The need for subnational demographic, social, economic, and fiscal data in designing effective intergovernmental fiscal systems is becoming increasingly evident. In Central and Eastern European countries, the legacy of the region’s communist past are information systems rooted in the centralized economy. Such an approach becomes less acceptable as economic issues become more complex and subnational governments in these transition economies become responsible for the delivery of local services. As political imperatives support increasingly democratic forms of governance in which people’s needs must be taken into account in the design of policy options, there is a need for information systems that provide data to allow policymakers and citizens to assess the outcomes of policy choices.

Subnational Data Requirements for Fiscal Decentralization summarizes the findings of needs assessment activities in five demonstration countries that are at different stages of fiscal decentralization: Bulgaria, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Ukraine. These assessments are part of a program on subnational statistical capacity building, launched by the World Bank Institute, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the Economic Development Center of the Soros Foundation.