The number of people who give long-term sickness as their main reason for not being able to work has been on the rise. Here Darren Morgan looks in a little more detail at this phenomenon.
Read more on ‘Too Ill to Work’: A deeper look at what the figures show
One of the ONS’s most watched figures is the level of public sector debt. Complied jointly with HM Treasury, this number is often compared with the overall size of the UK economy (GDP) and presented as a “debt to GDP ratio” to give it proper context. As this figure has recently been hovering around the 100% level, it has received more attention than normal. Jessica Barnaby explains why our initial estimates can sometimes get revised.
Read more on How the ONS estimates UK debt to GDP figures
The Office for National Statistics has launched a public consultation on the future of population and migration statistics. This includes seeking views from users about potential alternative definitions and breakdowns of population and migration that we don’t currently provide. One of those we’re already aware of is the need for more context on the drivers of international migration. Jay Lindop explains how we’re using administrative data to shed more light on the reasons people migrate to the UK.
Read more on Why people immigrate to the UK: seizing the opportunities of administrative data
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
Health data is a key part of the ONS’ work and an important part of this is our use of NHS data, which allows us to build an increasingly insightful understanding of the nation’s health. As the NHS marks its 75th anniversary, Jonny Tinsley looks at this long-standing relationship of NHS data linkage and discusses future work in this crucial area.
Read more on Celebrating 75 years of the NHS and a history of ONS collaboration