Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in a meeting on Tuesday with officials in charge of the General Census of Population and Housing Headquarters, members of the Supreme Statistics Council, and directors of the Statistical Center of Iran mentioned “accurate, centralized and scientific” statistics as the main basis of efficient decision-making in the country. Highlighting the importance of the general census plan, the Leader addressed the Iranian people, saying, “All dear people must take serious part in this important plan.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution described statistics as an inevitable and major necessity for planning with regard to the country’s diverse and extensive resources and needs, adding, “In order for the decision-making process in the country to be ‘correct, timely, and efficient’, all dear people must both take part in the important plan and make available the necessary statistics and information to statistical organs in an accurate manner and, as said by officials, [collected] statistics will be kept confidential.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei addressed officials in charge of collecting statistics in the country, saying, “Statistics must both delineate the status quo and clarify the ‘trend of changes’, so that, at the present time when the speed of changes is very high, the country’s officials and decision-makers would not be taken by surprise as a result of changes in the [existing] trends.”

Highlighting the importance of precision and correctness of statistics and the heavy blow that wrong statistics may deal to the country, the Leader said, “Unfortunately, the country lags behind in terms of collecting statistics and some officials are not even aware of real facts and figures about certain sectors.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution then brought the importance of statistics in knowledge-based economy as an example, adding, “Knowledge-based economy, which is the way to the country’s progress, relies on ‘educated and innovative human factor’ and it must be clear how many young people as well as talented and innovative and motivated forces are there in any one of economic and technical branches.”

Ayatollah Khamenei also pointed out the determining role of statistics in the realization of the Economy of Resistance, noting, “The real cure for the country’s problems is the Economy of Resistance and if all the world’s ways were opened to us, but the country’s economy were not endogenous, at the end of the day, this equation would be a failed equation.”

The Leader emphasized that availability of accurate statistics and information on the state of domestic production and production companies and their requirements is the main requisite for the realization of the Economy of Resistance.

The next point highlighted by Ayatollah Khamenei was “timely presentation of statistics to the country’s officials and decision-makers and those who shape public opinion and discourses.”

Referring to the issue of “population ageing and the undue continuation of family planning policies,” the Leader said, “A four-percent population growth rate during [the Iranian years of the 13]60s (1980s) needed a cure and its cure was the same policies, which aimed to reduce population. However, the continuation of these policies should have stopped or slowed down through a presentation of timely statistics by officials in due time, because the problem of population ageing is an intractable problem and today, [even] developed countries have no solution for it.”

Ayatollah Khamenei then described discrepancies in statistics produced by various statistical centers as a “great scourge” and noted, “Sometimes, different [statistical] centers announce differing statistics on the unemployment rate or inflation and economic growth. Such a problem will sow distrust among people.”
 
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution then noted that some statistics announced by former administrations are described as incorrect by their successors, saying, “The origin of this duality must be made clear. I mean, either in the period [of the former administration] there has been a problem with regard to announcing statistics, or in the period after that; at any rate, manipulation of statistics, which is judged by informed people [of Iran] as well, is a huge sin.”

Ayatollah Khamenei then emphasized that centralization of statistics in a single center and also concentration on a single scientific and agreed method is one of the basic steps, which must be taken in this regard.

Endorsing the need to take advantage of modern tools in collecting and processing statistical information, the Leader, said, “Declaring the results of the general census must not be postponed and the results must be declared by the year-end after scientific and accurate processing and roundup.”

The Leader also mentioned the assessment of the results and functions of such important documents as the 20-Year Perspective Plan and other large-scale policies of the country as another important duty for the Statistical Center of Iran, adding, “The Statistical Center [of Iran] must both assess the realization of policies and express its view on the results and functions of the implementation of those policies, so that, if the results are undesirable, the policies are reviewed and corrected.”

Before the remarks by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Mr. [Mohammad Baqer] Nobakht, vice president and head of the State Planning and Budget Organization, noted that the general census of population and housing is carried out every five years. He added that the general census in the current Iranian calendar year will be conducted from September 24 to October 15 through the Internet and from October 16 to November 15 through the door-to-door method.
Meanwhile, Mr. [Omid Ali] Parsa, head of the Statistical Center of Iran, presented a report on the process of the general census of population and housing, which will be carried out by 25,000 statistics officers across the country, saying, “It will take about 10-15 minutes to obtain information related to every household and we assure people that their personal information will remain confidential.”