Consultation on the revised UNESCO Framework for Culture Statistics

What’s the role of culture in our lives and how can we ensure life is enriched, sustainable, peaceful and inclusive for the People and the Planet?

What are the culture’s socio-economic effects on sustainable development, being recognized as a public good that helps to build innovative and resilient communities?

The need for cultural statistics is of paramount importance, as it serves national statistical offices, ministries of culture and various cultural and creative stakeholders, supporting them in identifying, characterizing and measuring the economic and social impacts generated by artists, performers, audiences, social groups and cultural communities.

UIS is launching this year, on July 10^th, its global consultation on the update of the 2009 UNESCO Global framework on culture statistics (FCS), a conceptual and methodological framework designed to facilitate socioeconomic analysis in culture.

By drawing on international experiences, classification systems and the needs expressed by cultural and creative stakeholders, the FCS enables the assessment of culture’s impact on society, as well as including major innovations, in the 2025 version, namely:

1. It aims at establishing a unified standardfor both cultural statistics and socioeconomic studies pertaining to the Cultural and Creative Ecosystem (CCE). By standardizing terms and concepts, and statistical operations (including censuses, surveys, administrative data and big data), this FCS’s purpose is to harmonize information systems and enhance data comparability at national and international levels.
2. The new FCS demonstrates a strong commitment to recognizing and valuing cultural diversity: by introducing a cross-cutting modular approach, it enables countries to select units, variables and methodologies that reflect their unique cultural contexts, so that policy priorities and statistical expertise can be aligned.

If you are specialist in culture statistics or active member of the culture and creative sector, join us in this year’s effort, by clicking on the FCS survey here, read the draft document* and contribute to better measure thesocio-economic value of the Cultural and Creative Ecosystem, and use it as a force for Global Public Good!

*The draft document, 2025 UNESCO FCS, is a statistical tool, structured in two essential documents, providing theoretical foundations and a methodological framework for both direct and indirect socioeconomic studies and the use of international classifications standards

For any questions concerning this form, please contact the UIS by email at: uis.cltsurvey@unesco.org