Why the crisis in official statistics matters - and how it can be fixed

"Official statistics are collected, managed and published by governments. They need to be reliable and robust to guide decisions such as how to reduce school drop-out rates or when to reduce interest rates. They are also used to assess progress towards policy outcomes such as meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)."

"Our reporters spoke to more than 20 researchers and staff members at national statistics agencies around the world. The team built up a picture of a crisis affecting official statistics that has been triggered by three main factors: inadequate funding, political overreach and plummeting response rates to household and business surveys."

"Digital technologies are becoming better at recording and analysing information such as household spending through credit and debit card data. But, in some cases, they can also pose a threat to the accuracy of the data, for example if people use artificial-intelligence tools to answer questions in online settings."

Official statistics collected by governments face a significant crisis driven by three primary factors: inadequate funding, political overreach, and declining survey response rates. These statistics are critical for guiding policy decisions and measuring progress toward objectives like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Surveys remain foundational to official statistics despite advances in digital data collection technologies. While some data can now be gathered through credit card transactions and other digital sources, surveys are still necessary for certain information types. Statistics agencies worldwide report challenges at unprecedented levels, though experts agree these problems are solvable with sufficient commitment and resources.

Read at Nature