Olympian challenge for ONS’s statisticians

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics presented statisticians with a unique set of challenges in calculating yesterday’s figures.

The temporary factors were responsible for around 0.8 of a percentage point of the 1 per cent surge in GDP, according to some economists, as the zig-zag effect caused by Britain’s summer of major events continued to be felt.

With more than half of the data for the quarter yet to be collected, it is likely the latest
figures will be revised.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) drew upon the experiences of counterparts in Australia during the Sydney Games in 2000 to measure the UK’s GDP performance in the third quarter, when London hosted the Games.

The ONS said there were some effects from the Olympics that were still “impossible to quantify”. Its estimate is based on monthly data for the first two months of the quarter, including survey returns from around 44,000 businesses in each month.