Planning and Budgeting

Iran’s Registration office which was established with the aim of registering four major life events (birth, death, marriage and divorce) made it clear that it was essential to gather the information on the country’s population and establish an agency in charge of gathering and producing statistics. Consequently in 1924 a rule was passed in six articles whereby Interior ministry became in charge of gathering and concentration of the necessary statistics. Other ministries were required to transfer their own needed information to the Interior Ministry as well. According to the rule, a permanent council including the representatives of the ministries was projected which continued its activities later as Statistics High Council. Hence, Iran’s statistics system has been semi-central from the beginning i.e. ministries other than the Interior Ministry used to produce statistics too. Later changes in the agencies related to the state statistical system, eventually lead to General Statistics Department’s separation from the Interior Ministry and establishment of Iran’s Statistics Center in 1965. Although principles such as supervision of Iran’s statistics Center on production and processing of statistical information of other executive organizations and establishment of State Data Bank were considered crucial, statistical system has still remained semi-central. And due to the lack of a defined relationship within the statistical system, other agencies produce statistics including agricultural statistics. The paper reviews 40 years of agricultural statistics history in Iran and briefly explains ideal statistical system characteristics. Finally, it is to be added that as the Statistics High Council approved “State Statistical System” in 2000, we should expect positive and constructive changes in the statistical system in future.