Lucknow: The two-day meeting of the Heads of National Statistical Offices (NSOs) of BRICS countries began in Lucknow on Monday with a focus on strengthening statistical systems, improving data quality and enhancing international cooperation, according to an official statement.
The meeting, being held under India's BRICS chairship, has brought together more than 350 participants, including representatives of the national statistical offices of BRICS member countries, policymakers, academicians, think tanks, civil society organisations and technical experts, the statement said.
Held under the broader BRICS theme, "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability", the statistics track has adopted the theme, "Quality Statistics as Driver of Change", reflecting the emphasis on innovation, effective dissemination, people-centric statistical systems and evidence-based policymaking, it said.
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The inaugural session began with an introduction by the Director General (Data Governance), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, followed by an address by Uttar Pradesh Principal Secretary (Planning and Programme Implementation) Alok Kumar.
MoSPI Secretary and Chair of the BRICS 2026 Statistics Track Saurabh Garg highlighted priorities such as "modernising national statistical systems, greater use of administrative data and digital public infrastructure, and strengthening data governance and privacy standards."
"BRICS member nations aim to bridge data gaps, promote evidence-based decision-making and build resilient statistical systems through technical exchanges and sharing of experiences," he said.
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Heads of NSOs and representatives from Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates also outlined their expectations from the meeting and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperation under the BRICS Statistics Track.
According to the statement, the participating countries stressed that knowledge sharing, exchange of best practices, harmonisation of statistical methodologies and promotion of innovation would strengthen official statistics, support informed policymaking, foster resilient economies and accelerate sustainable development.
During the meeting, a draft BRICS Joint Statistical Publication (JSP) 2026 and the Snapshot BRICS JSP 2026 were released. Additional inputs from member countries will be incorporated subject to consensus, the statement said.
Technical sessions focused on digital dissemination of official statistics and reforms to modernise statistical systems, it stated.
A side event with CivicDataLab discussed leveraging administrative data through harmonised metadata, interoperable systems and stronger institutional collaboration to support evidence-based policymaking, it added.
