In Order to Benefit from the Best Statistical Practices to Improve the Statistical Sector Saudi Arabia Participates in the International Conference “Big Data for European Statistics” in Bulgaria    Deputy Chairman of Statistical Innovation and Client Services, Dr.Mohmmad AL-Ahmad represented the General Authority for Statistics (GaStat) in the international conference “Big Data for European Statistics” that was held between 14-15 May 2018 in Sofia, Bulgaria.  Dr.AL-Ahmad clarified that the conference discussed the results of the ESSnet Big Data project; a network project of 22 partners from 20 European countries and it is financed by Eurostat. The project aimed at integrating big data of official statistics through sharing expertise of big data possible sources and creating an implementation plan. He added that the project started in February 2016 for 28 months until May 2018 and it consists of 10 workgroups: (WP1 to WP8) are for the content, (WP10) is for the coordination and (WP9) is for the entire project. GaStat accepted the invitation of ESSnet Big Data project in order to learn more about the European countries’ experiences in this field, and to benefit from these practices to serve GaStat’s plans of using big data for producing new statistical indicators in Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, the participants visited the National Statistics Institute NSI in Bulgaria and met Mr. Sergey Tsvetarsky NSI president to view the institute’s activities and statistical works.  GaStat participation in this conference comes within its strategic plans to build international partnership between the Kingdom and a number of distinguished countries in this field, also to benefit from the best international statistical expertise and practices in order to improve the statistical sector in the Kingdom.

(53.6%) Perfom Umrah in Ramadan GASTAT: More Than 19M  Umrah Performers in 2017 On Tuesday Ramadan 13, 1439H corresponding May 29, 2018, The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) released the report of Umrah statistics bulletin (2017). It is implemented for the second time by GASTAT as one of the new products associated with the Saudi vision 2030. The report contains many Umrah-related indicators and results which have been taken from the Umrah survey (domestic Umrah performers), and the registered data that pertains to the ministry of Hajj and Umrah (foreign Umrah performers). Through this bulletin, GASTAT and its related governmental partners want to create a database for all domestic and foreign Umrah performers to support decision and policy makers in term of the services provided to Umrah performers. According to the results of Umrah statistics bulletin 2017, the total number of Umrah performers reached (19.079.306) performers, (6.532.074) of whom came from outside Saudi Arabia as showed in the registered data of the ministry of Hajj and Umrah. On the other hand, the total number of domestic Umrah performers (Saudis and non-Saudis) hit (12.547.232) performers according to the results of Umrah survey conducted by GASTAT. The percentage of Saudi Umrah performers who came from inside Saudi Arabia is (46.9%), whereas non-Saudis who came from inside Saudi Arabia recorded (53.1%). However, the percentage of male domestic Umrah performers registered (64.3%), while females percentage registered (35.7%). The bulletin results also showed that Ramadan is considered a top season during which Umrah is performed by people from inside Saudi Arabia, as (53.6%) of total Umrah performers performed it in Ramadan. As for Umrah performers from outside, King Abdulaziz airport in Jeddah registered the highest percentage on foreign Umrah performers with (62.51%), while the percentage registered by Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz airport in Medina hit (25.7%).  All data of the Umrah survey results are available on GASTAT website www.stats.gov.sa to serve researchers and those who are interested in such data, and to support decision makers by providing them with detailed results.

It includes 20 chapters and data of more than 50 governmental entities GASTAT releases the 53rd edition of the Statistical Yearbook (2017) GASTAT released the (53rd) edition of the Statistical Yearbook for 1438/1439 H (2017). It is one of the most important statistical products released by GASTAT to monitor and document statistical data and information, also to shed light on the activities of the governmental bodies and the private sector as well.  Additionally, it reflects the growth rates from year to year and the improvement in the economic, social and population fields. The Statistical Yearbook aims to provide statistical data and information to businessmen, companies, planners, researchers and to the public too. Moreover, it accurately indicates the dimensions of the comprehensive development that were achieved by the Kingdom.  The Statistical Yearbook includes 20 chapters and over 300 tables that contain updated information which were added to improve the display and the documentation of statistical indicators and data. It covers the most significant data and information for different development sectors as well as the main results of the statistical works carried out by GASTAT during the year, also the data received from different statistical departments of more than 50 governmental and private sectors. Moreover, it includes data about: population and vital characteristic, housing and real-estate, health, training and education, agriculture, water and environment, culture and information, internal trade, social development and services, money, insurance and prices, administrative services, labor market, industry, domestic product and household expenditure, transportation, technology and communication, Islamic affairs, Hajj and Umrah, tourism ,  entertainment and sport, energy, economic establishments, and data on the budget.  The Statistical Yearbook is not limited to a certain category, for example, the population and vital characteristics chapter is considered one of the significant chapters that includes useful data to conduct a research or to build indicators related to population; and through this, many development requirements can be achieved in all cities and governorates. On the other hand, policy planners and decision makers can benefit from the training and education chapter, the private sector can prepare necessary plans as well to establish more educational institutions. In addition, these data are useful for planners and those who are interested in regulating the labor market.  The social development and services chapter is important for citizens in which it shows the services provided by them. Additionally, this chapter is also useful to social researchers in which it helps them to conduct researches and studies related to social issues.    The findings of the labor market and the social protection’s chapter are very important to prepare plans to regulate the labor market and to find the right solutions. Furthermore, they can be used to conduct economic researches by economists and researches who are interested in this.  Money, insurance and prices chapter can serve a large number of researchers in the economic field to conduct studies that show the inflation rates and the consumption patterns of the population and other indicators. It is worth mentioning that the first edition of the book was released in 1385 H (1965) and GASTAT usually prepares its chapters based on two main sources: the results of the researches and the field studies carried out by GASTAT and the statistical data received from different statistical departments from various governmental bodies.

According to the results of households and individuals’ ICT access and usage survey 2017 GASTAT: 83.83% of individuals (12 to 65 years) use internet, and 92% use cell phone On Thursday 24th of Sha’aban 1439 H corresponding 10th of May 2018, the General Authority for Statistics has released the report of households and individuals’ ICT access and usage survey results 2017. This report aims at providing recent data and indicators about the communication and information technology activity, which helps decision makers in obtaining necessary statistical data. In addition, it helps in founding a wide range data base that can be used as a reliable reference for ICT activity’ studies and research. It also provides researchers and students with statistical data about the households and individuals ICT activity, so that they can use it in their scientific studies and research that contribute in developing this activity in Saudi Arabia. Not to mention its role in making local, regional, and international comparisons in the households and individuals ICT activity. Based on the survey results, the percentage of households who can access the internet reached 86.8%. however, households who have fixed phone in their dwellings registered 24.74%. on the other hand, individuals who use the internet recorded 68.13% of total Saudi population, whereas 83.83% of individuals whose ages range between (12 and 65 years) use the internet. As for cell phones, the percentage of individuals who use cell phones is 73.28% of total Saudi population. 91% of individuals whose ages range between (12 and 65 years) use cell phones. According to the results of this survey, the percentage of households who have a computer in their dwellings reached 46.6% of total Saudi population. However, individuals who use computers registered 24.69%, whereas 30% of total individuals whose ages range between (12 and 65 years) use computers. As for the percentage of households who have a television, they registered 92.67% of total Saudi population.