BEST GREETINGS 2018 FROM IMSEE – MONACO STATISTICS ECONOMIC STUDIES

by Marco Volpato MONACO. On the occasion of the online publication of the Economic Report -Bulletin de l’Économie – in Q3 2017. The recent creation of Monaco Statistics, the Monegasque Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, IMSEE, was a major decision by the Monegasque Government to enable better monitoring of the country’s future. Statistics role is to foster awareness of the economic and social environment of the Principality. It has become the main observer of Monegasque activity. Through the guidance it provides to both business and public stakeholders, it participates fully in the common objective of maintaining the Principality’s attractiveness. For this purpose, the Institute has put in place an information system based on the collection of statistical data, endorsed by the Minister of State in consultation with the Scientific Council for statistics and economic studies. The information collected by Monaco Statistics is sourced from State departments, the Municipality and public bodies. The data is the subject of statistical processing in line with nomenclatures and methods recognised at international level, collated by Monaco Statistics. Gathering, producing, analysing and disseminating this data increases overall knowledge and allows studies to be made, forecasts to be established and useful decisions to be taken. At the end of 2017, as every year, the Director of the Institute, Lionel Galfré, made a speech on the progress of the IMSEE during a session at the Ministry of State with the members of the Scientific Council for Statistics and Economic Studies for a presentation of works and current events. For the record, thehe Scientific Council for Statistics and Economic Studies is under the aegis of the Minister of State and has a consultative role. It gives its views on such as needs to be fulfilled (studies to be undertaken), the state of the statistical system and the annual programme of surveys. The Scientific Council is comprised of 11 members, whose term is set at three years. The Scientific Council also makes recommendations on projects to evaluate data gathered from a variety of institutions, as well as the respect of ethical matters. Council members shared their points of interest and made new recommendations on the statistics to be developed and the actions to be implemented for the construction of an efficient statistical system. Then Lionel Galfré presented the evolutions and the characteristics of the GDP 2016, then the consequences of the Census, in terms of communication of results and data, before concluding on the presentation of the works and publications of the IMSEE since the last Council Scientific 2017. At the end of this meeting, participants were welcomed to lunch by Serge Telle. The Minister wished them his best wishes for 2018.

The Bulletin of the Economy offers a synthesis of Monegasque economic activity for the preceding quarter. It is like a scorecard, making it possible to keep track of changes in the tourism, real estate and transport sectors, foreign trade, the Principality’s revenue, finance and employment. The figures for each period are aggregated and compared with those for the corresponding three months of the previous year. At the end of the bulletin, commentaries are included on each sector in order to emphasise or explain the key points. The Observatories of the Economy are more detailed. These are studies of specific sectors which present and comment on the annual figures relating to the Retail Trade, Foreign Trade, Industry and Real Estate. The introduction, on 1 January 2012, of the French classification of activities (NAF) 2008, allowed for a redefinition of the major economic sectors of Monaco, while ensuring international comparability. The presentation of GDP and of the Economic Bulletin in 12 sectors, rather than the previous 9, along with the removal of the sector “Various”, make it easier to understand the real economic situation.

In 2017, Monaco’s GDP was 5.85 billion euros in 2016, compared with 5.64 billion in 2015. Corrected for inflation, GDP recorded an increase of 3.2 % by volume. Since 2013, the Principality’s GDP growth rate has slowed down (+3.2 % in 2016) but has remained stronger than worldwide (+2.4 %) and the European Union (+1.9 %). The 2016 growth rate is entirely due to the performance of two sectors : Construction and Other service activities. The three largest economic sectors in the Principality in terms of GDP are Financial and Insurance Activities, Scientific and Technical Activities, Administrative and Support Service Activities and Construction. They represent almost half (45.3 %) of the wealth produced. All the GDP components, except for subventions, contributed positively to the result. For the fourth year in a row, the Earnings before Interest, Taxes and Amortisation (EBITA) of companies has shown the strongest progression. It reaches 2.57 billion and represents 43.9 % of the wealth created. Since 2005, the EBITA contracted only three times, particularly in 2009, following the international financial crisis. Employment grows in 2017, in the private and in the public sector. There were 491 additional employees (+0.9 %) in December. The total payroll increases (+2.5 %). It represents almost half of the GDP (47.4 %), which corresponds to redistribution in the form of salaries and contributions of the wealth created annually. Tax paid on products grows moderately (+1.6 %). It contributes an amount of 12.7 % to the wealth produced. This increase is mainly due to transfer rights which rose by 23.3 %. The amount of subsidies increases (+1.4 %), but less than in 2015 (+2.0 %). GDP “per capita” was 72 091 euros, an increase of 3.2 % by volume. GDP per employee, a productivity indicator, was 111,489 euros, an increase of 2.2 %. Finally, we remind our readers that the 2017 edition of the “Monaco in Figures –Monaco en chiffres” has just been published. The Monegasque Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies publishes various documents, including “Monaco in Figures” which explores all the data available on Monaco’s socio-economic life. Each new edition of the brochure looks at the results of the previous year.

Monaco Statistics Pocket is an excerpt of this publication. The “Monaco in figures” 2017 is available for sale at the IMSEE at a price of 12 €. The Economie part of the collection, as well as the entire “Monaco statistics pocket” 2017 (also available in English) are freely available online.