Reviewed:
January 24th, 1997
By:
Emma Worsfold
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) Web site seemed to answer most of my queries by saying 'I can't help you, but I know a man that can!' The ONS claims that in the future more and more statistical information is likely to be made available online, but for now the site is mainly about pointing you to the ONS people, publications and departments that can provide the information you need.
The ONS is the Government Agency responsible for compiling, analysing and disseminating many of the UK's economic and social statistics. Key ONS products include the Labour Force Survey, Social Trends, the Inter Departmental Business Register, the Retail Price Index, census data, government statistics, and family records, and information about all of these is available on this site.
Screen shot of the Office for National Statistics site
The web site is effective at raising awareness of the information available - look for the 'ONS Publications Catalogue', and the 'First Release' service which detail current and future publications.
'United Kingdom' in figures gives basic statistics that will help answer some commonly asked questions about the UK, and 'Other Statistical Links' might help with queries about international statistics.
Those able to pay, can use the 'Subscription Service' to download valuable datasets in text form or via the user-friendly Navidata freeware. Those not able to pay can get the 'statistic of the day' which, when I looked, was that "as a nation we ate 4.5 ounces of breakfast cereal per person in 1993". A top site for all your UK official statistics needs.
Reviewed by: Emma Worsfold, SOSIG/DESIRE research officer,
Bristol University,
Email: emma.worsfold@bris.ac.uk
Tel: 01179 288443
Material on this page is copyright Ariadne/original authors. This article last updated/links checked on 27-Jan-1997