WIREDGOV

The prioritisation of the highest quality core economic and population statistics and increased work to improve survey response rates will be the focus for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in 2025/26, as it publishes its new strategic business plan.

National Statistician, Professor Sir Ian Diamond, said: “We will increase our focus on our core economic and population statistics so that we can continue to respond to the most important needs of the nation.

“This will mean prioritising our efforts in areas that have the greatest impact such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), prices, labour market and population changes.”

Alongside an increased focus on core statistics, the ONS will continue to work closely with partners to provide responsive analysis that directly address evidence gaps and policy priorities, including the missions introduced by the Government.

It will also continue work to modernise processes and develop innovative systems that underpin the production of quality statistics. In particular, focusing more resources on increasing survey participation and continuing work to make greater use of existing and new linked data sources to produce more frequent and granular statistics.

This will include the continuation of vital transformation work in areas such as prices, labour market and population; and a recommendation on the future of population and migration statistics. All of this will be done with user needs at the very heart of its work.

The ONS will continue to produce critical statistics in areas such as public sector finance, retail sales, health and crime, along with subnational analysis, while some other areas of work will be paused or slowed down to ensure the resources needed to maintain quality in core products are available.

Given the importance of high-quality economic statistics for decision makers, financial markets and the public, the ONS will also be developing a strategy for economic statistics to give more clarity in direction, along with a detailed and prioritised workplan.