Sixteen Italian Statistics Day
The 16th edition of the Italian Statistics Day (GIS), promoted by the National Institute of Statistics (Istat) and the Italian Statistical Society (SIS), is celebrated on Tuesday 20 October 2026. This year it coincides with the 10th European Statistics Day, supported by Eurostat, under the motto ‘European Statistics at a crossroads: priorities, opportunities and constraints’, which draws attention to the opportunities and challenges facing European official statistics.
To mark the occasion, Eurostat will make available a section dedicated to institutional activities, featuring insights into regional data, a podcast on 60 years of the ‘Farm Structure Survey’, a competition, and a new institutional video.
Italian Statistics Day 2026 confirms as an opportunity to enhance the work carried out to increase trust in official statistics. Statistical literacy initiatives and projects, aimed at making the approach to quantitative information easier for everyone are promoted through numerous activities via institutional communication channels at national level and through local events.
Initiatives promoted by Istat
- At national level, the Day is celebrated with:
- The award ceremonies for the competitions and training projects carried out in the 2025/2026 school year, which will be held in the Institute’s Main Hall.
- At territorial level, initiatives linked to the Italian Statistics Day highlight data and statistical information across their historical and thematic dimensions. Territorial offices launch a series of initiatives to promote statistical literacy in collaboration with schools, universities, and local authorities to increase knowledge of official statistical data and their quality.
- At European level, Istat shares webinars, podcasts, and publications produced by Eurostat.
Competitions for students
In addition to the award ceremony for the competitions aimed at students in the 2025/2026 school year, Istat promotes those for the 2026/2027 school year.
- Italian Statistics Olympics: the competition, created to introduce students to statistical reasoning, involves the first four years of upper secondary schools. The winners of the national phase will take part in the European phase European statistical competition (ESC).
- The Permanent Census on school desks: an initiative dedicated to primary and lower secondary schools, consisting of an information/training course and a contest, the latter divided into a statistical competition, the Censigare, and a competition of ideas on the theme ‘Census and Territory’.