At the Office for National Statistics (ONS), we collect and process data, to create statistics that help us understand the UK's economy, society and population. People use these statistics to make important decisions about things that affect us all, such as the amount of housing we need and the numbers of school and college places.
In some cases, we are asked to provide statistics in response to important issues. This helps to inform major decisions, such as during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The importance of independent statistics
We are the largest independent producer of official statistics in the UK and our statistics are impartial and free of political control. We are a part of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial government department that is accountable directly to the UK Parliament.
Publishing statistics for the public good
In July 2020, the Authority launched its five-year strategy of the UK's official statistical system: Statistics for the public good. This set out the Authority's mission to produce high-quality data and analysis to inform the UK, improve lives and build the future.
Our work plays an important role in this strategy. When we say our statistics are "for the public good", we mean that the insights they give allow people to make better-informed decisions. These decisions can help to benefit society.
Where we get our data from
We ask people for the data we need through surveys and the census of England and Wales that happens every 10 years. It would not be efficient to regularly survey the whole population. So, we take a cross-section of the population and make reliable estimates that show trends in our society.
On top of this, we also use existing data that are collected by other organisations. This includes information people have given when they use public services, such as the tax and benefits systems. This is known as "administrative data".
We also use some alternative data sources from commercial organisations, such as retailers and transport companies.
Information about data and statistics can be confusing and complex. Find out more and get the answers to some of the questions you might have about data.
Whatever the data, the safety of your information is our top priority. Learn more about how we keep data secure and confidential.
Maintaining trust through our Data Strategy
All our work is guided by our Data Strategy.
The strategy has eight missions that will help achieve our aim of becoming the most trusted, joined-up and data-driven organisation in the public sector. These are:
data integration and architecture
strategic delivery and engagement
public trust in data
smooth end-to-end data journey
data acquisition and access
data quality
data security, protection and ethics
data capability
Read more about our Data Strategy.
Transforming the way that we produce statistics
We are transforming the ways we collect and use data to produce more frequent, relevant and up-to-date statistics.
The world is changing fast. To keep up with these changes, we need to track them and adapt the way we work with data. By doing this, we can produce statistics that better meet everyone's needs.
Find out more about our specific transformation plans for population and migration statistics.
Watch our animated video to find out why we are transforming the way we produce population statistics [opens new window to YouTube video player].
Watch a British Sign Language (BSL) version of our animated video to find out why we are transforming the way we produce population statistics [opens new window to YouTube video player].
Sharing what we know about people's attitudes to data
We know that some people are more than happy to share their data with us, because that is what they have told us. They trust us to keep their personal information safe and secure, and know their data will help to inform important decisions that affect us all.
We want to know more about what people think about sharing their data and how data are used. To help us understand people's attitudes to data, we regularly look at research that:
we carry out ourselves
we ask other organisations to do for us
other organisations carry out
We will continue to communicate and seek people's views on how we use data to produce official statistics.
Learn more about people's attitudes to data.