TOKYO, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese government said Friday that due to faulty jobs data from the labor ministry for more than a decade, it needs to conduct an overall review of key statistics reports.
"It's very regrettable that we have a situation that impairs the credibility of our statistics," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in a press conference.
From gross domestic product and the population census to dairy products data, the Japanese government plans to go over 56 reports listed as key statistics.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare admitted Friday that it had failed to pay more than 53.7 billion yen (495.7 million U.S. dollars) in unemployment insurance, workers' compensation and sailors' insurance.
The issue was revealed recently after the ministry was found to have published its monthly labor survey without collecting enough data.
The ministry said such practice has begun in 2004 and affects nearly 20 million people.
The Japanese government will also rework the national budget for fiscal 2019 to compensate the people who did not receive their fair share of benefits because of the faulty data, Suga said.
The incident will likely spark strong criticism from opposition lawmakers in the upcoming Diet session, a major faulty action to be fired upon ahead of local and national elections.
