QUIPUSTAT, whose name is derived from a combination of the words QUIPU (first accounting tool of the Americas) and STAT (from English, statistics), is a bilingual application for public use intended for users and producers of labour statistics of Latin America and the Caribbean.  It was developed with the aim of contributing to improve the quality and availability of labour statistics and analysis from the region.

It serves as a tool to promote decent work among countries of the region, as it contains statistics for a group of labour indicators which are accessible through user-friendly queries that can be printed or downloaded in a spreadsheet. In particular, the QUIPUSTAT database has the following characteristics:

• Contains predefined tables by country
• Allows interactive queries
• Covers 19 variables and indicators
• Information available for 31 countries and territories
• Data available in absolute and relative values
• Detailed metadata (documentation) provided with each query
• Data are disaggregated by sex, age (according to the minimum age used to define the working age population adopted in each country’s household survey and also for 15 years and over) and geographic coverage (national, urban and rural).
• Contains data from the year 2000 onward.

In addition to statistical information, QUIPUSTAT contains links to documents on labour analysis, international recommendations on the measurement of employment, highlight briefs, technical assistance activities, a glossary of terms and news briefs, among others.

QUIPUSTAT has been funded by the ILO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean and the Labour Information and Analysis System (ILO-SIAL), receiving an important and highly appreciated contribution from the Government of Panama. The collaboration provided by the countries of the region is also noteworthy, as they provided labour information which allowed the construction of this specialized database. Likewise, the Working Group, comprised of specialists from various ILO offices, is recognized for their input into the guidelines for development of the application.

QUIPUSTAT draws on prior work carried out by the Regional Office in coordination with other ILO offices, specifically through the Latin America and Caribbean Labour Information System (LACLIS). The purpose of this initiative is to organize, store and achieve a greater level of harmonization of statistical information for a group of labour indicators, seeking to ensure that their measurement is consistent with international statistics standards and specifically with those specified by the International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS). The variables contained in the current version of QUIPUSTAT are not yet harmonized according to international statistics standards. Nonetheless, many variables and indicators in the interactive database have been standardized using the age grouping of 15 years and over.

LACLIS seeks to include the documentation of the data, that is, the metadata, which reveals in detail the background information associated with the indicators. Moreover, the initiative provides technical assistance (with limited funding) to a diverse set of national institutions that produce labour information with the objective of improving the quality of the information.