Methodology and Quality Update

Methodology and Quality last update

26/03/2024 

Statistical Presentation

Data description

The Services Statistics publication displays data on the service establishments available in the governorates and regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, whether educational, administrative, social, agricultural, governmental, or private - a comprehensive inventory in the administrative records, distributed according to the administrative division of the Kingdom.

Services statistics are an inventory of service establishments that is conducted to collect data on the main characteristics as follows:
•    Public and private schools by educational stage.
•    Hospitals and primary health care centers.
•    Police stations, traffic departments, civil affairs centers, and civil defense.
•    Banks.
•    Agricultural branches and banks. 

Classification system

The Classification of Guidebook for the Populated Areas is applied in Services Statistics:
It is a classification of the General Authority for Statistics, which classifies the administrative subordination of each (administrative region, governorate, administrative center) as well as the type of populated area (city, village).

Sector Coverage

Services Statistics cover the following main service sectors:
•    Educational.
•    Health.
•    Social and development.
•    Agricultural.
•    Finance and banking.
•    Administrative.

Statistical concepts and definitions

Terms and concepts of Services Statistics:
•    Administrative Region:
Part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is administered by a government agency which is directly attached to the Ministry of Interior.
•    Governorate:
Part of the administrative region, the first level of the subdivisions and reports directly to the region.
•    Municipality:
Administrative entity that reports to a governorate.
•    Populated area:
Any place inhabited by population. A locality could be fixed or permanent (such as a city, village, or farm), and it could be changing or non-permanent (such as a non-permanent water supply).
•    City:
'City' refers herein to every locality with a municipality, or whose population exceed 5.000 persons.
•    Village:
A group of more than 10 populated housing units that share a recognized name.

Statistical unit

The statistical unit of the Services Statistics publication is the service establishment.

Statistical population

The statistical community of services statistics is all service establishments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Reference area

Services statistics cover service establishments in all regions and governorates of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Time coverage

Data available for 1999, 2001, 2005, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2023.

Base period

Not applicable. 

Unit of measure

Most results are measured by numbers (such as: Number of civil defense centers)

Reference period

Services statistics data are based on the last day of each calendar year.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality- Policy

According to Royal Decree No. 23 dated 07/12/1397, data must always be kept confidential, and must be used by GASTAT for statistical purposes only.
Therefore, the data are protected in the data servers of GASTAT.

Confidentiality- Data treatment

 Data were displayed in appropriate tables to facilitate its summarization, comprehension, and results extraction. Also, to compare data with other data and extract statistical meanings for the study community. As it is easily referenced in the form of tables without accessing sensitive or confidential data, thereby maintaining the principle of statistical data confidentiality.

Release policy

Release calendar

Services statistics are included in the statistical calendar.

Release calendar accessibility

Available on the: https://https://www.stats.gov.sa/statistical-calendar-releases

User access

One of GASTAT’s objectives is to better meet its clients' needs, so it immediately provides them with the publication's results once the Services Statistics Publication is published.
 It also receives questions and inquiries of the clients about the Publication and its results through various communication channels, such as:
•    GASTAT official website:   www.stats.gov.sa
•    GASTAT official e-mail address:  info@stats.gov.sa
•    Client support e-mail:   info@stats.gov.sa
•    Official visits to GASTAT’s official head office in Riyadh or one of its branches in Saudi Arabia.
•    Official letters.
•    Statistical telephone: (199009).

Frequency of dissemination

Services statistics are published on the website of the General Authority for Statistics every three years.

Accessibility and clarity

News releases

The announcements of each publication are available on release calendar as mentioned in 7.2. Release calendar access. The news release can be viewed on the website of GASTAT through the following link:
 https://www.stats.gov.sa/en/news

Publications

GASTAT issues Services Statistics publications and reports regularly within a pre-prepared dissemination plan and is published on GASTAT’s website. GASTAT is keen to publish its publications in a way that serves all users of different types, including publications in different formats that contain (publication tables, data graphs, indicators, Methodology and Quality Report) in both English and Arabic.
Results of Services Statistics are available on:
https://www.stats.gov.sa/en/statistics

On-line database

The data is published on the statistical database
GASTAT (stats.gov.sa)

Microdata accessibility 

Not available.

Other

Not available.

Documentation on methodology

Services statistics are based on the Guidebook for the Populated Areas of the General Authority for Statistics.

Quality documentation

Quality documentation covers the documentation of methods and standards for evaluating, measuring, and controlling the quality of statistical processes and outputs, which are based on quality principles and standards such as: Relevance, accuracy, reliability, timeliness, punctuality, accessibility, clarity, comparability, and consistency.

Quality Management

Quality assurance

GASTAT takes the following principles into consideration: Impartiality, user-oriented, quality of processes and outputs, effectiveness of statistical processes, and reducing the workload of respondents. 
The validity of data is verified through procedures and quality controls that are implemented during the process at different stages such as: (data entry, data collection, and other final controls).

Quality assessment

GASTAT performs all statistical activities according to a national model (Generic Statistical Business Process Model – GSBPM). According to the GSBPM, the final phase of statistical activities is overall evaluation using information gathered in each phase or sub-process. This information is used to prepare the evaluation report which outlines all the quality issues related to the specific statistical activity and serves as input for improvement actions.

Relevance

User needs 

Internal users in the GASTAT for Services Statistics data:
•    International indicators department.
•    General Department of Strategic Communication and Client Support

Some several external users and beneficiaries greatly benefit from Services Statistics data, including:
•    Government entities.
•    Regional and international organizations.
•    Research institutions.
•    Media.
•    Individuals.

User satisfaction 

Not available.

Completeness

Services statistics data are based on administrative records data from service-related authorities to provide statistics on the progress and distribution of services throughout the Kingdom and data in complete status.

Accuracy and reliability

Overall accuracy

•    Data is checked with previous years to identify any significant changes in the data.
•    The internal consistency of the data is checked before it is finalized.
•    The links between variables are checked and coherence between different data series is confirmed.

Timeliness and punctuality

Timeliness

The General Authority for Statistics is committed to applying internationally recognized standards regarding the announcement, clarification of the time of publishing statistics on its official website, as outlined in the statistical calendar, as well as adhering to the announced time of publication. In the event of any delay, updates will be provided accordingly.

Punctuality

The publication is done according to the publication dates in the statistical calendar published for Services Statistics on the website page of the General Authority for Statistics.
The data are available at the expected time, as scheduled in the statistical release calendar, If the publication is delayed, reasons shall be provided.

Coherence and comparability

Comparability - geographical

The data is geographically comparable.

Comparability - over time 

Some indicators can be compared over time, noting that the Services Statistics publication was previously issued as the Service Directory.

Coherence- cross domain 

Not applicable.

Coherence- sub-annual and annual statistics 

Not applicable.

Coherence- National Accounts 

Not applicable.

Coherence- internal 

Services Statistics estimates have full internal coherence, as they are all based on the same corpus of microdata, and they are calculated using the same estimation methods.

Data revision

Data revision - policy

Not applicable, only final results will be published.

data revision- practice

Not applicable, only final results will be published.

Statistical processing

Source data

The administrative records at the government and private entities are considered the primary source of data for the publication of services statistics in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The disseminated key variables of survey data are:
•    Distribution and number of governmental and private schools according to the educational stage.
•    Distribution and number of hospitals and primary health care centers.
•    Distribution and number of police stations, traffic departments, civil affairs centers, and civil defense.
•    Distribution and number of banks.
•    Distribution and number of agricultural banks and branches.

Frequency and data collection 

Annual.

Data collection

Data collection from administrative records:
 In coordination with the Authority’s departments concerned with the management and collection of data, the data on the Services Statistics publication are obtained from the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Health, in addition to more than 25 other entities, which include data on the numbers and locations of service facilities at the level of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 
The data is stored in the authority's databases after undergoing auditing and review processes following approved statistical methods and recognized quality standards. If errors or discrepancies are discovered, the data is cross-referenced with the data source for correction or clarification.

Data Validation

Data are reviewed and matched to ensure their accuracy and precision in a way that suits their nature with the aim of giving the presented statistics quality and accuracy. 
The data of the current year publication are compared with the data of the previous year to ensure their integrity and consistency in preparation for processing data and extracting and reviewing results.
In addition to the data processing and tabulation to check their accuracy, all the outputs are stored and uploaded to the database after being calculated by GASTAT to be reviewed and processed by specialists in Geo Data and Maps Department through modern technologies and software designed for this purpose.

Data compilation

Data editing:
Specialists in Geo Data and Maps Department have processed and analyzed data in this stage, and this step was based on the following measures:
•    Sorting and arranging data in groups or different categories in a serial order.
•    Summarizing detailed data into key points or data.
•    Combining many data segments and ensuring their interconnection.
•    Processing incomplete or missing data.
•    Processing illogical data.
•    Converting data into statistically significant data.
•    Arranging, presenting, and interpreting data.

Adjustment

Not applicable, only final results will be published.