Abstract

National Statistical Offices (NSOs) are increasingly required to produce timely, disaggregated, and policy-relevant statistics while managing resource constraints and fragmented data systems. This paper presents Tanzania’s experience in integrating census, survey, and administrative data to strengthen official statistics and development monitoring. The integration framework brings together the Population and Housing Census, Integrated Labour Force Survey, National Sample Census of Agriculture, Demographic and Health Survey, National Panel Survey, and selected administrative datasets. Using harmonized concepts, geographic linkage, and survey-corrected analyses in STATA, the integrated system enables joint analysis of population dynamics, labour markets, agricultural livelihoods, health outcomes, poverty transitions, and gender disparities. Empirical applications demonstrate how data integration improves SDG reporting, supports national development planning, and enhances analytical coherence across sectors. Methodological and governance challenges—including interoperability, metadata alignment, and confidentiality—are addressed, with practical solutions implemented by Tanzania’s National Bureau of Statistics. The experience offers transferable lessons for NSOs in low- and middle-income countries seeking to modernize official statistics through integrated data ecosystems
Keywords: Integrated data systems; official statistics; census and surveys; administrative data; SDG monitoring; labour force; Tanzania; National Statistical Offices