Economy

A Wealth of data: transforming ONS statistics on income, spending and wealth

Categories: Data, Economy, ONS, Public Policy, Wellbeing
Image of a piggy bank with a coin about to drop in

The ONS produces a range of statistics showing the income, spending and wealth of British households, together forming an important part of the overall picture of the economy. These statistics are a vital source of information for understanding people’s financial wellbeing including the effects from the rising cost of living. Adrian Chesson talks about the consultation launched today on our plans to transform these key statistics.  

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Inclusive measures of growth – How ONS is moving Beyond GDP

Categories: Coronavirus, Economy, Environment, Office for National Statistics, ONS, Public Policy, Wellbeing

GDP is a well-used metric for measuring changes in the size of economies around the world. However, it has its limitations. Richard Heys writes about the continuing developments at the ONS to go beyond GDP by including measures of the impact of growth on people, the climate and environment.

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Uncertainty and the ‘r’ word: What exactly is a ‘recession’?

Categories: Coronavirus, Data, Economy, Office for National Statistics, ONS
Image of graphs and money, indicating financial markets

In times when the economy appears to be slowing, commentators will inevitably debate whether or not it is moving into ‘recession’. There is, however, no official definition of a recession and the one most commonly used has the potential to be misleading. In this post Darren Morgan reveals why in official statistics the ONS tends to avoid using the ‘r’ word.    

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The Power of Innovation: First new R&D stats are here

Categories: Data, Economy, Office for National Statistics, ONS
Picture symbolising innovation

In a blog post last week we set out wide-ranging plans to transform the ONS statistics on Research and Development (R&D). Now the results of the first element of this project have arrived as we publish new R&D estimates covering 2014 to 2020. Heather Bovill explains how the numbers have been improved.

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