Coordination Group for Macroeconomic Statistics

Efforts to expand Liechtenstein’s macroeconomic statistics have been underway for some time, most recently reinforced by the country’s accession to the IMF. This work is to be coordinated by the Macroeconomic Statistics Coordination Group (KGMS), which consists of members from the Ministry of Presidential Affairs and Finance, the Office of Statistics, the Financial Market Authority, and the Liechtenstein Institute. The KGMS initiates and coordinates the IMF recommendations on statistical development, which address gaps that have long been identified and discussed in the government's Statistics Commission. The KGMS will be active from 2025 to 2027 and, in addition to its monthly meetings, will also hold methodological workshops.
 

The Liechtenstein Institute has always been actively committed to the further development of statistics and has a unique selling point in terms of its experience and expertise in Liechtenstein's economy and the very specific data for which tailor-made analysis and modeling methods are necessary. Regular participation in the KGMS is seen as the Liechtenstein Institute's contribution to improving public statistics, which also benefits its own analytical activities. This also applies to the methods already developed at the Institute that are directly related to the KGMS projects. However, additional work is also required on behalf of the government, which is being carried out by Andreas Brunhart, Martin Geiger, and Johannes Lehmann and is presented below. The Liechtenstein Institute provides documentation and program codes to the Office of Statistics, and further developments are evaluated jointly. The modules of the "Applied Economic Analysis" (AWA) do not compete with the KGMS additional projects. On the contrary, it is only the AWA, which has been financed by the government since 2020, and its continuity that enable the Liechtenstein Institute to contribute and provide specific methodological expertise.

Total economic volume of work
Liechtenstein currently lacks the figures needed to calculate economic productivity according to international standards as the ratio of GDP to hours worked. Although data on employees and full-time equivalents are available, there is no information on the actual hours worked (working hours in a normal working week plus vacation days, overtime, absences, etc.). Based on the Liechtenstein census, Swiss labor volume statistics, other sources, and additional surveys, an estimate of the total economic labor volume is to be developed in cooperation between the Liechtenstein Institute and the Office of Statistics and later published annually by the Office of Statistics.

Real GDP
The Liechtenstein national accounts (VGR) of the Office of Statistics contain only nominal figures, not real ones. Monetary – i.e. nominal – values are influenced by changes in quantity and price. Because economic and growth analysis and prosperity measurement are particularly interested in the quantity effect, the price effect is usually factored out in order to obtain real values. Since Liechtenstein does not have its own price indices, Swiss price indices such as the national consumer price index or the GDP deflator are usually used for this purpose. This approach is justified, but reweighting the Swiss sector sub-indices would allow for better adaptation to Liechtenstein's circumstances and thus a more accurate calculation of real GDP. The Liechtenstein Institute has already developed a methodology for this and presented it in the Financial Stability Report 2024.

Quarterly GDP
Liechtenstein only publishes annual figures as part of its national accounts, including for GDP. The Liechtenstein Institute already estimates quarterly GDP figures based on its own annual estimate (for the year just ended) and annual GDP figures from the Office of Statistics (previous years). The aim is to examine whether the Institute's estimation model can be expanded using internal data from the Office of Statistics and/or whether a direct calculation rate in the style of the national accounts can be developed.

Project duration: 2025–2027