Economic statistics is a topic in applied statistics and

applied economics Applied economics is the application of economic theory and econometrics in specific settings. As one of the two sets of fields of economics (the other set being the ''core''), it is typically characterized by the application of the ''core'', i.e ...

that concerns the collection, processing, compilation, dissemination, and

analysis Analysis (: analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (38 ...

economic data Economic data are data describing an actual economy, past or present. These are typically found in time-series form, that is, covering more than one time period (say the monthly unemployment rate for the last five years) or in cross-sectional dat ...

. It is closely related to business statistics and

econometrics Econometrics is an application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics", '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8 ...

. It is also common to call the data themselves "economic statistics", but for this usage, "economic data" is the more common term.

Overview

The data of concern to economic statistics may include those of an

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

within a region, country, or group of countries. Economic statistics may also refer to a subtopic of

official statistics Official statistics are statistics published by Government, government agencies or other Statutory corporation, public bodies such as International organization, international organizations as a Public good (economics), public good. They provide q ...

for data produced by official organizations (e.g.

national statistical services National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, intergovernmental organizations such as

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...

s, and ministries). Analyses within economic statistics both make use of and provide the empirical data needed in economic research, whether descriptive or

econometric Econometrics is an application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics", '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8� ...

. They are a key input for decision making as to

economic policy ''Economic Policy'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Oxford University Press, Oxford Academic on behalf of the Centre for Economic Policy Research, the Center for Economic Studies (University of Munich), and the Paris Scho ...

. The subject includes statistical analysis of topics and problems in

microeconomics Microeconomics is a branch of economics that studies the behavior of individuals and Theory of the firm, firms in making decisions regarding the allocation of scarcity, scarce resources and the interactions among these individuals and firms. M ...

macroeconomics Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that deals with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. This includes regional, national, and global economies. Macroeconomists study topics such as output (econ ...

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

forecasting Forecasting is the process of making predictions based on past and present data. Later these can be compared with what actually happens. For example, a company might Estimation, estimate their revenue in the next year, then compare it against the ...

data quality Data quality refers to the state of qualitative or quantitative pieces of information. There are many definitions of data quality, but data is generally considered high quality if it is "fit for tsintended uses in operations, decision making and ...

, and policy evaluation. It also includes such considerations as what data to collect in order to quantify some particular aspect of an economy and of how best to collect in any given instance.

References

Citations

Sources

* Allen, R. G. D., 1956. "Official Economic Statistics," ''Economica'', N.S., 23(92), pp.
360
365. * Crum, W. L., 1925. ''An Introduction to the Methods of Economic Statistics'', AW Shaw Co. * Giovanini, Enrico, 2008
''Understanding Economic Statistics''
OECD Publishing. * Fox, Karl A., 1968. ''Intermediate Economic Statistics'', Wiley
Description.
* Kane, Edward J., 1968. ''Economic Statistics and Econometrics'', Harper and Row. * Morgenstern, Oskar,

950 Year 950 ( CML) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine War: A Hamdanid army (30,000 men) led by Sayf al-Dawla raids into Byzantine theme Anatolia. He defea ...

1963. ''On the Accuracy of Economic Observations''. 2nd rev. ed. ("The Accuracy of Economic Observation
ch. 16
. Princeton University Press. * Mirer, Thad W., 1995. ''Economic Statistics and Econometrics'', 3rd ed. Prentice Hall
Description.
* Persons, Warren M., 1910. "The Correlation of Economic Statistics," ''Publications of the American Statistical Association'', 12(92), pp
287
322. * Wonnacott, Thomas H., and Ronald J. Wonnacott, 1990. ''Introductory Statistics for Business and Economics'', 4th ed., Wiley. * Ullah, Aman, and David E. A. Giles, ed., 1998. ''Handbook of Applied Economic Statistics'', Marcel Dekker.
Descriptionpreview
an
back cover.
* Zellner, Arnold, ed. 1968. ''Readings in Economic Statistics and Econometrics'', Little, Brown & Co.

Journals

* '' Journal of Business and Economic Statistics'' * ''

Review of Economics and Statistics ''The Review of Economics and Statistics'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that covers applied economics, with specific relevance to the scope of econometrics. The editors-in-chief are Will Dobbie (Harvard University) and Raymond Fisman (Bost ...

'' (from ''Review of Economic Statistics'', 1919–47)

External links

Economic statistics section
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''

The White House pages on U.S. economic statistics
Historical Financial Statistics
Center for Financial Stability (emphasizes statistics before about 1950)
Fundamental principles of official statistics
United Nations, Statistics Division

UNECE
OANDA FXEconostats
Historical graphical economic data of major industrial countries
OECD Official Statistics
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Statistics
Eurostat
The European Commission's Statistical Office {{Authority control Applied statistics Mathematical and quantitative methods (economics) Socio-economic statistics