Users have found Findicator

The Findicator service, opened in October by the Prime Minister’s Office and Statistics Finland, has been particularly popular among users from research and public sectors. The five most viewed indicators in January were GDP per capita, economic growth (GDP), general government debt and deficit, energy consumption and population changes.

Findicator includes approximately 100 indicators for social progress. After its release, the service has been supplemented by some ten indicators, many of which were added based on user requests. Recent additions include the indicator for crop yields of cultivated plants since the 1920s, and the indicator for prices of dwellings.

Several indicators have also been modified in terms of their presentation form and the length of the time series they cover. For example, data on voting turnout in parliamentary elections is now available from 1908 onwards. The technical infrastructure of Findicator has also been refined: new features include direct links to the StatFin database and its source figures for each indicator. In the StatFin database, the user may limit the examination both by variable and time scale. In addition, the database provides further details on the indicators, such as regional information.

Findicator has attracted a lot of international attention. In South Korea last October, it was chosen as the best indicator system utilising new technology. The homepage, information on the technical infrastructure and the list of indicators are now available also in English, and it is possible that the entire content of the service will be produced in Swedish and English after mid-2011.

The service available at www.findikaattori.fi is targeted at everyone needing up-to-date, reliable information on social progress in their work or other activities: decision-makers, civil servants, specialists, teachers, journalists and citizens. The indicators have been selected in consultation with user groups and data providers.

 

Further information: Ruusa Hilakari, Senior Specialist, Prime Minister’s Office, tel. +358 400 198 975, firstname.surname@vnk.fi or Laura Mäkelä, Information Services Planner, Statistics Finland, tel. +358 9 1734 2941, firstname.surname@tilastokeskus.fi