Waiting for better statistics: GDP data revisions highlight deeper issues

Statisticians across the spectrum welcomed this decision, though questions remained about why the timeline for releasing a given year's GDP data and the number of revisions couldn't be reduced further

About a year ago, the National Statistical Office (NSO) of the Union government announced what was certainly a much-delayed and much-needed statistical reform. Instead of releasing about half a dozen versions to estimate the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and its components, the NSO decided to release only five such iterations. The wait for knowing the final estimate of the country’s economic growth was, therefore, reduced from three years to two. The decision to reduce the number and duration of these revisions was implemented starting with the GDP data for 2021-22, with its final estimate becoming available by the end