Dissemination of the main economic, social and environmental indicators

In accordance with the principle of Impartiality and Objectivity set out in the European Statistics Code of Practice, the French Official Statistical Service (Service statistique public, or SSP) is commited to pre-announcing the date and time of release of the most important statistics and to providing access to releases of key statistical indicators to all users at the same time and under the same conditions. Any privileged pre-release access granted to any outside user is limited, controlled and publicised. Such access is a mater of tolerance rather than a norm.

At the end of each month (on the 25th), the four-month release schedule announces the date and time of release when statistical indicators are published online. The dates for the first month are firm, while the dates of the other three months are subject to change. Changes are reported in the programme circulated the following month.

The rules governing dissemination concern key statistical indicators used for the economic, social or environmental analysis of a sector of activity and for decision-making and/or that are of interest to political decision-makers and the media; they must be the subject of an initial release. These rules do not apply to studies or summary reports.

The list of these indicators is updated and distributed each year.

In this context, privileged pre-release access to statistical indicators may be granted in a limited way, provided that such access is conducive to effective democratic outcomes. Therefore, users who may be granted access to statistical information before it is publicised only include:

Beneficiaries of preferential status are required to conform to a strict embargo: they must not disseminate the information before it has been made public. If the embargo is breached, it is lifted promptly to restore equal access to information.

The Main Economic Indicators (PIE) produced by INSEE are published at 08:45 am. They may be released by INSEE:

Three of these indicators, deemed “sensitive”, are published at 7:30 am and released by INSEE:

With the exception of the main economic indicators produced by INSEE, the statistical indicators subject to this rule (i.e. the main social and environmental indicators and INSEE’s non-major economic indicators) are published at 12 pm at the latest and may be transmitted: