About our statistics

Our official statistics support the formulation and monitoring of economic and social policies by government and others.

All official statistics produced by Scottish Government are freely available under the Open Government Licence (OGL) as Crown Copyright.

Most of the statistics produced and published by the Scottish Government are Official Statistics. Official statistics are statistics that have been assessed for compliance with the UK Statistics Authority's Code of Practice for Statistics. Find out more about our compliance with the Code.

The Scottish Government also produces experimental statistics, this type of official statistics are going through a process of development and evaluation in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

Most Scottish Government official statistics are collected and produced by the Statistician Group. It aims to provide relevant and reliable statistical information, analysis and advice to government, business and the people of Scotland. The Chief Statistician is head of the Statistics Group profession and has overall responsibility for the coordination and implementation of professional standards.

More information about the work of our Statistician Group and how to apply for permanent and fixed term opportunities is on our recruitment pages.

A range of survey data are produced by other analytical professions in the Scottish Government and other data are collected and made available as part of administrative processes or by agencies.

Find out more about how we produce official statistics.