The crisis caused by the spread of the COVID-19 virus also has an impact on the statistical production of Statbel, the Belgian statistical office. We are taking the necessary measures to limit as much as possible the impact on the long term. Measures are also coordinated within the European Statistical System and with Eurostat.
Statbel wants to ensure that its statistics can be produced in a continuous and high-quality manner. As statistical office, we map the Belgian society and economy, even during periods of crisis such as this one. This will provide you, the national and international research community and our policy makers with very valuable information in the coming months and years.
Relevant and frequently requested figures related to the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Belgium are published on https://statbel.fgov.be/nl/covid-19-statbel-data. This page is updated daily.
Data collection among citizens
We ask the persons and households selected for our postal or web surveys to keep answering them. We remain available to households and persons who have questions, by email and telephone.
The participants in the Labour Force Survey, the EU-SILC survey and the Household Budget Survey will be interviewed by the interviewer per telephone. There is, for the time being, no more face-to-face interview. To this effect, the selected persons and households have received from Statbel a letter with the name of their interviewer. If the interviewer does not have your telephone number, he will ring at your door to ask your number. He will call you later to conduct the interview. If the interviewer comes to your house, he will wear a mask, keep a safe distance and will not enter.
Data collection among enterprises
We ask the enterprises that are selected for surveys to keep sending us their data. If this is not possible due to a temporary closure or an adapted labour situation, it can still be done after the deadline set. Enterprises having questions can contact Statbel by email or telephone.
Our interviewers, who go out every day to collect prices from local sales points, will resume their work on site from 09/06/2021 while observing the sanitary measures. In addition, as always, prices are also followed via scanner data and webscraping.
Publication of the monthly consumer price index
Statbel ensures the monthly publication of the consumer price index, on the next-to-last working day of the month. The consumer price index is calculated with scanner data, information from interviewers and web scraping, among others.
Publication of statistics as planned
All statistics of Statbel are still published. The release schedule is evaluated and adapted if necessary: https://statbel.fgov.be/en/calendar. In order to reduce as much as possible the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the results published, we ask the enterprises and citizens to keep sending us their data, online or per telephone.
Sharing expertise
Statbel makes its data and expertise available to various working groups and bodies to support policy decisions within the National Security Council.
Work organisation
As federal public organisation, Statbel closely follows the measures adopted by the Belgian government. Since 19 October, we have applied the following measures:
- except for a few persons whose presence in the office is essential, our employees work from home. Our employees can be reached by e-mail and telephone.
- Our printing and shipping departments continue to provide their services.
- All external meetings, both national and international, are cancelled or take place via web conference.
Questions? Contact us:
Email: Statbel@economie.fgov.be
Facebook: fb.com/statbel.en
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Statbel_en