Statistics play an important role in founding public policy, says President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

In commemoration of World Statistics Day, the president released a statement in which he highlighted that the incumbent administration places high value on measurable goals and policies that are data-driven.

Celebrated across the world once every five years, this year’s World Statistics Day is being celebrated under the theme of ‘connecting the world with data we can trust’.

This year’s theme revolves around the importance of trustworthy and authoritative data when making important policy decisions and as such, Maldives president stated that he has declared every subsequent October 20 as National Statistics Day.

This was done upon the recommendations from the Cabinet of Ministers, with a purpose to spread awareness on the importance of statistics, to the public and to ensure that it is prioritized in the country’s education sector.

Further, Solih noted that the presence of a broader national appreciation for the importance of statistics is important.

Statistics are crucial to measuring economic productivity and success of industries which makes it the heart of public policy, stated the president, who added that it also plays a crucial role in providing the public with important information.

Surrounded by five areas; Blue Economy’, ‘Caring State’, ‘Dignified Families’, ‘Jazeera Dhiriulhun’, and ‘Good Governance’, the Government’s Strategic Action Plan (SAP) comes with specific and measurable goals, the success of which can only be measured by numbers.

He went on to shed light on how the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has brought out the importance of detailed and timely statistics including case numbers, transmission rate as well as establishing an effective response by health officials.

Highlighting that Maldives is among the few countries to provide sex-disaggregated data to determine the spread of the virus, Solih noted that the government has transparency in regularly updating the public on the evolving Covid-19 situation.

The president went on to express gratitude to the resilient staff at the National Bureau of Statistics for the invaluable work they do to keep the general public updated on important national trends.