The Office for Statistics Regulation wrote to David Pares about Treasury Inflation Infographic

27 February 2023 · Ed Humpherson, Director General for Regulation, Office for Statistics Regulation

The letter is dated 27 February 2023. The Office for Statistics Regulation published it as Ed Humpherson to David Pares: Treasury Inflation Infographic. Below are 4 passages from the letter in the regulator's own words.

What the Office for Statistics Regulation wrote

“We consider that the way the tweet presents this data to be misleading.”

“Guidance on data visualisation from the Government Analysis Function is clear that when presenting data on a bar chart, the y-axis should always start at zero.”

“An important role of data visualisation is to aid understanding of trends in data by showing them in their relevant policy context.”

“Given that the Office for National Statistics produces several measures of inflation besides CPI, it would also have been helpful for the source of the data to be given more clearly, either in the image or a subsequent threaded tweet.”

From Ed Humpherson, Director General for Regulation, Office for Statistics Regulation, letter of 27 February 2023. Read the full letter.

Related key figures

• UK inflation rate (CPI)

Receipt