Abstract
Qatar's economy, driven by huge revenues from natural gas and oil resources,experienced a tremendous growth during 2004–2011 with GDP growing in real terms from USD 31.7 billion (2004) to USD 88.2 billion (2011). Compound annual growth of the economy was 15.8% during this period. Qatar has formulated Vision 2030 to manage its wealth in a sustainable manner. In order to reach Qatar Vision 2030, Qatar Statistics Authority (QSA) has embarked upon a program to inform the Qatari society, and public in general, about official statistics and build a culture of evidence based planning.
Statistical literacy is a vital element in a knowledge based society where one is required to be able to read, interpret and evaluate data. Improving statistical literacy will increase the awareness of official statistics and thereby improve the evidence base used for decision making. The QSA program will help the public to use and analyze data and promote both understanding of, and input to, policy decisions.
The purpose of this paper is to report on a review of QSA's present programs and highlight future plans to develop statistical literacy in Qatar.