International Recommendations for Water Statistics

These recommendations were developed to assist countries establish and strengthen information systems for water, which in turn support the design and evaluation of better water policies. In particular, these recommendations support the collection, compilation and dissemination of internationally comparable water statistics in countries, as well as the implementation of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounts for Water (SEEA-Water). They also provide the necessary information for deriving coherent and consistent indicators, enabling comparisons over time and between countries from an agreed list of data items, and consolidate the experiences and practices of countries and international organisations in water statistics. The United Nations Statistical Commission is the highest decision-making body for international statistical activities, especially the setting of statistical standards.