The Data Gaps Initiative (DGI) aims to enhance and expand the global set of economic and financial statistics, as well as macro-relevant information on climate change, in order to equip policymakers with more accurate and robust resources for addressing important policy issues. The initiative is led by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB).
In 2009, the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBGs) launched the Data Gaps Initiative (DGI), and endorsed 20 recommendations for addressing data gaps revealed by the 2008 global financial crisis. Today, the DGI framework in its 3rd phase aims to enhance and expand the global set of economic and financial statistics, as well as macro-relevant information on climate change, in order to equip policymakers with more accurate and robust resources for addressing important policy issues. In the long run, these advances in data quality and availability will lead to more resilient and adaptable economic policies, ultimately promoting sustainable growth and more stability in societies.
There are currently 14 recommendations that address four areas: climate change; household distributional information; Fintech and financial inclusion; and access to private data sources and administrative data and sharing. The Data Gaps Initiative (DGI) is led by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB).
There are currently 14 recommendations that address four areas: climate change; household distributional information; Fintech and financial inclusion; and access to private data sources and administrative data and sharing. The Data Gaps Initiative (DGI) is led by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB).
G20 Data Gaps Initiative Global Conference
More than 140 officials from G20 economies and international organizations were in Brasília in June for the G20 Data Gaps Initiative Global Conference. The event was a debate on innovation for data producers, policymakers and G20 economists organized by the Central Bank of Brasil. Participants stressed out the importance of closing gaps in data to create targeted policy interventions related to sustainability, inequality and financial inclusion. All of these are key objectives of the Brazilian presidency of the G20, as emphasized by Diogo Guillen, Director of Economic Policy of the Central Bank of Brasil. He also highlighted the evolving dynamics of the global landscape and the growing recognition of data as the cornerstone of effective policymaking.
According to Diogo, the production of economic indicators related to climate change, for example, is a need that has become increasingly urgent. "The impacts of climate on the economy are profound and wide-ranging. They can affect the production of goods and services, international trade, food supply and food prices, the distribution of income and wealth, the availability of savings, government spending, and financial stability. Monitoring the effects of climate change is necessary to neutralize its impacts, minimize losses, develop policies and coordinate actions," said Diogo Guillen.
Several G20 economies highlighted new datasets developed under the initiative to help understand and address issues around social issues, financial inclusion and sustainability. Participants also shared solutions on how to address complex data challenges in these areas.
What did some of the data reveal?
During the Conference, recent estimates of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from the G20 were presented, indicating significant reductions in GHG emissions intensities in the agricultural and industrial sectors, the latter covering electricity, mining and water industries. This is encouraging because these sectors are responsible for over 75% of all G20 emissions and are among the most emission-intensive.
This decline in emission intensities suggests that lower-carbon energy resources, cleaner technologies and improvements in energy efficiency are yielding positive results. However, more detailed data is needed to analyze how these dynamics develop across sectors and economies and to better understand the transition to a lower-carbon economy, which is an important goal of the G20 DGI.
There has also been significant progress in measuring social inclusion. Family income and wealth distribution are central to both the DGI-3 and the Brazilian presidency of the G20. The new experimental data on family wealth developed by the European System of Central Banks for the Euro area marked a significant advance in the treatment of the DGI-3 recommendation on family wealth outcomes. The new data offer an integrated picture of wealth in different family groups. The share of wealth held by the 10% richest was at 56% in the fourth quarter of 2023, while the bottom half by wealth held only 5% of the total.
The scenario is similar when looking at household income, consumption and savings, with several countries already regularly publishing annual results, included in the Eurostat and OECD databases. The results reveal several disparities in income inequality, although with varying degrees across selected G20 economies.
The results highlight the vital need to further progress in developing a more timely and detailed dataset that covers outcomes for a wide range of countries around the world.
