It has a rich history and provides the media and therefore the Swiss public with new information almost every day – the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) based in Neuchâtel. How much meat does the average Swiss couple consume? What age do they reach on average? What do they call their children? How many cross-border commuters are there? How healthy are Swiss babies? All of this information and much more besides is documented statistically – the FSO has since 1860 had the task of monitoring Switzerland, its economy and its society and of publishing the results.
From this rich history of the emergence and growth of public statistics in Switzerland, a selection of important milestones has now been made publicly accessible. The application is available online under the name ChronoStat. The story began in 1816 when Jean Picot, a professor in Geneva, published his “Statistics of Switzerland”. Further links are often provided alongside the details in the timeline, making a great wealth of information accessible.
Comments