DATA DISSEMINATION

5.1 Introduction

Official statistics were initially published in a "Yearbook of Statistics", which first appeared in 1946. The publication of this Yearbook was discontinued in 1959 and was replaced by a Quarterly Digest of Statistics as from 1961. The periodicity of this Digest was subsequently reduced to biannual as from 1966 and finally to an annual one as from 1984. At the same time a number of specialised digests covering specific domains were started, while the present Economic and Social Indicators became a regular feature as from 1984.

Presently, the Central Statistics Office disseminates its data through the following publications:

• Digests of Statistics
• Economic and Social Indicators
• Ad-hoc reports
• Mauritius in Figures

These publications are printed with the support of the Government Printer and are distributed free of charge to Ministries and government departments. Economic and Social Indicators are on sale at the office; the other publications are on sale both at the office and at the Government Printer’s Sales Office Unit, located in Ramtoola Building, Sir S. Ramgoolam Street, Port Louis.

A list of C.S.O publications is found at annex.

5.2 Digest of Statistics

The digests are mostly annual publications covering various topics. They are meant to bring together in a single volume all data pertaining to a given subject matter. Besides the Annual Digest of Statistics which generally covers the whole spectrum of statistics produced by CSO, the office also publishes separate annual digests covering the following domains, the figure in brackets showing the year in which the digest first appeared:

• Labour (1966)
• International Travel & Tourism (1974)
• External Trade (1977)
• National Accounts (1983)
• Education (1984)
• Agriculture (1984)
• Industry (1984)
• Road Transport (1984)
• Demography (1985)
• Public Finance (1988)
• Rodrigues (1994)
• Business Activity (1997)
• Productivity and Competitiveness Indicators (1998)
• Energy (1998)
• Environment (2002)
• Social Security (2002)

5.3 Economic and Social Indicators

In its endeavour to make data available to users within the shortest possible delay, the CSO publishes "Economic and Social Indicators" covering various sectors. These are indicators, which are mostly quarterly publications, are designed to rapidly disseminate the main statistical data pending the publication of the detailed digests or reports.

Each year, around 60 Economic and Social Indicators are released and they cover around 26 subjects on various socio - economic sectors. All these indicators are available on the internet at the following address: http://www.gov.mu/portal/goc/cso/indicate_1.htm

5.4 Ad-hoc publications

Ad-hoc reports follow mainly the completion or part completion of censuses and surveys, or availability of other sources of data. The results of censuses and surveys conducted by the Office are disseminated through two types of reports: one containing mainly statistical tables and another one dealing with the methodological aspects and analysis of the data.

5.5 Other means of data dissemination

Besides the above-mentioned print publications, the CSO releases the annual publication "Mauritius in Figures" which presents the main statistics in a pocket sized format. It is produced in 2000 copies and is made available free of charge to users.

5.6 Future plans

The Office intends to produce soft copies of reports and indicators for quicker and easier dissemination of statistical information.

The coverage of the CSO website will be expanded and will contain latest available data. It is also proposed to improve the website by making it dynamic and interactive.

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