World Statistics Day

World Statistics Day is celebrated on October 20 after a time interval of five years. The day is observed to recognize the significance of statistics in people’s lives. Its goal is to raise awareness of official statistics’ accomplishments founded on the ideals of dedication, competence, and honesty. This department of the UN coordinates the global effort and this special day is celebrated every 5 years. It was first celebrated in 1947, as the establishment of Essential Guidelines of Official Statistics was done in the year 1994 by the commission.

In India, World statistics day is celebrated on June 29, the late Prof Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis’ birthday. Mahalanobis was born in Calcutta, West Bengal, in 1893, and was known as the “Father of Indian Statistics”. PC Mahalanobis is well known for inventing the Mahalanobis distance, a statistics metric, and serving on India’s first Planning Commission. He also helped develop large-scale sample surveys and established the Indian Statistical Institute.

Why is World Statistics Day celebrated?

World Statistics Day is celebrated every five years in order to honor statistics as it is very important and plays a significant part in a country’s growth and development. The study of statistics entails gathering, analyzing, and interpreting huge volumes of numerical data. Its vitality has been recognized all across the world. The third Globe Statistics Day was held in 2020, with the subject “Connecting the world with statistics we can trust.” While in 2015 it was celebrated with the general theme of ” “Better data, better lives’. However, the next World Statistics will be commemorated in the year 2025 since the United Nations Statistics Council celebrated it in 2020. The goal of World Statistics Day is to raise public awareness of statisticians’ accomplishments, particularly those who work for the government.

History of World Statistics Day

Officials decided to commemorate World Statistics Day at the UN Statistical Commission’s 41st session in February 2010. On October 20, 2010, the inaugural World Statistics Day was celebrated with the numerous successes of official figures. The day was commemorated in honor of the UNSD’s continual flow of information to people worldwide to promote good administration, integrity, and responsibility. The UN commemorated the day in 2015 with the theme “Better data, better lives”. It was also determined in 2015 to commemorate the anniversary every five years.

There are several reasons why World Statistics Day is celebrated across the world, including, to recognize the critical relevance of long-term national statistical capacity, to create accurate and timely data and indicators that measure a country’s development as essential for making well-informed policy decisions, to keep track of the Millennium Development Goals on a national, regional, and global scale, and to assist national efforts, to establish and expand national statistical ability, particularly in developing countries, following the Economic and Social Council decision titled “Strengthening Statistical Capacity” adopted on July 24, 2006.

Why World Statistics Day is Important?

The importance of World Statistics Day is as follows:

• Scientific work, and the growth of civic society and enterprises, rely heavily on statistics. Statistics are critical to every country’s social and economic progress.
• World Statistics Day honors the process of accumulating, analyzing, and interpreting large volumes of data to improve society. On this day, countries join together to work on statistics governance and devote greater resources to data collection.
• Statistical expertise aids in collecting data, applying reliable analyses, and the efficient presentation of results. Statistics is an important part of generating scientific discoveries, making data-driven decisions, and making forecasts.

World Statistics Day Logo

The official logo of world statistics day represents the idea of trusted data that the world can connect with. The logo’s circular shape portrays the globe while a bar chart with a checkmark shows trust and security. The logo can be used by governments, intergovernmental organizations, not-for-profit organizations, and private-sector entities with the permission of the UN.

World Statistics Day 2020 Theme

Previously the theme for World Statistics Day was, ‘Connecting the world with data we can trust’ for 2020. When the first World Statistics Day was celebrated in 2010 the theme was ‘Service, professionalism, integrity: celebrating the many contributions and achievements of official statistics’, followed by the ‘Better data, better lives’, the theme for 2015.

World Statistics Day Quotes

• “As the United Nations marks its seventy-fifth anniversary and the world deploys data to face a common challenge, let us use World Statistics Day to spotlight the role of statistics in advancing sustainable development for all.” ― António Guterres
• “Statisticians like artists have the bad habit of falling in love with their models.” ― George E Box
• “Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are pliable.” ― Mark Twain