Experimental statistics are produced using new methods and/or new data sources and are therefore in line with the FSO’s data innovation strategy and the Confederation's multi-annual programme for federal statistics. This site contains descriptions of the (pilot) projects currently being developed.
By publishing them we can involve users and partners at an early stage for both the development and consolidation of projects.
The aim of these statistical projects is to better meet users’ needs in terms of efficiency, quality and speed. However, these statistics still have the potential to evolve, especially regarding their methodology, which is still being assessed. For this reason they are clearly marked as experimental and carry a logo that can easily be recognised.
Ongoing: project currently under development. In production: project transferred to standard production. Stopped: project stopped under current conditions (reactivation possible). Finished: project closed (without transfer to standard production).
The FSO's mortality monitoring system is designed to detect whether the weekly number of deaths is higher than expected at that time of year. Mortality rates are an important indicator of health statistics and are of fundamental importance for public health.
In 2020, the European Commission signed a data sharing agreement with four platforms - Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia Group and Tripadvisor. This allows Eurostat to publish new data on short-term accommodation.
The aim of this project is to obtain a “household type” variable for all private households in the permanent resident population at the main place of residence.
The Household Budget Survey (HBS) is particularly suited to an in-depth and temporal analysis of the effects of the pandemic, as it is continuous and covers every day of the year. This means that its latest data could be analysed and used very quickly.
The structural population survey provides important information on the population, including information about work. It is possible to make reliable estimates of the economic activity rate of groups of 15 000 inhabitants.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in spring 2020, far-reaching economic and social restrictions changed the living conditions of Switzerland’s resident population. SILC survey, which provides detailed information on poverty and the living conditions in Switzerland, was able to measure the impact on living conditions.
Automation of the coding of the economic activity of enterprises using Machine Learningmethods applied to data already available within the FSO (data from surveys, descriptionsin the commercial register, keywords, explanatory notes for classifications etc.) to supportcoding.
Analysing the evolution of income from employment in the first years after obtaining a qualification through the Swiss education system is key to assessing how well the education and training system caters to the labour market.
In future, the poverty statistics are to be supplemented with an indicator based on households’ total financial means (income and assets). The FSO therefore integrated a pilot module on the topic of wealth in the survey on income and living conditions (SILC), which is also the basis of data for official poverty statistics.
A project team of 15 people evaluates the potential of small area estimation methods for the Job Statistics. The aim is to produce reliable estimates of the total number of jobs and FTEs for cantons, major towns and NOGA levels that were not anticipated in the sampleplan.
The aim of this project is to extend and speed up data validation in the FSO by means of machine learning algorithms and at the same time to improve data quality.
The clustering of typical prospective trajectories patterns concerning the receipt ofbenefits in the social security system as well as employment and the estimation of clusteraffiliation through the use of individual characteristics and retrospective process dataapplying a machine learning approach.
Experimental statistics in Europe
Various other countries in Europe are developing experimental statistics based on new methods and new data sources. All the countries of the European Statistical System (ESS), which currently propose experimental statistics can be found here.