Fee increases at the official statistics research data centres: RatSWD calls for sustainable funding

On the 1st of January 2026, the amendment to the list of services and fees of the RDC of the Federal and State Statistical Offices came into force. [1] The RDC for official statistics had already announced the fee increase in April 2024 as a result of the change to the fee structure; the Scientific Advisory Group (WBK) of the RDC of the Federal and State Statistical Offices and the German Data Forum (RatSWD) subsequently issued statements on the matter. [2]

From the perspective of RatSWD, which represents both data users and data producers, the underfunding of the RDC’s services has long hampered the development of this research data infrastructure in Germany, which is of great relevance to empirical research.

The RatSWD now reaffirms its previous position: it recognises that a fee increase is necessary to offset inflation and cover the overall rise in costs associated with the operation of the RDC. However, in the RatSWD’s view, the RDC’s shortfall in refinancing should not be passed on, even in part, to data users. The RatSWD warns that, as a result of higher costs, equal access to research data infrastructure is at risk and the work of researchers in the fields of empirical social, behavioural, educational and economic research will be further restricted. It therefore welcomes the fact that, as a result of the fee adjustment, the costs for using data for theses and for Scientific Use Files (SUF) in the context of off-site use have at least been reduced.

Against the backdrop of rising costs for data usage, the RatSWD sees a need for action in two areas to ensure research-friendly access to data for high-quality empirical science: Firstly, it advocates for the statutory enshrinement of the Federal Research Data Centres (RDCs) for official statistics within the framework of the planned Research Data Act. Secondly, the RatSWD calls for sustainable funding for the RDCs, as these are of central importance to the scientific community. Only if the RDCs, as an essential part of the research infrastructure, receive sufficient resources on a long-term basis to provide their services can the German research landscape hold its own in the international competition for cutting-edge empirical research and evidence-based policy advice.

[1]     Adjustion of the RDC user charge from 2026.

[2]    WBK-Stellungnahme zur geplanten Änderung der Gebührenstruktur der FDZ Statistischen Ämter des Bundes und der Länder, 22.04.2024; RatSWD-Stellungnahme zur drohenden Entgelterhöhung der Forschungsdatenzentren des statistischen Verbundes, 17.06.2024  [German only]

The German Data Forum (RatSWD) has been advising the German federal government and the governments of the German states on questions of research data infrastructure for the empirical social, behavioural and economic sciences since 2004. In the RatSWD, ten representatives of the social, behavioural and economic disciplines, legitimised by election, work together with ten representatives of data production.

The RatSWD is part of the Consortium for the Social, Behavioural, Educational and Economic Sciences (KonsortSWD) in the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI). It sees itself as an institutionalised forum for dialogue between science and data producers and develops recommendations and statements. In doing so, it is committed to an infrastructure that provides science with broad, flexible and secure access to data. These data are provided by governmental, science-based and private-sector actors. Currently, the RatSWD has accredited 41 research data centres and promotes their cooperation.