Comprehensive and reliable statistics are crucial for policy formulation in any region or country. Statistics make it possible to identify the most pressing needs, track progress of policies and initiatives currently in place, and plan future development. Most important, statistics form the foundation for successful policy planning in many areas. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has been hampered by the lack of such statistics as it charts a course toward peace and prosperity, so it invited RAND to assist in designing a policy-relevant data collection system for the Kurdistan Region—Iraq (the KRI) (Abramzon et al., 2014; Anthony et al.,...

This chapter presents estimates for value added from the agricultural sector, based on the agricultural census and a subsequent survey conducted by the KRSO in 2011–2012.

The Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and the KRSO conducted agriculture census listings, at the level of farmers within villages, subdistricts, districts, or governorates, during the winter of 2011 and summer of 2012. These census listings registered all farmers and their planted areas by type of crop within the villages visited. This listing is the most reliable source of data on land under cultivation and was used as the sampling frame to conduct agricultural...

This chapter presents estimates for value added from the quarrying sector, based on a report summarizing a survey conducted by the KRSO and the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) in 2009 (CSO, 2010). As noted in Chapter One, these estimates do not include mining or other natural resources.

The report indicated that there were 251 quarries employing 2,129 workers. Table 3.1 shows the reported numbers of quarries and workers in each governorate.

For gross output, we summed the values provided for commodity and noncommodity production. Commodity production accounted for nearly all of the value of total production; noncommodity production was reported...

This chapter presents estimates for value added from the manufacturing sector, based on a 2011 survey conducted by the KRSO and the CSO.

The CSO used the 2009 census to identify large, medium, and small manufacturing firms for a survey across Iraq. Firms in the KRI were surveyed by the KRSO, and survey data were analyzed by the CSO. All large firms (those with 30 or more workers) and all medium firms (those with 10–29 workers) were included in the survey; for the much more numerous small firms (those with 1–9 workers), a random sample was taken, as...

This chapter presents estimates for value added from the electricity sector based on data and information from a variety of sources.

According to the information provided by the KRSO, electricity in the KRI is generated by a small number of large electricity generators (including those owned by Mas-Jordan) and a larger number of small generators that operate at the local level. Some electricity is imported from abroad or from other regions of Iraq. Transmission and distribution of the electricity generated by large generators and of imported electricity is conducted by the Ministry of Electricity (MoE).

We therefore calculated value added...

This chapter presents estimates for value added from the construction sector, based on data and information from a variety of sources.

Construction activities in the KRI are carried out by two kinds of entities: firms and households. Construction firms (contractors) typically work for larger clients, such as businesses, institutions, and government. Our discussions with KRSO staff suggest that, in some cases, higher-income households may hire construction firms to perform new construction or renovation. Most households, however, undertake these activities on their own, buying materials and hiring labor. Therefore, the analysis of the GRP contribution of the construction sector must account...

This chapter presents estimates for value added from the trading sector based on a survey conducted by the KRSO during 2012 and 2013.

The sampling frame for the survey was the 2009 census. Firms were surveyed from all three governorates of the KRI each month for a 12-month period (July 2012 to June 2013). The KRSO reported that individual firms may be in the dataset more than once.

The surveys covered major trade industries, classified in accordance with ISIC Revision 4 codes, at the four-digit level. The Wholesale and Retail Trade/Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles sector includes three broad...

This chapter presents estimates for value added from the transportation and storage sector. The results are based largely on a new survey of transportation and storage firms, as described below. However, we also separately included value added from airports.

To estimate the value added generated at the KRI’s airports (Erbil International Airport and Sulaymaniyah International Airport), we obtained the total number of air passengers in the KRI, as well as an estimated value added per passenger. We obtained the number of passenger flights from the 2012 air transport survey report, which indicated that there were 1,236,742 passengers in 2012.

We...

This chapter presents estimates for value added from restaurants and hotels, based on surveys conducted by the KRSO and the CSO.

Hotels Value added from hotels is based on a 2012 survey of hotel and accommodation activities. We obtained survey data for Erbil and Sulaymaniyah governorates and a summary report for Duhok governorate from the KRSO. The KRSO indicated that the survey was a census of all hotels, motels, and tourist complexes. The data and report indicate that there were 614 hotels in the KRI (251 hotels in Erbil, 154 in Sulaymaniyah, and 209 in Duhok).

When calculating output of...

This chapter presents estimates for value added for large firms in the information and communications sector based on a compilation of data from interviews and publicly available reports. Smaller firms in this sector were covered as part of the miscellaneous services survey (see Chapter Twelve).

The information and communications sector is dominated by a few large firms, which contribute a large share of sectoral output. To avoid missing these firms because of the sampling process used in the miscellaneous services survey, we supplemented that survey with publicly available information on, and interviews with, large firms.

First, we obtained information on...

This chapter presents estimates for value added for banks, insurance companies, and money exchanges. Other financial service firms were covered as part of the miscellaneous services survey (see Chapter Twelve).

We followed the income approach to estimate value added for banks, in keeping with common practice in developing countries. To do so, we summed up total salaries, operational surplus (net profits), and depreciation or consumption of fixed capital. The banking sector in the KRI is composed of four types of entities: government-owned “trade” banks, local private banks based in the KRI, banks based in the rest of Iraq (headquartered in...

The KRSO has implemented surveys (sometimes in collaboration with the CSO) for several key activities in the service sector. These surveys provide the necessary information to calculate value added. These activities include internal trade, restaurants and cafes, hotels, and money exchanges. However, a number of other service activities are not covered by these surveys, such as transportation and storage services (discussed in Chapter Eight) and the following additional service activities:

1. Information and Communications (specifically, book publishing, newspapers, computer programming, consultancy, and related activities; and information services). While the category includes large telecommunications companies, television, radio, and recording firms as...

This chapter presents estimates for value added for public administration.

Following standard practice in GDP accounting, we used an income approach to estimate the value added from public administration. We added up the value for compensation of employees and consumption of fixed capital, since net operating surplus was assumed to be zero.

We received accounts that present aggregate expenditures of the government, as well as a breakdown into the following subcategories for 2012: salary of staff and retired, equipment and maintenance and services, subsidies, grants, social benefits, other expenses, and nonfinancial assets.

We used the subcategory “salary of staff and...

This chapter presents estimates for value added that accrues to households from living in their homes each year. Typically, GRP estimates include value of “housing services” accruing to homeowners in addition to the rental income of those who rent property. The latter are explicit payments and are included in GRP, as this is income to the owners of the property (landlords) for housing services they provide. The housing services enjoyed by those who happen to be owners must be treated equivalently. In other words, services derived from dwellings in the year under consideration need to be part of GRP irrespective...

This report documents results from the first comprehensive calculation of GRP for the KRI, excluding the natural resources sector. A key benefit of the bottom-up approach taken in this report is the estimation of value added not just at the regional level, but for each main sector. Such statistics make it possible to characterize the importance of various sectors in the local economy and, in other words, thestructureof the economy, when estimates are made in future years, to identify trends in sectoral growth.

Table 15.1 and Figure 15.1 summarize value added in each major sector in 2012. The...