5 March 2026 - “Across the world, expectations and demand for high-quality data and statistics have never been higher,” UN DESA’s Under-Secretary-General Mr. Li Junhua said as the 57th session of the UN Statistical Commission opened at UN Headquarters in New York on 3 March 2026.
Addressing the global community of leaders from national and international statistical systems, coming together from across the world, Mr. Li stressed how the sweeping transformations facing our societies make the work of the Commission more vital than ever.
“Advances in artificial intelligence are already reshaping our field,” Mr. Li said, referring to the opportunities that these new technologies offer “to improve timeliness, reduce costs, and expand analytical capacity.” However, he also noted that these advancements introduce new challenges related to “transparency, bias, accountability, and a widening readiness gap among Member States.”
With societal transformations occurring in other significant ways, Mr. Li noted that it is essential for statistical systems to adapt and respond.
“Rapid urbanization, aging populations, migration, evolving household structures, and shifting labor markets are transforming societies at a pace that demands more than traditional data systems can provide,” Mr. Li said, while praising the Commission’s work in considering a new Central Framework for Population and Social Statistics.
This new framework aims at addressing information gaps to make sure that policies are based on data that reflect lived experiences.
“Without reliable, disaggregated, and timely social data and statistics, our commitment to inclusion, equity, and leaving no one behind remains an aspiration rather than an operational reality,” Mr. Li emphasized.
Mr. Li also pointed to the need to look beyond GDP, noting that “there is a growing consensus that a focus on economic output alone is insufficient to measure true human progress,” and that “the Commission’s work recognizes that wellbeing, sustainability, and social cohesion are central to policy choices.”
As part of the UN Statistical Commission’s work this year, dedicated side event sessions also homed in on both going beyond GDP, as well as AI readiness for official data and statistics. The Friday seminar on 27 February focused on what it truly means for official data and metadata to be AI-ready, while the High-level Forum on Official Statistics on 2 March tackled a defining question of our time, namely how we measure what truly matters, with wellbeing and sustainability at the core.
Recordings of these events, as well as of the UN Statistical Commission’s sessions, which runs until 6 March, are available on UN Web TV.
UN DESA’s Statistics Division leads efforts coordinating, preparing and supporting the work of the UN Statistical Commission, one of the functional commissions of ECOSOC. Learn more about this work here.
For more information:
57th Session of the UN Statistical Commission
Access the opening statement of UN DESA’s Under-Secretary-General Li Junhua