGET.

Another pro ject was to create a second agreement with the Association of French regions (ARF) to ensure optimal conditions fo r p repar ing the reg iona l p lans. As a partner of the ARF, INSEE was associated wi th produc ing a document on reg iona l susta inable development indicators and the i r proper use. Th is was pub l ished in June 2015, and is an essent ia l too l for a l l reg ions w ish ing to conso l idate the i r susta inab le deve lopment po l icy.

We sensed a real desire to get involved Testimonial from Stéphane Humbert, Sustainable development, Forward planning and Evaluation Directorate, Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie Regional governing council.

To implement regional policy, we need analyses, and we need to know the territory and its dynamics. We have therefore built up substantial relationships with INSEE Nord–Pas-de-Calais over many years. A partnership agreement is in place covering three objectives: carrying out joint research, sharing methods and knowledge, and disseminating and enhancing statistical information. Together, we carry out around ten studies per year and we are also keen to link up with other partners: other general government services, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the departments, the mining basin mission, urban

planning agencies, the Lille European metropolitan area, etc.With the territorial reform, it became clear from the beginning of 2015 that there was a need for a vision of Nord–Pas-de-Calais–Picardie. Our counterparts in Picardie also worked with INSEE. Representatives from, on the one hand, the Nord–Pas-de-Calais and Picardie regional governing councils, and on the other hand, the Picardie and Nord–Pas-de-Calais INSEE Regional Offices, met up on 6 February 2015 to lay the groundwork for “How can we build a vision of the new region of the future together?” We felt that our INSEE partners had a real desire to be involved. They also got to work very quickly. By May 2015, we had indicators covering the new region.Each regional governing council had agreements in place with INSEE, and therefore had research in progress. The subjects for analysis and the methods used were similar. Our INSEE partners very quickly suggested extending the scope of the work in progress to cover the new enlarged region. New studies were also launched to enhance our knowledge of the territory on the subject of quality of life and circulating wealth in the region. Both these approaches are important elements in getting to work on the regional plan for urban planning, sustainable development and territorial equality.With our Picardie counterparts, we distributed the steering roles so that, for each study, there was one reference person from Picardie or Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The two INSEE Regional Offices proved to be extremely flexible and adjusted each of their partnership agreements accordingly.One year on, and the results are very positive. We have all gained a great deal from the experience and already have a shared vision of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie region through these first joint studies.

11The online census is now available to all municipalities

The ful ly paper-based census is no more. 2015 was the year when the online census was extended to a l l munic ipal i t ies.

Since populat ion censuses f i rst began, h o u s e h o l d s h a v e f i l l e d o u t p a p e r q u e s t i o n n a i r e s : o n e f o r m f o r t h e i r dwel l ing and an indiv idual form for each person l iv ing there. Since 2015, in al l the mun ic ipa l i t ies surveyed, everyone can choose to reply onl ine.

One of the main reasons for moving to onl ine data col lection is to reduce costs: fewer v is i ts by the census enumerators, who no longer need to go back to pick up completed questionnaires, and less paper to classify, store and transport. INSEE does

not have to enter the data prov ided in on l ine responses. A l l th is represents a saving in human and f inancial resources.

For munic ipa l i t ies and for INSEE, data col lect ion is made easier and a lso more e f f i c i en t : t he p l a ye r s on t he g round , espec ia l l y the mun ic ipa l coord ina to rs and the supe rv i so rs , have exp ressed unan imous enthus iasm for OMER, the new IT tool that they have been provided wi th (see be low) . I ts greatest asset i s that informat ion on data col lect ion can be shared in real t ime.

For e lec ted representa t i ves , i t was in June 2014 that INSEE first announced the new online census procedure, which was to be ro l led out throughout France. The stakes were h igh, because the Inst i tute had seen during test campaigns that online

In 2015, every household surveyed for the census was given the choice between responding using the paper form or online. The online solution is certainly gaining in popularity: one in three households chose this method! For companies, INSEE continues to develop COLTRANE, the portal that will ultimately bring together all business surveys in the official statistical system. What lies behind these two systems? INSEE’s desire to modernise data collection methods and data processing, not only saving time, but also improving efficiency.

Generalising and improving online response and exchange methods


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part ic ipat ion rates were h igh whenever there was a f i rm commitment f rom local s takeho lde rs , mayors , census agents and munic ipal coordinators.

From September, the municipal coordinators were given some more technical training on the dedicated stat ist ica l tool and on a l l the communicat ion tools avai lable.

One of the new features for 2015 was an interactive “Frequently asked questions” (FAQ) sect ion. Th is has the advantage o f a l low ing in te rnet users to put the i r questions using natural language, and they are then offered appropr iate responses in order of re levance.

The aim is to make access to the required informat ion easier and to reply stra ight a w a y t o t h e m o s t f r e q u e n t l y a s k e d quest ions, such as, “How do I get into the online census questionnaire?”, “What happens i f I ’m not there?” or “How do I get the log in and password?”. There are a lso more sensi t ive quest ions such as, “Why do I have to g ive my fu l l name when the survey is anonymous?” or “ Is reply ing onl ine secure?”

The process was a success, as one in three househo lds surveyed chose th is response mode. And more than 31 tons of paper were saved!

Developing a dedicated tool for the online census, or the trials and tribulations of OMER

The onl ine populat ion census would not be possible without OMER (Outil Mutualisé de l’Enquête de Recensement), the shared census survey tool that INSEE has been developing s ince 2012.

A team of six programme developers from INSEE’s national computing centre in Paris produced the e lect ron ic quest ionna i re

and the app l ica t ion used by everyone invo l ved in the census fo r mon i to r ing data col lect ion.

In 2012, the team brought out an in i t ia l version of the application for the fourteen volunteer munic ipal i t ies in the f i rst t r ia l . The funct ional i t ies were improved on in each subsequent trial. In 2013, there were 46 part ic ipat ing municipal i t ies, then 412 in 2014 and they were able to test the application and help improve it until it was ro l led out across a l l of France in 2015.

INSEE’s stat ist ical Centre in Metz jo ined the project when i t was opened in 2013. S ince then , the exper ts i n Metz have worked with the Par is team. Each team had their own task: the Parisians worked on deve lop ing the appl icat ion and the associated processing (human-machine interface and batch processing); the Metz team dealt with planning and production superv is ion. Everyth ing was f ine-tuned, including the sending of SMS messages to the census agen ts tw ice a day, to u p d a t e t h e m o n t h e p ro g re s s o f t h e onl ine responses.

In o rder to cope w i th any eventua l i t y, a number o f p recau t i ona r y measu res were put in p lace: OMER was insta l led i n s i d e t w o s h e l t e r s e q u i p p e d w i t h a backup generator and subjected to test scenar ios set up every f ive minutes to uncover a l l possib le problems and deal with them quickly.

Af ter the learn ing exper ience in 2014, the cha l l enge fo r the 2015 campa ign was the scale of the operat ion!

In the end, OMER met a l l expectat ions, with 50,000 onl ine responses recorded f rom the very f i rs t day and some log in peaks of as many as 10,000 questionnaires an hour at the busiest periods. Everything went without a hitch, even though the load tests had only p lanned for a maximum of 8,000 respondents an hour.

A vast communication systemTo accompany the census, INSEE puts a lot of energy every year into a vast communication programme, aimed at those involved in the census operation and the municipalities responsible for collecting data in the field. There is a dedicated website, le-recensement-et-moi.fr, animated videos and audio reports, a communication kit for the municipalities to help them produce their own communication material for their citizens, direct phone line, etc. A complete package is deployed to ensure that everyone involved is well informed. For the 2015 campaign, all the tools and communication aids were reviewed and supplemented whenever necessary: the advantages of online participation and the procedure involved have been set out using infographics, interviews with INSEE experts and teaching videos.

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On Monday 19 January, the Monday after data collection began, 27,000 responses were recorded between 6pm and 9pm.

COLTRANE, where all business surveys will come together

To ensure that responding to surveys is as user-fr iendly as possible for companies, I N S E E h a s ro l l e d o u t t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f respond ing on l ine v ia a s ing le web address.

S i n c e t h e f i r s t o n l i n e s u r v e y s w e r e introduced at the beginning of the 2000s, severa l systems have been deve loped. Based on the cons iderab le exper ience that has been bui l t up, INSEE des igned the COLTRANE project (Cross-Disciplinary S u r v e y D a t a C o l l e c t i o n ) w h i c h w i l l e ven tua l l y b r i ng a l l bus iness su r veys together wi th in the same porta l .

T h e re a re t w o m a i n c h a l l e n g e s w i t h COLTRANE: to extend and standard ise on l i ne da ta co l l ec t i on f o r a l l su r veys and to provide a s ingle access point for bus inesses to make responding eas ier and to enab le them to be t te r iden t i f y surveys that are indeed within the off icial s tat is t ics remi t .

Respondents are able to access a portal, c a l l ed “My su r veys ” , and see a l l t he quest ionna i res that they must rep ly to us ing a s ing le log in account . They can change the i r password i f they lose the i r o ld one and there is an on l ine form to f i l l i n t o reques t ass i s t ance f rom the competent department .

Some o f the o the r advan tages o f the system: i t incorporates dynamic input contro l to check the format of the input f ie lds, consistency between the different input f ie lds and, where necessary, with earl ier data. COLTRANE should therefore improve data qual i ty.

C O LT R A N E a l s o l i g h t e n s t h e b u rd e n o f w o r k f o r t h e s u r v e y d e p a r t m e n t s . I t a u t o m a t i c a l l y g e n e r a t e s a l l d a t a col lect ion instruments and ensures that they comply with standards. Since 2015, the online questionnaires accessible from COLTRANE are generated based on their formal descr ipt ion, i .e . f rom metadata describing the questionnaire. Eventual ly, the generat ion of different types of letter a n n o u n c i n g a s u r v e y, re m i n d e r s a n d paper and downloadable quest ionnaires wi l l a lso be automated.

T h e f i r s t v e r s i o n o f C O LT R A N E w a s introduced in 2013 for the annual sectoral survey and the European Innovation survey.

In 2015, COLTRANE was used to col lect data for the 2015 edition of the European Innovation survey and since March it has also been used in the ACEMO survey, the quarter ly survey of Labour Force Activ ity and Employment Condit ions carr ied out by the Department for the Coordinat ion of Research, Stud ies and Stat is t ics of the Ministry for Labour.

Al l that remains now is to incorporate al l the INSEE surveys, and then eventual ly a l l the surveys of the off ic ia l stat ist ica l system that wish to use th is procedure. Around thirty surveys wil l use COLTRANE for data col lect ion in the next 2 years.

Online census data collection: how does it work?When the census enumerator contacts a household (s)he asks if they wish to reply online. If they do, (s)he gives them an instruction sheet with their login details. Replying online is made easy for the households concerned as they are automatically guided through the questionnaire; plausibility checks are made so any inconsistencies in their responses can be corrected.Online responses are made secure in three ways: • access to the online questionnaire requires a login and a password, which are provided by the enumerator and are

single-use: once the questionnaire has been sent in to INSEE, it can no longer be accessed;• data are not stored on the computer of the household being surveyed, but on a dedicated INSEE server. Only INSEE

has access; • finally, data circulating between the computer of the person being surveyed and the INSEE server are encrypted.


14 Recognition by our peers

A s a N a t i o n a l S t a t i s t i c a l I n s t i t u t e , INSEE is compel led to comply with the European Stat is t ics Code o f Pract ice . To measure compl iance with the Code, an assessment of European inst i tutes, a

“peer-rev iew”, was carr ied out in 2007. Aud i to rs v i s i t ed INSEE once aga in i n December 2014 to carry out the second rev iew. Their f ina l report was publ ished in March 2015, and highl ighted INSEE’s h igh leve l o f compl iance (espec ia l l y in the exce l l en t l eve l s o f s ta f f t r a i n i ng ) , a n d t h a t o f t h e g o v e r n i n g b o d y t h a t ensures our professional independence, our attent iveness to users’ needs, and the coordination and monitoring of official stat ist ics surveys.

To enhance compliance with the code, the experts put forward 18 recommendations which deal mainly with the institutional or regulatory framework of INSEE’s activities, t h e f r a m e w o r k o f i t s q u a l i t y p o l i c y, considered to be very substantial but which could be made more standardised and

In 2015, INSEE was audited by other European statisticians. The purpose was to assess the compliance of statistical institutes with the European Statistics Code of Practice. The auditors noted our high level of compliance with the code and made a series of recommendations to standardise our quality policy, which was already considered very rigorous, to communicate better with our users, and about our regulatory framework. 2015 was also the year when Euros-tat, the statistical office of the European Union, began to implement its medium-term project, Vision 2020. INSEE is fully playing its part in this, especially in relation to business statistics.

INSEE at the heart of the European Statistical System

15

systematised, and f inal ly communication act iv i t ies and l inks with users.

At institutional level, most of the responses required fe l l wi th in the scope of the law and therefore were beyond INSEE’s power to implement.

H o w e v e r, i n A p r i l 2 0 1 5 , E u r o p e a n regulations on statistics were revised. They now incorporate measures which enable INSEE to comply with the recommendations of the peer-rev iew (see Box).

Concern ing the qua l i ty procedure, the key issue for INSEE was to take better con t ro l o f t he p roduc t i on cha ins and reduce any inherent r isks.

To d o t h i s , t h e I n s t i t u t e d e c i d e d t o s t rengthen qua l i ty act ions by creat ing a dedicated strategic committee in May 2015. The ro le o f the commit tee is to implement INSEE’s qual i ty strategy and, m o re b ro a d l y, t h a t o f t h e M i n i s t e r i a l Stat ist ica l Off ices.

Concerning its users, the Institute agreed to pu t a more sys temat ic i n fo rmat ion

procedure in place on production methods and data qual i ty.

To f ind out more about peer rev iews in the European stat ist ica l systemhttp://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/quality/peer-rev iews

Building the European statistical system of the future

2015 was a l so an impor tan t yea r f o r Eurostat, since the first steps in the Vision 2020 were put in place. This forward-looking pro ject was f ina l ised in May 2014 and defines the main areas and priorit ies that the organisation has set. I t is the result of joint discussions between the Director-General of Eurostat, his deputy and the Directors-General of the European National Statistical Institutes, who worked together between summer 2013 and spring 2014.

There are four main challenges on which the actions of stakeholders in the European Statistical System will focus over the next few years:

A new European regulation on statistics: an opportunity for the French statistical system The main reason behind the amendment to the European regulation1 on statistics was to prevent the risk of the instrumentalisation of official statistics observed during the Greek crisis. The aim of the new regulation is to provide more guarantees of professional independence to all National Statistical Institutes. In France, given that the law and the Official Statistical Authority (Autorité de la statistique publique) already contribute hugely to ensuring the independence of the system, the change in the regulation simply clarifies some of the details on the implementation of this independence.What is new for the French statistical system? The major contribution is to clarify and expand the powers of the Directors-General in coordinating their national statistical systems. The regulation stipulates that in future, the Director-General of INSEE will coordinate the statist ical activit ies of al l the other national authorit ies responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, like the Ministerial Statistical Offices. Specifically, the Director-General wil l have regulatory power over these authorities to produce recommendations on methodology, quality and the publication calendar.Another change is that it wil l become compulsory for INSEE and the Ministerial Statistical Offices to consult when creating or changing administrative sources that may be used for statistical purpose. Synergy of this kind can represent substantial cost reductions and improved eff iciency by al lowing INSEE to intervene at the source of administrative data thus making it easier to design new indicators that will be useful in public debate.

1. Regulation (EU) 2015/759 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2015 amending regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/quality/


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• Big Data: what is the future ro le of an organisat ion producing re l iab le, good qua l i ty in format ion in an env i ronment that i s be ing shaken up by the data revolut ion? What is i ts place in relat ion t o o the r da t a p roduce r s i n t he B i g Data age?

• Global isat ion: how can we bring about change in the product ion of stat is t ics so that i t meets the new in format ion needs generated by globalisation? How can we analyse large-scale economic, f inancia l and socia l cr ises, new forms of economic product ion organisat ion?

• B u d g e t c o n s t r a i n t s : h o w c a n w e continue to produce high quality official s tat is t ics when the g loba l context is one of budget t ighten ing?

• Deve lopment of the EU: how can we continue to accompany the development o f the European Un ion and produce ind icators that are st i l l re levant?

These quest ions a re not ent i re l y new, and members of Eurostat have a l ready deve loped programmes that dea l w i th them, at least in par t . The contr ibut ion o f t h e E S S V i s i o n 2 0 2 0 l i e s i n t h e ra t iona l i sa t ion o f p re-ex is t ing ac t ions a n d t h e c o n s o l i d a t i o n o f a c o m m o n st rategy shared by a l l members.

The European System of In teroperab le B u s i n e s s R e g i s t e r s ( E S B R s ) i s a n e x a m p l e o f a V i s i o n 2 0 2 0 p r o j e c t

meet ing the cha l l enge o f p roduc ing a s ta t i s t ica l descr ip t ion that captures a g loba l economy; the a im is to bu i ld an e n v i ro n m e n t e n c o m p a s s i n g n a t i o n a l bus i ness reg i s t e r s and the Eu ropean G ro u p R e g i s t e r i n o rd e r t o p ro d u c e s t a t i s t i c s o n m u l t i n a t i o n a l g r o u p s present in Europe in a coord inated and homogeneous way, wh ich wi l l thus be more coherent than at present .

INSEE is coord inat ing one of the three working groups for this project. Alongside counterparts f rom the Uni ted Kingdom, Finland and the Netherlands, the Institute supports other European countr ies that a r e t e s t i n g t h e m e t h o d f o r p ro f i l i n g large groups of enterpr ises (see INSEE Annua l Repor t 2014 ) . Th rough v ideo-conferences and t ra in ing seminars ( two seminars organ ised in Par is by INSEE, one in February and the other in October 2 0 1 5 ) t h e I n s t i t u t e i s h e l p i n g t o p u t concre te ac t ions i n p lace to p romote a h a r m o n i s e d i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f t h e prof i l ing method. INSEE is a lso work ing with i ts Dutch counterparts in sett ing up the European Group Register by defining then test ing the programmes prov ided by Eurostat before they are opened up to a l l the countr ies.

To find out more about Vision 2020http: / /ec.europa.eu/eurostat /web/ess/about-us/ess-vision-2020

INSEE welcomes our German counterparts On 10 and 11 March 2015, the Director-General of INSEE and the directors involved in European projects welcomed the President and Vice-President of Destatis, the German Statistical Institute, and also their Director of Strategy and International Relations. These are some of the subjects discussed: the incorporation into national law of measures resulting from the revision of the European law on statistics; Vision 2020 the European Statistical System project; framework regulations in preparation; the possibilities for access by the Ministerial Statistical Offices to individual data. Not forgetting preparation of the statistical indicators associated with post-2015 sustainable development goals, in which INSEE was actively involved in the UN working groups. The meeting was also an opportunity to discuss subjects of national concern such as measuring the burden placed on survey respondents or operations linked with electoral formalities.

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/ess/about-us/ess-vision-2020

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A new vision of poverty and inequalities in France

Local stakeholders have socia l matters as part of their remit and they therefore need household income stat is t ics at a very detailed geographic level. For a local authority or a municipal i ty, for example, measures of poverty at the level of the département are certainly insuff icient.

T h e Ta x a n d S o c i a l I n c o m e s s u r v e y, a v a i l a b l e a t n a t i o n a l l e v e l , d o e s n o t describe accurately the extremes of income d is t r ibu t ion . In th i s samp le o f 50 ,000 households, there are not enough poorest and richest households to be signif icant. Only exhaustive data can overcome this diff iculty.

INSEE therefore set out to develop a new stat ist ical production chain to meet the

challenges of local policies and the need for a more detai led analysis of extreme standards of living, both wealth and poverty.

Exploiting administrative data sources to the full

For th i s opera t ion , as fo r o the rs , the Ins t i tu te was care fu l to ensure tha t i t always produced ever more detai led and relevant f igures and analyses but without increasing the number of surveys overal l, as they are costly and time-consuming for respondents and survey staff al ike.

The strength of the system that INSEE has devised, FiLoSoFi or the Social and fiscal localised incomes device, lies in exploiting

In 2015, INSEE for the first time published localised data at municipality level on disposable income and monetary poverty. This publication stemmed from a project called FiLoSoFi, put in place to meet the ever-growing need for information on these issues by local stakeholders. At the heart of FiLoSoFi is the exploitation of exhaustive administrative data sources so that analysis at municipal, supra-municipal and sub-municipal levels will eventually be possible, and also to provide a better overall knowledge of income distribution and standards of living.


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administrat ive sources that have already been covered by other agencies. No need to develop a new data col lection system; wha t i s needed i s r a the r a s ta t i s t i ca l method to make use of exist ing data and give them another economic and social dimension using a new analysis tool.

To be able to produce poverty rates at mun ic ipa l i t y l e ve l , o r i n even g rea te r detail, INSEE’s experts exploited not only the exhaustive tax data from the General Directorate of public finances (DGFiP), but also exhaustive data on social benef its. These came f rom the na t i ona l f am i l y a l l owances fund (CNAF ) , the na t iona l old-age insurance fund (CNAV) and the central agricultural social insurance fund (CCMSA).

It was only by comparing these two types of data, fiscal and social, that INSEE was able to reconstitute a declared income (based on tax data ) and a d isposab le income (based on tax data, but incorporating social benefits) before carrying out any analysis of standard of l iv ing and poverty rate.

I N S E E a l r e a d y h a d a n a g re e m e n t i n p l ace w i t h t he DGF iP f o r i t s da t a t o be t ransmit ted ( income declarat ions of individuals, residency tax and tax f i le of ind iv idua ls ) , and a lso wi th the CCMSA for its records to be exploited for the Tax and Social Incomes survey. Agreements therefore had to be drawn up wi th the CNAV and the CNAF to be able to exploit their exhaustive f i les. These agreements were reached in autumn 2012 with the CNAV and mid-2013 with the CNAF.

One more thing that was required in order to develop a new f i le was the agreement of the CNIL, the National Commission on Informat ion Technology and Freedoms. This was obtained in September 2012.

With these di fferent decis ions in place, INSEE was then able to access the input data needed for FiLoSoFi, the Social and f iscal local ised incomes device, and to produce this tool which can offer a more detailed analysis of the income, inequality and monetary poverty map of Metropolitan France, and also of the French overseas départements from 2016.

Convergence of multiple types of professional expertise

To successfully produce FiLoSoFi, several aspects of INSEE’s professional expertise were needed.

Teams of statisticians and economists from the Demographic and Socia l Stat is t ics Di rectorate worked in tandem with the D i s s e m i n a t i o n a n d R e g i o n a l A c t i o n Directorate. Together, as owners of the project, they defined the type of data that needed to be collected in order to produce the figures and analyses they were looking for and determined the appropriate method for exploit ing these data.

Among the key contributors to the process was the tax and social income centre in Rennes, a nat iona l centre of expert ise located in the Brittany Regional Office. Its role was to define the different stages of the project as it progressed then produce data from the tax and social income sources and make them available.

I t was here that, with support f rom the project owners, all the requirements in terms of IT processing were set out. The final goal was to achieve a relatively simple process fo r the d i f f e ren t s tages o f p roduct ion while providing the statistical team with a f lexible, configured method for tr iggering then verifying the results obtained at each stage of the electronic processing.

Once th is work was completed, the IT product ion department, located at that t ime in the National IT Centre in Orléans, set up the automated statistical production chain that sequences and monitors al l of the data processing.

The cent re in Rennes then conducted di fferent tests before adopting the f inal production chain. At each stage, results were submitted for validation to the teams of statisticians, who checked for consistency. The overall system was tested for several mon ths t o ensu re i t was f unc t i on i ng correct ly, with each step being passed back and forth between IT engineers and s tat is t ic ians before obta in ing the f ina l system.

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In al l , the teams worked from September 2012 to Sep tembe r 2014 to deve l op F iLoSoF i .

A pe r iod o f t ime was then needed to ca r r y ou t the many s teps requ i red to conso l idate and in terpret these f igures p ro d u c e d f ro m s e v e r a l h i g h l y v a r i e d sources. These steps included matching t h e d i f f e r e n t a d m i n i s t r a t i v e f i l e s t o t h e i n f o r m a t i o n c o n t a i n e d i n t h e m , anonymis ing the data , c reat ing a tab le o f househo lds t o conso l i da t e a l l t he soc iodemograph ic in fo rmat ion , and a t the same t ime app ly ing the necessary methodo log ica l p rocess ing , g i ven the sources used (ca lcu la t ing amounts o f annual socia l benef i ts , f inancia l income no t dec la red i n the tax f i l es , o ld -age min imum payments , e tc . ) .

A n o t h e r e s s e n t i a l f a c t o r : a l l t h e s e o p e r a t i o n s w e r e c a r r i e d o u t i n a h i g h l y s e c u re I T e n v i ro n m e n t , g i v e n the conf ident ia l na ture o f the data and the s i ze o f the f i l es , w i th 26 ,800,000 househo lds invo lved in a l l fo r 2013!

Producing a snapshot of standards of living and inequality at neighbourhood level

June 2015: thanks to F iLoSoF i , INSEE was ab le fo r the f i r s t t ime to pub l i sh loca l i sed data a t mun ic ipa l i t y l eve l on disposable income and monetary poverty.

In para l le l wi th the nat iona l s tudy, each of the twenty-two regions in Metropolitan F rance produced the i r own resu l ts , a l l ca l cu l a ted on the bas i s o f i ncome i n 2012.

Even now, F i l oSoF i has no t ach ieved i t s fu l l potent ia l !

In the f i r s t ha l f o f 2016, INSEE w i l l be in a pos i t ion to prov ide an assessment o f p o v e r t y a n d i n e q u a l i t i e s a t s u b -mun i c i pa l l e ve l . The da ta t ha t u rban po l i c y -make rs have a t t he i r d i sposa l w i l l be much more accurate, espec ia l l y for pr ior i ty neighbourhoods ident i f ied in u rban po l icy and a t mun ic ipa l i t y l eve l .

A first provisional estimate of the poverty rate

O n 2 3 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 5 , I N S E E a l s o publ ished for the f i rst t ime a provis ional est imate of poverty for 2014. Def in i t i ve f igures on pover ty come f rom the Tax a n d S o c i a l I n c o m e s s u r v e y s w h i c h c o m b i n e s u r v e y d a t a , d a t a f ro m t a x dec la ra t ions and data f rom the CNAF, t h e C N AV a n d t h e M S A . R e c o v e r i n g these admin is t ra t i ve data takes t ime.

To g e t a n e a r l i e r a s s e s s m e n t o f t h e s i tuat ion and the effect iveness of publ ic po l i cy in f i gh t ing aga ins t pover ty and i n e q u a l i t y, t h e r e i s a g r o w i n g n e e d fo r ind ica tors to be produced sooner. Th is i s in response not on ly to nat iona l chal lenges, but to European chal lenges t oo as Eu ros ta t needs t hese da ta t o p rov ide bet te r gu idance fo r European po l icy in the f ight aga inst pover ty. One o f t he f i v e goa l s o f t he Eu rope 2020 s t r a t e g y i s p r e c i s e l y t o r e d u c e t h e European ind ica to r o f pover ty by one s ix th between 2007 and 2017.

INSEE the re fo re used a new method , known as “nowcasting”, a combination of “now” and “forecast ing”, which involves forecast ing not the future, but the value o f a n i n d i c a t o r f o r a r e c e n t p e r i o d e v e n t h o u g h i t i s n o t y e t a v a i l a b l e . The process cons is ts in reconst i tu t ing the s tandard o f l i v ing o f ind iv idua ls in year N, f i r s t by updat ing data re la t ing t o N - 1 f r o m t h e l a t e s t a g g r e g a t e d demograph ic and economic data , and second by calculating all the benefits and contr ibut ions that make up households’ d isposab le income f rom the sca les in fo rce in year N.

Poverty rate in municipalities

Poverty rate (%)

IGN - INSEE 2015Source: INSEE-DGFiP-CNAF-CNAV-CCMSA, Localised social and fiscal device 2012.

24 and over

20 to under 24

14 to under 20

10 to under 14

6 to under 10

under 6

not for dissemination

outline of urban areas


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21INSEE’s major operations


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The definit ion of unemployment used by INSEE is that of the ILO (International Labour Office, a specialised agency of the UN): a jobless person is only considered as unem-ployed if s(he) is available for work and is actively seeking work. This definition does not take into account the reasons why the person is in this situation, nor whether s(he) is registered as a job-seeker, or whether s(he) is receiving unemployment benefits.

A survey measuring unemployment, under-employment, halo of unemployment

A person is regarded as employed even i f s (he ) is work ing on a very par t - t ime basis. This is why the additional notions of “under-employment” and the “halo of unemployment” were introduced, to count the number of people who are working part-time but would like to work more, or who have been temporarily laid-off or asked to work short-time. Others may want to work

but are prevented from doing so for various reasons and they are classed within the “halo” around core unemployment.

The measurement of unemployment, under-employment and the halo of unemployment is based on our Labour Force Survey. Every quarter, 100,000 people are interviewed in Metropolitan France. This large sample allows for a reliable evaluation of the unem-ployment rate. For even greater accuracy, the invest igat ion is extended to include an additional survey of non-respondents. Results are published two months after the end of every quarter. They include estimates of the overall unemployment rate and its breakdown by sex and age for that quarter and numerous data on employment.

The Labour Force Survey was overhauled in 2013: the questionnaire was improved to make it more easily understood by res-pondents; the management application was redesigned and the coding tools improved; the ongoing survey was extended to the four overseas départements (DOMs), and an annual Labour Force Survey was intro-duced in Mayotte.

In addition, the Labour Force Survey is part of a system of similar surveys carried out by the different EU countries. The questions asked in order to apply the ILO definition have been harmonised within the framework of Eurostat, the stat ist ical off ice of the European Union, and in agreement with the

INSEE publishes estimates of the unemployment rate and the economic growth rate every quarter, and the Consumer Price Index every month. INSEE devotes substantial resources to obtaining reliable, accurate estimates of these indicators. They are prepared according to homogeneous European and international principles and methods, allowing appropriate comparisons between countries.

INSEE measures unemployment, growth and price changes

200 survey workers and 90 staff members in the Regional Offices and Head Office

are involved in preparing the CPI

29,000 sales outlets visited 200,000 prices collected

every month throughout France

180,000 price listings collected (SNCF, electricity...)

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Member States. By using an international definition, unemployment rates in France can be compared with those in other countries.

Calculating growth: international methods

INSEE publishes the growth rate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) every quarter, 45 days after the end of the quarter. From January 2016 publication of the first esti-mate of the growth rate has been brought forward by 15 days and now comes 30 days after the end of the quarter. This is a very high-impact publication.

This growth rate is obtained from the quarterly accounts. These, in turn, are compiled in accordance with the annual national accounts which are fuller and more accurate, although available much later. Preparing the national accounts requires a very large amount of statistical data, especially on consumption, corporate accounts, general government accounts, reta i l and product ion pr ices, exports and imports. As wel l as growth rate, the national accounts also provide highly detailed data on the production of goods and services, household consump-tion and income, company results and the major public finance aggregates, all within a coherent framework.

The national accounts are prepared in accor-dance with the European System of Accounts (ESA), adopted by all EU Member States. This system is derived direct ly from the United Nations’ System of National Accounts (SNA), and used by the vast majority of UN Member States. As a result, growth rates, and national accounting data generally, can be compared from one country to another.

Price changes: consumption tracked closely

Around the 13th of each month, INSEE publishes the Consumer Price Index (CPI),

which shows pr ice changes in the pre-vious month, with a detailed breakdown of approximately one hundred items. This index tracks changes in inflationary pressures in the French economy. It also serves as the benchmark for determining trends in certain categories of expenditure and income.

Each month, INSEE survey off icers visit 29,000 sales outlets and collect 200,000 price l ist ings. Prices for the same items are collected month after month, from the same retail outlets. These prices collected in the f ie ld are supplemented by pr ices collected each month on a centralised basis from national and regional bodies such as the national electricity company (EDF) and railway company (SNCF). A specific survey is conducted for rents. The set of goods and services whose prices are tracked is representative of household consumption, with each good being weighted in the cal-culation of the index in proportion to its importance in total consumption.

The sample of products and services that are tracked is updated annually to reflect the disappearance of some products, the introduction of new products and changes in consumer behaviour.

For a vision of prices that is closer to house-hold experiences, INSEE publishes price indices by category of household, calculated on the basis of the consumption pattern for different categories, for example: couples without children, one-parent families, people living alone; households in the 20% lowest-earning or 20% highest-earning brackets.

INSEE also calculates the Harmonised Consu-mer Price Index (HCPI). This harmonisation concerns the European Union, as the index is prepared by all Member States based on the same principles. There are only minor differences between these principles and those applied to calculate the French CPI, and trends in the HCPI and the French CPI are very similar.

INSEE brings forward publication of the initial estimates for quarterly GDP, unemployment, inflation. An initial estimate of GDP will now be released 30 days before the end of the quarter, whereas previously there was a delay of 45 days. In January 2016, France will be the only country in Europe to ensure that not only GDP growth rate but also a full goods and services account are made available after 30 days. The quarterly publication of unemployment, and all indicators drawn from Labour Force Survey on employment and the labour market generally, will also be brought forward by 15 days. Lastly, a provisional estimate of inflation will now be published on the last day of each month.


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Since 2004, the French population census has been based on annual surveys, with total national coverage achieved in five-year cycles. Every year, populations of all the administrative constituencies are published at the end of December, with population and housing characteristics published in June. These results are supplemented by sub-municipal data in October. Since 2015, those concerned by the annual population census can reply online.

INSEE conducts the population census

24,521 census agents visit 4 million dwellings and interview over 9 million people

493 supervisors8,131 municipalities surveyed

of which 7,144 had fewer than 10,000 inhabitants

In 2004, the census became annual

Since 2004, the French census has been based on annua l su r veys . The en t i re national terr itory is covered in the course of a f ive-year cycle. The method differs according the size of the municipal i ty. In towns and cit ies with 10,000 inhabitants and more, the population of 8% of dwellings is counted every year. By the end of a five-year cycle, 40% of the population of every municipal i ty has been counted. Thus the census is not exhaustive for municipalities of this size. The obvious advantage of this is the substantial cost savings for publ ic f inances, but a lso a reduced response burden fo r the mun ic ipa l i t i es and the people surveyed. The resu l t is a s l ight loss in accuracy, bu t th i s has p roved to be completely acceptable, especial ly as data col lect ion qual i ty can be better control led.

F o r m u n i c i p a l i t i e s w i t h f e w e r t h a n 10,000 inhabitants, the loss of accuracy by app ly ing the survey method wou ld have been too g rea t . These loca l i t i es were divided into f ive groups, according to ve ry s t r i c t ru les , ensur ing tha t the same demographic weight was assigned to each group. Every year, the census c o v e r s t h e e n t i r e p o p u l a t i o n a n d a l l dwe l l i ngs in one group. At the end o f f ive years, al l municipalit ies of fewer than 10,000 inhabitants have been recorded.

E a c h y e a r, t h e c e n s u s i s c o n d u c t e d i n m o r e t h a n 8 , 0 0 0 m u n i c i p a l i t i e s , w h i c h a c t a s I N S E E ’s p a r t n e r s f o r o rgan i s i ng da ta co l l ec t i on . They h i re the 24,000 census agents who visit over 4 mi l l ion dwel l ings and interv iew more than 9 mi l l i on peop le . Data co l lec t ion in the f ie ld takes place at the beginning of the year, between mid-January and mid-February.

The annual f requency has also enabled the implementat ion of a str ict system for ongo ing assessment and the p rocess has been improved. A Nat ional Census Assessment Commission has been put in place and its f indings have been positive. It puts forward proposals which are being

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s tud ied and wh ich may be taken in to account in future census surveys.

Many results published each year

Each year, at the end of December, the legal populat ions of the munic ipal i t ies, cantons, départements , and regions are authenticated by decree. These population f igures come into force on 1st January o f the fo l lowing year. To ensure equa l treatment between municipalities and also to guarantee the qual i ty of populat ions o f g r o u p s o f m u n i c i p a l i t i e s ( E P C I , dépar tements , reg ions ) , these f igu res must be related to the same year for al l mun ic ipa l i t i es . Fo r examp le , fo r l ega l populations published at the end of 2015 based on surveys from 2011 to 2015, the reference year is 2013.

The census also provides information on France’s diverse and changing population, with a breakdown by sex and age, level of education, profession, housing conditions, modes of transport, etc. These statist ics are produced and disseminated every year in June for municipal and supra-municipal levels. They are supplemented in October by information covering districts of about 2,000 inhabitants.

A very wide range of material is produced for d isseminat ion: key f igures, deta i led tab les , databases. Data d isseminated in 2015 re late to the populat ion and the country in 2012 (median year for data col lect ion that took place between 2010 and 2014) and are comparable to data

d isseminated f ive years before re lat ing to 2007 . I n t e rms o f da ta f reshness , th is represents cons iderab le progress compared with the previous situation, when exhaust ive censuses were under taken only every 8 or 9 years. These results are used:• by administrative and local authorities to

tailor collective facilities to requirements: nurser ies, hospi ta ls , schools , sports faci l i t ies, transport, etc. and to decide local pol ic ies;

• by public and private sector professionals to prov ide bet te r in format ion on the housing stock;

• by companies to provide accurate data fo r a be t te r know ledge o f po ten t i a l customers or labour force avai labi l i ty in a given geographic sector;

• by associat ions, especial ly those that deal with healthcare, social, educational or cu l tura l i ssues, in order to bet ter adjust their actions to the needs of the populat ion.

2015: the online population census is rolled out across France

S ince 2015 , eve ryone who w ished to do so can rep ly to the census survey online, for al l the municipalit ies surveyed. W h e n t h e c e n s u s a g e n t c o n t a c t s a househo ld , he asks whether they want to rep ly on l ine .

In 2015, one in every three households surveyed chose th is method.

For more information: see p.11

Now I can follow the progress of data collection in real timeTestimonial from Christian Nicolas, census supervisor in Picardie.

As INSEE’s representative and technical advisor for the municipalities, I provide support and assistance for the municipal coordinator. I train all the census agents in my area and also those in the areas covered by coordinators of municipalities with under 10,000 inhabitants. Lastly, from the start of the data collection operation and until it is completed, I monitor quality and ensure that the confidentiality of the operations is maintained.

In 2015, the area I supervised in Picardie included eleven small municipalities, varying in size from 200 to 3,000 inhabitants, and 5 municipalities with over 10,000 inhabitants. 65 census agents were hired to cover all these municipalities.During November, after training the coordinators, I carried out a first visit to the municipalities to check that everything was being done to prepare for the data collection, and in particular to train the municipality leader in using the OMER application (see page 12). It was essential to ensure that everyone involved in the census was familiar with this tool, specially developed by INSEE to enable people to reply to the census survey online! It proved successful, as the tool was very quickly adopted by all the municipality workers in my area.Having the census online simplifies procedures for us and is more efficient. Now I can follow the progress of data collection in real time. When I see that response rates are low, I alert the municipalities concerned which can then mobilise all their teams in the field. If I see that the online response rate is low, I contact the municipal coordinator. He can then ask his census agents to give priority to offering the online questionnaire. I can only encourage everyone who is surveyed to favour the online response method!


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T h e re s u l t s o f b u s i n e s s s u r v e y s a re o f i n t e r e s t t o m a n y t y p e s o f u s e r. Pro fess iona l bod ies use these resu l ts to moni tor the i r sector and to deve lop their own strategies. Companies also use them to s i tuate themse lves in re la t ion to t he i r compe t i t o r s and fo r a be t t e r understanding of the sectors upst ream or downstream from thei r own business activities. Public bodies rely on the results for their decision-making. For economists the surveys meet many of their needs for sectora l or cross-d isc ip l inary analyses. They are also essent ia l for preparing the nat iona l accounts.

A full annual overview of companies’ activities and conditions of production

S t r u c t u r a l s u r v e y s c o v e r a l l n o n -f i n a n c i a l e n t e r p r i s e s . I n t h e s e r v i c e sector, construction, agri-food industries, t r anspo r t and t r ade , annua l sec to ra l surveys (ESA) ask companies for bas ic information about their business activities ( f rom wh ich the i r p r imary ac t i v i t y can be determined) , about events that have occurred during the year, such as mergers

or acquisit ions, as well as sector-specif ic in format ion.

In the manufacturing industry, the annual p roduc t ion su rvey (EAP ) co l l ec ts th i s same in format ion and a lso prov ides a de ta i l ed b reakdown o f i n vo i c i ng and quant i t ies .

A th i rd survey is the survey on the cost of labour and wage structure (ECMOSS). I t s a im i s to mon i to r the s t ruc tu re o f employee wages and working t ime each year. In addit ion, every two years i t asks for explanations for wage discrepancies, and eve ry two yea rs i t measures and prov ides a breakdown of labour costs for employ ing estab l ishments.

Short-term monitoring of activity and prices

The main purpose of short-term business surveys is to provide cycl ical monitor ing o f c o m p a n i e s ’ a c t i v i t y, p r i c i n g a n d demograph i cs . Fo r i ndus t r y, mon th l y branch surveys are used to calculate the indust r ia l product ion index. For t rade, services, construction and manufacturing, the ca lcu la t ion o f tu rnover ind ices, or in some cases, sa les vo lume, is based on the information provided in the forms bus inesses f i l l ou t when mak ing the i r VAT payments. The bus iness survey of food supermarkets (EMAGSA) completes th is invest igat ion apparatus.

The industry and business services price mon i t o r i ng su r vey (OP ISE ) measu res m o n t h l y o r q u a r t e r l y c h a n g e s i n transaction prices for goods or services. I t covers the product ion pr ice ind ices for the domest ic and fore ign markets , as we l l as impor t p r ices fo r indust r ia l

There are many occasions when business information is needed: to provide information about the productive system, to monitor the economic outlook and to enable businesses to compare themselves one with another. In order to meet all these needs, INSEE has put a comprehensive system in place for carrying out business surveys, which falls within the European regulatory framework. This system enables structural and cyclical information to be collected as well as data on specific topics. Several measures have been taken to reduce the response burden placed on businesses by these surveys.

INSEE carries out business surveys

265,000 companies or sole proprietorships surveyed by INSEE

(out of approximately 3 million)

29 business surveys carried out on establishments, associations, etc.

26 of which were accessible for online response

A network of business interviewers consisting of 15 agents

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A new version of the CIS on innovation At the end of November data collection was completed for the French part of the European Community Innovation Survey (CIS) covering the years 2012 to 2014 (CIS 2014). This two-yearly survey is the main statistical source for enterprise innovation in France and Europe. It provides information on the frequency of innovation according to type, on innovation expenditure and on specific aspects of the innovation process. Notably, CIS 2014 will provide information on factors that account for any lack of innovation and on innovations with environmental benefits in a large number of establishments covering mainly market sectors. 23,000 legal units in manufacturing, construction, trade and services were surveyed.

products. These ind ices are publ ished month ly for indust ry, and quar ter ly for serv ices.

INSEE also conducts monthly surveys of hotels, campsites and other shared tourist faci l i t ies to monitor their occupancy rate and overnight tourist stays, by nationality.

Clarifying innovation, the environment, globalisation…

T h e r e a r e o t h e r b u s i n e s s s u r v e y s t h a t s h e d l i g h t o n s p e c i f i c t o p i c s . One su r vey a ims t o p rov i de a be t t e r understand ing of computer isat ion and the sp read o f i n fo rmat ion techno logy and communicat ion w i th in bus inesses ( ICT survey). Another survey, carr ied out every two years, measures bus inesses’ e ffor ts towards innovat ion.

Several surveys are directly related to the environment. Two of these are annual and ask establ ishments about their industr ial e n e r g y c o n s u m p t i o n a n d p ro d u c t i o n (EACEI ) and env i ronmenta l p ro tec t ion s t u d i e s a n d i n v e s t m e n t s ( A N T I P O L ) . Another four-year l y survey covers the quant i t ies of waste produced and waste management by industry and trade. The topics of Susta inable Deve lopment and C o r p o r a t e S o c i a l R e s p o n s i b i l i t y a r e a l so exam ined eve ry fou r yea rs v i a a survey wi th quest ions of an essent ia l l y qua l i ta t ive nature.

S u r v e y s a re r e g u l a r l y c a r r i e d o u t t o address concerns regard ing corporate g lobal isat ion: most notably, one annual survey of French groups wi th a ff i l ia tes ab road p rov ides i n fo rma t i on on the i r subsidiar ies, their faci l i t ies, their act iv i ty and their staff numbers (Outward FATS); and an annua l exp lo i ta t ion of tax data defines the subsidiaries of foreign groups i n F rance . Eve r y f i v e yea rs , a su r vey provides some clar i f icat ion on issues of g lobal chains of act iv i ty and offshor ing.

Part icu lar at tent ion is pa id to star t -ups a n d t o t h e F re n c h c a t e g o r y o f s e l f -

employed known as “auto-entrepreneurs”. S u r v e y s a re r e g u l a r l y c o n d u c t e d o n ent repreneurs , f i r s t o f a l l to s tudy the conditions under which they have created the i r company, and second ly to s tudy surv iva l ra tes for new bus inesses three and f i ve years a f te r the i r c rea t ion .

At the end of 2015, a survey of business e s t a b l i s h m e n t s w a s c o n d u c t e d t o comp lement the in fo rmat ion ava i l ab le e l s e w h e r e o n s a l e s o u t l e t s a n d t h e o rgan isa t ion o f re ta i l t rade .

Burden-reduction measures

Al though i t i s impor tan t to obta in data o n t h e p ro d u c t i v e s y s t e m , i t i s a l s o c r u c i a l t o e n s u re t h a t t h e r e s p o n s e burden p laced on compan ies rema ins a c c e p t a b l e . S e v e r a l m e a s u re s h a v e b e e n t a k e n t o r e d u c e t h i s b u r d e n . Exhaustive use is made of administrat ive d a t a t h a t c o m p a n i e s h a v e a l r e a d y p rov ided so tha t they do no t have to p roduce the same i n fo rmat ion aga in . A l l i n a l l , a c c o rd i n g t o p ro f e s s i o n a l organisat ions, the burden of responding to s ta t is t ica l surveys accounts for on ly 1% o f t he adm in i s t r a t i v e ob l i ga t i ons tha t compan ies must fu l f i l .

W i th the SIRUS d i rectory, the response burden can now be be t te r d i s t r ibu ted , espec ia l l y fo r sma l l compan ies . I t a l so se rves to g roup toge the r and ana l yse data on the burden placed on companies by su rveys .

INSEE surveys are coordinated with those carr ied out by the Min ister ia l Stat ist ica l O f f i c es i n t he i r a rea o f compe tence , so as to min im ise the overa l l response burden p laced on bus inesses .

Da ta co l l ec t ion fo r a l l INSEE bus iness surveys can be done onl ine. Companies can respond by logg ing in to a spec i f ic r e s p o n s e p o r t a l , h t t p : / / e n t r e p r i s e s .i n s e e . f r / . T h e o p t i o n t o r e s p o n d b y pos t i s s t i l l ava i l ab le , however.

http://www.insee.fr/en/service/default.asp?page=enquetes/enquetes-entreprises.htm


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The largest household survey in terms of sample s ize is the Labour Force survey, the French part of the European Labour Force Survey. Every quarter i t measures the unemployment rate as defined by the International Labour Office, thus enabling in te rnat iona l compar isons based on a s i ng l e concep t . Th i s su r vey p rov ides very comprehensive data on employment, working condit ions and working t ime.

Annual surveys for close monitoring of behavioural changes

• T h e E n t r y i n t o A d u l t L i f e s u r v e y i s conduc ted on young peop le and i s based on a pane l . I t measures the i r professional and social integration in the l ight of thei r educat ional background.

• The L iv ing Env i ronment and Secur i ty survey, referred to as the safety survey, is pr imar i ly intended to examine data on c r imes to wh ich househo lds and household members may have fa l len victim; it also provides criminal complaint rates according to the types of cr ime to which people have been v ict im and hence the rate of unreported cr imes.

• The In format ion and Communicat ion Te c h n o l o g i e s a n d E - c o m m e r c e survey gathers ind icators descr ib ing

househo lds ' compute r, i n te r ne t and telephone equipment as well as individual usage of th is equipment.

• S t a t i s t i c s o n I n c o m e a n d L i v i n g Condit ions is the French contr ibut ion to a Europe-wide stat ist ica l operat ion tha t p rov ides i nd ica to rs on pove r t y and exclus ion in the Member States. I t consists of an annual survey and a panel of households in France who wil l be monitored over n ine years.

• T h e m o n t h l y H o u s e h o l d E c o n o m i c Ou t l ook su r vey (CAMME) measu res househo ld op in ion on the economic climate, their personal financial situation and intent ions in terms of saving and spending. It is conducted by telephone.

Structural surveys complete the system

Some household surveys are des igned to descr ibe structural phenomena. They usually take place every f ive to ten years, as they are looking at phenomena that evolve slowly. They are thus a signif icant response burden: the questionnaires are long, in order to cover the various aspects o f the phenomena s tud ied as b road ly as poss ib le ; they have a la rge sample s ize so as to obtain suff ic ient accuracy. Some are conducted in collaboration with

INSEE carries out a large number of household surveys, decided to a large extent in the framework of the European statistical system. Annual surveys serve to observe changes in certain aspects of the economic and social behaviour of households and individuals. Structural surveys, which are burdensome but which are only carried out once every five to ten years, cover other aspects of their situation and behaviour.

INSEE carries out household surveys

How are the surveys determined?Some of the surveys are carr ied out to meet European Union requirements, while others are decided on af ter a two-step review by the CNIS (National Council for Statistical Information) , with the par ticipation of representatives from civil society. The review looks on the one hand at the survey’s usefulness in terms of improving statistical knowledge, and on the other hand at the quality of the operation in view of the implementation procedures.

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partner agencies, usual ly the Minister ia l Stat ist ica l Off ices. The main surveys: • The Housing survey describes the housing

conditions of households, and estimates their spending on housing. It is used to assess the impact of housing policies.

• The Household Budget survey provides a very detailed estimate of consumption levels for various goods and services and for different categories of household.

• The Household Wealth survey describes the composi t ion of household weal th according to the different types of asset, and provides very detailed information on the factors that account for the constitution of that wealth.

• The Working Conditions survey aims to provide a detai led description, broken down by occupational group and sector of activity, of working conditions for the employed active population. It includes a section on psychosocial risks.

• The Training/Professional Qualifications survey is the main source of information on the relationship between basic and vocational education, employment and professional mobil ity. It is also the key source of reference on social mobility.

• The Adult Education Survey (AES) is a European survey which measures rates of access to lifelong learning. The analysis i s by popu la t ion ca tegory (work ing , unemployed, etc.) with rates of access to training and any difficulties encountered.

• The T ime Use survey col lects data on how people use their time, especially in relation to whether they are employed, unemployed, retired, etc.

• The E l ec to r a l Pa r t i c i pa t i on su r vey, conducted in presidential and legislative election years, monitors the behaviour of those registered on the electoral rolls between two rounds of the same election and between different elections running consecutively.

• The Family survey has been part of the census since 1954, becoming the Family/Housing survey in 2011. I t descr ibes current marital and family situations in detail.

• A Homeless survey of users of shelters and hot meal distribution services was conducted in 2001 and 2012. It gave a better understanding of the number of people without their own housing, i .e. homeless or in accommodation provided

by an aid agency or an association, and their economic and social situation and the events that had led them to this situation.

• A survey designed to measure adult skills in understanding written and numerical i n fo rmat ion was conducted in 2012 in France and also in 23 other OECD countries. It brings further depth to the Information Exchange and Daily Life survey, which was more specifically intended to measure situations of i l l iteracy.

• A survey on the Resources of Young Adults was designed to describe as accurately as poss ib le the var ious resources of young adults, whether from wages, social transfers, assistance in cash or in kind from parents.

• The Everyday Life and Health survey looks at living conditions of elderly people, the difficulties they encounter in performing the various activities of daily l ife and the care they receive. The Capabilities, Aid and Resources for the Elderly survey (CARE) complements this system; i t monitors changes in the number of dependent elderly people, in order to estimate excess costs linked with dependency and measure the involvement of the family circle in coping with dependency.

• The Geographic Mobility survey describes journeys made, whether associated with commuting to work or for other reasons.

• The Trajectories and Origins survey on the divers i ty of populat ions in France describes objectively and in great detail the living conditions and the trajectories of immigrants and their descendants, and of people originally from the French overseas departments and their descendants.

Household surveys are generally conducted by in te rv iewers , usua l l y f ace to face , sometimes by phone. INSEE has a network of about 900 interviewers for its surveys. Experiments are also underway to test the possibility for more households to respond online.

13 household surveys conducted in 2015 8 by face-to-face interviews, 3 by telephone, 2 combining both methods

3 surveys conducted partly online Labour Force, Entry into Adult Life (EVA) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

550,000 households surveyed half of them face-to-face

More than 900 interviewers


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Most nat iona l stat is t ica l inst i tu tes now of fer f ree onl ine access to al l their data and publ icat ions. INSEE decided to do so i n 20 0 3 . O n th e i n s e e . f r we bs i te , users can f ind mi l l ions of data of many k inds: f ramework data and key f igures; histor ical data and chronological ser ies; localised data for regions, municipalities and neighbourhoods; detai led individual data, anonymised to comply with statistical con f ident i a l i t y requ i rements . To meet additional user requests, INSEE can provide customised tables for a fee: 3,300 requests were dealt with in 2015. Users who have dif ficulty finding information can call INSEE Contac t, a se r v ice that cent ra l i ses a l l questions received and provides answers on a cont inuous bas is . More complex questions are passed on to INSEE experts.

T h e we b s i t e a l s o o f f e r s v i s i to r s t h e information they need to interpret the data they receive correctly. A comprehensive d ic t ionar y of s tat is t ica l te rms inc ludes definitions for all the technical terms used. A section called “Data sources and methods” describes the methodologies for our surveys and other statistical operations.

insee.fr: the number of visits continues to grow and an overhaul is planned for 2016

The insee.f r webs i te has thus become INSEE’s dissemination medium of choice.

The number of v is i ts has r isen stead i l y, f rom 10.8 mi l l ion in 2004 to 31.9 mi l l ion in 2015. The number of page v iews has increased f rom 231.7 mi l l ion in 2014 to 269.4 m i l l i on i n 2015. Howeve r, wh i l e onl ine v is i tors are very satisf ied with the wea l th of in format ion on the s i te, in the sat is fact ion sur veys they say that they sti l l sometimes have dif f iculty f inding the data and publ ications they need. We are the re fo re p repa r ing a ma jo r ove rhau l , ma in l y to improve the o rgan isa t ion o f in format ion and nav igat ion through the s i te and a lso to modern ise the des ign layout.

A range of national and regional publications fully accessible online

INSEE produces a range of nat ional and reg iona l pub l icat ions that a re ava i lab le for consu l tat ion and for download f ree of charge on the websi te ; some of them are a lso ava i lab le in paper vers ions.

Insee Première g ives a 4-page over v iew of the in i t ia l resu l ts f rom INSEE’s ma in s u r v e y s , s t a t i s t i c a l o p e r a t i o n s a n d s tud i e s ; 49 i s sue s we re pub l i shed i n 2015. Insee Premiè re has been pra ised b y r e a d e r s , w i t h 9 o u t o f 10 s a y i n g they are sat is f ied. On l ine consu l tat ions h ave r i s e n to 3 .5 m i l l i o n p a g e v i ews f rom 3.2 mi l l ion in 2014. For the 49 new issues, there have been 685,000 page v iews, or 14,000 on average per issue.

I n s e e A n a l y s e s c o n t a i n s s u m m a r i e s o f m a c r o e c o n o m i c a n a l y s e s a n d microeconomic assessments of pub l ic po l ic ies in an educat iona l format that is access ib le to a wide audience. 4 issues were pub l ished in 2015.

Insee Focus, a new co l lec t ion c reated i n 2014, o f f e r s s h o r t o ve r v i e w s o f a var iety of topics, i l lustrated wi th graphs and maps. 38 issues appeared in 2015.

Visitors to the INSEE website can find all our statistical data free of charge, as well as the information needed to interpret them correctly. There is a wide range of publications catering for the needs of different types of user. The press provides a vital link with the general public. Throughout the year, the media are assisted by the press service at Head Office and by the regional press officers.

INSEE disseminates its statistics far and wide

80,000 calls annually to the INSEE CONTACT voicemail server

40,000 telephone responses by consultants

31,000 e-mail enquiriesof which 99% receive an initial response within 2 business days

29,000 subscribers to the insee.net actualités

40,000 Twitter followers

http://www.insee.fr/en/publications-et-services/collection.asp?id=1



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Insee Références is a col lection of works providing benchmark data and analyses on specif ic topics. Some titles are annual, l ike the f lagship publications Tableaux de l’économie française (Tables of the French economy ), France, portrait social (France, Social por trait ) , and also Les entrepr ises en France (Enterprises in France ), a series created in 2013 to give as wide a picture as possib le of the countr y’s productive system. Other titles are published regularly, given the significance of the topics covered, such as Les revenus et le patr imoine des ménages (Household income and wealth ), Fe mmes e t hommes - Rega rds su r l a par i té (Men and women – observat ions on gender equality ) . Others are published on an ad-hoc bas is , such as in 2014, Trente ans de vie économique et sociale (Thir ty years of economic and social l i fe ) and La France dans l’Union européenne (France in the European Union ) or in 2015, La France et ses terr i toires (France and i ts te r r i to r ies ) and Coup les et fami l l es (Couples and fami l ies ) .

Économie et Statistique is INSEE’s scholarly jou rna l , pub l i sh ing cont r ibu t ions f rom non- INSEE au tho r s . A mong the 2015 contr ibutions there were special repor ts on health and healthcare, assisted jobs and the Time Use survey.

Economic forecasters produce three Notes de conjoncture (business outlook reports ) every year, published in March, June and December, and a Point de conjuncture (business outlook review ) in October. In addition to these analyses and forecasts, anyone interested in the economic situation has access to Informations Rapides (Quick Information ) , deal ing with key economic

ind icators : 320 issues were pub l ished in 2015.

In addition to these national publications, all the regions have a range of publications organised into four collections: Insee Flash Région presents a 2-page summary of the main regional statistical data; Insee Analyses Région gives a 4-page analysis of studies of ten car r ied out in par tnersh ip ; Insee Dossier Région looks at issues in a more developed format; Insee Conjoncture Région analyses the recent economic situation.

The media: a vital link

The press and audiov isua l media are a vital l ink for disseminating INSEE studies and statist ics. The wr i t ten press, radio, te lev is ion and the in te rnet make da i l y reference to the work of INSEE.

The media are informed of all publications, and the i r re lease date is announced in advance. At national level, press conferences were held for11 publications in 2015. The INSEE Press Of f ice produced 31 press releases, which have now been translated into English. The INSEE Regional Of f ices also organise many communications for the benef it of the press.

The mission of the INSEE Press Of f ice is to faci l i tate contact between journal ists and INSEE exper ts. Such contacts occur on a daily basis, for interviews or technical explanations. The Press Office also responds constantly to requests f rom journal ists : twenty calls a day, on average, and more than thir ty in per iods of intense activ ity. The Regional Of f ices for their par t deal with requests from the local media.

Using local data from the insee.fr website, I can put together the bulk of my urban planning project filesTestimonial from Dorothée Houdan, Project officer in Urban planning at the NIS agency (Neill Ingénierie Services) in Caen, Calvados.

In order to meet the needs of municipalities working on development projects, it is my job to produce an urban planning document that opens up certain areas to urban development and provides justification for this choice. This strategic file consists of a full analysis of the municipality (socio-economic analysis, analysis of housing, etc.).

To produce this analysis, I mainly need population figures from the census, all data on housing, and also on local activity (employment, retail outlets, characteristics of businesses, travel). I use INSEE figures covering rural municipalities in Normandy. I download them from the local databases frequently and regularly, as these are official data which I trust completely. In addition, the fact that they are freely available is a key factor for me. All these data form the basis of my analysis, which I then consolidate, mainly taking into account field data provided by the elected representatives of the municipality.In the INSEE publications, I especially like the interactive maps that enable me to compare a municipality in terms of its economic zone or living zone, as this gives a better understanding of the area. It enables me to assess whether a locality is following its own development dynamic or whether the surrounding municipalities are giving it a boost of some kind. These maps bring real value added. Finally, I would say that INSEE’s local databases have now become indispensable for territorial analysis.

http://www.insee.fr/en/publications-et-services/collection.asp?super_id=1


http://www.insee.fr/en/themes/theme.asp?theme=17&sous_theme=3


32

Admin ist rat ive records have long been used to prepare stat ist ics. Since 1950, I N S E E h a s b e e n m a k i n g u s e o f t h e documen ts t ha t emp loye r s i n F rance a re requ i red to comp le te eve r y yea r, providing information on their employees’ p e r i o d s o f e m p l o y m e n t a n d w a g e s . S imi lar ly, s ince the 1960s, income-tax returns for incorporated industr ia l and commercial prof its (Bénéfices industr iels e t commerc iaux ) and non-commerc ia l p ro f i t s (Béné f i ces non commerc i aux ) have been one of the main sources for prepar ing the nat ional accounts. Since the 1970s, VAT declarat ions have been used to compi le turnover indices, which in turn serve as a guide for analysing the economic out look , espec ia l l y in t rade and serv ices.

The advantage of us ing admin is t rat ive records becomes obvious when it avoids the need to col lect the same information v ia surveys, which consume both t ime and money, for respondents and surveying bodies al ike. One of the indicators in the European S ta t i s t i cs Code o f P rac t i ce states that “Proact ive efforts are made to improve the s ta t i s t i ca l po ten t ia l o f administrat ive data and to l imit recourse to cost ly d i rect surveys” . The Qual i ty-Label Committee of the French Nat ional Counci l for Stat ist ical Information (CNIS) accordingly rejects any proposals for new surveys when existing administrative data can be used instead. Simi lar ly, general government bodies are legal ly bound to t ransmi t ind iv idua l data to the o f f i c ia l stat ist ica l serv ices i f so requested.

Detailed statistics

A d m i n i s t r a t i v e re c o rd s h a v e a n o t h e r advantage. Because they are exhaustive, o r nea r l y so , when the i n fo rmat ion i s available and is of sufficiently good quality to be usefu l for management purposes, then these records enable stat ist ics to be prepared at a more deta i led level of c lass i f i ca t ion than sample surveys . In addit ion, only they can provide data at deta i led geographic levels.

For example, the EPURE system provides quarterly indicators of employment trends at nat iona l , reg iona l and departmenta l levels. The system re l ies main ly on the qua r te r l y ex t r ac t i on o f da ta f rom the f o r m s t h a t e s t a b l i s h m e n t s w i t h p a i d employees send to URSSAF, on a monthly or quar ter ly bas is , depending on the i r s ize, to calculate payment of their social security contributions. These forms show the number of employees at the end of t he pe r i od , as we l l as t he number o f pa id emp loyees and the wage b i l l f o r the per iod.

The Annual Declarat ions of Socia l Data ( D é c l a r a t i o n s a n n u e l l e s d e d o n n é e s sociales, DADS) represent another source of information on employment and wages. They are completed by establ ishments w i th pa id employees , and inc lude the gross wage bill, the number of employees, and for each employee their job category and ski l l level, the start and end dates of thei r pay per iods, the number of hours worked and the wages paid.

Statisticians increasingly rely on administrative records, especially to obtain data on employment, wages, income distribution, and business activity. Using these sources avoids the need for surveys, which are costly not only for the organisations that carry them out but also for respondents. They also help to meet the growing demand for data at detailed geographic or classification levels.

INSEE exploits data from administrative records

33

There has been considerable investment in these two sources, EPURE and the DADS stat is t ica l base, l inked wi th the arrival of the Nominative Social Declaration (Déclarat ion soc ia le nominat ive , DSN ) , which will gradually replace the contribution forms and the DADS annual declarations.

As regards structural business statist ics, a s y s t e m c a l l e d E S A N E h a s b e e n i n p lace s ince 2008. I t is based main ly on extracting information from incorporated i n d u s t r i a l a n d c o m m e r c i a l p r o f i t s (Bénéf ices industr ie ls et commerciaux ) for account ing data on f i rms, and f rom DADS for workforce s ize and pay. The ear l ier avai labi l i ty of these records and t h e i n t ro d u c t i o n o f m o re s y s t e m a t i c controls have enabled INSEE to br ing to an end the old system, which was based to a large extent on the Annual Business Surveys. These have been replaced by much s impler surveys.

C o n c e r n i n g s h o r t - t e r m e c o n o m i c s t a t i s t i c s , VAT dec l a r a t i ons , used t o c a l c u l a t e t u r n o v e r i n d i c e s , c a n n o w be used to prepare reta i l sa les volume ind ices and persona l se rv ices vo lume indices. These VAT declarat ions wi l l be used mo re ex t ens i ve l y o ve r t he nex t few years, to calculate wholesale sales volume indices, and a product ion index for serv ices. Th is wi l l enable INSEE to comply w i th new European regu la tory requirements on short-term stat ist ics.

The Tax and Social Incomes survey uses personal income tax declaration records. These are then combined with the Labour Force survey records. The survey covers socia l benef i ts actual ly received v ia the records provided by the socia l secur i ty funds (CNAF, CNAV, CCMSA). This allows for an accurate calculat ion of a certa in number of inequal i ty indicators, as wel l as the poverty l ine and the poverty rate.

To go even further in measuring poverty, especia l ly at a more detai led local level , INSEE has put in p lace the Socia l and Fiscal Localised Incomes device (Revenus local isés sociaux et f iscaux , FiLoSoFi ) , (see p.17).

Many other admin is t ra t ive records are used by the Ministerial Statistical Offices, in thei r areas of responsib i l i ty.

Necessary precautions

H o w e v e r, t h e u s e o f a d m i n i s t r a t i v e f i l es requ i res substant ia l resources. I f the s tat is t ics are to be of sat is factory qua l i t y, l ong and complex p rocess ing opera t ions a re essent ia l . The in te r na l and intertemporal consistency of the data must be checked. Adjustments are needed fo r m iss ing un i t s and fo r cons is tency and coding operat ions must be appl ied where head ings such as occupa t ions and socio-occupat iona l categor ies are given in plain language. These operations are part ly automated, but they may also require human intervent ion.

In addition, administrative records comply with definit ions and regulatory categories that may differ from those required by the statist ics users. Moreover, any variations measured may become la rge ly inva l id w h e n m a n a g e m e n t r u l e s c h a n g e f o r admin is t ra t i ve reasons. I t i s there fo re important to ensure that these changes are tracked by the bodies overseeing the runn ing o f the admin is t ra t ive sources, o r a l t e r n a t i v e l y t h a t t h e p ro c e s s i n g s e q u e n c e s a re a d j u s t e d t o t a k e t h e changes into account. When disseminating resul ts, conf ident ia l i ty ru les require the implementat ion of speci f ic precaut ions that are restr ict ive but essent ia l .

Statistical confidentiality Strict statistical confidentiality rules apply to all data extracted from administrative records or collected in surveys. A 75-year embargo is placed on such data if they concern anyone’s private life and a 25-year embargo in the case of economic and accounting data. For this reason, every precaution is taken to ensure that statistics published from these sources can never allow respondents or their responses to be identified by combining criteria. If given a favourable opinion by the Statistical Confidentiality Committee, researchers may access individual data, subject to statistical confidentiality requirements.


34

Under French law, INSEE is responsible for managing SIRENE and BRPP (Database for the Register of Pr ivate Indiv iduals ) , even though the two reg is ters are not used sole ly for stat ist ical purposes. As INSEE has cons iderab le exper ience in handl ing large databases, i t i s ab le to guarantee their security and confidentiality. In so doing the Inst i tute is carry ing out a “ sove re i gn ” adm in i s t r a t i v e m i ss i on i n manag ing reg i s te rs o f en te rp r i ses , establ ishments and private individuals.

SIREN contains al l the enterprises ( legal ent i t ies and so le propr ie torsh ips) , and al l the local units (establ ishments) to be found on French territory. Every enterprise is identi f ied by i ts “SIREN number”, and every establishment by a “SIRET number”,

which begins with the SIREN number of the enterprise with which it is associated. SIRENE has covered government agencies since 1983 and the agricultural sector since 1995. In 2015, 10.6 million establishments were registered.

The BRPP combines the National Register for the Identif ication of Private Individuals (Répertoire nat ional d’ ident i f icat ion des personnes phys iques, RNIPP ) and the Voter-Registrat ion database.

The RNIPP inc ludes everyone born in France and a lso everyone born abroad who needs to be registered within their social sphere, i .e. anyone who requires a registrat ion number (NIR), usual ly known as the social security number. For each person recorded, the RNIPP includes the registrat ion number and civ i l status: ful l name, date and place of birth and, where appl icable, date and place of death.

For each person cur rent l y o r fo rmer l y registered on an electoral role, the Voter-Registration database (Fichier Électoral ) , g ives their c iv i l status, the municipal i ty where cur ren t l y reg is te red and where registered in the past, and where applicable i t notes disqual i f icat ion from voting. The purpose of the l ist is to prevent someone

INSEE is responsible by law for regularly updating two registers: SIRENE, the Computerised System for the Register of Companies, used to identify enterprises; and BRPP, the Database for the Register of Private Individuals, which combines the National Register for the Identification of Private Individuals (RNIPP) and the Voter-Registration database.

INSEE manages major registers: SIRENE and BRPP

BRPP in 2015 105 million people

registered in the BRPP

1.3 million people added in 2015to the RNIP and 800,000 changes to civil status

44.6 million voters registered in the Voter-Registration database of whom

1,208,000 were new voters and 726,000 voters were removed

120 staff manage the BRPP

35

f rom being reg istered on two e lectora l rolls, and to prevent a disqualif ied person from voting.

Serving enterprises and government bodies

The SIRENE register is a powerful factor in simplifying relations between businesses and government bodies: since 1997, al l government bodies have been required to use the SIREN number when deal ing with enterprises. This situation is unusual in Europe. Many pr ivate-sector bodies, espec ia l l y banks, a lso make extens ive use of this identi f ier.

SIRENE is updated from the declarations completed by companies when they start up, and when other events occur, such as a change of address or activity. Last year, 15,000 updates were dealt with every day, 20% of which were business creat ions.

T h e R N I P P i s u p d a t e d m a i n l y f r o m registrat ions of b i r ths and deaths, and any other records of change of civil status which are sent in by local municipal i t ies. I t is widely used to check the accuracy of personal data that appears in different files. Many government agencies, especially the tax authorities, need an unambiguous identi f ier for the people they are deal ing w i th ; a t INSEE too, severa l s ta t i s t i ca l operations require highly accurate personal identi f icat ion. Al l these appl icat ions are con t ro l l ed by t he CN IL , t he Na t i ona l Commission on Information Technology and Freedoms.

Near-total reliability

Managing the reg isters should prov ide near-total reliabil ity, and processing times should be as short as possible for new reg is t ra t ions and updates . To ach ieve these objectives to the best of our abil ity, considerable efforts have been put into ensur ing that the in format ion updat ing process is moving away from paper towards using electronic data interchange (EDI). As da ta a re cap tu red a t sou rce , any errors are easier to detect and correct, and more importantly, data transfer t imes are shor te r. For S IRENE, over 99% of forms were transmitted via EDI in 2015. A lmost a l l bus iness star t-ups rece ived e lectronica l ly were processed in under 24 hours. For civ i l registrat ion records, the EDI ra te i s 91%; and for e lectora l not i f icat ions i t is 68%.

Records sen t i n by the mun ic ipa l i t i es to update the BRPP a re a l so used to p re p a re d e m o g r a p h i c s t a t i s t i c s a n d popu la t ion es t imates . S IRENE i s a l so used for stat ist ical purposes, with data on bus iness s tar t -ups be ing compi led monthly from the register updates. I t is also used to feed the business statist ical reg is ter S IRUS, wh ich is the sampl ing frame for business surveys.

L i s t s o f bus inesses can be ex t rac ted from SIRENE, based on var ious cr i ter ia such as act iv i ty, s ize, or locat ion. These can be disseminated and a great many companies request these l ists, mainly for use in market ing campaigns.

INSEE assigns LEIs (Legal Entity Identifier)At the Los Cabos summit in June 2012, the G20 approved the use of a unique global identif ication system for participants in financial markets. The aim was to facilitate risk management and control, both by the private sector and public authorities. This single identifier is called the LEI (Legal Entity Identifier). Every country must appoint an entity to be responsible for assigning LEIs. In France, at the request of the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, INSEE was appointed to carry out this task. INSEE began assigning LEIs on July 10, 2013. The procedure is shown on the home pages of the insee.fr and Lei-France.insee.fr websites. By December 31, 2015, INSEE had assigned 18,000 LEIs to legal units and 7,000 LEIs to collective investment schemes. More than 16,000 are active: 10,000 for companies and 6,000 for collective investment schemes.This activity grew sharply in the course of 2014, with the entry into force of the European Market and Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR). As of February 12, 2014, these regulations require companies to use their LEI when declaring all transactions involving derivatives.


36

Every quarter, INSEE prepares a short-term economic scenario for the next six to nine months. This is published in three reports, cal led Notes de conjoncture , which are issued in March, June and December, and a shorter Point de conjoncture in October. These forecasts focus mainly on France, but also cover the Eurozone, the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan and the emerging economies. The forecast for France is not merely a general scenario, but is backed by detailed forecasting data, available to all interested parties.

The Notes de conjoncture receive wide coverage when they are published. They are an essential instrument for business e c o n o m i s t s a n d a l l d e c i s i o n - m a k e r s c o n c e r n e d b y s h o r t - t e r m e c o n o m i c deve lopments in France. Each Note i s launched at a press conference, which a lways rece ives substant ia l coverage. Thus the contents of the Notes are picked up by the press, radio and television and disseminated to a wide audience.

Ever-essential business and consumer surveys

To prepare their analysis of the economic situation in France, INSEE forecasters rely mainly on the Institute’s own business and

consumer surveys. Analyses can be prepared over long periods since the first survey dates back to 1951. Businesses answer questions about their own situation and their view of the overall economic situation in the near past and the near future. They are usually asked to give qual i tat ive answers, such as “increasing”, “stable” or “decreasing”.

Most businesses now respond online. This reduces costs and ensures timelier results.

Original ly confined to the manufacturing industry, business surveys now also cover construction, wholesale/retai l trade and services. INSEE also conducts a household survey, ask ing peop le to comment on changes in their own economic situation and on the overa l l s i tuat ion o f F rench households.

Survey responses are initially summarised by calculating “balances of opinion”, the difference between the proportion of “up” responses (positive) and “down” responses (negative) to the qualitative questions asked. We then apply econometr ic methods to determine even more composite indicators, such as the business climate indicator or the economic turning point indicator.

A coherent, comprehensive analysis of France and its international environment

Our forecasters also have a wealth of detailed quantitative data at their disposal, many of them produced with in INSEE. These concern mainly consumer prices, industrial producer and import prices, consumption, industr ia l product ion, sectoral turnover indices, employment, and unemployment. These data, like the results from the business

INSEE prepares quarterly economic analyses and forecasts of the economic situation in France, which are often cited by the media. These analyses and forecasts are based on an in-depth examination of a large set of quantitative statistical data and qualitative survey data, from which we identify the underlying trends and the mechanisms at work in the economy.

INSEE prepares short-term economic analyses and forecasts

320 Informations Rapides a year

20,000 businesses surveyed monthly on current economic conditions

1,800 households interviewed monthly on their economic situation

3 Notes de conjoncture and one Point de conjoncture a year


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and househo ld surveys, are pub l ished as soon as they become ava i l ab le , i n Informations Rapides, of which there are about 320 issues a year.

INSEE a lso analyses a large volume of information on France’s main partners.

To prepare their forecasts, our short-term analysts seek to reconcile all this disparate and sometimes diverging information, in order to extract the underlying trends and determine the mechanisms at work in the economy. They compare the available data on supply and demand. Econometric models are applied to produce quantitative forecasts, which are integrated into the nat ional-accounting framework. Specialists in the different areas covered by INSEE contribute to these analyses. The entire process is performed in l ine with the requirement for scientific rigour, and totally independently.

Three Notes de conjoncture a year with detailed studies

The Note de conjoncture is the culmination of this process. It presents the forecasts in detai l with their support ing evidence, ensuring high transparency. Any uncertainties inherent in the forecasts are not overlooked, which is why the scenarios presented in each Note are accompanied by a discussion of any positive or negative developments that could impact them.

Each Note contains about twenty short chap te r s p resen t i ng ou r quan t i t a t i v e

forecasts by topic, with commentary. The chapters for France deal with employment, u n e m p l o y m e n t , h o u s e h o l d i n c o m e , investment , product ion, fore ign t rade, inflation, etc. The analysis is broken down by economic branch, such as manufacturing, services, and energy. There is also a chapter on each major country.

Lastly, each Note contains special reports, describing research studies that have been carried out to shed light on the short-term economic analysis. These analyses are used extensively by economists. Some recent special reports include “Contribution from Google Trends for forecasting the short-term economic outlook in France: l imited avenues” (March 2015) and “Despite the recovery of purchasing power, housing construction should keep fall ing in 2015” (June 2015).

T4 T1 T2 T3 T4 T1 T2 T3 T4 T1 T2 T3 2012 2013 2013 2013 2013 2014 2014 2014 2014 2015 2015 2015

40

20

0

– 20

– 40

– 60

Payroll employmentQuarter-on-quarter at quarter end, in thousands of jobs, seasonally adjusted data

Industry Employment in services excluding temporary work Construction All non-farm market sectors Temporary work

Source : INSEE

The INSEE website is a real goldmine Testimonial from Béatrice Guedj, Head of strategy in Europe with Grosvenor Fund Management.

Grosvenor is an international property group specialising in trade and particularly in the lower floors of buildings in city centres and shopping centres. My analyses are used to guide recommendations and investment decisions for different geographic areas, including France. It is vital that we demonstrate the relevance of our pricing and our investments with underlying real estate and microeconomic fundamentals.

The INSEE website is truly a goldmine. It gives access not only to some very detailed databases, outline summaries and reports but also sometimes to the series used for the various analyses. We regularly consult the business tendency surveys in industry and services, and those related to consumers. We also use the national accounts and many of the indices, such as industrial production, turnover indices for trade and industry, all of which are so many key advanced indicators to forecast growth in employment, purchasing power and of course consumption.I always make a point of acknowledging INSEE. For international stakeholders hoping to invest in France, being able to reference public data, and demonstrate the transparency of our analyses and recommendations is essential. It ’s a good way of promoting INSEE, their research and France too, of course!


http://www.insee.fr/en/themes/theme.asp?theme=17


38

As its name suggests, INSEE, the Natio-nal Inst i tute of Stat ist ics and Economic studies, is not just a stat ist ical inst i tute. Its work also includes both economic and soc ia l s tud ies. Th is d is t inct ive feature sets INSEE apart f rom the vast major i ty of statist ical institutes in other countries.

The subjects we study are determined in part by external requests. Some of these requests come from public policymakers. Others come from the National Council for Statistical Information (CNIS). Sti l l others are f rom agencies such as the Pensions Adv isory counci l (COR), in which case our studies are inc luded in the reports p u b l i s h e d b y t h e s e a g e n c i e s . I n t h e regions, many studies are carr ied out in

partnership with local bodies (see page 40). Last ly, some studies are init iated by INSEE uni ts themselves.

A very broad range of subjects

Our goal is to explo i t the great weal th of data avai lable in order to best sat is fy u s e r e x p e c t a t i o n s . S u b j e c t s c o v e r a very broad range, such as the impact of business subsid ies, the cost of labour, red ist r ibut ion and equal i ty, innovat ion, competitiveness, changes in family struc-tures, voter turnout, g lobal isat ion of the economy, business creators, to ment ion but a few. Some subjects are researched at nat ional and regional levels s imulta-neous ly. Compar isons wi th Europe are introduced when re levant.

INSEE ’s resea rch wo rk a l so i nc l udes the ma in tenance o f mode l s and the i r implementat ion to meet speci f ic needs. Two examples are the macroeconomic model MESANGE, and DESTINIE, a model t h a t s i m u l a t e s t h e d e m o g r a p h i c a n d occupat ional changes in a populat ion of 60,000 people who are representat ive of the tota l French populat ion. Using th is model, it has been possible, for example, to measure the effect of changes in the retirement rules with far greater accuracy than with a more general approach. The microsimulat ion model, INES, is used to analyse and evaluate the redist r ibut ive e f fec ts o f changes brought to the tax and benef i t system.

Some examples of our studies • Insee Première January 2015 – No. 1530

Energy vulnerabil ity – Far from the urban centres, heating and fuel place a heavy burden on the budget

• Insee Analyses October 2015 – No. 22 Analysing migratory f lows between France and the rest of the world in the period 2006-2013

• Insee Références France, portrait social, 2015 edition Special reports- The feel ing of f inancial well-being of households: stable over

generations but f luctuating during l i fe.

- Sharing of income and decision-making power in couples, a European overview.

• Insee Références Les entreprises en France, 2015 edition Special reports - A comparison of the cost of labour in Europe: what change has there

been since the crisis?

- Recent changes in transportation and consequences on the management of labour by transport enterprises.

Economic and social studies are an important part of INSEE’s work. Topics are very wide-ranging: inequality, business creations, labour costs, family structures, globalisation, etc. They are chosen so that they best meet the needs of decision-makers in the public and private sectors and address the concerns of French society. Studies are disseminated free of charge on the INSEE website. INSEE staff alternate statistical work with research, a system that generates efficiency in both these areas.

INSEE analyses key economic and social issues

http://www.insee.fr/en/themes/document.asp?reg_id=0&ref_id=ip1530

http://www.insee.fr/en/themes/document.asp?reg_id=0&ref_id=ia22

http://www.insee.fr/en/themes/document.asp?reg_id=0&ref_id=FPORSOC15e_D1_menage

http://www.insee.fr/en/themes/document.asp?reg_id=0&ref_id=ENTFRA15e_D3_coutMO

http://www.insee.fr/en/themes/document.asp?reg_id=0&ref_id=FPORSOC15f_D2_revenu

http://www.insee.fr/en/themes/document.asp?reg_id=0&ref_id=ENTFRA15f_D4_Transpo

http://www.insee.fr/en/publications-et-services/sommaire.asp?reg_id=0&ref_id=ENTFRA15

http://www.insee.fr/en/publications-et-services/sommaire.asp?reg_id=0&ref_id=FPORSOC15

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Couples and families under the INSEE microscopeIn 2015, INSEE published a special issue in the Insee Références collection examining the different forms of couples and families in France today.One of the strong messages to come out of this survey was the enduring nature of the standard models. Of course, the life of couples and families has changed enormously: growth in free unions, more children born outside marriage, increased share of one-parent families, many more cases of shared custody for children whose parents are separated, etc. However, two out of three adults live as a couple, for example, while for the children of separated parents, custody with the mother is still much more common than shared custody or custody with the father.The report is divided into three main parts:• A general overview of couples and families• Four special reports providing specific insight: - One-parent families in Europe - Custody and maintenance for children of separated parents - Variations in standards of living for men and women following divorce or the breakup of a civil solidarity pact - Conjugal and family life events for men and women by generation and level of educational attainment• 36 fact sheets providing key data for France and for international comparisons.As with all the Insee Références, a press conference was held to publicise this study. It was mentioned more than 400 times in newspapers, radio, TV and online.

Our studies re ly on data not only f rom INSEE i tse l f , but f rom the whole of the off ic ia l stat ist ica l system.

Free access to studies on insee.fr

INSEE pol icy is to make a l l our studies ava i lab le to the publ ic . They are used to prepare specia l reports for vo lumes in the Insee Références col lect ion and fo r the Notes de con jonctu re . Others provide mater ia l for our journal Écono-mie et stat ist ique . A l l these documents are also avai lable onl ine on the website. INSEE ho lds p ress con f e rences t ha t gene ra te s i gn i f i can t p ress cove rage . Shorter four-page digests are available to br ing studies to the attent ion of a wider audience: studies with a highly technical content in the Insee Analyses col lect ion or s tud ies o f more genera l in te res t in Insee Première or Insee Focus .

Some stud ies w i th a heav i l y techn ica l component a re pub l i shed in the fo rm o f wo rk i ng pape rs , a l so ava i l ab l e on the website and as art ic les in French or internat ional sc ient i f ic journals.

Complementarity between statistical work and research

The in tegrat ion o f eco-nomic and soc ia l i nves -t igat ive act iv i t ies has many advantages for INSEE. I t is of-ten junior managers who prepare the studies as part of the i r f i rs t or second ass ignments. They have ga i -ned prof ic iency in us ing stat ist ica l and econometr ic too ls and can apprec iate

a t f i rs t hand the oppor tun i t ies o f fe red by the data they hand le , but a lso the d i f f icu l t ies inherent in the i r use. When they then come to produce s ta t i s t ics , they wil l have developed some very clear and accurate ideas on any improvements needed in our surveys or in the records f rom which the data are extracted.

The complementarity between stat ist ical work and economic and socia l studies a l so works i n the oppos i t e d i rec t i on , when a stat ist ic ian who has worked on the exp lo i ta t ion of a s tat is t ica l source goes on to conduct a study based on that source. Thanks to the in-depth knowledge acquired, (s )he wi l l be part icu lar ly wel l qual i f ied to assess what can or cannot be done with data f rom the source.

http://www.insee.fr/en/publications-et-services/sommaire.asp?reg_id=0&ref_id=COUFAM15


40

INSEE ’s Reg iona l O f f i ces a re heav i l y involved in stat ist ical product ion, disse-minat ion and consult ing work, but they a lso conduct studies. For th is purpose, their staff includes researchers and project managers, who handle a growing volume of local ised data. To ut i l ise th is data to i ts fu l lest potent ia l , the Regional Off ices form partnerships with local p layers. In 2015, they signed about 300 partnership agreements.

Partnerships are pr imar i ly intended for regional publ ic players: general govern-ment services, regional governing councils, and regional prefectures. Many partner-ships are also formed with other regional and local publ ic stakeholders, such as the governing counci ls of départements , public agencies for inter-municipal coope-rat ion, regional or departmental tour ism committees, metropol i tan areas, urban planning agencies, etc.

Partners often request analyses to define the speci f ic features of a loca l area or economic activity and to make an assess-ment a t a g iven po in t in t ime that w i l l serve for a future evaluat ion. Ident i fy ing the strengths and weaknesses of a local area helps decis ion-makers to develop strategic scenarios for their action. Many studies help to plan ahead for future eco-nomic and demographic changes. These forward-looking studies rely for the most part on projections concerning the general populat ion, for example the number of households, the working population, and potent ia l ly dependent e lder ly persons. A forward- looking study often provides ins igh ts tha t complement those o f an analys is of current condit ions.

Specialised service clusters

To prepare these studies, the Regional Off ices re ly as a pr ior i ty on the work of f ive “Regional Act ion Serv ice Clusters” (Pôles de services de l ’act ion régionale : PSARs ) . Of the 300 partnership agree-ments signed annually, about 270 use one or more tools developed by the PSARs. Each PSAR specialises in a particular field. For example, the Lyon cluster special ises

INSEE’s Regional Offices prepare studies of general interest and also work in partnership with regional and local public stakeholders. In this way the Offices are able to verify the usefulness of their output, especially analyses of local situations and prospective studies. Most studies rely on tools and methods developed by our “Regional Action Service Clusters”. Of the 900 regional publications produced annually, a third are the result of a partnership.

INSEE conducts studies with its regional partners, and sheds light on regional and local issues

900 regional studies published in 2015 of which 300 in partnership

90% of studies conducted in partnership using a shared tool

41

in terr i tor ia l analys is; i t has produced a tool to analyse di fferent aspects of qua-l i ty of l i fe. The “Urban analys is” c luster, in Par is, is developing tools to analyse precar iousness at sub-munic ipa l leve l , wh ich wi l l be par t icu lar ly usefu l in the re form of pr io r i ty a reas in the context of urban pol icy. The work performed by the PSARs prov ides researchers in the Reg iona l O f f i ces w i th “ too lboxes” fo r producing the data, charts, tables and maps that are used to prepare analyses along with the partner. Joint projects are car r ied out w i th the Methodo logy and Statistical Coordination and International Relat ions Directorate or with Minister ia l Stat ist ica l Off ices. As a resul t , work on the energy vu lnerab i l i ty o f households l i n k e d t o t r a n s p o r t a n d h e a t i n g w a s carr ied out with the Ministry of Ecology, Susta inable Development and Energy.

S tud ies p roduced in pa r tne rsh ips a re a lways pub l ished. The presentat ion o f these studies is in compliance with INSEE’s neutra l i ty guidel ines.

Support for public stakeholders in the region

Every par tnersh ip takes the fo rm o f a formal agreement defining the respective contr ibut ions of INSEE and i ts par tner. The cost o f the operat ion is genera l l y shared equally between the two partners. INSEE and the partner share a common goal of shedding l ight on economic and social issues in the region and on publ ic po l icy dec is ion-making.

Some partnerships require an extension of a nat ional survey, in order to obtain a sample la rge enough to prov ide resu l ts that a re re l iab le a t reg iona l leve l . The extra cost of these extensions, including the ass ignment of survey workers and addit ional operat ional costs, is borne by the partner. This is the case for example o f su rveys o f tou r i s t numbers ca r r i ed out wi th the reg iona l and departmenta l tour ism boards.

I n a d d i t i o n t o s t u d i e s c o n d u c t e d i n pa r tne rsh ip , the Reg iona l O f f i ces a re requ i red to car ry out “adv ice and sup-

port” operat ions for publ ic stakeholders in the regions. These smal ler scale assi-gnments can take several forms, such as responding to a request re la ted to the introduction of a public policy, taking part in th ink tanks and regional committees, giving presentations on INSEE studies or helping local stakeholders use the data. The Reg iona l O f f i ces a re ca l l ed on to set up new inter-munic ipa l p lans l inked wi th ter r i tor ia l re form or in connect ion wi th the moni tor ing and assessment of EU funding for the French reg ions.

T h e R e g i o n a l O f f i c e s a l s o p ro v i d e a “bas ic package”. Th is inc ludes stud ies that are genera l in scope and l ike ly to be of in terest to a l l loca l s takeholders, and even t he gene ra l pub l i c ( cu r ren t economic situation, especially unemploy-ment , annua l economic ba lance sheet , f ramework s tud ies ) . L ike pub l i ca t ions p roduced by pa r t ne r sh ips , t he bas i c p a c k a g e i s d i s s e m i n a t e d w i d e l y v i a the INSEE webs i te : about 600 reg iona l pub l icat ions per year fo rm par t o f the bas ic package.

In 2015, 9 studies gave rise to coordinated operations where regional publications were associated with a national publication

• Insee Première - June 2015 – No. 1557 Region of birth and region of residence: the mobil ity of post-graduates and 12 regional publications

• Insee Première - June 2015 – No. 1552 Poverty very prominent in the city centres of large urban hubs and 22 regional publications

• Insee Première - May 2015 – No. 1551 Turnover of a third of the local production fabric each year and 16 regional publications

• Insee Résultats - May 2015 – No. 78 Business creations and creators – 2013 survey: the 2010 generation three years on and 5 regional publications

• Insee Références France and its territories, 2015 edition and 9 regional publications

• 8 March 2015: International women’s day and 24 regional publications

• Insee Première - February 2015 – No.1538 Thirty years of employment transfers in territories and 12 regional publications

• Insee Première - January 2015 – No. 1531 Having three children or more at home and 6 regional publications

• Insee Première - January 2015 – No. 1530 Energy vulnerabil ity: far from the urban centres, heating and fuel place a heavy burden on the budget and 5 regional publications




http://www.insee.fr/fr/publications-et-services/sommaire.asp?reg_id=0&ref_id=irecosine2013

http://www.insee.fr/en/publications-et-services/sommaire.asp?reg_id=0&ref_id=FST15

http://www.insee.fr/fr/service/default.asp?page=agendas/dossiers_actualite/8_mars_2015.htm





42

200 international coordinating missions including

(European Union and international organisations)

123 at Eurostat22 at the European Commission

excluding Eurostat55 in cooperation networks

of the European Statistical System

I N S E E h a s t o m e e t a g ro w i n g s o c i a l demand to cover subjects of a varied and complex nature. At the same time, statis-t ic ians have more and more informat ion avai lable to them, thanks part icular ly to their use of administrat ive records. Data processing techniques are also improving and online data collection is progressing. But the effect ive use of these new tools requires signif icant methodological work.

Within the Methodology Directorate, set up in 2012, the Stat ist ical Methods div i-s ion carr ies out a great deal of work on the methodology used for quest ionnaire surveys, whether they cover households, indiv iduals or businesses. For some sur-veys, such as the Old Age Liv ing Condi-t ions and Hea l th su rvey o r the Young Adult Resources survey, specific develop-ments were required to define a sampling method adapted to the survey scope. A new method was used to “coord inate” business surveys so that the response burden p laced on smal l enterpr ises by requests for off ic ia l stat ist ics is spread more evenly. This development is in l ine

with the simplif ication measures required by the government. Another important methodo log ica l top ic i s the t rea tment of non-responses. In every survey some of the surveyed uni ts, whether they are i nd i v i dua l s o r bus inesses , canno t be contacted, decline to respond, or respond to only some of the questions. These non-responses may introduce a bias into the results, since non-respondents very often have a di fferent prof i le f rom the average prof i le of the populat ion being surveyed. To reduce this bias, when people answer only some of the questions, for example, we mus t t r y and de te rm ine , f o r each survey, what the most l ikely response of each non-responding uni t in the sample would have been, based on their known character i s t ics . Th is b ias can a lso be reduced at the data co l lec t ion phase: close monitor ing of the progress of data collection makes it possible to adapt this phase by applying sophisticated statistical methods, and thus ensure that certa in categor ies of the populat ion studied are not too under- represented among the populat ion of respondents.

Other work focuses on mult imode data co l lect ion. Th is invo lves us ing severa l da ta co l lec t ion methods fo r the same survey: face-to-face interviews, telephone interv iews, use of a “sel f-administered” paper questionnaire, online questionnaire. This last collection method is used almost s y s t e m a t i c a l l y f o r b u s i n e s s s u r v e y s , whereas i t is in an exper imenta l phase fo r househo ld surveys . The par t i cu la r a im is to s tudy the ways in wh ich the

The mission of the Methodology and Statistical Coordination and International Relations Directorate is three-fold. It develops the most effective statistical methods, whether for drawing survey samples, dealing with non-responses to questionnaires or diversifying modes of data collection (face-to-face, paper-based, telephone, online), and assesses the quality of statistical production. It coordinates the official statistical system, especially in its dealings with Eurostat and the other EU statistical institutes.

INSEE improves its methods and coordinates the official statistical system

43

co l l ec t ion method in f l uences the way people respond

Open Data and Big Data

Data intersecting several criteria, often at a deta i led geographic level , are increa-s ingly in demand. However, d issemina-t ion of such resu l ts must scrupulous ly respect s ta t i s t i ca l con f iden t ia l i t y : the data re leased must never be t raceable to the personal data col lected. There are techniques that can be used in this f ield; i t i s impor tant to choose the one that works best in each indiv idual case, and to implement it as effectively as possible. This has become an increasingly impor-tant issue with the arr iva l of Open Data, a new context where information held by government agencies is cons idered as a common good, to be disseminated as widely as possib le.

F inal ly, the Stat ist ica l Methodology de-p a r t m e n t h a s b e g u n t o i n v e s t i n t h e poss ib l e uses o f B i g Da ta , t he mass of data avai lable onl ine in part icular, in order to improve or complete some of the Off ic ia l Stat ist ics datasets.

Fo l lowing the second peer rev iew and the amendment to European Regulat ion 223/2009 (see p 14), the Quality Unit has improved INSEE’s qual i ty management system. INSEE’s qual ity strategy focuses on a general ised and systemat ic appl i -cat ion of qual i ty procedures throughout the off ic ia l stat ist ica l system, with extra suppo r t p rov ided i n t h i s a rea fo r t he Min is te r ia l S ta t i s t ica l Off ices . Empha-s i s i s p l aced on the cons i s tency and comparabi l i ty of a l l stat ist ics produced, whether in France or at European level , an issue of concern that INSEE shares at European level with Eurostat and the other Nat ional Stat ist ica l Inst i tutes.

An important coordinating role

The Directorate also includes a Statistical and Internat ional Coordinat ion div is ion. At nat iona l leve l , i t ensures coord ina-t ion between INSEE and the Minister ia l Stat ist ica l Off ices. I t promotes the def i-n i t ion o f concer ted pos i t ions between

producers of off ic ia l stat ist ics. I t l ia ises with the Nat ional Counci l for Stat ist ica l Informat ion (CNIS) which, among other things, collates the expectations of users of off ic ia l stat ist ics.

At European level, the division organises and coordinates the participation of INSEE and the Minister ia l Stat ist ica l Off ices in the European stat ist ical system, chaired by Eurostat, and the negot iat ion of off i -c ia l stat ist ica l texts to be submitted to the Counci l of the European Union, the co- leg is la to r a long w i th the European Pa r l i amen t . As a resu l t o f t he nume-rous nat ional powers transferred to the European Union by the Member States, the la rgest share o f the product ion o f the off ic ia l s tat is t ica l serv ice now fa l ls under European regulations. These define the character is t ics o f the s ta t is t ics to be p roduced i n o rde r to ensu re the i r qual i ty and comparabi l i ty, in addit ion to some special ised standards that have to be appl ied: a l l types of c lass i f icat ions, def in ing the stat ist ica l un i ts to be sur-veyed, transmission deadl ines, format of data sent to Eurostat, etc. I t is therefore essential that the Off icial Stat ist ical Sys-tem raises any concerns it may have and promotes i ts methods to our European partners when common standards and goals are def ined.

The division also coordinates mult i lateral s ta t i s t i ca l re la t ions , ch ie f l y w i th in the OECD and the UN. I t a lso coord inates cooperat ion act ions, main ly with North African and Sub-Saharan African countries and with a few European countr ies that are non-EU members.

33 National accounts –economic outlook

1 Human resources

29 Business statistics

2 Regional statistics

17 International Relations

8 Methodology

8 Social statistics

3 Data processing

3 Dissemination

2 Training

43 Mediterranean countries

26 Europe excluding European Union

19 Sub-Saharan Africa

18 Other countries

Number of international cooperation actions by domain

Number of cooperation actions by geographical region

4444


4545Working at INSEE

4646


1,51

5

689 826

2,35

792

4

694

78696

4

934

270

1481,

433

Women

Workforce at January 1st, 2016

The men and women at INSEE

Breakdown of workforce by category and by gender Breakdown of workforce by age group according to category

Breakdown of workforce by category

Cat. A Cat. B

Cat. Cexcl. survey interviewers


Cat. Csurvey

interviewers

survey interviewers

Women Men Total

Proportion of women by category

45% 61%

72% 84%Women

62%

Under 35 35 to 49 50 and over

Cat. A

Cat. B


Cat. Csurvey interviewers

Total

Age pyramid for all employees

Men

67

60

55

50

45

40

35

30

25

20

19250 200 150 100 50 0 50 100

workforce

age

Cat. A Cat. B Total

3,60

2

5,77

02,

168


Cat. B

Cat. A

Cat. Csurvey interviewers

17%

26%16%

41%

33% 47%

13% 34% 53%

18% 21% 61%

6% 31% 63%

15% 31% 54%

20%

4747

Regional Offices

Head Office

National IT Centres (CNI)

Women Men Total

Workforce at January 1st, 2016

Workforce by region and by category

1,494

3,989287

Breakdown of workforce

Personnel category A BC excl. survey interviewers

C survey interviewers

Total

Head Office 722 574 198 - 1,494

Paris 672 430 105 - 1,207

Metz 50 144 93 - 287

Regional Offices 643 1,661 751 934 3,989

Alsace 18 52 15 20 105

Antilles-Guyane 29 68 33 98 228

Aquitaine 25 69 35 43 172

Auvergne 17 35 18 22 92

Bourgogne 20 63 23 22 128

Bretagne 28 68 21 55 172

Centre 18 57 39 31 145

Champagne-Ardenne 16 61 25 33 135

Corse 7 26 5 4 42

Franche-Comté 12 52 3 18 85

Île-de-France 30 98 59 83 270

La Réunion - Mayotte 26 43 18 54 141

Languedoc-Roussillon 28 58 25 46 157

Limousin 15 46 15 15 91

Lorraine 21 56 17 46 140

Midi-Pyrénées 46 88 38 31 203

Nord - Pas-de-Calais 58 113 61 60 292

Basse-Normandie 41 117 22 16 196

Haute-Normandie 16 61 34 37 148

Pays de la Loire 49 119 101 29 298

Picardie 13 52 15 21 101

Poitou-Charentes 22 50 16 21 109

Provence - Alpes - Côte-d'Azur 42 112 66 52 272

Rhône-Alpes 46 97 47 77 267

National IT Centres (CNI) 150 122 15 - 287

Paris 56 48 5 - 109

Nantes 70 44 7 - 121

Orléans 24 30 3 - 57

INSEE total 1,515 2,357 964 934 5,770Scope:All agents working at INSEE.Temporary workers, supervisors, apprentices and long-term sick employees are not counted.

4848


Almost 1,000 men and women are survey managers at INSEE. They have a pivotal ro le in the success of a survey, f rom the moment i t is launched unti l the recorded data is conso l idated.

T h i s s i n g l e j o b t i t l e c o v e r s a r a n g e o f d i f f e re n t a c t i v i t i e s . A m a n a g e r o f household surveys does not do the same thing as a manager of business surveys…

The profession of survey manager

An attentive and supporting role towards companiesTestimonial from Patricia Guiheneuf, business survey manager, who deals with the retail sector.She works at the Annual Business Statistics Centre (Elaboration des Statistiques ANnuelle d’Entreprises, ESANE) in Nantes.

One of our primary tasks is to ensure that the questionnaires that come back to us from the companies are correctly filled in and can be exploited.When a survey is launched, our first role is one of listening

to and supporting companies who may be having difficulty replying to the questionnaire (not understanding what is being asked, etc.). We provide a kind of hotline to explain what sort of information we need from them. But this is not all we do. For example, sometimes companies will call to inform us that someone has retired or that they have ceased activity.When the data collection phase is completed, and companies have sent in their questionnaires, we then correct any inconsistencies in the declarations or fill in any missing information.All the questionnaires completed by the companies are then automatically integrated into the ESANE system, which analyses the data fields and flags up any anomalies or missing data. We then look at these different reports and try to find the correct answers to complete the questionnaire appropriately.To do this, we often contact the company in question. For example, with regard to retail trade, it often happens that the large supermarkets do not provide information on what we call “breakdown”. For us, this means providing not only the company’s overall turnover, but also the turnover for each department category. This enables INSEE to produce studies on how consumption of such and such a product changes. It is also very important to carefully check that the code for the company’s principal activity, the APE code allocated by INSEE, is correct. This determines whether such and such a company is selected when we are considering a particular economic activity. It is therefore a key strategic point for producing reliable statistics.There is another part of our work that is carried out with no interaction with the respondents. To reduce the amount of time a company needs to spend on responding, we also use data supplied by other administrative bodies. This is particularly the case for tax data, which we use to obtain general economic information on the companies. Of course, the companies are told that we use this method.What do I like most? The contact with the companies, the useful and tangible aspect of the information I help to collect.

4949

Making every effort to ensure that conditions are in place for successful surveysTestimonial from Gérard Piccioli, household survey manager, INSEE Rhône-Alpes – Auvergne.

My job is to make every effort to ensure that the right conditions are in place to produce successful household surveys. My work starts when the decision has been taken to carry out such and such a survey. At that point, the department ordering

the survey, INSEE’s Demographic and Social Statistics Directorate, often via the “Household survey” competency centre in Nancy, invites me to a training session. The aim is for me to understand the general purpose of the survey, to familiarise myself with the questionnaire and any queries that may arise with my survey workers. I also have to be familiar with the protocol, for example I have to know whether everyone in the household has to be interviewed, or household members aged over or under a certain age, etc.I am then provided with a training kit so that I can train the survey workers who will be going into the field myself.Every year I manage 2 to 3 surveys, each of which involves around 40 to 50 interviewers.Time spent on training is quite important: depending on the complexity of the survey, training takes between 1 to 2.5 days per session, with 8 to 10 participants per session.Whether for continuous surveys, like the Labour Force survey or one-off surveys like the one on childminding for pre-school children, time has to be spent on training. This ensures that the teams have a good understanding of the subject and the method, and there are also new staff members arriving on a regular basis!When the survey is up and running, my role is to monitor the activity of the survey workers.Every day, I log on to the server at the Orleans computer centre to look at the completed questionnaires that the interviewers have submitted. This enables me to measure their activity and congratulate them, or perhaps give them some encouragement.I must also validate the questionnaires by checking that responses are relevant, and ensuring that the protocol has been respected. If I see any discrepancies, I ask for them to be corrected. After validation, I start transmitting the questionnaires to the survey designers who exploit the data. I am also available to listen to my survey workers when they have problems of any kind. This can range from a hardware failure, in which case I have to immediately link up with the IT department, to supporting someone in the field. I am often in direct contact with people, it ’s very rewarding.I like my job a lot. I hate monotony. Here, I never know what’s going to happen from day to day! You have to like the contact with people, to have good people skills, because we create a real team with our interviewers. By providing the survey data, I am proud to make my small contribution to the process!

5050


INSEE budget in 2015

Million euros Initial Budget Law 2014

Staff budget 378.9

Operating budget 45.7

Investment budget 1.6Invervention budget 22.3Total 448.5

Training of INSEE personnel in 2015

Personnel category A B C Total

Training programme participation rate (1)

Women 80% 82% 82% 82%

Men 74% 83% 77% 78%

Total 76% 83% 81% 80%

Average number of training days per trained employee

Women 7.3 8.9 6.0 7.4

Men 6.7 11.9 7.1 9.1

Toral 7.0 10.1 6.3 8.0(1) Percentage of employees having attended a training program during the year

Training of personnel in 2015Training time by type of training programme

Budget by activity, in millions of euros

Information on businesses and syntheses

Demographic and social information

Regional activity Statistical infrastructure (national accounts, census, registers of natural persons, SIRENE directory, etc.)

Support (IT, human resources, training, etc.)

Improving computer skills

Adaptation (changing job category)

Preparation for competitive exams

Improving non-computer

skills

51.9

32%

14%

65.6

55.1140.1

9%

54%

135.8

5151

A few of the year’s events

From 31 March to 2 April 2015, the twelfth edition of INSEE’s Statistical Methodology Days (Journées de méthodologie statistique, JMS ) welcomed more than 700 experts. There were around a hundred presenta-tions, in 26 different sessions. Very many of the tradit ional topics on surveys were covered. Part icular ly popular were pre-sentat ions on geography, stat ist ics and

spatial econometrics and “smal l areas”. The f i na l sess ion was devo ted to the emerging question of massive data, with an introduct ion by INSEE to the issues surrounding these data in the context of off icial statistics.

See the proceedings of the conference at jms.insee.fr

Statistical Methodology to the fore

INSEE co-organises the seminar “What quality of life in territories?”

INSEE, partner in the Journées de l’économie

Employment and territories

On 28 May 2015, INSEE Poitou-Charentes and the University of Poitiers organised a seminar on quality of life in the territories. Almost 150 people attended, with representatives from the State, the region, the département, public inter-municipal cooperation institutions and associations. Participants came from the Aquitaine, Limousin, Poitou-Charentes region, but from other surrounding regions too, all interested in the different discussions on offer at the University of Poitiers. At the heart of the debate: How can we measure quality of life? What can quality of life indi-cators tell us about the territories? How can public policies apply these data? On hand to

answer these questions were about fifteen speakers, including the Prefect of Poitou-Charentes, the President of the Poitou-Charentes CESER, the Legrand company, the Universities of Bourgogne, Poitiers and Lille, the CGET, the OECD and the INSEE Regional Off ices of Aquitaine, Limousin, Poitou-Charentes and Rhône-Alpes.

See the day’s presentations at http://shes.pole.univ-poitiers.fr/territoires/actualites/seminaire-la-qualite-de-vie-des-habitants-dans-les-terr i toires-mesures-usages-et-polit iques-publiques/

In form, expla in, debate, share thoughts on economic topics of concern, these are the a ims of the Journées de l ’économie (Jéco) which in 2015 were he ld in Lyon f rom 13-15 October. Organ ised main ly b y t he Éco l e No rma l e Supé r i eu r e de Lyon , th is year th is annua l conference b ro u g h t t o g e t h e r m o re t h a n 1 0 , 0 0 0 par t i c ipan ts , teachers , un i ve rs i t y and high school students, publ ic and pr ivate stakeholders, and the press.

INSEE was a par tner in organ is ing the con fe rence , and was a l so p resen t to d iscuss subjects such as “What future for the pens ion system?”; “The e lus ive GDP”; “Exp lo i t ing B ig Data” ; “Beyond GDP, measur ing qual i ty of l i fe and wel l -be ing” ; “The cost o f l i v ing: percept ion and s ta t i s t i ca l rea l i t y ” and to cha i r a debate on “Metropol i tan areas: impact on the ter r i tor ies” .See t he Jéco 2015 p resen ta t i ons on touteconomie.org

On 12 October 2015 the Director-General spoke at a conference organised by the Employment guidance counci l (Consei l d ’or ientat ion de l ’emplo i , COE ) on the subject of Employment and territories. His contribution was based on several recent publ icat ions ( Insee Première No.1503,

Insee Première No.1538) and presented an analysis of the polarisation of employment in France and the concentration of certain jobs and professions in urban areas. The presentation served as a reference for the debate that followed.

jms.insee.fr

http://shes.pole.univ-poitiers.fr/territoires/actualites/

http://www.touteconomie.org/

Publication Director: Jean-Luc Tavernier

Editor-in-chief: Laurence Hermant

Production: Dissemination and Regional Action Directorate, External Communication Division (DCE)

Translation: Hancock Hutton

Coordination : Jean Will iam Angel, Brigitte Ouvré, Sylvie Mary, Catherine Adam, Roxanne Muller (DCE)

Graphic design and production: ineiaki global design

Photo credits:

© Bercy : Phil ippe Ricard & Dominique Henri-Simon.SEP1D

© Fotolia

© Studio Cabrell i

Printed in France, 2016

Printer: Jouve 1 rue du Docteur Sauvé - 53100 Mayenne

Publisher: ©insee 18 Boulevard Adolphe Pinard - 75675 Paris Cedex 14

Copyright deposit: janvier 2016

ISBN 978-2-11-151285-6

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