Introduction

Sound policy-making in any area of public administration needs to be based on comprehensive and reliable data. This is especially true in the cultural policy arena, where the intricate structure and diverse operations of the cultural sector make data demands particularly complex. Statistics covering the volume and value of cultural output, levels of employment, cultural consumption and participation, public and private funding, and so on, are required for purposes such as:

• describing the size of the cultural sector, its place in the economy and society, and the nature and extent of its functioning;

• underpinning evidence-based policy formation, which depends both on raw data and on relevant analysis of those data;

• monitoring and evaluation of the success or otherwise of cultural policies and programmes while they are being implemented or after they have been completed; and

• comparing various items of data using intra- or internationally comparable statistics to assist, for example, in the benchmarking of performance standards.

Cultural statistics that are useful for these purposes can be derived from three sources. Firstly, official government statistical agencies that routinely gather and publish data on the economy and society are a major source of information about the arts and culture.