The Statistical System of the Republic of China was established on April 1, 1931 as a part of Budgeting, Accounting and Statistics system (BAS). Under the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) of the central government, there are three bureaus : Bureau of Budget, Bureau of Accounting and Bureau of Statistics, in charge of budget, accounting and statistical affairs. DGBAS was placed under the jurisdiction of the Executive Yuan in 1948. The Bureau of Statistics was renamed as the Third Bureau based on its order on the organizational chart and in charge of national statistical affairs. In July 1983 the Fourth bureau, responsible for general census and large-scale sample surveys, was set up. In February 2012, the Third Bureau was renamed as the Department of Statistics and the Fourth Bureau as the Department of Census in compliance with government reconstruction. The government statistical system is a system which combines centralized control and decentralized implementation. The administrations are centralized at the highest budget, accounting and statistics authority, yet all statistical works are performed by staff in various related organizations. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics is the highest authority (a Central Government organization) in charge of national budget, accounting and statistics business. DGBAS has responsibility to follow related law and regulations to establish BAS offices and determine necessary number of staff for various departments in the government according to the organization structure and statistic work load. Until the end of June 2023, there are 130 statistical departments (121 in the Central Government, and 9 in the local government). The total statisticians(regular staff) in these offices are 1,194 (862 in the Central Government, and 323 in the local government).
There are three independent characteristics of our statistical system:
· The independence of the statistics organizations: The statistical organizations of our government are part of the administrative structure, yet they are by themselves a separate entities which are independent from other governmental organizations. The DGBAS has the ultimate authority to govern all levels of the statistical organizations thus becomes another administrative system.
· The independence of staff members: The assignment, hiring and firing, promotion and transfer, training, and performance review of the statistical staff members are the responsibilities of DGBAS. The staff of the BAS offices at all level of governmental organizations shall not be effected by the changing of the head of that organization.
· The independence of the statistical business: Staff at all levels of BAS offices shall perform their duties of compiling statistics for the governmental organizations based on the Statistical Law and related regulations. They shall not be effected nor influenced by any individual, group, or governmental organization, in order to ensure the objectiveness of the statistical results which can be trusted and respected by the general public.