European Statistics Competition

The European Statistics Competition (ESC) is an initiative that promotes statistical literacy among students and encourages the use of official statistics in schools. Organised by Eurostat and the national statistical institutes of the European Statistical System (ESS), the competition invites teams of secondary school students and their teachers to tackle statistical challenges and tell interesting stories with official statistics.

Join the Competition – Check Your Country’s Dates!

National stage registration is now open! Visit the 2026 European Statistics Competition website to check your country’s calendar and key dates. 

How does it work?

There are 2 stages of the ESC: the national and the European one. 

National stage

Every year, the national statistical institutes of participating countries host a statistical competition within their country, usually during the fall or winter months.

The registration generally opens at the start of the new school year, and all national competitions are completed by May of the following year. The timeline varies per country, so it is best to check your national statistical institute’s website for specific dates and details.

From each participating country, up to 2 top-performing teams for the 2 different age groups (14–16 and 16–18 years) are selected to advance to the European stage of the competition.

European stage

In this stage, all teams have to create a compelling video exploring a specific topic using official statistics.

An international jury carefully evaluates the videos, announces the winners for each of the 2 age groups. The winning teams receive prizes and participate in the award ceremony at the end of June.

How to participate in the ESC?

Are you a secondary school student or teacher who is eager to discover the world of official statistics and story telling with data?

To participate, please reach out to your national statistical institute to learn more about the competition in your country and the national phase and consult the 2026 ESC website. 

Are you a national statistical institute interested in hosting a national competition and contributing to the statistical literacy of the next generation?

In this case, please contact the Eurostat ESC team.

Previous ESC 

In the 2024/2025 school year, nearly 27 000 students from 21 countries participated in the competition.

Those who advanced to the European final used official statistics to investigate whether GenZ is changing the world. The Lithuanian (14-16 years old) and Portuguese (16-18 years old) teams took the winning trophies.

For more details, you can consult the 2025 ESC website.