Press Releases

“Statistics, a vaccine to protect democracy and combat the virus of disinformation”

The European Statistics Day is celebrated every year on the 20^th of October and complements the World Statistics Day which takes place every five years. The aim of celebrating this day is to highlight the important role of official statistics in our society.

This year’s motto is “Statistics, a vaccine to protect democracy and combat the virus of disinformation”. This theme reflects the importance of using high-quality statistical information with the highest standards of transparency and accountability, as a vital mean of protecting freedom and democracy. This is most pertinent nowadays, as democracies around the world face the spreading, similar to that of a virus, of false or biased information that potentially has the power to quickly destabilize democratic institutions and undermine citizens' choices and trust. Strengthening democratic resilience means tackling disinformation by having high-quality statistical data that citizens can fully trust. This is achieved with the use of official statistics. Official statistics, supported by statistical methodologies based on recognised scientific criteria, provide essential information to support people, businesses, organizations and Governments in taking appropriate decisions and actions.

In Cyprus, the authority responsible for the compilation and dissemination of most of the official statistics is the Statistical Service (CYSTAT). In the framework of the celebration of the European Statistics Day, CYSTAT has planned the following actions, which aim to promote the use of official statistics:

• 20 October 2021: European Statistics Competition

The Statistical Service in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport and Youth, the University of Cyprus and the Cyprus Statistical Society will organize this year the annual European Statistics Competition in Cyprus. The contest will be held amongst secondary school students during the school year 2021-2022 and the kick off day will be the 20^th of October. On this day, the registration procedure for the teams is launched.

• 1 November 2021: CYSTAT’s new Web Portal goes live

CYSTAT announces that its new web portal will go live on 1^st November 2021. The new portal will replace the current website of CYSTAT and will offer users an improved web experience, with services such as the online interactive database for the creation of tables and graphs, user-friendly access of the portal from portable devices, easier access to tables, announcements, publications, methodological information and infographics and improved communication with CYSTAT through the use of web-forms.

(MG/ΙΚ)