How we count

Every figure we publish comes from a named source, carries the date it refers to and links to where you can check it. We use primary sources first, round only at the last step, and print the past performance warning wherever a past return appears.

This page sets out the rules for our articles. Each of our data products will publish its own full method before its first table goes public.

Primary sources first

We take figures from the body that produced them: legislation and HMRC guidance for tax, the Financial Conduct Authority for rules, the Bank of England and the Debt Management Office for interest rates and gilts, the Office for National Statistics for inflation and prices, trade bodies such as the Investment Association and the Association of Investment Companies for fund data, and filings for companies. On the India and US desks we use the Reserve Bank of India, SEBI, IFSCA, the IRS and treaty texts.

Where no primary source exists, we use a reputable secondary source and say so in the sentence. If we cannot check a figure at its source, we leave it out.

Every figure is dated

  • As-at dates. A figure is dated to the day or period it describes, not the day we found it. A yield is given as at a date, a fund flow for a month, a tax statistic for a tax year.
  • Tax years. Tax rates, allowances and limits state the tax year they apply to and who they apply to. Some rules differ between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and we say which.
  • Rules not yet in force. We give the date a rule starts and the document that sets it. Budget speculation is reported as speculation, never as a rule.
  • Source changes. When a data series changes its name, owner or method, we say so on the day.

Currency and tax basis

Figures are in sterling unless we say otherwise. When we convert from another currency, we name the exchange rate, its source and its date. When we show a figure after tax, we state the tax band, the tax year and the account it is held in, such as an ISA, a pension or a general investment account. The India and US desks state the currency and the tax residence they assume.

Rounding

  • We round only at the final step, never in the middle of a calculation.
  • Yields are shown to two decimal places and returns to one, unless the source gives fewer. For example, a yield of 4.567% is shown as 4.57%.
  • Tax rates and statutory limits are given exactly as the law sets them.
  • Large sums are shortened in text, for example £1.25bn rather than £1,248,632,000.
  • Where rounding means a table does not add up exactly, we say so under it.

Past returns and what the warning means

When we show a past return, we give the period, the currency and whether it includes income and costs. A return after inflation uses the Consumer Prices Index published by the ONS, unless we say otherwise.

Wherever a past return appears, we print: “Past performance is not a guide to future returns.” The line means what it says. A return over a past period describes what happened in that period, under the conditions of that period. It is not a forecast, and we never use it as one. We do not project returns.

Data we can and cannot publish

Some data, such as stock market index values, belongs to the company that calculates it and needs a licence before anyone can republish it in a regular table. We publish such data only where it is open or we hold a licence. Where we cannot, the row is left out, not estimated. Until a table has live data, it shows its layout with the label “Sample layout. Live data at launch.” We never fill a table with invented numbers.

Data products and their methods

Each data product will publish a full method when it launches: what it measures, its sources and their licences, the formulas, the update schedule, its known limits and a change log. No table goes public before its method.

  • The Yield Ladder: after-tax yields on gilts for basic, higher and additional rate taxpayers, set against cash savings rates.
  • The Ledger: weekly returns across asset classes on one sterling basis, including returns after inflation.

Our other data products, such as What Britain Bought and the Rules Clock, will follow the same rule. We will list each method on this page as it is published.

If you think we have a figure wrong, please tell us under our corrections policy.