Statistics

Why are the statistics here different from the statistics that I have in my textbook?

You should be aware that from time to time you may come across statistics that seem to be different from those that you will find in your textbooks. There are many situations that could lead to this result:

1. It is possible that the statistics were calculated at a different time of the year.
2. The statistics may have been collected and calculated by different groups or organisations.
3. The figures may have been updated, and one set may just be more up to date than the others that you are looking at.

In Economics, you will not be expected to recall exact statistics for the final examination, and as such you should not let this situation concern you. It is far more important that you are able to describe the relationship between the statistics. This is something that will not change no matter what figures you are looking at!

The majority of statistics on this site have been collected from the Australian Bureau of Statistics website. Some have also been found on the Reserve Bank of Australia site, and the federal government's official budget site. Productivity statistics were calculated using figures provided by the Productivity Commission in January 2007. Every effort is made to keep these statistics up to date, although from time to time errors may appear.

How to use statistics in a meaningful way

On this page you will find links to all of the most important statistics that you will need in your study of Economics. They have been grouped under the headings of "Goals", "Demand Factors" and "Supply Factors". Where a factor will have an impact on both supply and demand, the relevant statistics have been made accessible through both pages.

It is extremely important that you remember that all statistics must be used correctly. For example, there is no use submitting work which includes sentences such as the following:

Whilst all of the statistics in this sentence are accurate, the reader is not told what any of the statistics mean. (It is also true that in this short sentence the link between business confidence and economic growth has not been made. However, in this instance we are only concerned with the way in which the statistics are used.)

A far better version would be as follows:

You can see here that I have used exactly the same statistics, but now the reader is aware that the figures for business confidence are as measured by the NAB business confidence index. As the figures are from an index, it is appropriate to compare one to the next. Also, we do not need to place an identifying mark (such as the percentage symbol) after the figure, as figures from an index are not percentages. (*Note: This also applies to the Trade Weighted Index, The Consumer Confidence Index and the Terms of Trade.)

On the other hand, the figure for the increase in real GDP is a percentage. As such, it is vital that we identify it as such with the percentage symbol. It is also important that we state what it is that this percentage represents. In this case, it represents the percentage increase in real GDP over the previous year.

This is very significant – if we were discussing the CAD/GDP ratio then the figure is also a percentage. However, in this instance it is the balance on current account as a percentage of GDP. As such, if the figure is 5.1% in one year (as it was in 1999/2000) and then 2.7% the following year (as it did in 2000/2001) then we can not say that the ratio has "increased by 2.7%". Instead we would say that the CAD/GDP ratio fell from 5.1% in 1999/2000 to 2.7% in 2000/2001.

The interpretation of statistics is a very important part of the year 12 Economics course. As such, it is very important that you learn to apply them in the correct way.

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