Why should anyone be surprised when the Federal Statistical Office gets its numbers wrong?

And actually, if you stop to think about it, federal statistical offices always get their numbers wrong so maybe they finally got something right.

Germany’s botched data revamp leaves economists ‘flying blind’ – IT hitches force Federal Statistical Office to suspend consumer and services releases.

Germany’s statistical office has suspended some of its most important indicators after botching a data update, leaving citizens and economists in the dark at a time when the country is trying to boost flagging growth.

In a nation once famed for its punctuality and reliability, even its notoriously diligent beancounters have become part of a growing perception that “nothing works any more” as Germans moan about delayed trains, derelict roads and bridges, and widespread staff shortages.

“There used to be certain aspects in life that you could just rely on, and the fact that official statistics are published on time was one of them — not any more.”