The National Institute of Statistics (Istat) has been working since 1926 as the main supplier of official statistical information in Italy. It collects and produces information on Italian economy and society and made it available for study and decision-making purpose.

Istat is a public research body acting in full autonomy, governed by a President and a board of directors that plan, direct and evaluate its activities.

The Institute has responded to changing needs for information, interpreting its role and mission as follows: to produce and disseminate reliable, impartial, transparent, accessible and pertinent information, able to describe the social, economic and demographic conditions of the country, in full compliance with the regulations pertaining to the privacy of respondents.

The centrality of the end users - citizens, businesses, institutions, management and labour - is an imperative that marks the definition of the information demand and finds its answer in Istat's vision: to provide the country with instruments pertaining to both local and national realities and to actively participate in e-government actions, offering proactive information, able to solicit and shape the organization of services throughout the nation.