The Hellenic Statistical Authority, known by its acronym ELSTAT , is the national statistical service of Greece. The purpose of ELSTAT is to produce, on a regular basis, official statistics, as well as to conduct statistical surveys which: In accordance with its establishing law, ELSTAT is an independent authority and it is not subject to the control of any governmental bodies or other administrative authority. Its operation is subject to the control of the Hellenic Parliament.

History

The agency was originally established as the National Statistical Service of Greece (Εθνική Στατιστική Υπηρεσία Ελλάδος) in 1956 by Legislative Decree 3627/1956. In 1986, Presidential Decree 224/1986 it was transformed into the General Secretariat of the National Statistical Service of Greece and became part of the Ministry of National Economy. Law 2392/1996 provided for the arrangement of issues concerning the access of the General Secretariat of the National Statistical Service of Greece to administrative sources and files, as well as statistical confidentiality issues. On 20 October 2009, the new finance minister in the newly elected Cabinet of George Papandreou announced that Greece's budget deficit was expected to reach ~12.5% of GDP. On 8 January 2010, the European Commission published its report 'Report on Greek government deficit and debt statistics'. On 23 April 2010 Prime Minister George Papandreou formally requested an international bailout for Greece. The European Union (EU), European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to participate in the bailout. On 2 May 2010, the IMF, Papandreou, and other Eurozone PMs agreed to the first bailout package for €110 billion ($143 billion) over 3 years. The third austerity package was announced by the Greek government. As recommended by Eurostat, ESYE was dissolved and replaced by ELSTAT in July 2010 via Law 3832/2010 (amended since by Laws 3842/2010, 3899/2010, 3943/2011, 3965/2011, 4047/2012 and 4072/2012).

Overview

The Hellenic Statistical Authority collects data pertaining to the population (it is responsible for the conduct of the population census, every 10 years), health and social security, employment and unemployment, education, etc. The statistical data collected by ELSTAT are used by both the Greek State and international organisations (such as UNESCO, the UN, OECD), by enterprises, the scientific community, citizens and others. ELSTAT employs 740 people working in the central office and in 50 Regional Statistical Offices located in various regions of Greece. The registered office of ELSTAT is in the Municipality of Piraeus.

Management

The President of ELSTAT is Dr Athanasios C. Thanopoulos, who was unanimously proposed for the position of the President by an international Committee of Experts. He assumed the responsibilities of the President of the Hellenic Statistical Authority in February 2016, by virtue of a decision issued by the Minister of Finance.

List of service presidents

Statistics

ELSTAT announces the results of its statistical surveys, in the Greek and English language, in various publications. Among these publications are:

Responsibilities

In accordance with article 11 of Law 3832/2010, as in force, ELSTAT has the following responsibilities: