Economy

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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The Power of Innovation: How the ONS is transforming R&D statistics

Categories: Data, Economy, Office for National Statistics, ONS
Innovation Picture

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.

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Rising to the challenge: How the ONS is developing inflation measures for the nations and regions

Categories: Data, Economy, Office for National Statistics, ONS

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.  

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Measuring Progress: GDP & Beyond

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

The ONS mission to better inform understanding of economic, environmental and social progress more broadly than can be captured purely in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has taken another step forward. Under the banner ‘Quality of life in the UK’ we have begun publishing fresh estimates of national well-being alongside the latest monthly and quarterly estimates of GDP. Combined with the recently-added Climate Change Insights publication, this quarterly package aims to offer a more holistic view of our economic, environmental and social progress. Liz McKeown unveils the new ‘GDP& Beyond’ day and invites stats users to get involved in its continuing development.

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