How DPA Budget and Staffing Levels Mirror National Differences in GDP and Population

This white paper analyzes privacy regulators’ budget and staffing levels. Using data from the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners’ Census 2017, the analysis reveals that data protection authorities in North America have larger budgets and more staff than their counterparts around the world.

Europe, the region with the highest total number of member DPAs, ranks third out of five regionally — behind North America and Asia/Oceania and ahead of Africa/Middle East and South and Central America — in terms of current DPA budget and staff levels. Overall, authorities who operate within OECD-member countries also have significantly higher budgets and employ more staff than their non-OECD counterparts.

Using GDP and population figures obtained from the World Bank, this report also shows that these disparities in the distribution of DPA resources around the globe reflect national differences in wealth and population.