HCSO is taking steps in order to increase response propensity – In focus: Data supply improvement, 19/06/2024

The Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO) is committed in producing exact and reliable statistics, it is not among its primary goals to initiate en masse procedures for imposing fines. However, it is imperative that data should be supplied by the obligated entities in a timely and accurate manner. Enterprises which regularly fail to comply with their obligations stipulated in the Act on statistics are endangering the quality and timeliness of statistics. HCSO initiated in the last quarter of 2023, – by exercising its legal right – in order to improve response propensity, the process of imposing administrative fines against a few large companies which regularly failed in supplying data. As a result, a foreign large company has been obliged to pay an administrative fine. In the future the HCSO will publish on its website’s subpage the list of respondents against whom the administrative procedure for data supply failure has been legally closed.

The Hungarian Central Statistical Office initiated in the last quarter of 2023 processes of imposing administrative fines against a few large economic weight carrying companies which regularly failed in supplying data. Similar processes are going to be initiated in the next period against companies which regularly fail at data supply. HCSO is committed in producing exact and reliable statistics, it is still not among its primary goals to initiate fine imposing procedures en masse. Besides, the Hungarian Central Statistical Office considers the cooperation with respondents, among others, with the professional organisations of accountants and auditors, as well as with the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry high priority, as well as agreement on interests and expectations, the reasonable and professionally acceptable simplification of data supply, decreasing respondents’ burdens. The latter – in regard to enterprises, institutions - is a strategic goal of the HCSO, fulfilled by continuously replacing traditional statistical data collection with alternative and administrative data sources; the Office is aiming to further increase in the future the present number of more than 270 integrated administrative data sources.

Act CLV of 2016 on Official Statistics, paragraph 32-33 considers non-response and false response an administrative infraction and allows an administrative fine to be imposed as a legal consequence. It most be highlighted, however, that it is not the HCSO’s goal to initiate fine imposing procedures en masse, rather the quality and accuracy enhancement of statistics, by increasing response propensity. Data reliability and accuracy is of major importance in understanding Hungary’s economic, social and environmental situation, and in precontriving data-based, individual, economic and policy related decisions. The HCSO will publish in the future on its website’s subpage the list of respondents against whom the administrative procedure for data supply failure has been legally closed.

The HCSO is confident that the enterprises concerned are realising the importance of data supply and cooperate for ensuring data quality, accuracy and timeliness.

Hungarian Central Statistical Office

H-1024 Budapest, Keleti Károly u. 5-7. Tel./Phone: (+36-1) 345-6000
Postacím/Postal address: P.O.Box 51 Budapest H-1525
http://www.ksh.hu