National Statistical

International immigration to the UK hit record levels in 2022, driven by unprecedented world events and the rise in international students following the lifting of pandemic restrictions. Aligned to a period where a new immigration system had recently been introduced, Jay Lindop explains what we have been doing at the ONS to provide users with the best possible migration figures and how these feed into our future model for population statistics.

Today the ONS has published its latest insights from our Measures of National Well-being dashboard. This forms part of the ONS’s plans to move beyond traditional economic metrics to measure the impact of growth on people and the natural environment. As part of this agenda, Hugh Stickland writes about plans to develop our measures of national wellbeing.  

For decades, one of the main fiscal targets of the Government has been to reduce the level of public sector debt. This covers not just central government but also local councils and state-controlled companies. Debt estimates are presented every month in the public sector balance sheet, which shows the financial position at a single point in time. The balance sheet sets out the liabilities (amounts owed) and the assets (amounts owned), in line with international statistical guidance. However, there are several different balance sheet measures, some broader in scope than others. How do they differ?