UNESCO Launches Global Consultation on Cultural Statistics

UNESCO is exploring the role of culture in people's lives and how to ensure life is enriched, sustainable, peaceful, and inclusive for both humanity and the planet.

By Creatives Unite Newsroom
July 18, 2024
The organization is investigating culture's socio-economic effects on sustainable development, recognizing it as a public good that helps to build innovative and resilient communities.

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) emphasizes the paramount importance of cultural statistics. These statistics serve national statistical offices, ministries of culture, and various cultural and creative stakeholders, supporting them in identifying, characterizing, and measuring the economic and social impacts generated by artists, performers, audiences, social groups, and cultural communities.

On July 10th, UIS is launching a global consultation on the revision of the 2009 UNESCO Framework for Culture Statistics (FCS). This conceptual and methodological framework is designed to facilitate socioeconomic analysis in culture.

The 2025 version of the FCS will include major innovations by drawing on international experiences, classification systems, and needs expressed by cultural and creative stakeholders. It aims to establish a unified standard for both cultural statistics and socioeconomic studies about the Cultural and Creative Ecosystem (CCE). By standardizing terms, concepts, and statistical operations, the FCS's purpose is to harmonize information systems and enhance data comparability at national and international levels.

UNESCO notes that the new FCS demonstrates a strong commitment to recognizing and valuing cultural diversity. Introducing a cross-cutting modular approach, it enables countries to select units, variables, and methodologies that reflect their unique cultural contexts, aligning policy priorities and statistical expertise.

To participate in the consultation, interested parties are invited to read two draft documents: "The 2025 UNESCO Framework for Cultural Statistics Part I: Concepts and Definitions" and "The 2025 UNESCO Framework for Cultural Statistics Part II: A Classification Guide."

UNESCO provides a link to access the Google Form for participation. The closing date for the consultation is August 15, 2024.

The organization looks forward to receiving feedback and directs any questions concerning the form to uis.cltsurvey@unesco.org