The Royal Statistical Society has opened nominations for Statistics of the Year 2020.
The initiative, now in its fourth year, highlights the insights that statistics give us when looking at the key issues of the day. For 2020, we’re looking for the numbers that have really captured the spirit of the last twelve months – not just those that have grabbed the public’s attention; but also statistics that uncover a truth not widely known.
This year’s winning statistics will be chosen by an esteemed judging panel, chaired by our vice president for external affairs, Professor Jennifer Rogers. The other judges are: Ben Page, Professor Christl Donnelly, Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, Dr Gemma Tetlow, Hetan Shah, Dame Jil Matheson, Professor Liberty Vittert, Mark Easton and Mona Chalabi.
Last year’s winning stats covered topics ranging from in-work poverty to the estimated global average for life expectancy. Statistics were also chosen to cover the decade 2010-2019, showing the rate of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest and the UK’s productivity problem. Commended statistics for both the year and the decade included the percentage of young adults living with their parents, to the decrease in sugar in UK soft drinks following the introduction of the sugar tax.
To read the full criteria and to nominate your chosen statistic for 2020, go to rss.org.uk/statsoftheyear. We are accepting nominations until Sunday 29 November 2020.
Professor Jennifer Rogers, chair of the judging panel and RSS vice president for external affairs, commented: ‘The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has seen the public being bombarded daily with new and often confusing statistics. This demonstrates just how important it is that we can all understand the numbers behind the headlines.
Through Statistics of the Year, we are looking to showcase the breadth of statistics and their ability to enlighten us on the issues that affect us.’
Follow the hashtag #StatsoftheYear for updates.