European Union celebrates the World Statistics Day
20 October was announced this year the World Statistics Day. This event highlights the importance of official statistics in our society. At the level of the European Union, efforts have been made over more than 50 years by the National Statistical Offices of the Member States, together with Eurostat, to produce reliable and comparable data. Nowadays European statistics are used in many different ways by a growing number of people.

Why are European statistics so important?
European statistics present two main features, which make them irreplaceable. They provide data for the whole of the EU. They also provide data comparable for all Member States, helping to illustrate the similarities and differences within the EU. Such European statistics exist across a wide range of fields – public finances, prices, external trade, labour market, health, education…

Statistically average Europeans
As one light-hearted example, European statistics can help to describe "average" European citizens. For a woman, she would be 42 years old, and can expect to live for a further 41 years. She was around 28 years old when she had her first child, and has less than two children. She works in public or social services for about 33 hours a week, and has completed at least upper secondary education. For a man, he would be 39 years old, and has a life expectancy of another 39 years. He works in market services for around 40 hours a week, and has completed at least upper secondary education. Of course these figures only provide a benchmark against which citizens can compare themselves with their neighbours.

Statistics in the Czech Republic
Statistics plays an irreplaceable and very important role also on the national level, i.e. in the Czech Republic. Functioning of statistics is regulated by the State Statistical Service Act, which determines the bodies executing the statistical service. In the Czech Republic, similarly as in virtually all countries all over the world, it is first of all the Czech Statistical Office and also ministries or other central administration offices.

Already from the introductory part of the report it results that in order to meet its proclaimed strengths, the European statistics, first of all, has to obtain data from national statistical offices. Thus, here we come to the two key and irreplaceable tasks of the Czech Statistical Office.
First, it is primarily statistical recording, processing and analysing of data for virtually all phenomena of mass character. They serve as irreplaceable information for economic and political decision making both of professionals and, especially, politicians in all areas of social life. Thus, it is not only the economic sphere; it applies also to information for areas such as health, transport, education, the environment and many other industries. Today, there is practically no field or human activity for which “figures” from statistics would not show its condition and development.
Second, today gaining more and more importance is providing of the relevant statistical data to the statistical body of the European Union - Eurostat - for the processing of European statistics, which enable us (besides the above-mentioned activities for Europe itself) to compare ourselves with other European countries. To put it concretely, for example, with our neighbouring countries or with countries that have similar population or economic level.

Statistically average Czechs
Namely in relation to that, we will add parameters of an average citizen of the Czech Republic for a comparison with the presented "average" Europeans.
The calculated average for a woman and a man is: 172.4 cm height and 74.8 kg weight. A woman would be about 42 years old and according to her life expectancy she has almost 40 years of life in front of her. She delivered her first child in the age of slightly above 27, she has between one to two children and she has completed secondary education with “ maturita” school-leaving examination. And what about a Czech man? He is several years younger - he is about 39 - and unlike his woman counterpart he is expected to live only up to 74 years. As for his education, it is a level lower than for a woman, i.e. completed secondary education without “ maturita” school-leaving examination.

An opportunity, when virtually every citizen of the Czech Republic will get acquainted with “statistics” is the worldwide Population Census, which will take place in the Czech Republic approximately after half a year, namely in March 2011. Gradually published data from this concrete and demanding work of statisticians will then show to everyone the importance and significance of statistics.

World Statistics Day at the Czech Statistical Office

- At the CZSO website www.czso.cz a special webpage is already in operation, which reminds the World Statistics Day (including webpages of our regional workplaces).

- In the building of the Czech Statistical Office in Prague, the seminar “Statistics for Life” will take place on 20 October from 9 a.m.; participating in the seminar will be: the President of the Czech Statistical Office - Iva Ritschelová, and the Deputy Chairman of the Czech Statistical Council and President of the University of Economics, Prague - Richard Hindls.

- In Prague and regional workplaces in individual regions there will be an “Open Day” on 20 October with lectures and seminars, small exhibitions of posters on the history of statistics, presentation about the CZSO activity, interesting pieces of information about European statistics and the like. Of course, information about the 2011 Population and Housing Census (which is under preparation) will not be missing.


External Public Relations Department
Czech Statistical Office
Ladislav Pištora
Phone: (+420) 274 054 017
E-mail: ladislav.pistora@czso.cz