Annual Report on Marriages
Reference Metadata in Euro SDMX Metadata Structure
Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina 
 
1. Contact
2. Metadata update
3. Statistical presentation
4. Unit of measure
5. Reference period
6. Institutional mandate
7. Confidentiality
8. Release policy
9.  Frequency of dissemination
10. Accessibility and clarity
11. Quality management  
12. Relevance
13. Accuracy and reliability
14. Timeliness and punctuality
15. Coherence and comparability  
16. Cost and burden
17. Data revision
18. Statistical processing
19. Comment
 
1. Contact
1.1. Contact organisation Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina
1.2. Contact organisation unit Sector for Demography and Social statistics - Department of Population Statistics and Registers       
1.3. Contact name Radoslav Ćorović
1.4. Contact person function Assistant Director in the Sector for Demography and Social Statistics
1.5. Contact mail address Zelenih beretki 26, 71 000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
1.6. Contact email address radoslav.corovic@bhas.gov.ba
1.7. Contact phone number  +387 33 911 983
1.8. Contact fax number  +387 (33) 220 622
2. Metadata update
2.1. Metadata last certified 03/12/2025
2.2. Metadata last posted 03/12/2025
2.3. Metadata last update 03/12/2025
3. Statistical presentation
3.1. Data description The annual survey on marriages collects data on registered cases of marriages in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
3.2. Classification system Survey on marriages is conducted according to a methodology that is in line with UN recommendations (UN Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System Revision 2). 
3.3. Sector coverage Data are collected on registered cases of marriages in registry offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitons Married  are considered to be persons who have entered into marriage in accordance with the applicable legal regulations. The marriage is entered in the marriage register. If  a  person  got  married  in  a  church  or  mosque  only,  such  person  shall  not be considered to be married.

Marriage  rate  is  the  relation  between  the  number  of  marriage  in  one  year  period  and  the  estimated  number  of inhabitants per 1000 population.
3.5. Statistical unit Statistical observation units are registered cases of marriages in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
3.6. Statistical population The target statistical population consists of all registered marriages.

Married  are considered to be persons who have entered into marriage in accordance with the applicable legal regulations. The marriage is entered in the marriage register. If  a  person  got  married  in  a  church  or  mosque  only,  such  person  shall  not be considered to be married.

3.7. Reference area Data refer to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
3.8 Time coverage 1996-2024
3.9. Base period Not applicable.
4. Unit of measure Number of marriages. 
5. Reference period The reference period is a calendar year. 
6. Institutional mandate
6.1. Legal acts and other agreements • Law on Statistics of BiH (Official Gazette of BiH 26/04 and 42/04)
• Multi-annual statistical programs and annual work plans of BiH
6.2. Data sharing 1. Federal Institute for Statistics of FBiH,
2.   Republic of Srpska Institute of Statistics,
3. Branch office Brčko District, 
4. Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH,
5. EUROSTAT,
6. UNSD.
7. Confidentiality
7.1. Confidentiality-policy Confidentiality of statistical data is regulated by law and the personnel conducting statistical surveys has the legal obligation to protect confidentiality. Law on Statistics of BiH (Off. Gazette of BiH 26/04 and 42/04 - Chapter XI - Article 23.-29.) establishes the principle of confidentiality as one of the main principles. Agency for statistics of BiH distributes statistics in line with statistical principles of the European Statistics Code of Practice and in particular with the principle of statistical confidentiality.
7.2. Confidentiality-data treatment The document "Rules on the Protection of Statistical Data in the Agency for Statistics" lists procedures for ensuring confidentiality during collection, processing and dissemination - including protocols for securing individual data being accessed, rules for defining confidential cells in output tables and procedures for the detection and prevention of subsequent disclosures as well as access to microdata for research purposes.By signing the Memorandum of Understanding with Agency for statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, data users having access to individual data are obliged to:treat individual anonymized data as confidential in accordance with the rules, regulations and procedures,ensure adequate protection of individual data in accordance with the rules, regulations and procedures,protect the transfer of microdata and destroy the media where the data are, as well as the accompanying documentation, five days after the publication of the results.
8. Release policy
8.1. Release calendar  At the end of December every year, BHAS announces the Release Calendar with the precise date and time of publication of the statistics for the following year.
8.2. Release calendar access The Calendar placed on:
https://bhas.gov.ba/Calendar/
8.3. User access The data is disseminated to all users through the official web site of Agency for statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the same time new release is also e-mailed to the media and to the all users from user database:
https://bhas.gov.ba 
9.  Frequency of dissemination Statistics on marriages in BiH are published on a quarterly (preliminary results) and annual basis (final results). 
10. Accessibility and clarity
10.1. News release 1. Regular annual releases
2. Regular quarterly releases


https://bhas.gov.ba/Calendar/Category/14?lang=en 
10.2. Publications Thematic Bulletin "Demography",
Publication "Bosnia and Herzegovina in Numbers",
Publication "Women and Men"

https://bhas.gov.ba/Calendar/Category/14?lang=en 
 https://bhas.gov.ba/Calendar/Category/30?lang=en
https://bhas.gov.ba/Calendar/Category/32?lang=en
10.3. On-line database Data on marriages are not available in the BHAS online database. 
10.4. Micro-data access  No microdata available. 
10.5. Other There are no other means of publication. 
10.6. Documentation on methodology UN recommendations (UN Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System Revision 2).

https://unstats.un.org/unsd/publication/SeriesM/SeriesM_19rev2E.pdf
10.7. Quality documentation Not available.
11. Quality management
11.1. Quality assurance Agency for statistics of BiH is committed to quality assurance in the production of official statistics based on the Article 19, Paragraph (1) “Law of Statistics BIH, Official Gazette of BiH 26/04; 42/04”. Quality Management Policy as an element of the system of quality management generally is related to following components: product quality of process as well as other elements of system for quality management, such as planning and controls.
To assure the quality of processes and products, Agency for statistics is in implementation of Quality management model (TQM) done using CAF tool. The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is a total quality management tool developed by the public sector for the public sector, inspired by the Excellence Model of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM). Process of self-assessment identifies and monitors all organization results, provides feedback on organizational capacity and results of policy and planning processes. Scoring tool for self-assessment has 9 key indicators and 28 criteria based on which it is possible to measure management level achieved and determine which are the critical points for improvements in future. It looks at the organization from different angles at the same time: the holistic approach to organization performance analysis. BHAS use „The CAF guidelines for implementation“ and 10-step implementation plan therefore developed to help organizations to use it in the most efficient and effective way. Process of self-assessment identifies and monitors all-important organizational results and provides feedback on organizational capacities and results of policy and planning processes. This model of quality monitoring requires development of standardized questionnaire that includes all principles in model.  In order to ensure the quality of statistics Agency developed a document Policy and programme of the quality management which is available on web site: 
https://bhas.gov.ba/Content/Read/92?title=Kvalitet
11.2. Quality assessments Quality of official statistics’ products (main indicators/statistics) are regularly assessed in quality reports through calculation of quality indicators. On other hand, processes included in statistical production are assessed by specific process quality indicators in quality reports and additionally trough GSBPM documentation.
12. Relevance
12.1. User needs The key users of data from the statistical survey are:
1. State and other public administration institutions such as: Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH, Directorate for European Integration at the Council of Ministers of BiH, Directorate for Economic Planning of BiH at the Council of Ministers of BiH,
2. Academic and business community,
3. General public,
4. Foreign users: Eurostat, UNSD,
5. Media.
12.2. User satisfaction  There is no specific user satisfaction survey for this survey. One of the key elements in securing the quality of statistical data is monitoring user’s satisfaction. The results of User Satisfaction Survey are available on:
https://bhas.gov.ba
12.3. Completeness The data completeness rate is 100%. 
13. Accuracy and reliability
13.1. Overall accuracy Not applicable. 
13.2. Sampling error The survey is not conducted on a sample basis. 
13.3. Non -sampling error Not applicable. 
14. Timeliness and punctuality
14.1. Timeliness  The Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina publishes preliminary data for marriages in March, and final detailed data in November. Data refer to the previous year.
14.2. Punctuality Publishing is on time. 
15. Coherence and comparability
15.1. Comparability-geographical Data for the level of Republic of Srpska, Federation of FBiH and District Brčko are collected in the same way and according to the same methodology. The data are comparable both within BiH and with other EU countries. 
15.2. Comparability-over time Comparable by years. 
15.3. Coherence-cross domain There is no relevant surveys conducted by another organization. 
15.4. Coherence-internal No similar surveys are conducted to compare the data. 
16. Cost and burden The annual operating costs for carrying out the research are reflected in the material costs and the number of hours worked by the employees of the Agency and the branches of the Brčko District Agency. The data are taken over from administrative sources and therefore there is no direct burden on respondents.
17. Data revision
17.1. Data revision-policy The Agency for statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have an official revision policy document.
17.2. Data revision-practice No audit was planned or conducted.
18. Statistical processing
18.1. Source data The selection of reporting units is done according to methodological recommendations. The data sources for this survey are the registers of marriages in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
18.2. Frequency of data collection Data are collected monthly using DEM-3 forms. 
18.3. Data collection Data for the statistical survey on marriages are collected through forms that reporting units fill out and submit to statistical institutions.
Data obtained from the entity statistical institutes and branches of the Agency in the Brčko District, the Agency for Statistics of BiH publishes in aggregate form. 
18.4. Data validation Data validity and reliability checks are performed. Data authentication involves checking the accuracy of the data and estimating all possible errors related to the data. Logical controls are done after data entry. The data are compared with the data from previous years and if there are certain discrepancies, the reporting unit is contacted by phone to resolve the discrepancies. 
18.5. Data compilation No procedures are performed on data used to derive new information in accordance with a given set of rules. 
18.6. Adjustment Data on marriages are not subject to seasonal adjustment. 
19. Comment -