On 25 January 1968, Law 17622 established the creation of the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC, for its Spanish acronym), under the National Presidency's National Development Council (CONADE, for its Spanish acronym). Two major innovations can be identified in the Law:

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• The creation of an Institute in charge of setting the national rules in statistical matters and of managing and coordinating the National Statistical System, as well as the traditional collecting and producing series, surveys and censuses.
• The inclusion of the principle to produce and centralise the necessary regulatory bases to ensure comparability and quality of the information developed by the NSS and decentralising the executive stages.

The offices of the brand new INDEC were in the 8th, 9th and 12th floors of the Secretariat of State for Treasury, at 250 Hipólito Yrigoyen, Buenos Aires City.

The then National Director of Statistics and Censuses, Enrique Compiano, relinquished his post on 2 January, but remained as the Institute's ad honorem director until the new head was appointed (CONADE Decision 2/69) On 24 March, Decree 1263 appointed Juan Vital Sourrouille as director of INDEC.

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A National Agricultural Census took place in 1969. This census presented several processing issues, so only results with a limited number of variables were able to be published. This meant that, during almost three decades, the basic information available was scarce and not very accurate.

The 1970 National Census of Population, Families and Dwellings was the first to meet the periodicity set forth in the National Constitution (ten years). Additionally, it was INDEC's first households and housing census. The aim was to enter the data with handwritten text readers, but the system's issues prevented an integral processing. The data available was computer-processed, from samples of the questionnaires. The definitive results were completed after 1977. INDEC's director, Juan Vital Sourrouille, resigned on 3 November and appointed Carlos Noriega as his replacement (Decision 482 of 2 November). The population surveyed in the census was 23,364,431.

On 12 March, the Executive Power issued Decree 812 to appoint Jorge Sakamoto as the new Director of the Institute. Mr Sakamoto resigned on 29 September (Decree 4390). On the same date, Decree 4393 ordered the intervention of INDEC by means of the appointment of Brigadier Carlos Federico Bosch as Director. The Decree read as follows:

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• It is necessary to adjust the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses' structure and functions to the spirit of its establishment Law 17622

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  Law 19276 and Decree 4391/71 modify INDEC's current dependence status.

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  The activities it currently undertakes in many cases overlap with those corresponding to other agencies, resulting in duplicated efforts.

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  The actions of INDEC within the Secretariat of Government Planning and Action should be ruled by current legislation and National Development and Security Policies 126 and 127. Therefore, the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) is hereby intervened.

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In this context, INDEC came to be under the Secretariat of Government Planning and Action (Law 19276) as of 1 October.

Although the project for the Permanent Household Survey (PHS) began in 1971, the first pilot test was in July 1972, and the first urban survey was in the Federal Capital and the Greater Buenos Aires area during October. From 1963 until that year, the National Development Council (CONADE) performed a similar survey, the periodic Employment and Unemployment Survey.

Intervenor Carlos Federico Bosch resigned from INDEC on 25 May (Decree 4528). Ozías Gianella took over as head of the Institute on 5 July (Decree 414) but ceased his activities a few days later, on 20 July (Decree 99). Gianella's successor was Carlos Noriega, who took charge on 10 August (Decree 347).

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On 29 September the Secretariat of Government Planning and Action was dissolved (Decree 1450) and INDEC was transferred to the Secretariat of State for Economic Programming and Coordination, under the Ministry of Economy.

There was a National Economic Census. Various sectors of economic activity were included: industry, trade, accommodation services, restaurants and others, transport services and repairs, among others. Additionally, there were a National Agricultural Registration and a Livestock Census included in the survey.

Carlos Noriega left his post on 1 June (Decision 106) and Ricardo Brega was appointed acting director (Decision 109 of 2 June).

For the first time, sampling techniques were used for the 1980 National Population and Housing Census. The sampling was used for the most populated areas: the Federal Capital; the provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Entre Ríos and Santa Fe; and the cities of other provinces with more than 100,000 inhabitants. The survey found 27,949,480 in Argentina.

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The adoption of data entry equipment that recorded the information from the questionnaire directly meant an important methodological change that allowed the publication of the definitive results only a few months after the census. The data were processed with five machines that read around 300,000 sheets a day.

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Decision 338 of 17 October entrusted the then national director of Financial Production Statistics, Juan Cayetano Olivero, with "the duties and functions of the Director-General of the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses, provided in Decree 3110/70, with the status of Article 28".

INDEC was transferred to the Undersecretariat of Economic Programming, under the Ministry of Economy.

INDEC was transferred to the Secretariat of Treasury (Ministry of Economy). Decree 125, issued on 21 July in the Official Bulletin, officially appointed Juan Cayetano Olivero as the Institute's Director-General.

On 29 April, INDEC's new public services and training facilities, under the Statistical Dissemination Department, were inaugurated. The offices were located at 1924 Alsina St., Buenos Aires City.

On 6 January, INDEC was transferred to the National Presidency's Secretariat of Planning (Decree 135).

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Director-General Juan Cayetano Olivero resigned on 13 December 1983, and the Ministry of Economy accepted his resignation on 3 January 1984, in Decision 1. On 11 January, Decree 163 appointed Luis Alberto Beccaria as Director-General.

The first 1985 National Economic Census provided information on the manufacturing industry, trade and services. Data-entry machines were used for data processing.

The 1988 National Agricultural Census inquired about a wide range of topics (agricultural, livestock and forestry activity) and filled an information gap on the matter. As of this Census, INDEC began to actively participate in the coordination of the production of agricultural statistics, which was realised with the creation of the Directorate of Primary Sector Statistics.

In Decision 226, the Secretariat of Planning accepted the resignation of Luis Alberto Beccaria on 11 June. Two days later, on 13 June, the new director, Hector Valle took charge (Decree 1114).

This year saw the 1991 National Population and Housing Census. This Census, which should have been carried out in 1990, was postponed by executive order. Health coverage and pension status were two of the most important modifications included in this Census. The Census included 32,615,528 people.

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INDEC was transferred to the Secretariat of Economic Programming (Ministry of Economy and Public Services). On 8 October, Héctor Valle resigned and, on 15 October, Héctor Montero was appointed acting Director-General (Decree 2083).

In April, INDEC's headquarters were moved to the Ministry of Economy building, which it now occupies in full, at 609 Presidente Julio Argentino Roca Ave., City of Buenos Aires (joint Decision 49 of 1 April).

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Originally, Decision 1691 of the Ministry of Economy and Public Services on 8 January had stated that the Institute would move to the agencies available at the National Development Bank (BANADE, for its Spanish acronym). However, that Decision was overruled by Decision 228, issued on 2 March.

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Towards the end of 1992, the Technological Modernisation Plan, which entailed new IT equipment for INDEC, a network and communications system, and the standardisation of technological platforms. As a result of this plan, the dbINDEC databank was presented, designed as a great electronic library of statistical tables, which began the era of public and free access to official statistics.

Decree 1831 established that INDEC would centralise coordination, monitoring and control actions to guarantee the efficient functioning of the National Statistical System, both at the national and at the provincial levels. Additionally, the Decree established that the ministries, secretariats and other State bodies should provide, in a timely fashion, the necessary elements to guarantee the statistical information that INDEC should require to meet its annual plans, and that the Institute would have the powers to include other State bodies in the National Statistical System.

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On 13 August, the Statistical Services Centre (CES, for its Spanish acronym) was created to improve communication between INDEC and data users, not only to offer products and services, but also to receive timely requirements. The Statistical Dissemination Department, located at 1924 Alsina St, was moved to the new headquarters at 609 Presidente Julio Argentino Roca Ave.

This year saw the 1994 National Economic Census. The preliminary results, published in 1996, met information demands on sectors not considered in the previous productive units censuses or which, even though included, had not produced satisfactory results and had been left unpublished, such as oil and gas extraction, other mining extraction, financial intermediation and various social services.

INDEC began to present its dissemination schedule six months in advance. The calendar was published twice a year, in June and December, and included the date and time of each report.

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Goods exported and imported were now classified by the Common Mercosur Nomenclature (NCM, for its Spanish acronym) based on the Harmonized System (HS), a classification used by most countries around the world.

Argentina adhered to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS), an initiative to produce more timely and complete data. The new standards required, among other matters, a release calendar with a minimum advance of four months, and substantial improvements in data periodicity and timeliness.

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The National Nomenclature System (SiNN, for its Spanish acronym) was created, motivated by the need to harmonise the different nomenclatures used for statistics and their important role in transforming data in information systems. It was managed by a team dedicated to the administration, assistance and dissemination of the range of classifications and codes available internationally, regionally and nationally.

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The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), together with the World Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), approved the Programme for the Improvement of Surveys and the Measurement of Living Conditions in Latin America and the Caribbean (MECOVI, for its Spanish acronym). It is an initiative aimed at strengthening the systems that generate household survey data, a fundamental input for regional government policies, focused on improving the basic statistical knowledge on poverty and living conditions of households.

The Federal System of Statistical Publication (SIDIFE, for its Spanish acronym) was created as a communication channel developed by INDEC to meet the regular demand for statistical data in Argentina. In this way, INDEC's free publication distribution to libraries around the countries was expanded, and its dissemination network improved.

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The 1996/1997 National Household Expenditure Survey (ENGH, for its Spanish acronym) was the first to include national coverage, since the set of urban districts with 5,000 or more inhabitants was expanded.

Director-General Héctor Montero resigned on 30 October. On 1 November, Osvaldo Kacef was appointed Director-General of INDEC (Decree 1005).

On 3 April, Osvaldo Kacef resigned as Director-General of INDEC. Héctor Montero began his second term as Director-General on 10 April (Decree 413).

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In October, the 2001 National Census of Population, Households and Dwellings took place. To identify and characterise the indigenous population in the national territory, the questionnaire included a question to detect households in which at least one person identified as descending from or belonging to an indigenous people. This was the first stage of an integral methodological proposal, whose second stage would be the 2004/2005 Supplementary Survey of Indigenous Peoples (ECPI, for its Spanish acronym). The Census included 36,260,130 people.

Juan Carlos Del Bello became INDEC's new Director-General by Decree 254 on 6 February. He replaced Héctor Montero, who had resigned on 1 January.

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The 2002 National Agricultural Census included the recommendations of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on inter-census and international comparability. The operation was once again structured on printed forms applied to different regions but included the existence of and access to technological conditions. This allowed -even with budget restrictions- entering questionnaires with optic reading, with an inconsistency resolution process that enabled final results in a shorter time period than the 1988 National Agricultural Census.

The Permanent Household Survey (PHS), which had been done since 1973 by point measurement of two annual waves (May and October), was now a continuous survey with quarterly data publication.

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After Juan Carlos Del Bello's resignation, Decree 81 of 29 May appointed Lelio Mármora as the new Director-General of INDEC.

In November 2005, INDEC began to release the report National Consumer Price Index - First stage, base 2003=100, in which eight jurisdictions participated: Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Province of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Santa Fe, Mendoza, Tucumán, San Luis and Catamarca.

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The 2004-2005 National Household Expenditure Survey (ENGHo) took place in the whole country with urban and rural coverage, between October 2004 and December 2005, in 45,326 dwelling selected from the National Sampling Frame of Dwellings (MMNV, for its Spanish acronym).

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Unlike previous surveys, the 2004-2005 National Economic Census was done in two stages, a convergence between a territory sweep and a series of special operations and sampling economic surveys.

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The 2004/2005 Supplementary Survey of Indigenous Peoples (ECPI), which recognised 600,329 indigenous people, was based on descendants of or persons belonging to indigenous peoples detected in the 2001 Census.

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The first National Survey of the Activities of Children and Adolescents (EANNA, for its Spanish acronym) was developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MTEySS, for its Spanish acronym) within the framework of the Child Labour Survey and Observatory programme, agreed between the Argentine Government and the International Labour Organization's (ILO) International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC).

Decree 100, issued on 7 February 2007 in the Official Bulletin, ended Graciela Bevacqua's interim position as Director of Consumer Price Indices, which had been arranged by Decree 806/06. In her place, Beatriz Paglieri was appointed as acting director "as an exception to Article 7 of Law 26198 and in Chapters III, Titles III and VI, Article 71 —first paragraph, first part— of Annex I to Decree 993/91 T.O. 1995”.

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On 26 April, Alejandro Barrios was appointed new Director-General of INDEC (Decree 440) after Lelio Mármora's resignation (Decision 131 of the Ministry of Economy and Production).

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In May, after repeated allegations from employees that trade union representatives and INDEC directors had been manipulating official statistics and violating statistical confidentiality since January, the justice system presented criminal case 5197/07, named "Moreno, Guillermo and others on violation of confidentiality" to investigate the allegations of irregularities in the Institute.

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The National Congress created in June a bicameral commission to monitor the INDEC conflict, and its technical commission presented an alternative valuation of the basic food basket (CBA) and complete basic basket (CBT) for the GBA.

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The National Director of Human Resources and Organisation, Ana María Edwin, was appointed Director-General of INDEC on 9 August (Decree 1076). She replaced Alejandro Barrios, who resigned on 27 July (Decision 18 of the Ministry of Economy and Production).

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In September, the head of Mendoza's Directorate of Economic Statistics and Research (DEIE, for its Spanish acronym) reported that the National CPI did not show her province's calculation, which had been sent to INDEC. As a result, on 28 September, criminal case 14365/07 was opened, due to allegations by the then national deputies Claudio Lozano and María González, against the former Secretary of Domestic Trade, Guillermo Moreno, INDEC's Director-General, Ana María Edwin, and the CPI director, Beatriz Paglieri.

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Decree 1764/07 arranged for a National Agricultural Census in the whole national territory during 2008.

In May, the Institute organised a National CPI Conference and presented the "new CPI base 2008=100”, which replaced the emerging National CPI-First stage. This publication discontinued the list of mean prices of a set of food and beverages which had been included since 1974.

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The 2008 National Agricultural Census (CNA 2008) took place during a conflict between the national Government and the agricultural sector due to a rate increase ordered by Decision 125 of the Ministry of Economy and Production -a rule repealed in July by the National Senate. The survey could not be completed and the territory coverage deficiency, which was between 12% and 15% in the whole country (reaching 50% in the Province of Corrientes and 35% in the Province of Buenos Aires), did not allow results comparable with the 1988 and 2002 censuses.

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Regarding Mendoza's CPI adulteration case (criminal case 14365/07), in June the Court ordered a search in INDEC offices and seized documents from the Director-General's office.

Two new roles were created by Decree 927, issued on 21 July: the Technical Director, in charge of the design, development and production of the Institute's work programmes; and the Academic Council for Evaluation and Monitoring (CAES, for its Spanish acronym), which, according to the regulation, had the "main mission of assessing the production, application and suitability of Methodology 13 and its update, used for the Consumer Price Index as of 1999. All this without prejudice to the quality and consistency of information, the integrity (data soundness), timeliness, periodicity and public nature of INDEC statistics".

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The same rule transferred INDEC, until then a deconcentrated body under the Secretariat of Economic Policy of the Ministry of Economy and Public Finance, to the first operational level of the Ministry of Economy and Public Finance.

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Decree 1130 of 27 August appointed the then National Director of Statistics and Prices of Production and Trade, Norberto Itzcovich, as Technical Director.

In September, the Academic Council for Evaluation and Monitoring (CAES) presented its first and only report on INDEC activity. "INDEC's loss of credibility is an incomparable matter and goes beyond the methodology employed", concluded the representatives of the University of Buenos Aires, the National University of Mar del Plata, the National University of Rosario, the University of Tres de Febrero and the University of Tucumán in the introduction to the 150 page-long document.

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The 2010-round National Census of Population, Households and Dwellings took place on 27 October. That day, it was informed that president Néstor Kirchner had passed away. Years later, methodological and coverage issues were detected, which would lead to the revision of results in 2016. The total population of the country was calculated to be 40,117,096, which represented a 10,6% variation compared to 2001.

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In November, the Ministry of Economy announced that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would provide guidance to INDEC on creating a national-level CPI.

The 2012 National Household Expenditure Survey (ENGHo) began on 16 March. At that time, the results of the 2004/2005 ENGHo were yet to be published, although authorities explained that the data had been the basis for the CPI GBA base 2008.

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Unlike the 1996/1997 and 2004/2005 ENGHo, which had a sample of 45,000 households, the national survey was reduced to 37,000 households. The survey concluded a year later, on 19 March 2013.

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On 17 September, the IMF issued a Statement of Concern and -unsuccessfully- sought answers to improve the quality of official data on the Greater Buenos Aires area CPI and the gross domestic product (GDP), which should have been aligned with international statistical guidelines and agreements to ensure appropriate measurement.

After an exhaustive revision process which detected a lack of improvement of the CPI-GBA and GDP irregularities published by INDEC, on 1 February the IMF issued a Motion of Censure on Argentina, stating that the country was in breach of its obligation to the Fund's Articles of Agreement.

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The sanction -the first to be issued to a member country- was issued by the Fund after finding, in July 2011, that INDEC did not fulfil the obligations of Article VIII, Section 5, due to its inaccurate data on the mentioned indices. Thereafter, the IMF included a clarification in its projections calculated with alternative measures and including data produced by private analysts- stating that Argentina should adopt "measures to improve the quality of its CPI and GDP indices".

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The authorities decided to discontinue the publication of poverty and indigence data as of the second half of 2013.

As an answer to the IMF's Motion of Censure on Argentina, INDEC presented in February a national urban price index (IPCNu).

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On 29 October, Technical Director Norberto Itzcovich was appointed Director-General of INDEC by Decree 1985. He replaced Ana María Edwin (Decree 1984).

On 3 June, the IMF Executive Board issued a statement maintaining the 2013 Motion of Censure: “It determined that Argentina is not yet in full compliance with its obligation under Article VIII, Section 5 with respect to the accurate provision of CPI and GDP data to the Fund" and decided to extend by one year to give additional time to work on the methodological issues observed.

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The change in national authorities by constitutional mandate on 12 December gave rise to a new management at INDEC. Decree 181 of 21 December appointed Jorge Todesca as Director-General and Graciela Bevacqua as Technical Director of the Institute.

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The Decree also instructed the Director-General to:

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• a) Immediately promote an integral audit of all INDEC agencies and the necessary administrative investigation to ascertain the Institute's real situation and the eventual responsibilities of its management as of January 2007;

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• b) Put in order, as soon as possible, the supply of information on the evolution of the general level of prices, poverty, unemployment, informal employment, gross domestic product and foreign trade.

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• c) Programme the adequacy of the rest of the sources of statistical information; and

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• d) After consulting foreign and national experts and universities specialised in the matter, present to the National Executive Power, within 120 days and through the Ministry of Treasury and Public Finance, a proposal to reform Law 17622 and its regulation, to improve the management of the National Statistical System (NSS) and provide social and economic information to the authorities and public opinion.

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These instructions were taken, among other matters, considering that "due to the intervention of the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses in January 2007, its irregular operation affected its performance, restricting the production, development and assessment of public policies within the broad field of the social and economic activities of the Nation".

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The Institute's management team was completely replaced and there began a new period of full revision of methods and processes for all official statistics production.

January

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The National Executive Power declared administrative emergency of the National Statistical System (Decree 55/2016). In this context, there was a methodological and operational review of all periodical indicators of the official statistics system of INDEC.

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February

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On 18 February provisional data were provided on Argentine trade (ICA, for its Spanish acronym), and indicator on the evolution of the Argentine trade balance, for 2014-2015. The presentation of revised ICA results marked the restitution of the advance release calendar. INDEC Decision 41 of 15 February appointed Fernando Cerro as Technical Director, replacing Graciela Bevacqua.

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A high-level mission visited Argentina on 28 February and INDEC was invited to outline its situation and future lines of action. The Institute presented the foundations for a new legal framework to modernise the law in force and guarantee its independence.

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March

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Argentina participated in the 47th round of sessions of the United Nations Statistical Commission in New York.

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The half-yearly advance release calendar was completed. In March, the release dates of the indicators for that same month were disclosed, and, by April, the annual calendar had been completed.

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April

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The methodological procedure for the restoration of the Greater Buenos Aires area Consumer Price Index (CPI-GBA) was presented.

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June

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After a six-month revision, field staff training and procedure adjustment, on 15 June INDEC presented the CPI-GBA data for May 2016.

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A scientific and technological cooperation agreement was signed with the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (Conicet, for its Spanish acronym), in pursuit of the implementation of a joint financing scholarship policy to produce highly trained human resources.

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The Twitter and YouTube channels were opened, to disseminate short-term indicators and other statistical and institutional data supported by graphic and audio-visual material and with a specific usage policy for these channels.

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After the National Government formally expressed its will to be a part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a global OECD mission in late June met with different government areas, among them INDEC. In this meeting, the lines of action expressed in the February meeting were ratified and expanded. The OECD requested and obtained a formal written commitment from the highest political government level on the willingness to adhere to the Recommendation of the OECD Council on Good Statistical Practice, and it was agreed that there would be a preliminary review of the statistical system.

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July

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Between 27 June and 1 July, the IMF sent a technical mission to Buenos Aires to review, together with INDEC authorities, the new official statistics on CPI and GDP.

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On 1 July, the Fund issued a press release stating that the mission "was impressed by the authorities’ strong commitment to improving the quality and transparency regarding official data".

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INDEC, with the creation of the Single Register of Cases of Violence Against Women (RUCVM, for its Spanish acronym), participated in the 2017-2019 National Action Plan for the Prevention, Assistance and Eradication of Violence Against Women, an initiative promoted by the National Women's Council.

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On 14 July 2016, INDEC authorities presented a case to the Court due to irregularities detected in the final database of the 2010 National Census of Population, Households and Dwellings, after the National Directorate of Social and Population Statistics' revision. The allegations were due to the detection of replicated population and households records, which would involve behaviour described in the Criminal Code.

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August

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An agreement was signed with the Ministry of Security to carry out the first National Victimisation Survey, with its first pilot test in November in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, the 24 districts of the Greater Buenos Aires Area, the Greater Mendoza agglomeration and the Greater Salta agglomeration.

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September

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The poverty and indigence indicators were reinstated, after three years without data. The decision was supported by the need to recover Argentina's data supply to comply with the good practice principles guiding statistical offices. The first results of this new stage -presented with a poverty line (PL) and indigence line (IL) approach- were released in the press reports Incidence of poverty and indigence of 28 September and Monthly valuation of the basic food basket and the complete basic basket - Greater Buenos Aires of 22 September.

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INDEC participated in the UN meetings for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Budapest.

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An agreement was signed with the Ministry of Labour to develop socio-occupational, living conditions, security and social protection surveys, and the Survey on the Activities of Children and Adolescents (EANNA, for its Spanish acronym).

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October

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In the context of the Argentine Government's project to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), INDEC's management welcomed, between 3 and 6 October, an OECD mission, headed by its Chief Statistician, Martine Durand, and Deputy Chief Statistician, Paul Schreyer. A large volume of information was requested on the different legal and technical aspects of the Institute.

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In this regard, the Institute was informed about the Committee on Statistics and Statistical Policy's (CSSP) decision to INDEC to observe their annual high-level meetings and working groups.

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INDEC participated in the 6th Global Forum on Gender Statistics in Helsinki, organised by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), in collaboration with Statistics Finland.

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November

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After reviewing the results of the technical mission in June and July, the IMF lifted the Declaration of Censure which weighted on Argentina since 1 February 2013. In a press release, the Executive Board praised "the authorities’ resolve to address the methodological shortcomings of the CPI and important progress made on the specified actions regarding the inflation data." Additionally, it considered that the technical assistance relationship between the authorities was "extremely productive", and the CPI-GBA was now "in line with international standards” and determined that "Argentina is now providing information to the Fund on CPI and GDP data in a manner consistent with its obligations under the Fund’s Articles of Agreement."

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INDEC also participated in the IMF's Fourth Statistical Forum. By adopting strict classification, collection, processing, calculation and dissemination protocols, the recovery of the core of crucial statistics of the country was completed. By this time, more than 30 indicators had been re-established and 134 technical reports had been published with their corresponding databases.

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December

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The Institute participated in the 15th Conference of the International Association for Official Statistics (IAOS) in the United Arab Emirates.

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The preparation tasks for the 2020 Population, Households and Dwellings Census began with the development of the Pilot Test for the Argentine Address Record (ADRA).

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There was a pilot test on the LGBTI population of the City of Buenos Aires, to evaluate the inclusion of a human rights module in the City's household surveys.

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INDEC completed the consultation system entry for the digital library, with the aim of disseminating, in a free manner, the material produced, using the Institute's renovated web page as a search platform.

January

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INDEC co-chaired the Programming Committee of the First UN World Data Forum, which took place in Cape Town, South Africa, during which the Cape Town Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data was presented. The meeting gathered 1400 experts from around 100 countries, who collaborated in debates, data labs and interactive presentations for the improvement of data and statistics, to fulfil the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the UN 2030 Agenda.

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March

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INDEC (by initiative of the National Ministry of Security), began the field work for the 2017 National Victimisation Survey, to collect data on public safety.

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INDEC's Virtual Library and digital document catalogue were launched, both available online.

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INDEC launched its Facebook page to expand its social media audience.

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A resolution was approved for INDEC to adopt the global indicator framework of the 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to request national statistical systems' adherence to the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics.

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April

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After seven years of absence, INDEC participated in the 43rd Buenos Aires International Book Fair. An educational and interactive space was designed to bring the Institute's technical production to citizens, with an aesthetic that reflected the fundamental principles for good statistical practice, such as transparency, accessibility and the federal integration of the country. The stand offered games to assemble maps by geographic regions and population density, identification of goods and services of the basket of household consumption expenditure and to understand basic statistical concepts.

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May

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As part of the rebuilding process of the national official statistics system, the new operational structure of the Institute was designed and confirmed by Administrative decision 305 of the Office of the National Chief of Cabinet. The new organisation structure provided for the inclusion, standardisation, reassignment and recognition of the national and general directorates and their corresponding responsibilities and actions, and created the position of "Managing Director", occupied by Juan Pablo Vázquez (INDEC Decision 69).

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In parallel to the internal restructuring, INDEC, for the first time in history, began a process of national expansion with the creation of regional offices to provide logistic and methodological support to the Provincial Statistics Offices collecting base information for national indicators. The plan for the new structure was to open six statistical offices under the National Directorate of the National Statistical System, corresponding to the six statistical regions: Greater Buenos Aires, Cuyo, North-east, North-west, Pampas and Patagonia.

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INDEC organised the XIII Statistical Meeting of Mercosur, which included statistical authorities and experts in the region.

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An agreement was signed with Statistics Netherlands, headed by Tjark Tjin-A-Tsoi, its Director-General. During Statistics Netherlands' official visit to Buenos Aires, the agency presented its experience in statistical innovation, big data and new ways of disseminating data.

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June

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After a decade of lack of official mining statistics, the 2017 National Mining Census (CeNAM17) was launched as a joint initiative between INDEC and the National Mining Secretariat, with collaboration of the Argentine Mining and Geological Service, provincial mining authorities and Provincial Statistics Offices.

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There was a meeting with representatives of the Argentine-Canadian Chamber of Commerce at the Canadian Embassy to Argentina, with the aim of presenting and sharing INDEC's work programme.

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During this month, there was a pilot test for the 2017-2018 National Household Expenditure Survey (ENGHo). Around 1000 dwellings were visited.

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The modernisation of INDEC was included in the agenda for the annual meeting of the OECD Committee on Statistics and Statistical Policy (CSSP). The OECD’s Director of Statistics and Chief Statistician, Martine Durand, was positive about Argentina’s new situation and future perspectives. INDEC’s Director-General presented the developments and plans for different areas, especially in terms of legal reform, to consolidate the Institute’s independence.

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July

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Release of the National CPI: CPI coverage including the whole country. After the monthly Greater Buenos Aires CPI, results were presented for the national total and six statistical regions: Greater Buenos Aires, Cuyo, North-east, North-west, Pampas and Patagonia.

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The Chair of the OECD Committee on Statistics and Statistical Policy, Konrad Pesendorfer, wrote a letter containing very positive considerations on INDEC’s institutional developments and plans, and expressed his support for the ongoing transformation process.

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August

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The OECD Committee on Statistics and Statistical Policy announced that Argentina was a non-member adherent to the Recommendation on Good Statistical Practice, a clear guideline for recommended processes and policies for the appropriate functioning of statistical offices around the world, aimed at producing quality, transparent and accessible data.

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The Secretary-General of the OECD, Ángel Gurría, wrote a formal communication to the Minister of Treasury with words on praise on INDEC’s modernisation developments. He expressed his support for the path towards a strong, high-quality and independent statistical system.

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Recommendations "are not legally binding but practice accords them great moral force as representing the political will of member and non-member (adherent) countries. Thus, it is expected that adherents do their best to fully implement the Recommendation and keep the Committee on Statistics and Statistical Policy (CSSP) informed on the progress of the implementation", wrote the OECD Secretary General in a letter dated 10 August.

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At the request of the Chief of Cabinet of Ministers, this fact was released in a press meeting with accredited journalists at the Government House. In this meeting, the general principles for the draft statistical law were described. Contacts were initiated for a full review of the Argentine statistical system and the OECD provided a detailed agenda for the process.

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A work agenda was developed, together with expert exchange with Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI, for its Spanish acronym), who visited INDEC with the aim of sharing their experience in population censuses. During this visit, the conceptual and operational aspects of the population census were thoroughly discussed in terms of the Mexican Institute's experience. Additionally, the collaboration served as a planning input for the census methodology for INDEC's 2020 National Population, Households and Dwellings Census.

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INDEC signed a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Science and Technology, aimed at developing joint actions.

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By the end of the month, the count of dwellings in Pilar (Buenos Aires) and San Javier (Misiones) began, in the interest of the first pilot test for the 2020 National Population, Households and Dwellings Census.

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September

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INDEC signed an agreement with the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund to provide technical assistance for the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), aimed at obtaining data on the situation of children.

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Through Decision 426-E/2017, issued in the Official Bulletin on 12 September, the Ministry of Treasury approved the INDEC's second level organisation structure, which included the creation of several directorates and coordinating units. This completed the organisation chart of executive positions, a process which had begun in May by Administrative Decision 305/2017.

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October

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The National Institute of Statistics and Censuses presented a project for the 2018 National Agricultural Census before the National Senate's Agriculture, Livestock and Fishing Commission. In addition, on 20 October the field survey for the 2017 National Mining Census was completed. On 28 October, the pilot test for the 2020 National Population, Households and Dwellings Census began in Pilar (Buenos Aires) and San Javier (Misiones).

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INDEC signed an agreement with the National Congress printing press for supply, printing and packaging services of the Institute's material.

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November

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Beginning of the 2017-2018 National Household Expenditure Survey (ENGHo), including the use of 400 tablets to expedite data entry and processing and monitor in real time.

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In the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the Greater San Miguel de Tucumán, the pilot test for the National Study on the Profile of People with Disabilities began.

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December

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In order to strengthen the National Statistical System and in accordance with the new institutional structure approved by Decision 426-E/2017, INDEC announced its new regional directors for the North-east and North-west regions. These offices, which will be opened in each statistical region of the country, represent the Institute and the National Directorate of the NSS as an institutional link between provincial and local statistical bodies. Among other responsibilities, they must also enable the processes and tasks in the Annual Statistical Programme, national censuses and other statistical operations: and provide technical assistance to provincial and local agencies to strengthen the public statistical service.

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Additionally, the Institute moved its data centre to the Argentine State satellite company ARSAT, located at the Estación Terrena Benavídez in the Province of Buenos Aires. The project, developed in collaboration between the technical professionals of the National Ministry of Modernisation and the Institute, was conceived to improve the quality, security and availability of information collected and processed by INDEC.

January

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Celebration of INDEC's 50th anniversary, established in Law 17622 on 25 January 1968. As commemoration, there was an international statistical conference held at the Teatro Municipal San Martín in Buenos Aires, which included the National President, Mauricio Macri, and the highest authorities of the international statistical community.

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Some of the participants were the Director of the United Nations Statistical Division, Stefan Schweinfest -this was the first time in Argentine history that Argentina welcomed the UN's highest statistical authority-; the OECD's Chief Statistician, Martine Durand; the IMF's Statistical Director, Louis Marc Ducharme; Eurostat's Director of International Cooperation, Pieter Everaers; the President of Italy's National Statistical Institute, Giorgio Alleva; and the Bank for International Settlement's (BIS) Head of Statistics and Research Support, Bruno Tissot. The Latin American participants were researcher Luis Beccaria; the Inter-American Development Bank's leading specialist in State Modernisation, José Antonio Mejía Guerra; and the heads of the national statistical offices of Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Mexico.

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During the conference, the representatives of the OECD, the IMF and United Nations remarked that it was very unusual that they were all at the same event, but, in this case, they wanted to show their explicit support for Argentina in the recovery of their statistical system. During this visit, there were meetings with officials of the Chief of Cabinet of Ministers and the Ministry of Treasury.

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In the context of both the 50th Anniversary and Argentina's G20 presidency, INDEC organised a meeting in the Kirchner Cultural Centre (CCK) as part of the Data Gaps Initiative, aimed at discussing the global production of commercial and residential property price indices.

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The fiftieth anniversary was a milestone in the work process and expressed great expectations on a deep institutional change to strengthen independence in the production of Argentina’s official statistics. In this context, the OECD’s Director of Statistics, Martine Durand, formally announced the beginning of a full statistical review.

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February

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On 15 February, the results of the 2017 National Victimisation Survey were released. The indicators presented in this report, a result of an agreement with the National Ministry of Security, were crimes against households and persons, crime reporting, security measures, performance of the public safety system and sense of security in 2016-2017.

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March

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INDEC participated in the 49th round of sessions of the UN Statistical Commission. In this context, cooperation agreements were signed with Eurostat and Mexico's INEGI. The 5-year agreement with INEGI established that both Institutes would carry out tasks in different statistical fields, such as digital questionnaires, census data assessment and validation and new statistical dissemination methods.

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The results of the Single Register of Cases of Violence Against Women (RUCVM), with data from 2013-2017, were presented. The statistics presented in this report were consolidated and standardised by INDEC, based on data provided by public agencies recording cases of gender-motivated violence against women. A total of 260,156 cases were analysed for this report.

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April

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The National Director of National Accounts, Pedro Lines, was appointed Technical Director of INDEC (Administrative Decision 1149). His predecessor, Fernando Cerro, resigned due to medical reasons, although he remained as an adviser to the Director-General.

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From 16 to 20 April 2018, INDEC welcomed a technical mission from the OECD Statistics Directorate. The aim of this mission was to carry out a full review of the National Statistical System and official statistics of Argentina, within Argentina process of accession to the OECD (in June, Argentina had been accepted as Adherent to the Recommendation on Good Statistical Practice). During the assessment visit, the analysed areas were the legal and institutional framework for official statistics, methodologies and statistical dissemination policies; international cooperation; statistics on employment, income distribution, well-being and living conditions; national and international accounts and foreign trade; among other INDEC basic operations. The OECD specialists highlighted the importance of the independence of official statistics offices and their necessary power to decide on methodologies and dissemination policies.

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From 26 April to 14 May, INDEC participated in the 44th Buenos Aires International Book Fair in La Rural. Its stand included a series of open meetings to provide information on the various statistical operations in process: the RUCVM, whose first results were published in March; the preparation work for the 2020 National Population, Households and Dwellings Census; the 2017-2018 National Household Expenditure Survey; and the 2018 National Agricultural Census.

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May

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Between April and May 2018, INDEC carried out the National Study on the Profile of People with Disabilities, in which 1200 professionals visited 41000 private dwellings in districts containing 5000 or more inhabitants, and collected data using tablets. The study was within the context of the National Disability Plan and was coordinated by the National Directorate of Social and Population Statistics and the Population Statistics Directorate, together with the Provincial Statistics Offices.

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On 31 May 2018, during Argentina's G20 presidency, INDEC participated in the Annual Global Conferencia of the G20 Data Gaps Initiative (DGI), organised by the IMF and the Financial Stability Board (FSB), in Basel, Switzerland.

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During this month, INDEC opened its official Instagram account to expand its social media coverage. Various graphic and audio-visual contents have been published since then, aimed mostly at the newer generations.

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June

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From 4 to 10 June, the experimental stage of the 2018 National Agricultural Census took place in Lobos, Province of Buenos Aires. This pre-census operation was carried out by the Provincial Statistics Office of the Province of Buenos Aires. The testing included the material, technical, human and logistical resources programmed for the September survey.

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On 14 June, Decision 141/2018, published in the Official Bulletin, approved INDEC's 2018-2020 Work Plan, whose programme is based on the following strategic pillars: institutional transformation, strengthening of statistical capacity, coordination of the National Statistical System, boosting dissemination and friendly access to statistics, development of international relationships and technical reports on short-term indicators.

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In line with the Argentine project to join the OECD, INDEC participated in the 15th Meeting of the Committee on Statistics and Statistical Policy, which took place in the Palais des Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland. The Argentine mission that participated in the meeting, which took place between 20 and 21 June, included INDEC's Director-General, Jorge Todesca, and National Director of Planning and Institutional and International Relations, Hernán Muñoz, who presented INDEC's 2018-2020 Work Programme to OECD authorities. In his statement, the INDEC Director-General supported the implementation of the OECD's Good Statistical Practice in the region.

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During the 66th plenary session of the Conference of European Statisticians of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, which took place from 18 to 20 June in Geneva, INDEC and Italy's Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (ISTAT) signed a memorandum of understanding establishing the basis for statistical cooperation between the Institutes.

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The first full report on labour market statistics was released on 21 June and it included data previously reported in the technical reports Labour market, main indicators (PHS) and Labour market. Socio-Economic Indicators (PHS). Additionally, the information on the behaviour of the labour sector was expanded, which provided a greater number of indicators on employment and unemployment rates, on employed and unemployed population. As supplementary information, the distribution of employed and unemployed population was included by the same categories of analytical variables.

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July

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On 13 July, INDEC released the results of the 2017 National Mining Census (CeNAM17). The survey, headed by the National Directorate of Statistics and Prices of Production and Trade, was the first to be carried out with electronic devices, and was done together with the National Mining Secretariat and participation from the Provincial Mining Directorates (DPM, for its Spanish acronym), the Argentine Mining and Geological Service (SEGEMAR, for its Spanish acronym) and the Provincial Statistics Offices (PSOs).

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On 19 July, the preliminary results of the National Study on the Profile of People with Disabilities were published, including updated data on the prevalence of population over 6 years old with difficulties, their main socio-demographic features and the rate of households with at least one person with difficulties in Argentina. The Study was within the context of the National Disability Plan and was coordinated by the National Directorate of Social and Population Statistics and the Population Statistics Directorate, in collaboration with the National Disability Agency and the PSOs.

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August

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On 2 August, INDEC published the first updated series of the Synthetic Indicator of Construction Activity (ISAC) in its report Short-term Indicators of Construction Activity. The report, with results for June 2018, included the ISAC original series, seasonal adjustment and the trend-cycle.

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During that month, INDEC added to its release calendar and began the publication of the technical report Indicators of Living Conditions of Households (PHS). This document, based on the Permanent Household Survey in 31 urban agglomerations, presented in its first publication data for the second half of 2017 and the series as of the second half of 2016. The data is related with different dimensions of living conditions of households and the population, such as housing characteristics (overcrowding, sanitation, dwellings' water availability, etc.); public utilities (water, network gas, sewerage): location characteristics (proximity to landfills, floodable areas); type of tenure; health coverage; and education (attendance in educational establishments and level of education attained).

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The President of the Nation, Mauricio Macri, publicly announced during the annual meeting of the Argentine Businesspeople Association (AEA) that the Statistical Law would be one of the drafts to be sent to Congress during that year.

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September

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On 14 September, the school visit programme INDEC Educa was launched, and in one year it welcomed 16 groups of students from various schools. The visits included discussions with INDEC specialists around three thematic pillars adapted to the interests and studies of students: the Consumer Price Index, the RUCVM and the Census of Population, Households and Dwellings.

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The 2018 National Agricultural Census began on 15 September 2018, after 16 years without complete official statistics on the subject. During the Census, 3500 professionals did a territory sweep in the whole country and surveyed 190 million hectares. For the survey of productive units, 3300 tablets were used instead of the previous paper forms.

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INDEC and the National Health Secretariat, together with the PSOs, launched on 24 September the fourth National Risk Factors Survey (ENFR) to inquire on the food, physical activity, tobacco consumption and alcohol habits of the population. The survey lasted nine months and covered 49,170 dwelling in districts with 5000 or more inhabitants in the whole country.

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INDEC participated in the 16th Conference of the International Association for Official Statistics (IAOS) and the OECD at the Paris offices. During the special session "Professional Independence of Official Statistics Offices: Threats and Responses", the Director-General of the Institute gave a detail on past challenges during the institutional rebuilding process. During the session, specific cases of official institutes facing threats to their independence were presented, and INDEC was presented as an example of institutional recovery.

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October

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The publication Supermarket Survey was expanded and updated, including an expansion of the supermarket panel, as of January 2017, and the results of the new questions on online sales and various methods of payment (cash, debit, credit and others). Additionally, the results of the new Wholesale Self-Service Shops Survey were added, measuring invoiced sales to end consumers, single taxpayers and tax-exempt consumers.

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November

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On 1 November, INDEC published the results of the Survey of Activities of Children and Adolescents (EANNA), carried out in collaboration with the Secretariat of Labour and Employment of the Ministry of Production and Labour.

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By the end of the month, the school visit programmed was completed for 2018. In total, 392 secondary students and 30 teachers of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the Greater Buenos Aires area visited the Institute. The project, designed by the National Directorate of Dissemination and Communication and the Directorate of Training and Personnel Development, was focused on educating informed citizens on the important of producing official statistics, strengthening response commitment to the Institute's requirements and promoting statistical careers among the new generations.

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December

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On 3 December 2018, INDEC published the definitive results of the National Study on the Profile of People with Disabilities, in an institutional presentation headed by the President of the Nation, Mauricio Macri, the Vice President of the Nation, Gabriela Michetti, and Director-General of INDEC, Jorge Todesca, at the Salón de los Pueblos Originarios at the Casa Rosada.

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Between 4 and 6 December, the Institute welcomed a technical mission to observe the 2018 National Agricultural Census (CNA 2018), including representatives from statistical offices and State entities of 10 Latin American countries, to share details and work experience. The visit included the presence of the Director of the UN Statistics for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), José Rosero, and the Organization’s Chief of Agriculture Censuses, Jairo Castano.

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Also during this year, was the plenary meeting of the country's provincial statistics directors from 24 jurisdictions and INDEC regional representatives of North-east, North-west and Patagonia, aimed at establishing general guidelines for the 2020 National Population, Households and Dwellings Census.

January

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INDEC announced that the 2018 National Agricultural Census achieved a coverage of 80% in the whole country and that the preliminary results would be available mid-year.

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February

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The Manufacturing Industrial Production Index (Manufacturing IPI) was presented, which updated and expanded the Monthly Industrial Estimator (EMI, for its Spanish acronym). This new indicator unified the production surveys and the results on industrial activity sectors that were previously not in the EMI were now released, in line with the national accounts classification. Additionally, information on the Pharmaceutical Industry Survey Agricultural Machinery Survey and National Survey of Large Enterprises (ENGE, for its Spanish acronym) were included.