Informal Sector Statistics Sri Lanka Informal Sector Statistics Informal Sector Statistics Training Bangkok, Thailand | 14-15 November 2017

Outline of presentation Definition of informal sector Status of the informal sector in your country Country policies for informal sector Current statistics being produced What data sources do you collect? National Accounts and the informal sector Country specific issues in statistics Development plans How development partners can help

Definitions Definition of informal sector – policy perspective If any economic activity which is not registered with the tax dept.is called informal Definition of informal sector – ( Economic Census) An entity/economic activity/enterprise is considered informal if It does not maintain complete set of accounts and Having less than 10 employees being unincorporated or

Status of informal sector statistics 51% of GDP 60.2% of labour force Nature of employment By Gender   Male 63.4% Female 54.4% By Economic Sector Agriculture 87.5% Non- Agriculture 50.1%

Status of informal sector statistics Key indicators(Economic Census) Economic Census 2013/14

Status of informal sector statistics SDG 8 - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all Employment category Formal Sector Informal Sector Total No. % Employees 2,874,407 36.2 1,721,170 21.7 4,595,577 57.8 Employer 88,653 1.1 128,562 1.6 217,215 2.7 Own account worker 140,682 1.8 2,371,068 29.8 2,511,750 31.6 Contributing family worker 59,320 0.7 563,821 7.1 623,141 7.8 3,163,062 39.8 4,784,621 60.2 7,947,683 100.0 Source : Sri Lanka Labour Force Survey - 2016

Status of informal sector statistics SDG 10 - Reduce inequality within and among countries Source : Household Income and Expenditure Survey

Country polices Country policies and development plans for the informal Sector In Sri Lanka informal sector was not stable in the past Trade liberalization and encouragement of export led industrialization policy implemented after 1977 made the informal sector shrinking The present policy related to the industrial sector is to encourage SMEs

Country polices Country policies and development plans for the informal Sector The process of industrial restructuring in the formal sector has led to a greater decentralization of creation of small enterprises most of which are informal in nature through sub- contracting Regional development plans include supporting micro enterprises Financial support through loan facilities to start business

Data sources Existing data collection activities and methodologies / or plans Economic Census 2013/14 Annual Surveys on Industry, Trade and services (ASITS) Sri Lanka Labour force survey (LFS)

Data sources Details of the surveys Survey ASITS LFS Survey Method Full enumeration Sample Enumeration Sample Survey Data Collection Postal Interview Sampling Design Stratified random sampling Strata District Activity Type of Persons engaged Sector (Urban/Rural/estate)   Frequency Annual

National Accounts How is the informal sector included in the national accounts? For GDP estimates some wage related indictors are used to measure the informal sector contribution Used proxies Number of employment of the informal sector

Issues What big issues do you face / need to resolve? Updating the informal sector frame Response rate Lack of awareness of the public Policy issues? Contribution of stake holders to succeed the SBR SDG indicators for goals 8 &10

Development plans for NSO Plans to develop and enhance informal sector statistics Getting the updated frame through SBR Training the staff Launching awareness campaign for respondents

Development plans for NSO Priorities for the development of informal sector statistics Rank event 1 Maintaining the SBR properly 2 Drawing sample using the updated frame from SBR 3 Training the staff on calculating and analyzing informal statistics 4 Conducting publicity campaign targeting the respondents

Development partners How can the development partners help you? Rank priorities for development partner assistance

Q&A