Many South Africans are regular users of official statistics - sometimes without even realising this!
An argument over the dinner table or local shebeen over just how many people are unemployed. A boardroom or trade union discussion about the average rate of inflation over the year and economic growth over the same period.
Affirmative action policies and their influence on the rate of unemployment among the different population groups. Questions over whether economic growth has been accompanied by more or fewer liquidations of companies and insolvencies of individuals. The percentage of the country Gauteng occupies, and the proportion of the population living in that province.
Every time these sorts of issues are raised, the participants are using statistics as a basis for decision making, or informed participation in social debate. However, rapidly sourcing the authoritative and official statistics needed to resolve a dispute, or make a decision, is sometimes more complex than the debate itself.
Frequent users know how to navigate the Statistics SA website. Look in the Labour Force Survey or the Quarterly Employment Survey for information on employment and unemployment; national accounts will give you gross domestic product (GDP); and information on divorce rates can be found under vital statistics.
Others less accustomed to the professional use of statistics can also find the information they need easily and in one place in the latest edition of Statistics in Brief, released on Tuesday this week.
This is Stats SA's annual flagship publication, which has been produced for quarter of a century. It presents a wide range of the latest official statistical information in a handy pocket-size booklet, with data presented for less than 18 subject areas.
Stats in Brief tells readers that Gauteng occupies just 1.4 percent of South Africa's 1 220 813km2, yet is home to more than 19 percent of the country's total population. Only KwaZulu-Natal, with 20.6 percent of the population, has more residents and it accounts for 7.7 percent of the total area of the country.
By 2003, the total number of divorces recorded throughout the country had dropped to 31 566, down from 37 098 in 1999. Gauteng accounted for far more divorces than any other province - nearly 11 000 in 2003 - down from 14 000 in 1999. Provincially, the second highest number of divorces were finalised in the Western Cape - 5 500 in 2003, down from the 1999 figure of just more than 7 000.
Stats in Brief shows us that the number of minor children (aged 0 - 16) involved in recorded divorces also fell in the period 1999 to 2003. Court records show 33 424 children were involved in 2003, down from 45 330 in 1999.
By population group, far more white children were involved in recorded divorces than children from other population groups (just fewer than 12 000 in 2003, compared with 8 892 African children, 5 069 coloured children, 1 702 children of Indian descent and 5 785 children of unspecified or "mixed" population group).
For the labour market, Stats in Brief provides information on unemployment by gender and population group; employment by main occupation, main industry and province; the number of employees and gross earning by industry; and average monthly earning.
Liquidations and insolvencies are often seen as an indicator of the overall health of the economy. Stats in Brief reports that there were 3 225 liquidations (companies and close corporations) in 2005, down from 4 156 in 2001; and 1 441 insolvencies (individuals) in 2005, compared with 3 935 in 2001.
In another section of the publication, readers are told that GDP at constant prices increased (relative to the previous reference year) from 2.7 percent in 2001 to 4.9 percent in 2005. This increase in economic growth broadly reflects the decline in liquidations and insolvencies over the same period.
Stats in Brief provides information on South Africa's geography, demography, vital statistics, tourism, migration, labour market and prices. Data are given for mining, construction, energy and transport, while statistics on finance and trade, social services and housing, debts, national accounts and government finances are also contained in the publication.
Official statistics are compiled and disseminated for all users, not just a few specialists. Growing use of Stats in Brief, demonstrated in the number of copies printed and distributed and access to the information via Stats SA's website shows that more South Africans are becoming informed daily users of statistics.