News 30 May 2018

Finnish youths won with creativity and statistical skills – Winners in the European Statistics Competition

Fun videos on the importance of official statistics brought home first places for Finnish pupils in the secondary school and upper secondary school categories of the European Statistics Competition. In all, 11,000 young people from across Europe competed in statistical skills in the competition arranged for the first time.

Facts about statistics with a pinch of humour

The competition that was called the Statistics Olympics in Finland culminated in May in the European final, for which pupils from different countries produced videos on the topic: “Why are official statistics important in our society?”

The students of Pakila secondary school in Helsinki, Ville Majaniemi, Otto Söderman and Eero Pohjola made the video that won first place in cooperation with their friends. At the beginning of the video, the youngsters question the usefulness of statistical data but a fellow student challenges them to ponder the issue further. Interesting dialogue and real-life examples explain the importance of statistics for politics, society and individuals. This also convinced the international panel of the European Statistics Competition. The second place in the category for approximately 14 to 16 year-olds went to a group from Slovenia and the third place to Poland.

The winners in the category for approximately 16 to 18 year-olds were Toivo Rannila, Asla Heiskanen and Olli Hakala from Olari upper secondary school in Espoo. In their video the students highlight the importance of statistical facts for decision-making and politics using humour and descriptive examples. The second place in this category went to Cyprus and the third place to Italy.

European youths from 11 countries competed in statistical skills

The European Statistics Competition launched in autumn 2017 challenged young people to test their statistical skills first in national competitions that were arranged in 11 countries. The objective of the competition is to increase awareness of official statistical data as a reliable data source. It promotes statistical literacy among young people and their interest towards statistics.

Over 350 pupils from secondary schools and upper secondary schools tested their skills in Finland’s Statistics Olympics. During the competition, for example, probability calculation skills were tested, data from official statistical sources were sought and examined, and research was made based on census data.  The finalists from the various national competitions continued to the European final and produced creative and appealing videos on the importance of official statistical data.

The winning groups of the European Statistics Competition will be awarded at the Q2018 conference in Poland in June 2018. The best three groups in both categories of the Finnish competition will be awarded in Tampere during the LUMA days on 5 June 2018.

More information about Finland’s Statistics Olympics and the European Statistics Competition.

Eurostat’s news release on the winners of the European Statistics Competition

Participating videos can be viewed on the European Statistics Facebook page.