Data

Looking beyond GDP and providing insights on climate change

Today, for the first time, we are publishing climate change insights alongside our first quarterly estimate of GDP, outlining options for measuring quarterly emissions, and committing to plans to develop ‘Beyond GDP’ measures of inclusive income. In this post, Liz McKeown shares an update on the work of the ONS in informing understanding of economic, environmental and social progress.

Read more on Looking beyond GDP and providing insights on climate change

Times they are a-changing: and with them, two key ONS surveys

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had a huge impact on our daily lives, from how we live as a society to the running of businesses and workplaces. Here Tim Vizard and Emily Hopson look at how two surveys we introduced at the very beginning of the pandemic have been helping to inform our understanding of its consequences – and the changes we are making now as we learn to live with Covid.

Read more on Times they are a-changing: and with them, two key ONS surveys

Putting a number on our nation’s health

An image of children playing in a sunny meadow

The Office for National Statistics has set out to create a data set that allows us to track, understand and measure key themes to give us an overall picture of the nation’s health – just as GDP is used to understand the strength of our nation’s finances. As we publish our experimental statistics up to 2019, Greg Ceely explains the significance of this work and what our data show.

Read more on Putting a number on our nation’s health

Self-isolation and worker absences

An image of an office type desk, there is a keyboard and mouse on it

As infection rates increased throughout December and early January, we saw impacts across a range of sectors as more people were isolating following a positive COVID test result. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) needed to assess the scale of self-isolation rapidly, and understand which sectors were most hit by worker absences. Tess Carter explains how data we published today help to provide those insights, and how they compare with our other data sources.  

Read more on Self-isolation and worker absences

Building the richest picture of our population

A group of people next to the River Thames

Population statistics underpin a vast array of analysis, from unemployment rates to health outcomes, and are vital to decisions about all public services. Pete Benton explains how, this year, with new census outputs and more frequent statistics from new data sources, the ONS will deliver richer and more timely insights than ever before.   

Read more on Building the richest picture of our population