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Full File Research Area Economic Development Publication Type Working Paper Series Author(s) - Sharleen Forbes Publisher The Egyptian Cabinet - IDSC Publish Date June 2010 Abstract Like most other countries, the Arab Republic of Egypt has a national statistics office called the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) that produces the usual range of key national economic indicators, population estimates and a range of social and cultural statistics. This paper suggests a number of approaches for providing better access to, and use of, these official statistics. The approaches include the provision of different levels of access to official data by different methods and ways of increasing statistical literacy. A particular focus of this paper is enabling, through education, the various groups in Egyptian society, from the general public through to expert Government advisors, to interpret and use official statistics. Specific suggestions include the promotion of statistics learning at schools, informal and formal training for targeted groups, such as businesses and local or national government advisors. Ways of maintaining the skills of national statistics office staff, including providing academic training, are also discussed. Increasing the statistical literacy skills of society in general will both increase the value that can be obtained from official statistics and extend their use in decision-making at all levels.