On 17 October, European Statistics Day will be celebrated for the third time. The motto of this year's celebrations will be "Statistics today for a better tomorrow". With this event, the European statistical community aims at raising awareness of the importance, value and power of official statistics for European citizens.
"European Statistics Day emphasises the value of official statistics in society and complements the United Nations' World Statistics Day, which takes place every five years," said Mariana Kotzeva, Director-General of Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union.
To mark this year's European Statistics Day, the State Statistical Office organised an official celebration at the Faculty of Economics of the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. The event was attended by the Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, Head of Eurostat, Mariana Kotzeva, and a large number of guests, including university professors, academics, students and statisticians.
During the ceremony, the Prime Minister signed the 'Commitment on Confidence in Statistics'. With this signature, the Government recognised that 'reliable statistics are a necessary condition for evidence-based policymaking and a well-functioning democracy' and has committed itself, among other things, to 'fully respect the international and European standards for quality of statistics, in particular the European Statistics Code of Practice', to 'guarantee and defend the professional independence of the State Statistical Office and its head (Director-General)', and to 'provide conditions for the sustainable functioning of national statistics'.
Mariana Kotzeva said: "This Commitment on Confidence will give citizens the necessary assurances that the statistics produced by the State Statistical Office are fully objective and impartial, and also produced in accordance with best international practices".
• The full text of the 'Commitment on Confidence in Statistics' can be found here
• More information about European Statistics Day can be found here