World Statistics Day 2010 – Media release

“On the first ever World Statistics Day, heartening new research shows New Zealanders know the importance of statistics for themselves, their communities, and country,” Government Statistician Geoff Bascand said.

Mr Bascand, Chief Executive of Statistics New Zealand, said the results were from a public survey about Use and trust in Official Statistics. Statistics New Zealand commissioned the survey as part of an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) initiative, which will enable inter-country comparisons.

“The independent research report is being finalised for public release next week. But given it’s the first ever United Nations-mandated World Statistics Day, I thought it appropriate to share some of the key findings from this project,” said Mr Bascand.

The survey of 1836 people showed that of the 86 percent who had heard of Statistics New Zealand, 96 percent thought statistics were important.

“Given official statistics support decisions around how and where to spend billions of dollars of government spending annually, it’s good that the public recognise their importance. Official statistics also influence business decisions, meanwhile communities use them to identify problems and trends and measure progress.

“Another key use for official statistics is giving New Zealanders information about what’s happening in their country, for example areas like spending, saving, incomes, employment, and population changes.”

The survey showed 27 percent of respondents had used government statistics in the past 12 months while 61 percent had read articles or papers that had cited government statistics over the past year.

Mr Bascand said it was disturbing to see that only 26 percent of survey participants were very sure that Statistics New Zealand kept personal information confidential (47 percent fairly sure and 25 percent not sure), and that 23 percent felt statistics were very free from political interference (57 percent reasonably free).

“I can assure people that Statistics New Zealand keeps their personal information completely confidential and that there is no interference in our statistics. We release our statistics to everyone at the same time. I have statutory independence as Government Statistician in the compilation and publication of statistics.”

Mr Bascand said there are a range of activities taking place in New Zealand to celebrate World Statistics Day, including the launch of the New Zealand Official Yearbook 2010.

Mr Bascand said on World Statistics Day he wanted to thank New Zealanders for providing information to Statistics New Zealand and other government agencies that survey people.

“We know it takes households and businesses time to provide us with their information, but the resulting statistics are critical to making sure New Zealand grows and prospers.”

Geoff Bascand 19 October 2010

Government Statistician