The Statistics Directorate's work on non-member economies - its "outreach" programme - has focused mainly on several large economies (Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, South Africa) but has also included activities in South Eastern European countries and with countries in Latin America, the Asia Pacific Region and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

In terms of subject areas, these activities have focused on national accounts,  business and consumer opinion surveys, purchasing power parities and cyclical analysis and composite leading indicators.

In all areas there is an underlying focus on statistical quality, for example, efforts, particularly in South Eastern European countries, to enhance the exhaustiveness of GDP by improving the measurement of the non-observed economy and in more general discussions about quality frameworks for statistics.

In addition, on 3 December 2007 the OECD launched a formal process of enlargement of the Organisation and entered into discussions with five countries - Chile, Estonia, Israel, Russia and Slovenia - regarding their possible accession to the OECD, and requiring an assessment of each country's position with respect to the relevant OECD instruments, standards and benchmarks, as well as other considerations where appropriate.

The OECD's Statistics Directorate is responsible for coordinating the review and assessment of each statistical office, including their legal status and levels of independence, and the quality and availability of core statistics required by the OECD to conduct its activities. Through individual sites developed specifically for each of the five countries, registered users have access to the documentation, questionnaires and process summaries that are relevant to these Accession Reviews related to statistics.