Damned lies and stats: Maltese among EU’s most trustful of data

Malta is one of six EU member states where over half of its citizens trust information more if it is backed by statistics and data, a Eurobarometer survey commissioned by the European Commission shows.

Half – or more – of respondents in Finland (58%), Ireland (58%), Cyprus (56%), Estonia (55%), Sweden (52%) and Malta (50%) answer that they trust information ‘much more’ or ‘slightly more’ if it is backed up by statistics and data.

In the case of Malta, 21% tend to trust information backed by statistics much more than statements not backed by data while 29% tend to trust information backed by statistics slightly more. Disturbingly 19% tend to trust information backed by statistics less, while 26% said it does not matter for them if information is backed by data or not.

In contrast only 39% of all EU citizens trust information more backed by statistics while a staggering 23% trust such information less.

The share of respondents replying that they trust information backed by statistics is lowest in France where only 28% trust statistics and 28% said they trust such information less.

Across the EU, respondents with a high level of education were the most likely to reply that they trust information ‘much more’ or ‘slightly more’ if it is backed up by statistics and data – 46% vs 33% of respondents with a low level of education.

The vast majority of respondents in Malta (74%) and the EU as a whole (71%) replied that they pay attention to the data source when searching for statistics and data on their country or Europe,

Respondents were also asked whether they have heard of Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In Malta 10% said they are well informed about Eurostat while 35% reported having some knowledge about it and 38% have heard about it but don’t know much about it. Only 17% have never heard about it.

Surprisingly the Maltese were the most likely in Europe to come across Eurostat statistics on Facebook. The survey shows that about a quarter – or more - of respondents have come across references to Eurostat on Facebook in Malta (34%), Hungary (27%), Bulgaria (27%), Romania (26%) and Cyprus (24%). In Austria (5%) and Denmark (6%), less than one in ten respondents reply the same. In contrast, in 20 other member states, ‘television’ was the highest-ranking source of information about Eurostat.