Communicating uncertainty in GDP estimates

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Communicating uncertainty in GDP estimates

The UK economy has been affected by some unprecedented events in recent years, with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic followed immediately by the huge rise in energy costs due to the war in the Ukraine. For the ONS, these have increased the challenge of producing economic statistics that are both fast and accurate. Dramatic changes in the underlying data tend to bring added uncertainty to our initial estimates. As Craig McLaren explains, we are exploring ways to better portray this in our statistical outputs.   

How the ONS is working towards measuring depletion of UK natural capital

As well as its more traditional social and economic statistics, the Office for National Statistics has been further improving its measurement of what the natural world provides to us through ‘ecosystem services’. This work is part of the wider ‘Wellbeing and Beyond GDP’ agenda to provide a complementary and more holistic view of national prosperity and well-being. In this post Ellen Clowser looks at how we’ve been extending our measurement of natural capital to estimate for the first time how these resources are being depleted.

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Bringing together UK health statistics

Hospital corridor

Making government statistics accessible to everyone and coherent across data sets maximises the value they bring to important topics. The ONS has been working with the devolved administrations and health bodies to bring together and improve the statistical coherence of UK health data. Becky Tinsley shares an update on this work and explains how it will help create a deeper and wider understanding of health.

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Excess deaths – a new methodology and better understanding

The COVID-19 pandemic heightened interest in patterns and levels of ‘excess’ deaths, typically defined as deaths over the number that might be expected to occur in an ‘average’ year. But with different organisations using different methods to calculate excess deaths, it can be difficult to build a clear picture. Working across government and the devolved nations, we have now agreed a common UK-wide approach to producing national estimates of excess mortality. As Julie Stanborough explains, this new methodology will give us a better understanding in this complex area.

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