The Federal Bureau of Statistics wasn’t just wrong about the election results: the official calculators

A real chaos ensued with the statistics on the deportations of criminal foreigners. Firstly, the BfS figures in 2018 did not correspond to the cantonal figures – because the BFS also included offenses that are not included in the list of offenses leading to mandatory deportation. Two years later, when the correct figures were published, errors occurred again. Politicians, especially the initiators of the SVP’s deportation initiative, were very angry and demanded consequences.

The mistake of 1992 could have had drastic consequences for our direct democracy. The BFS miscounted the signatures for the NRLA referendum. The result: the Federal Chancellery announced that the referendum had not taken place. But that was not true, as a recount under pressure from the referendum committee showed. The error led to an administrative investigation, a criminal complaint to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office – and even more work for the Federal Chancellery: since then it has had to count the signatures.

In 2000, the people of Neuchâtel made life far too expensive for us: because the BFS used the quantity of fuel oil instead of the price as the basis for calculating inflation, the agency reported inflation far too high for months. This was not without consequences: excessive inflation affected wage negotiations in many industries and even tested the monetary policy of the National Bank.

Just a year later, federal government calculators incorrectly reported overnight stays in youth hostels. Instead of a decline of more than ten percent in January 2001 – as calculated by the BFS – the Jugis actually enjoyed an increase of more than eleven percent. The BFS admitted the mistake – an incorrect formula in the accounting program was to blame.

In 2011, the agency’s arithmetic even earned it accusations of exerting political influence: Shortly before the vote on the gun protection initiative, the agency claimed that the number of firearm suicides had fallen and that military weapons were used in only 17 percent of suicides. Experts quickly questioned the figures. Also because the BFS distinguished between pistols and pistols – essentially the same type of weapon.

The office can’t even count the sheep correctly. In 2012, individual free churches were put in the same box as the Reformed Churches. On paper, the free churches registered a sudden drop in membership of one third. The church newspaper ‘Reformiert’ then said laconically: ‘You must also learn to draw.’