While accurate and up-to-date labour market information is available for many regions due to the significant efforts made by many countries to improve statistics on their labour markets, yet, comprehensive, reliable statistical information on the employment situation of people with disability is rarely available, especially in developing countries. Furthermore, international comparability is lacking in the field of disability statistics since definitions of disability are mostly based on individual national regulations rather than international standards.

This guide highlights basic knowledge from the fields of labour and disability statistics which has to be combined for a comprehensive description of the employment situation of people with disabilities. It will be of great relevance to worldwide countries as they work to promote and monitor equal employment opportunities for disabled persons.

This guide provides information on current standards and definitions in the fields of employment and disability, as well as descriptions of good practices related to the compilation of statistics on the employment situation of people with disabilities, so that better data on this topic can be produced. It is directed to countries wishing to gather or improve such statistics in order to meet policy needs and it is an attempt to bring together all relevant information in this field.

The main objective of this guide is to inform users about the following areas:

• current state of national methodologies for the compilation of statistics on the employment situation of people with disabilities;
• standards and definitions for the measurement of different sub-groups of the economically active population;
• concepts and methods for the measurement of disability;
• useful sources and survey questions on disability.