Verifiable official statistics: A blockchain-based approach

International organizations including the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) have adopted SDMx (The standard for Statistical Data and Metadata) as the standard for exchanging official statistics. Trust in published data is essential for evidence-based policymaking. This paper shows how binding each SDMx dataset to its source using blockchain technology can enhance confidence in official statistics. We present a proof of concept implemented on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and contribute, as an integrated whole, (i) an SDMx-native canonicalization and per-< Series > hashing pipeline, (ii) a domain-separated Merkle aggregation scheme for batched anchoring, (iii) a self-contained, identity-bound verification artefact in which the SDMx message itself carries both the ordered Merkle leaves and a W3C Verifiable Credential signed by a publisher identity key cryptographically bound to the publisher’s XRPL address via an on-chain attestation registry, so any consumer can re-derive the anchored root and verify the publisher’s identity from the file alone plus a single ledger lookup, (iv) an open-source XRPL-based reference implementation, and (v) a cost model that captures the batch-size / latency / fee trade-off and is solved for an economically optimal batch size. The system enables near-real-time data verification, provides cryptographic integrity guarantees, and establishes a foundation for future extensions, including zero-knowledge proofs and automated verification by AI agents. Measurements on the prototype show median publication latency of 3–5 s and verification latency of 1–2 s under the controlled test conditions described in Section 7. The approach is data-format-agnostic and can be extended to other structured statistical or regulatory formats.