The UN’s Statistical Commission was formed in the year 1947. But the Commission adopted the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics in 1994 only.
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Every five years, World Statistics Day is marked on 20 October. The day is celebrated to mark the importance of statistics in human lives. The day aims to create awareness about the achievements of official statistics that were based on the values of service, professionalism, and integrity.
World Statistics Day is organised under the United Nations Statistical Commission every five years. The global campaign is coordinated by the Statistics Division of the UN’s Department of Economic Affairs (UNSD). The UN will observe the next World Statistics Day on 20 October 2025, in accordance with its tradition of marking the day every five years.
History:
The UN’s Statistical Commission was formed in the year 1947. But the Commission adopted the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics in 1994 only.
The decision to observe World Statistics Day was taken at the 41st session of the UN Statistical Commission in February 2010. The first World Statistics Day was celebrated on 20 October 2010, with the theme “Celebrating the many achievements of official statistics”. The day was celebrated in honour of the continuous stream of information that the UNSD gives to people globally to ensure good governance, transparency and accountability.
In 2015, the day was marked once again, with the theme of “Better data, better lives.” In 2015, it was also decided to mark the occasion every five years.
In 2020, the theme for the third World Statistics Day was “Connecting the world with data we can trust”. The theme aimed at reflecting the importance of authoritative data, trust, innovation, and the public good in the statistical systems of nations.
Significance:
Statistics are immensely important to academic research as well as the development of civil society and businesses. Statistics are indispensable to the social and economic development of any country.
World Statistics Day celebrates the process of collecting, analysing, and interpreting huge amounts of massive data to contribute to the betterment of society. Countries come together on this day to collaborate on statistical management and dedicate more effort to the process of gathering statistics.