The Municipal Statistics in Ukraine: Current Status and Directions of Improvement

Abstract

The article reveals the current state of municipal statistics in Ukraine and outlines areas for improvement based on European experience. It argues that in the context of digitalization and decentralization, high-quality statistical data is becoming an essential tool for the effective management of local communities, the formation of local budgets, the assessment of socio-economic processes, and the attraction of investment. It was established that despite the existence of the official statistical system, there were still significant gaps at the municipal level, with information delayed, insufficiently detailed, not always adapted to the needs of local authorities, and incomparable across communities. The main users of municipal statistics were identified: local self-government bodies, executive authorities, businesses, research institutions, and international organizations. It is shown that communities are best provided with statistical data on education, culture, and budgets, with shortage of data on economy, investment, innovation, labor market, and foreign economic activity. The key challenges for the development of municipal statistics were identified: the lack of a unified methodology and legal framework, the fragmentation and non-uniformity of indicators, low digital integration, and the acute need for reliable data in the period of post-war recovery. A review of practices in EU countries (Poland, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and France) was made, to show that they combined centralized coordination of statistical work, using administrative registers, and ensuring broad access to open data. It is emphasized that the integration of these practices will contribute to the formation of modern municipal statistics in Ukraine, based on the principles of transparency, consistency, and accessibility. It is proposed to create a single national web portal for municipal statistics, which will accumulate data from all communities in a standardized form, ensure their regular updating and visualization in the form of tables, graphs, and maps. This approach will increase confidence in the data, make management decisions more informed, and promote Ukraine's integration into the European statistical space.