Statistical Yearbook of the Czech Republic

Let me thank you for your confidence in the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO) you have shown by buying this core publication of the Office. Hopefully, you will not be disappointed this year either, in spite of the fact the CZSO headquarters are still scattered at several locations in Prague as an aftermath of the August floods in 2002. This makes both internal and external communication of the Office very difficult. Also, unfortunately, this situation partly affected the quality of statistical (external trade) information released last year, which made CZSO chairman Bohatá resign in February 2003 in consequence and which brought about a series of significant changes associated with the coming of new management. The new management had to face the challenge to maintain and particularly improve all key activities of the CZSO under worsened conditions. To what extent they have accomplished this challenge can be also seen from this Statistical Yearbook – from its eleventh volume for the Czech Republic itself in succession.

As every year the contents of the Yearbook are more or less changed as well. A rather large change has been made in ‘Chapter 5. National Accounts’: the chapter has been reduced as a result of methodological adjustments to data asked for by Eurostat. The adjustments had not been completed by the closing date of the Yearbook and the updated data are supposed to be released in a special CZSO publication when the Yearbook is brought out. Another rather large change, connected with global developments, is the innovation and enlargement of Chapter 13 renamed from original ‘Research and Development’ to ‘Science and Technology, Information Society’. There is no ‘Chapter 29. Population and Housing Census’ in this Yearbook because detailed results of the Census are put out in separate publications (see their list in ‘Chapter 4. Population’ where the influence of the Census results on adjustments to demographic indicators is also given). On the other hand, a new chapter was added – ‘Chapter 29. Referendum’ – to sum up voting results of the Czech population about the accession of the CR to the EU. Rather small adjustments were made to ‘Chapter 9. Income, Expenditure and Consumption of the Population’ which has been expanded to include new data on the structure of households itemized by monthly net money income per household member and on persons with incomes under subsistence level, and to ‘Chapter 14. Agriculture’ to which a new table on the production of certain products in households in 2002 has been added. The data on employment and some related indicators have also received methodological adjustments. In ‘Chapter 11. External Trade’ the tables listing exports and imports of selected commodities were reduced and the breakdown of exports and imports is only made by two-digit codes of the CZ-CPA (as with exports and imports after inward processing).

It goes without saying that the Statistical Yearbook is also brought out in its electronic version. The CD-ROM can be ordered or directly bought at the provisional office of the CZSO Information Services Section (Josefská 6, Praha 1 - Malá Strana, Czech Republic), whereas the book can be ordered from SCIENTIA Publishers and bought at the address above or at certain bookshops. Another possibility to familiarize oneself with the Yearbook is to open the CZSO website (www.czso.cz).

Thanks for the content and technical preparation of the publication – still under deteriorated conditions – go to the teams of the Czech Statistical Office and of the cooperating ministries and other institutions. Thanks are also extended to SCIENTIA Publishers – a reliable partner of long standing that also distributes the Yearbook in the CR and abroad – for bringing it out. I would also like to draw your attention to Regional Statistical Yearbooks following up and related to this nationwide one.

I believe that you will find here data you need for your work, be they on the private or state sphere, or you are only interested in for other reasons, such as the results of social, economic and environmental developments of the country you live in. Should the Yearbook fall short of your expectations, you kindly are invited to email your comments and suggestions to the addresses you will find on the opposite page. We will consider them seriously and use them to upgrade the Yearbook.