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Are you confused about the state of your country and where it is going? Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed by the plethora of information–often contradictory–about the health of your economy, society or the environment? Governments should be judged on the effectiveness of their policies and projects, but against which benchmarks? And how can citizens take part in honest democratic debate about policy alternatives if they do not know what is really going on in their own country or region?

Building a credible economic policy for the euro area has depended on good statistics, a solid analytical framework and sound judgment. There have been challenges, and more lie ahead.

I have been in politics for a number of years and since taking responsibility in government for development policies, I have concentrated almost exclusively on seeking ways of improving the quality of life in those areas that are still lagging behind in development terms.

Numbers, which may at times appear to be secondary to emotions, are an indispensable instrument. Thanks to our reading of numbers and data, we can more clearly understand the problems afflicting communities and act with rigour and determination to tackle and resolve them.

While the importance of quality data cannot be overestimated, quite often it is the handling and interpretation of the data by both users and suppliers that cause the real problems. The OECD is taking action to correct this by launching a new statistical information system.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) began work on the MAP project in early 2000, with the first issue of the publication released in April 2002. Most of 2000 and 2001 was spent developing and discussing thinking around progress and its measurement – rather than preparing the actual document per se. The publication itself took about six months to write, peer review and publish. The consultation around its development took nearly two years. (…)

Measuring a nation's progress – providing information about whether life is getting better – is one of the most important tasks that a national statistical agency can take on. For almost 100 years, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has been measuring Australia's progress through the multitude of statistics we publish relating to Australia's economy, society and environment. However, for the most part, our statistical publications have tended to focus on each of these three broad areas in isolation.

Performance indicators may be useful, but despite their appeal, setting targets can be tricky, as well as misleading.

If ever there was a controversial icon from the statistics world, GDP is it. It measures income, but not equality, it measures growth, but not destruction, and it ignores values like social cohesion and the environment. Yet, governments, businesses and probably most people swear by it. According to François Lequiller*, head of national accounts at the OECD, part of the problem is that perhaps we expect too much from this trusty, though misunderstood, indicator. He explains.

Maximising national progress and strengthening accountability in the 21st century will require both reflection and action. To begin and sustain this process, we will need to answer and continually improve our answers to several basic questions.

Forums are quite commonplace these days, but really useful ones are rare. We tend to think of Davos or Porto Alegre, or perhaps even the OECD’s own annual public forum. We imagine headlinemaking topics, on climate change, security, society, telecommunications or business innovation. But a recent OECD world forum held in Palermo, Italy, was different than most, for it had as its billing the rather unspectacular subject of statistics.

GDP is a perfect example of the muddle that reading league tables can cause. This is a relatively straightforward measure of output and gives an idea of how well-off a country is, compared with competitors and past performance. But it has to be handled carefully.