Director General Highlights Importance of Statistics

Director General at the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), Carol Coy, has highlighted the importance of statistics in impacting economic growth and national development.

Speaking at a recent JIS ‘Think Tank’, Miss Coy said that statistics and the findings from surveys that the agency administers assist in guiding policymakers and providing information to the public.

“The Government needs information in order to assess the success of its economic and social policies and to make changes where necessary, and it needs to know which sectors in the economy can drive growth,” the Director General explained.

“The administration also needs to know how to spend its scarce resources, so statistics are critical to see if it is meeting its gross domestic product (GDP) target and inflation target,” she added.

She informed that the survey of living conditions; the consumer price index (CPI), which measures changes in the general level of prices of consumer goods and services purchased by private households; and the system of national accounts, which provides information on the country’s GDP, are some of the statistics that STATIN provides.

“Employers use the CPI when they are negotiating with unions,” Miss Coy said, adding that statistics influence where persons live, what they are doing and how they manage their money.

As it relates to business, the Director General said that statistics can be used to guide investment decisions, particularly in providing information on the population size in a particular area, the level of education of that population and what other businesses or markets exist.

All statistics are available free of cost and can be accessed at the agency’s website at www.statinja.gov.jm.