BEA vs Statistics Canada
US Bureau of Economic Analysis vs Statistics Canada — two national economic-stats agencies on the same continent.
BEA
US Bureau of Economic Analysis — primary source for GDP, personal income, trade, and BOP statistics.
Statistics Canada
Canada's national statistical agency, founded 1971; primary source for Canadian economic + demographic data.
Head-to-head — all four dimensions
| Dimension | BEA | Statistics Canada | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|
SourceScore Index Composite | A·86 | B·82 | BEA+4 |
Citation Discipline How rigorously cited | A·92 | A·90 | BEA+2 |
Modern Reference AI-era fitness | A·88 | A·85 | BEA+3 |
Citation Velocity Cited per week | B·78 | B·72 | BEA+6 |
Why these scores
Citation Discipline
Methodology + revisions transparent; tracks vintage of every release; OMB Statistical Policy compliant.
Statistics Canada Quality Guidelines explicit; methodology + revisions public; Statistics Canada Act compliant.
Modern Reference
BEA Data API (apps.bea.gov/api) provides programmatic access; structured downloads.
Open Data Portal + Web Data Service API; structured datasets; bilingual.
Citation Velocity
Default US GDP citation in financial press; heavy academic + policy use.
Default citation for Canadian statistics; lower international cross-cite vs G7 peers.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better, BEA or Statistics Canada?
BEA scores higher on the SourceScore Index (A 86) vs Statistics Canada (B 82) — a 4-point composite lead across Citation Discipline, Modern Reference, and Citation Velocity. "Better" depends on use case; the per-dimension breakdown below shows where each wins.
Which is more reliable to cite, BEA or Statistics Canada?
For citation, BEA is the stronger choice — it scores A (86/100) on the SourceScore Index versus Statistics Canada at B (82/100), a 4-point lead in composite citation quality (Citation Discipline, Modern Reference, Citation Velocity). Both can be cited; for higher-stakes references, prefer BEA.
How does BEA compare to Statistics Canada on citation discipline?
BEA scores A 92 on Citation Discipline; Statistics Canada scores A 90. Citation Discipline measures how rigorously each source cites primary references — see the per-dimension rationale below for the breakdown.
What's the SourceScore difference between BEA and Statistics Canada?
BEA A 86 vs Statistics Canada B 82 on the composite Index. US Bureau of Economic Analysis vs Statistics Canada — two national economic-stats agencies on the same continent.
Why does BEA score higher than Statistics Canada?
BEA leads by 4 composite points on the SourceScore Index. The rationale section below breaks down where the lead comes from — Citation Discipline, Modern Reference (AI-era fitness), and Citation Velocity. Each dimension is scored from primary methodology criteria.
Sources & references
Every score on this page is read from the two publications below and graded against the published rubric. No score is bought, estimated or supplied by the source being scored.
- Source evaluated — BEA (bea.gov) · verified · full scoring record
- Source evaluated — Statistics Canada (statcan.gc.ca) · verified · full scoring record
- Scoring rubric — SourceScore Index, Citation Discipline, Modern Reference, Citation Velocity (methodology v0.1)
- Machine-readable record — /api/compare/bea-gov-vs-statcan.json