Jagdev Singh Virdee is an expert in official statistics, with extensive experience in the British, European and other international Official Statistics Systems. Between 2014 and 2016, he was a peer reviewer of five European National Statistical Institutes – Slovenia, France, Poland, Romania and Switzerland – assessing their compliance with the European Statistics Code of Practice and making recommendations for improving or achieving compliance.
Jagdev worked in the UK Government Statistical Service for 33 years, leaving in 2010 after serving as a Deputy Director at the Office for National Statistics. He was responsible for various aspects of regional and local statistics, including Regional Accounts, Neighbourhood Statistics, Regional Economic Analysis, Urban & Rural definitions and analysis, and establishment of teams of Regional Statisticians in nine English regions. He chaired of the OECD Working Party on Territorial Indicators from 2006 to 2010 and still serves as an observer and adviser. Since 2010, Jagdev has worked on official statistics projects in Albania, Czech Republic, Moldova, Mozambique, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Tunisia.
Jagdev has also worked with the UK Statistics Authority and the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) to establish arrangements for User Engagement in respect of official statistics (2012 to 2014). As a Fellow of the RSS, he is also a member of the Statistics User Executive, the International Development Working Group, the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Working Group, and is Chair of the committee that organises the RSS Awards for Excellence in Official Statistics.
