Statistical literacy newsletter

On 20 October, we will celebrate the European Statistics Day. Eurostat and the national statistical offices will mark the day with activities to promote data literacy and the value of using official statistics to make informed decisions. Stay tuned! #EurStatsDay

Analysing data at regional level can highlight the differences and similarities across the EU or within countries. With the 2024 editions of Eurostat's publications and tools on regions you can explore a wide range of statistical indicators on the EU regions such as population, health, education and more. The interactive publication Regions in Europe offers short texts and dynamic visualisations that allow you to compare your region with the others. It is ideal for classroom use, home study and for analysis. The Eurostat Regional Yearbook goes into more detail with in-depth analysis, maps and figures. All maps in the Yearbook are also available as interactive maps in Eurostat's Statistical Atlas.

The European Statistics Competition (ESC) 2025 is on! Teams of secondary school students compete against each other by solving statistical problems, searching for data and producing statistical analyses. The competition is split into 2 parts – a national phase, based on the countries' own curricula, and a European phase, where finalists represent their own country and are expected to produce a short video on a statistical topic. Register now, you could be the next winner!

Learn more about the EU countries in a playful way with the Eurostat statistical quiz. How many people live in the EU? Which EU airport is the busiest? Test yourself, your friends and family, your students and colleagues. Select the language and get started! Your score will depend on your speed and knowledge. Take the challenge and try to beat the top players!

Are you between 16 and 29 years old and want to know how your life compares to the lives of other young people in your country and in other EU countries? The Young Europeans interactive tool allows you to learn more about young Europeans in a fun way. Create your personal avatar, choose a country and an age group, and start investigating. You can explore statistics on well-being, health, work and education, and digital world.

Do you teach statistics and want to be able to better understand and teach official statistics? Statbel, the Belgian Statistical Office, have launched the new Statbel Academy website, available in Dutch, French, German and English. This new learning platform offers various projects and products to support students and teachers in primary, secondary and higher education. You can also invite a statistician to your classroom.

Are you a secondary school or university student interested in statistics? Are you a teacher who is interested in teaching statistics? Take part, or have your students take part in the international competition by designing a statistical poster illustrating your ability to use and interpret statistics. The competition has 2 stages: the national stage and the international competition. The winning posters will be showcased at the World Statistical Congress in 2025.

The 10th edition of ‘StatisticAll’, the Festival of Statistics and Demography, takes place in Treviso (17-20 October). The theme of this year's edition is ‘Statistics without borders. Trust, ethics, system: the future of data in Europe’. The festival is organized by Istat, the Italian Statistical Office, in collaboration with the Italian Statistical Society and the Corrado Gini statistical society.

- Read all about good practices when including data visualisations in your publications in the EU Publications Office's A practical guide to user-friendly data in publications

- Did you know that the Financial Times' Visual vocabulary poster is also available in English, French, German and Spanish?

- And finally, Milo Schield's Statistical Literacy 2023: Critical Thinking about Everyday Statistics is a useful help for teachers when tackling statistics.