Statistics of a Lifetime – and beyond?

Official statistics are part of the infrastructure of democratic societies. As societies have changed statistics have changed accordingly, not so much in content but in ways of production and dissemination. This paper describes important trends in official statistics over approximately the last 50 years. The trends considered comprise the general quality revolution in the last century and recognition of official statistics as a public good available for free. The Internet caused a shift in the way statistics were spread, while more use of secondary (non-statistical) input data has changed the way of producing statistics. Some thoughts on the future development of official statistics are included. Now the data era threatens to replace statistics. Artificial intelligence will affect both the way statistics are produced, and not least how statistics are understood and used in society. Quality frameworks for official statistics may be changed, but the main principles or core values of such statistics should remain. Cooperation and statistical literacy are keys.