INSEE (French: Institut National e la Statistique et des Études Économiques; pronounced [inse] (not [ɛ̃se]) in French) is the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies. It collects and publishes information on the French economy and society, carrying out the periodic national census. Located in Paris, it is the French branch of Eurostat, European Statistical System. The INSEE was created in 1946 as a successor to the National Statistics Service (SNS) created under Vichy during World War II.