Statistical data are the most significant quantitative keys in terms of understanding the past, governing the today, and planning the future. It is clear that "statistics" as a science and an institution producing information are needed so as to planning the future accurately and forming effective policies. Statistical institutions producing statistics from macroeconomy to education, from population to culture and health, according to transparency policy, are very important source to inform the society and strengthen the democratic structure of society, too. Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), whose history lays back to 1389, is an institution acting in order to hand in the statistical infrastructure of Turkey to contemporary levels and upgrade the scientific and technical quality to the standards of advanced countries, and having an effective role in the decision-making process of the country. Within this context, Statistics Law of Turkey, an important and silent reform, came into force in 2005. With the Law, planned period in the field of official statistics has been launched, official statistics has been defined and concept complexity has been ended, and a national platform has been established by the Statistical Council. TurkStat makes progress continuously, both in statistical and administrative-organisational areas in order to respond emerging and varying needs, and reaching required quality standards of the era. Turkish Statistical Institute, as the coordinator and producer of our country's official statistics has been acting with a mission of producing and presenting high-quality, timely, reliable, coherent and impartial statistics by taking into account the needs and priorities of national and international users according to the international standards and providing co-ordination among the institutions and organisations involved in the process of official statistics. Our indispensible values are particularly professional independence, transparency and impartiality, and professional expertise, user-orientedness, reliability, comparability, coherence, timeliness, up-to-dateness, accessibility, scientificity, confidentiality of individual data. Being one of the long-established institutions in our country from past to today, TurkStat thanks to its staff, managers and service policies, will continue to perform its duties as a national and international respectable institution with the vision of "Establishing a user-oriented and sustainable statistical system based on international standards".
