NSO postpones finance and unemployment releases, citing day of reflection

Updated 3.45pm with NSO statement

The National Statistics Office has postponed the latest scheduled release of government finance and unemployment data until after the May 30 general election. 

The data was meant to be released on Friday, May 29 in two separate releases.The first release concerns finance data for Q1 2026. The second concerns registered unemployment in April 2026. 

A notice on the NSO’s online calendar of releases shows that the publication of both releases has been postponed until June 3 “in observance of Reflection Day”. 

Releases not due on Friday - including a release focused on national GDP data scheduled for Thursday - will proceed as planned.

The "day of reflection" is a legally mandated 24 hours of silence held before election day, during which all political broadcasting, reporting and advertising is prohibited. 

The NSO decision to postpone the releases stands in contrast to its decision during the 2022 general election, when it published government finance data on March 25 - that election's day of reflection.   

The rescheduling was announced on the NSO calendar.

Contacted for comment, NSO director-general Etienne Caruana said he took the decision to postpone the two releases before he had the data in hand, “as a matter of prudential judgement."

“I considered it inappropriate to publish official statistics at a time when policymakers would not be in a position to react to the information we publish in a timely and meaningful manner. This consideration was central to the decision-making process, and the public was informed accordingly in keeping with principles of good statistical governance,” he said.  

Caruana said the postponement was guided by principles of responsibility and good statistical practice, with the aim of ensuring that official statistics continue to serve their intended purpose effectively and appropriately, and in line with the spirit of Article 114(1) of the General Elections Act. 

Article 114 (1) is the legal provision relating to the day of reflection. Among other things, it prohibits publication of anything "likely to influence voters" immediately before an election. Those guilty of breaching that provision can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to €1,164.69.  

NSO: Decision taken on May 21

In a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, the NSO said the decision to delay the releases was taken on May 21 and published online the following day.

"At that time, the data was not yet compiled and therefore the contents of the statistics were unknown," it said. 

"The NSO maintained its scheduled release of the Gross Domestic Product for the first quarter of 2026 data for Thursday 28th May 2026 as this date falls outside the legally mandated reflection period. Accordingly, the postponement was guided solely by considerations of institutional responsibility and sound statistical practice."