IRES Chapter X — Dissemination

Chapter X (PDF pp. 142–147) addresses the dissemination of official energy statistics: its importance, statistical confidentiality, reference period and release timetable, data revision, dissemination formats, and international reporting.

This digest covers the full chapter (Sections A–F), paras 10.1–10.28, PDF pp. 142–147.

A. Importance of energy statistics dissemination (paras 10.1–10.4)

Full detail is on Dissemination. Summary:

• Dissemination fulfils the first UN Fundamental Principle of Official Statistics — the provision to the public of statistical outputs containing data and related metadata [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.1, PDF p. 142, 2018].
• Recommendation (tracker row X/10.2): dissemination policy should cover scope of public data, reference period/timetable, revision policy, dissemination formats, and metadata/quality-report dissemination, and should be user-oriented across all user groups [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.2, PDF p. 142, 2018].
• Recommendation (tracker row X/10.3): countries are encouraged to build stable relationships with the user community through outreach, to maintain relevance [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.3, PDF p. 142, 2018].
• Recommendation (tracker row X/10.4): countries should conduct user-satisfaction surveys with an established periodicity [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.4, PDF p. 142, 2018].

B. Data dissemination and statistical confidentiality (paras 10.5–10.15)

Full detail is on Statistical Confidentiality. Summary:

• Statistical confidentiality protects data relating to single statistical units against unlawful disclosure, and is distinct from national-security confidentiality [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.6, PDF p. 143, 2018], grounded in Fundamental Principle 6 [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.7, PDF p. 143, 2018] and national statistical law [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.8, PDF p. 143, 2018].
• Confidentiality is protected against direct identification (one unit per cell) and indirect/residual disclosure, tested via the identifiability test [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.9, PDF p. 143, 2018]. Two protection factors — unit count and dominance — govern the decision [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.10, PDF p. 143, 2018].
• Three protection methods: aggregation, suppression (primary/secondary), and controlled rounding/perturbation [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.11, PDF pp. 143–144, 2018]. Recommendation (tracker row X/10.12): countries are encouraged to develop statistical disclosure control methods suited to their circumstances [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.12, PDF p. 144, 2018].
• Energy statistics face a particular confidentiality-vs-relevance tension due to concentrated production/distribution [IRES, Ch. X, paras 10.13–10.14, PDF p. 144, 2018]. Recommendation (tracker row X/10.15): five specific rules for applying confidentiality in energy statistics — aggregation to the next SIEC level, incorporating publicly available data, requesting reporter permission, passive confidentiality, and an “excessive damage” carve-out [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.15(a)–(e), PDF pp. 144–145, 2018].

C. Reference period and dissemination timetable (paras 10.16–10.21)

Full detail is on Dissemination. Summary:

• Recommendation (tracker row X/10.16): energy data should be made available on a Gregorian-calendar-compatible basis, including by fiscal-year countries for annual data [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.16, PDF p. 145, 2018].
• Recommendation (tracker row X/10.17): countries should announce an advance release schedule at the start of each year on the national agency’s website [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.17, PDF p. 145, 2018]. The schedule should weigh initial-data timing, revision exposure, policy timing, and dissemination mode [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.18, PDF p. 145, 2018].
• Recommendation (tracker row X/10.19): countries are encouraged toward specific timeliness windows — monthly data within two calendar months, quarterly within three, annual within fifteen [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.19, PDF pp. 145–146, 2018].
• Recommendation (tracker row X/10.20): early/provisional release is encouraged — within one month for monthly data, nine to twelve months for annual data [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.20, PDF p. 146, 2018].
• Countries using supplementary information should compile and disseminate Q4/twelfth-month data independently, not as a residual [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.21, PDF p. 146, 2018].

D. Data revision (paras 10.22–10.25)

Full detail is on Data Revision. Summary:

• Revisions are necessary and expected; provisional data should be revised as more accurate information becomes available, with consistency between provisional and final data [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.22, PDF p. 146, 2018] — tracker row X/10.22.
• Two revision types: routine/concurrent and major/special [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.23, PDF p. 146, 2018].
• Recommendation (tracker row X/10.24): routine revision policy should be synchronized with the release calendar and publicly documented; special revisions require advance user notification [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.24, PDF p. 146, 2018].
• Recommendation (tracker row X/10.25): a well-run revision policy is predetermined, stable, open, and well-documented, with advance notice and long accessible time series [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.25, PDF p. 146, 2018].

E. Dissemination formats (paras 10.26–10.27)

Full detail is on Dissemination. Summary:

• Recommendation (tracker row X/10.26): energy statistics should be made available electronically, with format chosen to suit users’ needs [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.26, PDF p. 147, 2018].
• Recommendation (tracker row X/10.27): metadata dissemination is as important as data dissemination; countries should harmonize with international standards and the Chapter IX metadata recommendations [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.27, PDF p. 147, 2018].

F. International reporting (para 10.28)

Full detail is on Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange. Summary:

• Recommendation (tracker row X/10.28): countries should disseminate energy statistics internationally as soon as available to national users, without additional restrictions, and use the SDMX format for international data exchange [IRES, Ch. X, para. 10.28, PDF p. 147, 2018].

Page map

Section	Page
Importance of dissemination, dissemination policy, users/needs, satisfaction surveys, reference period/timetable, timeliness, dissemination formats, metadata dissemination	Dissemination
Statistical confidentiality (Section B in full)	Statistical Confidentiality
Data revision (Section D in full)	Data Revision
SDMX and international reporting (Section F)	Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange

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