On national statistical indicators of the development of digital economy in the Republic of Belarus

Rapid digital transformation, the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence technologies, the growing volume of processed information, and the emergence of new formats of interaction between government, business, and society are fundamentally changing the economy, the governance system, and everyday life, creating a new environment for interaction among the state, business, and citizens.

An objective assessment of these processes requires high-quality official statistical information.

To this end, Belstat, based on current international recommendations in this area, has developed a list of national statistical indicators for the digital economy development in the Republic of Belarus, which contains 38 indicators grouped into five blocks:

“Digitalization of the economy” reflects the performance of organizations in the ICT sector, content and media sector, digital trade;

“Infrastructure of digital development” characterizes the development of national information and communication infrastructure, as well as services provided on its basis;

“Digital development of public administration” is represented by the indicator “number of electronic services provided and administrative procedures through UAIS”;

“Use of digital technologies by the population and organizations” characterizes the transformation of business processes through ICT in modern society;

“Digital transformation” reflects the number of ICT research, development and patents.

In the list for 2016 – 2025, statistical indicators for the ICT sector, content sector, and media are calculated by types of economic activity included in the collective groupings in accordance with the National Classifier of the Republic of Belarus OKRB 005-2011 'Types of Economic Activity', approved by the Resolution of the State Committee for Standardization of the Republic of Belarus dated December 5, 2011, No. 85 (OKRB 005-2011).

The assessment of individual statistical indicators on digital trade was carried out in accordance with subclass 47910 'Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet' of OKRB 005-2011 and for organizations engaged in retail trade through online stores.

The information base comprises state statistical observations on ICT use in organizations, the production of computer hardware, software development, and the provision of services in these areas, data from the household sample survey on ICT access, and administrative data.

The list of national statistical indicators of the development of the digital economy in the Republic of Belarus is available on the official website of Belstat on the Internet under the heading Official statistics/ Multi-domain statistics/ Information and communication technologies/ Digital economy, as well as in the thematic section 'Digital Economy' of the interactive information and analytical system for the dissemination of official statistical information (BIS DB).