Summary of the UK statistical system

While the Assembly is a focal point for richer and wider engagement, it complements the UK Statistics Authority’s existing range of user and stakeholder engagement mechanisms, such as our regular programme of advisory groups, panels, consultations, and forums. 

The UK statistical system includes those who collect, produce, disseminate, regulate and use official statistics, alongside central bodies that set strategic direction. The following diagram summarises the UK statistical system: 

A list of all official statistics producers in the UK can be found on the UK Statistics Authority website. 

The National Statistician has created a set of advisory committees and panels on specific topics to provide advice and challenge. Further information about each of the advisory committees and panels can be found on the UK Statistics Authority website. In addition to the UK Statistics Authority, there are around 3,000 staff working directly on the production and dissemination of official statistics, across UK and devolved government departments. 

For more information about the system, see the Office for Statistics Regulation’s Guide to the UK Statistical System and the Code of Practice for Statistics. The Office for Statistics Regulation has also published a report, the State of the Statistical System 2024, which shares their views on the performance of the statistical system and the challenges facing it, highlights areas of progress and innovation, and sets out their recommendations for advancing the system. 

Further supplementary reading includes the UK Statistics Authority’s Statistics for the Public Good five-year strategy, published June 2020, and the Royal Statistical Society’s Public Statistics: a vision for meeting society’s needs for statistics in an increasingly data-rich world, published June 2024. 

For information, the net budget of the UK Statistics Authority is £397m in 2024/25 and is forecast to be spent as set out in the image below.