A new article by UM researcher Luca Di Gennaro Splendore, the main purpose of which is to show the quantitative relationship between political regimes and the quality of the national statistical systems, is available online.

The data exploratory analysis, usually treated from a qualitative point of view, shows a strong correlation between democracy and official statistics, a thesis confirmed in all continents.

The most democratic countries are the ones with the best statistical performance. In fact, among the top 10 democracies, five are also in the top 10 for statistical performance. The correlation between democracy and statistical performance is about 70%, although over the years 2016–2022, it has been slightly decreasing. 

The country’s statistical performance is affected by political regime. The main indicators employed for this analysis are the Democracy Index by The Economist, and the Statistical Performance Indicators by the World Bank. The use of these global indicators, encompassing an entire range of years and countries, is unusual in statistical analysis.