Our June 2020 video “Improving PFM digital transparency in SIDS finance ministries” examined finance ministries (MoFs) use of digital platforms such as websites and social media to provide public financial management (PFM) related information in small island developing states (SIDS). Recent PFM digital transparency regional trends in Pacific SIDS are examined in our “Regional Pacific SIDS PFM digital transparency update” video.
Pacific SIDS PFM digital transparency regional trends
PFM digital transparency trends were analysed for 11 Pacific SIDS where MoF websites were active in the 2020 September quarter to provide the basis for this regional trends analysis:
- Cook Islands
- Fiji
- Kiribati
- Marshall islands
- Micronesia
- Northern Marianas
- Papua New Guinea
- Samoa
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
Seven Pacific SIDS did not have active MoF websites in the 2020 September quarter.
Charts for the following regional indicators are presented:
- MoF website penetration levels for the 2020 March and September quarters. The figures used in these charts were obtained using a two-step process. Actual visit data for the March and September 2020 quarters was annualised to provide projections of estimated 2020 visits. The resulting 2020 annual MoF website visit projections were divided by the number of country internet users to obtain MoF website penetration levels.
- Domestic and non-resident visits to MoF websites for the 2020 March and September quarters; these charts reflect the percentage of visits to MoF websites attributable to local residents and non-residents in the 2020 March and September quarters based on actual visit data.
- Rates of change in MoF website visits; this data is based on changes to MoF visit levels between the 2020 March and September quarters.
- MoF Facebook penetration levels as at June 2020 and October 2020; these figures were obtained by dividing actual MoF Facebook follower numbers by the number of country Facebook subscribers.
- Changes in Facebook follower numbers between June 2020 and October 2020; these charts reflect changes in the respective MoF Facebook follower numbers.
Currently, no Pacific SIDS MoFs maintain Twitter accounts.
Key regional analysis findings
Some of the key findings from our analysis are as follows:
- Estimated total Pacific SIDS MoF 2020 visits in the 2020 September quarter were 13.10% higher than in the 2020 March quarter for the 10 MoFs where data was available for both quarters
- Total Pacific SIDS local resident MoF visits to the above-mentioned 10 MoF websites increased by 375% in the 2020 September quarter over the 2020 March quarter whilst total non-resident MoF visits fell by 50%
- Pacific SIDS MoF Facebook follower numbers (and overall Pacific SIDS average MoF Facebook penetration level) increased by 41.31% between June 2020 and October 2020
