Courrier des statistiques N11 - 2024
Facilitating Access to INSEE Data Cubes, Catalogue and Metadata
INSEE (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies) publishes on its website a vast amount of data covering numerous economic and social themes such as demography, employment, national accounts, and price index. Given the richness of its website, INSEE must guide its users towards their desired data. Presenting all statistical data in a simple and coherent manner on the insee.fr website is therefore a significant challenge. A first level of dissemination, which is data visualisation, allows to comprehend a given subject through synthetic indicators presented as simple, clear, and easy-to-understand visuals. However, to go further in the analysis, more detailed data are made available. These are typically presented in an aggregated form: multidimensional cubes that cross-reference various variables of interest such as gender, age, or socio-professional category in household surveys. The challenge then becomes offering these informations in well-standardized and open-source formats, while also thoroughly documenting them, relying on international standards. These data must also be well-catalogued to facilitate discovery. To access them, INSEE’s data consultation services are being updated to make it possible to navigate through these cubes. Finally, the data must be accessible both to internet users and to machines that harvest them: the use of the latter opens up new prospects for data consumption modes through artificial intelligence.
Paru le :06/01/2026
