The Solomon Islands National Statistics Office, SINSO, together with the World Bank have launched the Preliminary Release of Selected Findings for the National Economic Establishment Census (NEEC) 2024 and the Analysis Report – Multidimensional Poverty and Spatial Disparities in Solomon Islands 2009-2019.
Deputy Secretary for Ministry of Finance and Treasury Margret Moveni congratulated the World Bank and SINSO on the successful implementation of the two incentives and in recognizing the outcomes as important milestones for the government and the country.
Commending the National Statistics Office for the NEEC findings, Mrs Moveni reminded that the results will support a comprehensive register of business establishments the country.
“Data collection based on this register will support the production of key business and market indicators as well as being a source of inputting and updating the country’s gross domestic production and related indicators.”
The NEEC is the first Economic Establishment Census in the Solomon Islands covering ten principal locations within Solomon Islands in the one-month operation. It visited 108 wards and covered 16,497 establishments. Of these 8,275 were formal establishments and 8,222 were informal.
The census results provide comprehensive data on an important set of business characteristics. Next to the number of establishments, it reveals the industry of the establishment (like manufacturing, trade or services), the number and type of workers (hired/non-hired), location data, legal status, ownership of establishment, turnover classes and other business demography information.
The publication includes data on formal and informal business establishments. The findings released excludes a number of other industries such as agriculture and construction, of which data validations are on-going for these industries. A full report with a comprehensive list of businesses and corresponding industries will be released at a later date.
Meanwhile, Mrs Moveni described the Multidimensional Poverty and Spatial Disparities in Solomon Islands 2009-2019 as not only overdue but timely in our quest for sustainable development and the report provides a broader understanding of poverty that is measured under other socio-economic dimensions such as health, education and housing.
She highlighted a key finding in the report.
“I take note from the report that there is the reduction of multidimensional poverty from 43.5 in 2009 to 35.4 percent in 2019 which is still less so more work still needs to be done at all levels to further address and reduce poverty in our country.
“The government’s physical and monitoring National Development Strategy and Medium term development strategy will welcome the findings of this Poverty report in supporting our monitoring and policy intervention as well as supporting the overall welfare of the people of Solomon Islands.
The Multidimensional Poverty and Spatial Disparities in Solomon Islands 2009-2019 draws on data from the Population and Housing Census from 2009 and 2019.
The report found that Solomon Islands multi-dimensional poverty level is higher than many other countries, and declined only moderately between 2009 and 2019. It says a strategic approach is needed in order to reduce the concentration of poverty in rural areas and manage rapid urbanization which is straining resources.
The author of the report is World Bank Senior Economist Shohei Nakamura who said about 35 percent of Solomon Islanders were estimated to be multidimensionally poor as of 2019. This level is far higher than any other Pacific Island Countries such as Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji and Tonga.
“’Multidimensional Poverty differs greatly between rural and urban areas and it varies across provinces as well with relatively high incidence in Guadalcanal, Malaita and Makira-Ulawa.
“Honiara not surprisingly has the lowest number of poverty rate. From 2009 to 2019 multidimensional poverty declined only moderately from 43.5 to 35.4 percent. Access to basic living standards such as sanitation and electricity remains low.”
A summary of the report stated urgent action is needed to reduce multidimensional poverty but the country faces several challenges which are hindering progress. These included difficulty for the government to provide quality public services to all citizens due to the small population which is spread out over large areas and limited transport and digital connectivity which constrain the economic activity and people’s access to markets and basic services.
It said the persistent concentration of poverty in rural areas highlights the need for more efficient and effective investments.
The NEEC and the launching of the Analysis Report on the Multidimensional Poverty and Spatial Disparities is a partnership between the Solomon Islands Government and World Bank.
The NEEC falls under component one of the Building Capacity in Statistics and Audit, CAPSA Project.
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