What is Insee?

INSEE (French: Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques; pronounced [in.se]) is the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies. It collects and publishes information on the French economy and French society, carrying out the periodic national census. Located in Paris, it is the French branch of the European Statistical System. The INSEE was created in 1946, as a successor to the National Statistics Service (SNS) created under Vichy during World War II.

Purpose

INSEE is responsible for the production and the analysis of the official statistics in France. Its best known responsibilities include:

• Organizing and publishing the census
• Producing various indices which are widely recognised as being of excellent quality, including a price index measuring inflation, indices used for determining the rates of rents and the costs associated with construction.
• Constitutes the French branch of the European Statistical System. Eurostat uses INSEE statistics in combination with those of other national statistical agencies to compile comparable statistics for the EU as a whole. It is also widely recognized as representing France on international questions of statistics.

Organization

INSEE is the responsibility of MINEFI, the French Ministry of Finance, (French: Ministère de l'Économie, des Finances et de l'Industrie). Its current director is Jean-Michel Charpin.

INSEE codes and numbers

Main article: INSEE code

INSEE gives numerical indexing codes (French: les Codes INSEE) to various entities in France:

• INSEE codes (known as COG) are given to various administrative units, notably the French communes (they do not coincide with postcodes). The 'complete' code has 8 digits and 3 spaces within, but there is a popular 'simplified' code with 5 digits and no space within :
• 2 digits (département) and 3 digits (commune) for the 96 départements of Metropolitan France.
• 3 digits (département or collectivity) and 2 digits (commune) for the Overseas departments, Overseas Territorial Collectivities and Overseas Countries and Territories. See also : .
• INSEE numbers (13 digits + a two-digit key) are national identification numbers given to people.
  Their format is as follows: syymmlllllooo kk, where
• s is 1 for a male, 2 for a female for a permanent number; it is 7 for a male, 8 for a female for a temporary number,
• yy are the last two digits of the year of birth,
• mm is the month of birth or a number above 20 if the birthdate is unknown
• lllll is the COG for the location of birth,
• ooo is an order number to distinguish people being born at the same place in the same year and month.
• 'kk' is the "control key", equal to 97-(the rest of the number modulo 97).
  There are exceptions for people in particular situations. [1]
• SIREN codes are given to businesses and nonprofit associations, SIRET codes to their establishments and facilities (SIRENE database).

Teaching and Research

Research and teaching for INSEE is undertake by GENES, or Group of the National Schools of the Economy and Statistics (French: Groupe des Écoles Nationales d'Économie et Statistique which includes:

• ENSAE (L'École nationale de la statistique et de l'administration économique), a grande école which trains INSEE administrators and engineers specialized in statistics, the economy, and finance.
• ENSAI, (L'École nationale de la statistique et de l'analyse de l'information), an engineering school.

History

Public Statistics in France before INSEE

INSEE was preceded by several organizations responsible for the production of public statistics. In 1833, the Statistics Bureau (French: Bureau de la statistique) was created by Adolphe Thiers. In 1840 it was renamed SGF or General Statistics of France (French: Statistique générale de la France).

Under the direction of Lucien March, the SGF expanded its activities. It began investigation of consumption habits in 1907, following with the periodic investigations on the retail prices in 1911. In 1920 Alfred Sauvy introduced competitive entrance exams for SGF recruitment.

However, it was René Carmille, a pioneer of the use of the calculators, who laid the foundations of the modern organization. In 1940, the "Demographic Service" (French: Service de la démographie) was created under the Ministry of Finance in order to replace the military recruitment office prohibited by the June 1940 Armistice with Nazi Germany. In order to better conceal its undertakings, the Demographic Service absorbed the SGF on 11 October, 1941. The new organization was called the SNS or National Statistics Service (French: Service national des Statistiques). As part of this reorganization, six new offices were created in the Northern (occupied) zone whose regional structure is maintained today in INSEE.

René Carmille created an Applied Sciences School (predecessor of the current ENSAE) in order to specially train members for the SNS .

Creation of INSEE

The SNS was finally transformed into INSEE in 1946 by the law of 27 April 1946, The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Surveys for the metropolis and overseas France (French: L'Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques pour la métropole et la France d'outre-mer).

List of Directors of INSEE

• Francis-Louis Closon 1946-1961
• Claude Gruson 1961-1967
• Jean Ripert 1967-1974
• Edmond Malinvaud 1974-1987
• Jean-Claude Milleron 1987-1992
• Paul Champsaur 1992-2003
• Jean-Michel Charpin 2003

External links

• Official site