Economic statistics is a branch of applied statistics focusing on the collection, processing, compilation and dissemination of statistics concerning the economy of a region, a country or a group of countries. Economic statistics is also referred as a subtopic of official statistics, since most of the economic statistics are produced by official organizations (e.g. statistical institutes, intergovernmental organizations such as United Nations, European Union or OECD, central banks, ministries, etc.). Economic statistics provide the empirical data needed in economic research (econometrics) and they are the basis for decision and economic policy making.