The Federal Statistical System: A Primer
INSIGHTi
The Federal Statistical System: A Primer
July 10, 2023
Overview
The U.S. federal government has a decentralized system of over 100 agencies, organizational units, and
programs that engage in statistical activities. These entities conduct activities, in varying degrees, relating
to the collection, compilation, processing, analysis, and dissemination of data relevant to their missions.
Within this system, the Office of Budget and Management (OMB) identifies 13 principal statistical
agencies (PSAs) and three other organizational units that produce a substantial portion of official U.S.
statistics. The PSAs are entities whose principal missions are conducting statistical activities for statistical
purposes, which refers to statistical activities that describe, estimate, or analyze groups without
identifying individuals or organizations comprising the groups. OMB has identified about 100 additional
federal programs that each conduct at least $3 million in annual statistical activities. Together, these
agencies, units, and programs comprise the federal statistical system (FSS).
Entities in the FSS provide statistical information that stakeholders in the federal government and public
can use to inform policy deliberations, research, program administration, and private decisions in many
policy and societal contexts, as well as inform the public.
Principal Statistical Agencies
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) (Department of Commerce): Produces economic-related statistics,
notably the National Income and Product Accounts, which include gross domestic product and other
related measures.
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) (Department of Justice): Collects, analyzes, publishes, and
disseminates data on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and justice system operations at all
levels of government.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (Department of Labor): Produces statistics relating to labor market
activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.
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Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) (Department of Transportation): Produces statistics on
commercial aviation, multimodal freight activity, environmental impacts caused by transportation, and
transportation economics.
Economic Research Service (ERS) (Department of Agriculture): Generates statistics related to
agriculture, food, environment, and rural America to gauge the agriculture sector’s performance.
National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) (Department of Agriculture): Produces statistics and
prepares reports covering U.S. agriculture. Some notable products include the Census of Agriculture and
the annual Agricultural Statistics.
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) (Department of Education): Collects, collates,
analyzes, and reports statistics on conditions of American education.
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) (Department of Health and Human Services): Collects,
maintains, analyzes, and disseminates statistics relating to health, illness, and disability of the U.S.
population; health care costs and financing; and vital events (births and
deaths).https://www.cdc.gov/rdc/index.htm
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) (National Science Foundation):
Responsible for statistical data on research and development, the science and engineering workforce, and
U.S. competitiveness in science, engineering, technology, and R&D.
Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics (ORES) (Social Security Administration): Conducts
policy-relevant research and evaluation of various Social Security programs, including solvency proposals
and program benefits.
Statistics of Income (SOI) (Treasury Department): Under the jurisdiction of the Internal Revenue
Service, SOI is mandated by the Revenue Act of 1916 to annually publish statistics related to “the
operations of the internal revenue laws.”
U.S. Census Bureau (Department of Commerce): Provides data on the population and economy and
conducts a decennial census, which is used to determine apportionment of House of Representatives seats
among the states.
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) (Department of Energy): Collects, evaluates,
assembles, analyzes, and disseminates data and information relevant to energy.
Figure 1. FY2023 Enacted Budget for Principal Statistical Agencies
Source: OMB, FY2024 Analytical Perspectives, Table 9-1
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Role of OMB
By statute, OMB is responsible for coordinating the federal statistical system (44 U.S.C. §3504(e)). The
OMB Director delegates these responsibilities to the administrator of the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).
The chief statistician is head of the Statistical and Science Policy office of OIRA and is responsible for
providing coordination, guidance, and oversight for the federal statistical agencies and their activities. The
position was originally created in 1986 and reauthorized by P.L. 104-13, the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995.
OMB Directives
OMB has issued Statistical Policy Directives as guidance for agencies that conduct statistical activities.
Links to selected directives, which are generally issued to promote quality and coordination of federal
statistical activities, are provided below.
Directive No. 1: Fundamental responsibilities of federal statistical agencies and recognized statistical
units
Directive No. 2: Standards and guidelines for statistical surveys
Directive No. 3: Compilation, release, and evaluation of principal federal economic indicators
Directive No. 4: Release and dissemination of statistical products produced by federal statistical agencies
Directive No. 7: Metropolitan statistical areas
Directive No. 8: North American industry classification system
Directive No. 10: Standard occupational classification system
Directive No. 15: Standards for maintaining, collecting, and presenting federal data on race and ethnicity
Related Statutory Provisions
A number of statutory provisions relate to the operation of the FSS. Some of the provisions establish
institutions, and other provisions establish procedures. OMB’s roles—including development of policies
and standards for statistical data and information, establishment of an Interagency Council on Statistical
Policy (ICSP), and appointment of the chief statistician—are generally specified in 44 U.S.C. §3504(e).
Through 5 U.S.C. §314, relevant agencies must designate a ”statistical official” to advise on statistical
matters and serve on the ICSP.
The Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA, codified at 44 U.S.C.
§3561-3583) establishes confidentiality requirements for data used for statistical purposes collected by
federal statistical agencies. More recently, a National Secure Data Service pilot was established in statute
through P.L. 117-167.
Potential Issues for Congress
Numerous issues have been under discussion in the federal statistical community in recent years. The
selection of issues listed below are among the subjects that could be of interest to Congress with respect
to oversight or legislation:
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• Ensuring confidentiality of data while maintaining usefulness.
• Combining data from multiple sources to create more useful data assets while
protecting privacy.
• Considering revisions to race and ethnicity statistical standards (formal review of the
Statistical Policy Directive No. 15).
• Responding to a long-standing downward trend in survey response rates.
• Utilizing machine learning and artificial intelligence to support complex data
analysis.
• Determining funding levels for statistical agencies to address ongoing and future
priorities.
Author Information
Taylor R. Knoedl
Analyst in American National Government
Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff
to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of
Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of
information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role.
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