From 13 to 17 October 2025, EFTA organised a training course with the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Advanced Methods for Sample Surveys in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, at the offices of the FSO.

This five-day course was designed for experts from the national statistical institutes (NSIs) of EFTA's free trade partners in the EU Neighbourhood Policy South. It was led by a team of highly experienced methodologists from the FSO, and combined theory with practical exercises using the R software.

The topics covered were highly relevant to official statisticians working in the methodology divisions of their respective NSIs, and to those involved in the production of statistics using sample survey techniques. Participants included specialists from sample departments, math-statisticians, statisticians, analysists and a statistical engineer. EFTA financed the participation of nine experts from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and the Palestinian Authority.

The course was well received by participants, with one commenting: "The training organised with EFTA and the Swiss Federal Statistical Office was highly beneficial for our work. It refreshed our understanding of the theoretical foundations of sampling and introduced us to new and practical aspects, particularly regarding calibration, non-response treatment and variance estimation."

The course was part of EFTA's technical cooperation work programme in the field of statistics for 2025, as approved by the EFTA Council at the beginning of the year. The programme aims to support and reinforce European and interregional economic integration by aiding the participating countries' development, production and dissemination of internationally harmonised and comparable official statistics.

EFTA would like to express its gratitude to the FSO for providing its expertise to the course and for hosting the event.

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