Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 2025, Publicación: 114ª reunión CIT (2026)

Convenio sobre estadísticas del trabajo, 1985 (núm. 160) - Portugal (Ratificación : 1993)

The Committee notes the observations of the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers – National Trade Unions (CGTP-IN) and the General Workers’ Union (UGT), attached to the Government’s report, as well as the replies in this regard.

Article 3. Consultations with employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee notes the comments made by the CGTP-IN and the UGT. In particular, the CGTP-IN mentions: (i) the lack of appropriate statistical data to measure the extent of precarious and disguised self-employment; (ii) the lack of sufficient statistical data on occupational diseases, household income and expenditure, employment and unemployment of migrant workers, and the employment of civil servants; and (iii) the insufficiency of the current periodicity of the household expenditure survey (every five years). In its response, the Government indicates that: (i) the statistical data collected makes it possible, using different variables, to obtain information on self-employed workers, although the legality or illegality of the situation cannot be highlighted; and (ii) it is impossible to reduce the interval between two household expenditure surveys, which, from 2026 onwards, will be administered at the European Union level and carried out every six years. While noting these explanations, the Committee emphasizes that the availability of exhaustive, disaggregated and regularly updated data is an essential condition for the development, implementation and evaluation of policies on employment, social protection and occupational safety and health, and recalls the importance of the consultations provided for under Article 3 of the Convention, which enable the statistical needs of the social partners to be identified and the relevance of the national labour statistics programmes to be ensured. Therefore, the Committee requests the Government to continue the consultations with the representative employers’ and workers’ organizations on planning and expanding the field of labour statistics, particularly with regard to self-employed work, occupational diseases, migrant workers and the civil service.

Article 7 of the Convention. Employment, unemployment and underemployment statistics. The Committee notes with interest the Government’s indication that, in 2021, like most of the Member States of the European system of statistics, Portugal adopted new concepts defined in the Resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization, adopted by the International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) at its 19th session in 2013 (Resolution I). It welcomes the efforts made at the European level to harmonize the concepts and definitions that enable the collection of statistical data relating to the labour market. The Committee requests the Government to continue to regularly provide the data required under the Convention. It also requests the Government to provide information on any developments which would have an impact on the implementation of the Resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization, adopted by the ICLS at its 19th session in 2013, theResolution concerning statistics on work relationships, adopted by the ICLS at its 20th session in 2018 (Resolution I), and theResolution concerning statistics on the informal economy, adopted by the ICLS at its 21st session in 2023 (Resolution I).

Article 8. Statistics of the structure and distribution of the economically active population. The Committee notes the information provided on the 2021 labour force census and, in particular, the indication that Statistics Portugal is working on a census based on drawing and integrating administrative data from various sources, which involves close coordination with various bodies. The scope of this work is part of a wider project to create a national data infrastructure. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information concerning the project to create a national data infrastructure and its possible impact on future censuses of the economically active population.

Articles 9 and 10. Statistics of average earnings and hours of work. Statistics on the wage structure. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government that the collection of relevant data is mandatory for employers covered by the Labour Code by means of employee records. It notes that: (i) this obligation does not apply to self-employed workers; and (ii) these registers do not include central and local public administration employees, with the exception of workers with individual work contracts, and only to the degree they are concerned. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on the sources of the relevant data collected under the application of Articles 9 and 10 of the Convention for self-employed workers and central and local public administration employees.

Article 13. Statistics of household expenditure and income. The Committee notes that the last household expenditure survey dates from 2016. It recalls that paragraph 11 of the Labour Statistics Recommendation, 1985 (No. 170), suggests that data on household expenditure should be compiled at least once every ten years. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide to the ILO Department of Statistics (ILOSTAT) information on the collection of data required under Article 13 of the Convention, in particular information on the next planned survey on household expenditure.

Article 14. Statistics on occupational accidents and diseases. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government and welcomes the indication that, for the first time in 2022, due to improvements and developments in the collection of data on occupational accidents, the deadlines for submitting reports at the European level agreed with Eurostat were met. It also notes the information on the occupational accidents produced by the Strategy and Planning Office (Gabinete de Estratégia e Planejamento – GEP), a body under the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, with competences delegated by the National Statistics Institute (INE), and published on the GEP website. In this regard, the Committee observes that, although the GEP does not yet provide information on occupational diseases, under European Regulation No. 1338/2008 and the group for European occupational diseases statistics, annual pilot tests are under way in all European Union Member States to establish a methodology for conceptual harmonization. In the light of the foregoing and of the decision of the International Labour Conference at its 110th session in June 2022 to recognize a safe and healthy working environment as a fundamental principle and right at work, the Committee requests the Government to: (i) provide information on any developments concerning the production and publication of statistics on occupational accidents and diseases; (ii) continue to regularly provide relevant statistics; and (iii) provide updated information on the sources, concepts, definitions and methodology used for the collection and compilation of data.