All countries represented on the task force, plus some additional countries, were requested to provide answers to the following questionnaire, developed by the task force.

UNECE Task Force on Emigration

This task force is working to improve estimates of emigration and to understand how different National Statistics Office’s (NSO’s) estimate emigration. The objective of the Task Force is to develop guidance to NSO’s on data sources and methods for measuring emigration.

The work of this Task Force is focussing on the UN Definition of long-term emigration: “A person who moves to a country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least a year (12 months), so that the country of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of usual residence. From the perspective of the country of departure, the person will be a long‐term emigrant and from that of the country of arrival, the person will be a long‐term immigrant”

It should be noted that UN Statistics Division has initiated revisions to the 1998 definition of long-term migration referred to above. This acknowledges that increases in levels and changing patterns of international migration have raised the demand for accurate and timely data.

Page 1 of questionnaire

Data Sources

Info

This section covers the data sources your NSO uses to estimate long-term emigration (applying the UN definition).

[Single select]Q1: Does your NSO follow the UN definition of long-term migration to estimate emigration?

[1] Yes

[2] No

[IF Q1 = 2]Q2: If No, how does your NSO define long-term emigration?

[Open textbox]

Q3: What data source or data sources are used to estimate long-term emigration (applying the UN definition) from your NSO? [Select all applicable]

[1] Population Census

[2] Household sample survey

[3] Border sample survey

[4] Population register

[5] Permits of stay register, aliens register

[6] Passenger cards system, flight data

[7] Other administrative database

[If multiple data sources in Q3 are selected] Q4: If your NSO uses multiple data sources please list the order of importance of the data sources used.

[Open textbox]

Q5: Please provide any further relevant details of the data sources you use, including a detailed description of other administrative databases used.

[Open textbox]

[IF Q3 = 1/2/3] Q6: If you use either Population Census, Household Sample Survey or Border Sample Survey data, please provide details of the questions asked.

[Open textbox]

[Single select] Q7: Has your NSO considered any alternative or new data sources to estimate long-term emigration?

[1] Yes

[2] No

[IF Q7 = 1] Q8: If yes, what data sources has your NSO considered? [Select all applicable]

[1] Population Census

[2] Household sample survey

[3] Border sample survey

[4] Population register

[5] Permits of stay register, aliens register

[6] Passenger cards system, flight data

[7] Other administrative database

[8] Other commercial data sources

Q9: Please provide information about why these data sources were not suitable?

[Open textbox]

[Single select] Q10: Has your NSO used any linked data sources to estimate long-term emigration?

[1] Yes

[2] No

[IF Q10 = 1] Q11: If yes, what linked data sources do you use?

[Open textbox]

[IF Q10 = 1] Q12: If yes, how are these sources linked?

[Open textbox]

Page 2 of questionnaire

Methods

Info

This section covers the methods your NSO applies to the data sources covered in section 1 to estimate long-term emigration (applying the UN definition).

[Single select]Q1: Does your NSO use each data source individually or combine data sources using statistical modelling to estimate emigration?

[1] Use data sources individually

[2] Combine data sources using statistical modelling

[IF Q1 = 2]Q2: If you use statistical modelling, please provide details of the model used and links to any published information.

[Open textbox]

[Single select] Q3: Does your NSO produce initial estimates of emigration that are later revised or updated?

[1] Yes

[2] No

[IF Q3 = 1]Q4: If yes, how long after the end of the reference period are initial estimates produced?

[Open textbox]

[IF Q3 = 3] Q5: If yes, how long after the end of the reference period are final estimates produced?

[Open textbox]

[Single select] Q6: Does your NSO have to apply additional assumptions or use additional modelling techniques to produce initial estimates of emigration?

[1] Yes

[2] No

[IF Q6 = 1] Q7: If yes, please provide details of these assumptions or modelling techniques.

[Open textbox]

Q8: Does your NSO produce emigration estimates by any of the following breakdowns? [Select all applicable]

[1] Nationality

[2] Citizenship

[3] Country of Birth

[4] Country of destination

[5] Demographics (age/sex)

[6] Skill type (occupation or education level)

[7] None of the above

[If any Q8 options selected] [Single select] Q9: Do you have to use different data sources to provide these breakdowns?

[1] Yes

[2] No

[IF Q9 = 1] Q10: If yes, what additional data sources do you use?

[Open textbox]

[If any Q8 options selected] [Single select] Q11: Do you have to apply different methods to produce these breakdowns?

[1] Yes

[2] No

Q12: Which of the following breakdowns does your NSO have an interest in producing breakdowns for but are currently unable to? [Select all applicable]

[1] Nationality

[2] Citizenship

[3] Country of Birth

[4] Reason for emigration

[5] Country of destination

[6] Demographics (age/sex)

[7] Skill type (occupation or education level)

[8] None of the above

Page 3 of questionnaire

Evaluation of Emigration Statistics

Info

This section covers how your NSO evaluates your long-term emigration estimates. This could be evaluating their quality against other signal data on emigration or producing uncertainty estimates to evaluate their quality.

[Single select] Q1: Do you compare your estimates of long-term emigration to other data sources to evaluate the quality of the estimates?

[1] Yes

[2] No

[IF Q1 = 1] Q2: If yes, please provide details of the data sources used and how this demonstrates quality.

[Open textbox]

[Single select] Q3: Do you produce estimates of uncertainty or confidence intervals around the estimates of long-term emigration from your country?

[1] Yes

[2] No

[IF Q3 = 1] Q4: If yes, please provide details on what measures of uncertainty or what confidence intervals are provided.

[Open textbox]

[IF Q3 = 1] Q5: If yes, please provide details on the methods used to produce these estimates of uncertainty or confidence intervals.

[Open textbox]

Communication of emigration statistics

Info

This section covers how your NSO communicates your long-term emigration estimates.

Q6: How do you communicate the quality of your estimates of long-term emigration to users of your statistics?

[Open textbox]

Q7: Please provide evidence of published material if available.

[Open textbox]

Page 4 of questionnaire

Mirror Statistics

Info

This section covers your use of mirror statistics for your long-term emigration estimates and your interest in using mirror statistics in the future.

[Single select] Q1: Does your NSO have any experience using mirror statistics to estimate emigration or to evaluate estimates of emigration (applying the UN definition)?

[1] Yes

[2] No

[IF Q1 = 1] Q2: If yes, how do you use mirror statistics? [Select all applicable]

[1] To estimate emigration [2] To evaluate estimates of emigration [3] Both

[IF Q1 = 1] Q3: If yes, which other NSOs do you work with or use data from as part of this use of mirror statistics?

[Open textbox]

[Single select] Q4: Does your NSO have the ambition to use mirror statistics in the future to estimate or evaluate estimates of migration?

[1] Yes

[2] No

[IF Q4 = 1] [Single select] Q5: If yes, would you be willing to share data with other NSOs to facilitate this work?

[1] Yes

[2] No