Europeans' Knowledge of Economic Indicators
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Contents |
Summary
The 2nd OECD World Forum on Statistics, Knowledge and Policy took place in Istanbul in June 2007 and was entitled “Measuring and Fostering the Progress of Societies”. A central point of discussion during this event was the need for “a more comprehensive view on societal progress - one that takes into account social, environmental and economic concerns – rather than focusing mainly on economic indicators”. This raised some very important questions about the place of statistical indicators within society: how can data regarding social and economic progress, frequently used by decision-makers (for instance as a tool for evaluating policies), be more widely disseminated among the general public? Even more importantly, how can such information be transformed into knowledge among citizens? To measure the extent to which citizens are actually aware of key economic
indicators and the way in which they comprehend their evolutions and their role within society, the Directorate-General Communication of the European Commission initiated this survey.
The results, as presented in this report, give an overview of:
- the climate of opinion among European citizens regarding general economic
matters;
- their actual knowledge of three economic key indicators: the economic growth rate, the inflation rate and the unemployment rate;
- the importance that citizens attach to official statistics.
Link to Report
Related Progress Initiatives
- European Commission: Beyond GPD
