Fulfilling the institutional mission of portraying Brazil, the IBGE produced and released more than 200 statistical and geoscientific products in 2017, always pursuing the excellence in the methods and procedures for data collection, processing, storage and dissemination of statistical data. Grounded in values like professionalism, efficiency and reliability, the IBGE invested in technology and came closer to the society by means of the creation and development of channels of communication and dissemination.

On June 1st, Roberto Olinto Ramos took over the Presidency, challenged to carry out the Census of Agriculture and the Consumer Expenditure Survey - POF. "It was an outstanding year for the IBGE, since we got some achievements and changes, like the start-up of the Census of Agriculture, in which the most important thing to do was a technical project of quality fitting the budget. And we began to collect the data of POF. Yet, the change that I particularly consider key concerns the communication: the creation of the IBGE News Agency, which reflects a concern to improve the communication, either internal or external", stated Roberto Olinto Ramos.

There were 165 short-term indicators, which monthly measured inflation, producer prices, national and regional industrial output, trade sales, services sector and agricultural harvest. On a quarterly basis, the national accounts (Gross Domestic Product - GDP) summarized the results of all the sectors of the economy. On the other hand, the long-term picture per activity was shown by the Annual Survey of Trade, Annual Survey of Services, Municipal Agricultural Production, Municipal Livestock Survey and Annual Survey of industry.

In 2017, the first thematic modules of the Continuous National Household Sample Survey - PNAD-C were released, showing social and economic inequalities and regional differences through statistics of Education, Child Labor, Earnings from All Sources, Other Forms of Labor and General Characteristics of Households and Residents.

The Summary of Social Indicators 2017 updated the major Brazilian social indicators. Conversely, the Vital Statistics pointed out that births dropped for the first time since 2010.

In geosciences, the 2016 Road and Waterway Links study pinpointed thousands of intercity connections, like the Rio-Lima one, the biggest bus line in the world. Another study – Intra-urban Typology - Spaces of socioeconomic differentiation in urban concentrations in Brazil – showed the life conditions under which the population lives in urban centers. The conclusion of the Mapping of Natural Resources - 120 sheets, in the 1:250,000 scale, including geology, geomorphology, pedology (soil) and vegetation, was another milestone.

The year also registered a number of enhancements in the information technology area. As a follow up of the process of technology power, a new Data Center was opened in São Paulo in October, able to replace either totally or partially the Data Center located in Rio de Janeiro, thus avoiding breaks of access, transmission and information processing, as well as ensuring the security of the IBGE databases.

The creation of the IBGE News Agency and the launch of the Retratos Magazine in May were other advances in the communication of statistics and geosciences. Based on the rich production of the IBGE, the agency produces multimedia content, which is directly delivered to the society. The IBGE social media were also redesigned, getting an exponential growth of followers. October marked the redesign of the IBGE Web Portal on the Internet. The defense of the first PhD thesis at the National School of Statistical Sciences - ENCE reasserted it as a research center of excellence.

"More and more we must show the strategic importance of the IBGE to the Brazilian people, in terms of the production of knowledge to take decisions, and how much the IBGE is key to Brazil. We are proud to end this year showing that we are advancing towards this", concluded President Roberto Olinto Ramos.

The IBGE calendar for 2018 including the releases of the short-term indicators and major long-term surveys can be accessed here.

Text: Adriana Saraiva
Images: Licia Rubinstein, Pedro Vidal, Pixabay and IBGE image base
Video: Helga Szpiz, Licia Rubinstein and Pedro Vidal