Cyprus officials highlight the role of statistics in economic policy

On October 20, 2026, marking the European Statistics Day, Cyprus officials emphasized the critical role of data in shaping national policy. During an event titled 'The role of official statistics in economic policy formulation,' Andreas Charalambous, President of the Fiscal Council, stated that statistics are the essential language for understanding the economy and planning for the future. He stressed that a data-driven policy cycle, including collection, analysis, implementation, and evaluation, is fundamental to democratic accountability.

Stavros Karagiorgis, Director of the Statistical Service (Cystat), used the 10th anniversary of the European Statistics Day to call for a transition from simple data production to the generation of actionable knowledge. Addressing the theme 'European statistics at a crossroads: priorities, opportunities, and constraints,' Karagiorgis identified three key challenges: the need for faster response times to socioeconomic shifts, the optimization of limited resources, and the integration of new technologies and alternative data sources. He concluded that the primary challenge for the Statistical Service lies in interpreting raw numbers into meaningful insights that can effectively inform public decision-making.