The ONS has published updated and indicative estimates of GDP, which show that the economy was larger than we previously thought in 2020 and 2021, though our estimate for the UK’s monthly and quarterly economic trends is broadly unchanged. Craig McLaren explains what’s led to this brighter picture.
Read more on Improving our estimate of businesses’ outgoings during the COVID-19 pandemic
For the first time the ONS has published new data on UK Direct Debits. This new, fast and anonymised data source provides insight on consumer payments to most of the UK’s largest companies. Dragos Cozma describes how the ONS has developed this new data source with our partners at Vocalink and Pay.UK and what it tells us about the UK economy.
Read more on Direct Debits data reveal fresh economic insights
Our consumer inflation statistics are closely watched, not only because they tell us how price rises are affecting people, but also because they are a crucial piece of information, used by the Bank of England when setting Interest rates. Chris Jenkins talks about the complex adjustments we make to ensure the index shows only real, underlying changes in prices.
Read more on Keeping it consistent – how we quality adjust CPI
We have already blogged about how the UK’s statistics on research and development (R&D) are the subject of a programme of fundamental transformation. We are improving our main survey to capture a much wider group of businesses to better reflect the true extent of R&D undertaken in the UK. Now we also improving our measurement of R&D undertaken by the UK government and its agencies. Heather Bovill talks about how we are improving these estimates of what R&D the government is paying for and, importantly, where it is taking place.
Read more on Transforming R&D statistics on Government-funded research & development
News headlines this month proclaimed the UK has ‘narrowly avoided recession’. In ‘Recessions, GDP and Beyond’, the latest episode of our ‘Statistically Speaking’ podcast, we decode the ‘r’ word and explain why this sometimes misleading term is one the ONS is often cautious to avoid.
Read more on The ‘R’ Word: What exactly is a ‘recession’ anyway?
