Defence Ministerial Statistical Office

The Ministerial Statistical Office of the Ministry for the Armed Forces is the Sub-Directorate of Statistics and Economic Studies (S2E), usually named Economic Observatory for Defence (OED).

The S2E is attached to the Financial Affairs Directorate within the General Secretariat for the Administration of the Ministry for the Armed Forces.

The S2E is responsible for the armed forces and national defence companies.

It collects, gathers and synthesizes information useful to all actors in this field, both public and private.

The S2E is also responsible for conducting studies on the economic and financial environment of defence and for disseminating the lessons learned.

It also provides the secretariat for the Prix d'Économie de la Défense.

Each year, the S2E draws up the Census of State Agents (RAE), an exhaustive census of the military personnel of the Ministry for the Armed Forces and the National Gendarmerie (DGGN), based on various sources. This census includes, in addition to the amounts of salaries and allowances of each agent, a complete human resources information section. This census is used to provide aggregated statistics for the annual review of the High Committee for the Evaluation of Military Condition (Haut Comité d'Évaluation de la Condition Militaire) and constitutes the basis for the quarterly monitoring of the gross salary indices - index scale of the armed forces and gendarmes.

It draws up the Directory of Defence Suppliers (REFD), a statistical directory that annually lists the amounts of purchases made by the Ministry of Defence from its supplier companies.

It carries out statistical surveys in its field of competence: survey of visits to memorial sites (EFLM), Defence Industry and Services survey (EDIS 2023), and so on.

The S2E draws up international comparisons of States' defence efforts, deliveries of war material and similar, monitoring public opinion on confidence in the armed forces, and so on. It carries out comparative statistical work based on various international sources and extensive cooperation with foreign counterparts.

Based on the data it synthesises, the S2E carries out or commissions studies, in conjunction with universities and research centres, in the fields of military condition, defence economics, and so on.

The S2E contributes to the work of factor cost projections, which are essential for the proper assessment of the payment needs of the operations.

The sensitivity of defence-related data justifies a controlled dissemination of statistical results and studies.

The S2E promotes and disseminates the results of this work through a series of publications (EcoDef Conjoncture, Statistics, Studies, References bulletins) available on the Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletdefense.gouv.fr/ssm website.