Among the accomplishments in 2023 were the results of the Household Budget Survey (HBS), the change in the base year of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the collection of data for the National Time-Use Survey, and the strengthening of international cooperation.

This morning, the national director of the National Statistics Institute (INE), Ricardo Vicuña Poblete, presented INE’s 2024 Participatory Public Report in which he discussed developments in 2023 and the principal challenges for the current year.

The director highlighted the Population and Housing Census that is currently underway and noted the important stages already completed in 2023 such as the Precensus Update and Census Test. Between March and September, the Precensus Update recorded the number of households as well as their addresses and residents. The Census Test was an evaluation of all census processes, and it was carried out between May and July in the commune of Cerrillos and in sectors of the communes of Alto Hospicio, Hualpén, and Padre Las Casas.

Preparations in 2023 for the 2024 Census included filling 33,000 vacancies for census coordinators, administrative managers, group coordinators, and enumerators. In addition, private and public institutions, including the Chilean Police (Carabineros), Investigations Police, municipalities, and other institutions, provided security and logistical support (such as transport and the installation of 697 local census offices and more than 2,700 support offices). 

The director also highlighted strategic projects of INE such as the Register of Economic Units and the Statistical Register of the Population, both of which seek to expand the provision of important statistical information for decision-making in various areas.

Surveys and new CPI basket

Among INE’s achievements in 2023 mentioned in the Public Report, Vicuña noted the delivery of the results of the ninth Household Budget Survey (HBS) as well as the change of base year of the Consumer Price Index, which was accompanied by the publication of the CPI Methodological Manual base 2023=100 and a new basket of goods and services.

INE’s operations in 2023 include the second version of the National Time-Use Survey, which measures the contribution of care workers to economic development, and a series of surveys conducted with other government agencies, such as the Survey of Activities of Children and Adolescents, the Labour Survey, and the Social Well-being Survey.

International coordination

In 2023, INE participated in the 54th session of the United Nations Statistical Commission and the twelfth meeting of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of ECLAC.

INE headed the updating of the 231 indicators of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Chile while coordinating a workshop to evaluate the process of updating the indicators.