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Measuring non-observed/informal economy

Paper by Mexico, IMF and UNECE

The document provides an overview of country practices, conceptual and measurement challenges in measuring informal economy as well as a summary of ongoing international activities to respond to these challenges. It highlights the need of an agreed statistical framework and presents current international efforts in this respect. The paper draws on the IMF Policy paper Measuring the informal economy, published in February 2021 (provided as Annex II to this document), the ILO’s Conceptual Framework for Statistics on Informal Economy and the outcomes of the joint UNECE/EFTA/Eurostat/IMF/UNSD workshop in measuring the informal sector, conducted in March 2021. The paper also benefits from Eurostat, OECD and UNCTAD work on measuring the non-observed economy and illicit financial flows.