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.
Read more on Inclusive measures of growth – How ONS is moving Beyond GDP
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.
Read more on Uncertainty and the ‘r’ word: What exactly is a ‘recession’?
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.
Read more on The Power of Innovation: First new R&D stats are here
Research and development – invariably known as ‘R&D’ – is closely linked to economic growth. Investment by companies in new products, software, and improved systems plays an important role in increasing both output and productivity. Here Heather Bovill talks about the important work taking place to improve the ONS’s measurement of this vital activity.
Read more on The Power of Innovation: How the ONS is transforming R&D statistics
There is currently a lot of interest in how much prices are rising. Today we’re publishing inflation numbers for Northern Ireland. Here Chris Jenkins looks at our work to develop these figures with the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland as well as explaining why it’s not as easy to produce inflation data for the nations and regions as you might think.
Read more on Rising to the challenge: How the ONS is developing inflation measures for the nations and regions