Government has been accused of breaking a promise to update and publish its statistics by the end of the year.

According to the Department of Communication and Information, the statistics will not be made public until the middle of January.

There is no economic data available for 2003 after the Government has fallen behind behind by almost a year.

But in answer to complaints by Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons about Government failing to publish any of this year's data in a timely fashion, they said that they would be made available by the end of the year.

At the moment, the most recent data from the Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics is for the final quarter of 2002 with no data for 2003 printed by Government.

"What I believe the country needs is the timely and regular release of information from Government," said Dr. Gibbons. "We have had a lot of promises about openness, but the dissemination of information about the economy and Government finance information just seems to be getting worse."

In response to questions from The Royal Gazette, a spokeswoman at DCI said that the printers was closed over Christmas, and had not yet been sent to be printed.

When it is sent in the New Year, it will take about a week to print, and it will be about the middle of January before the statistics are made public.

Information in this publication of the Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics will contain statistics up to the end of September.

The Quarterly Bulletin includes key information on the economy such as the balance of payments, government revenue and inflation.

It gives a snapshot of the health of the tourism, international business and construction sectors, quarter by quarter.

Key figures about tourism are included, as well as visitor numbers and spending and details on construction projects and the country's imports.

Details about employment are also published, including employment income and a breakdown of total employment figures by occupation and industry groups.

The number and type of new businesses registering in Bermuda as well as this sector's outlays and employment also give an indication of the health of the international business sector.

But at the moment, the most recent data available to the public is to the end of 2002, leaving almost a year's gap between figures.

Dr. Gibbons said that if the Government wanted to change the format of the document, they could have continued to publish the data as they received it, and when the new format was ready, publish it.

When DCI was asked last month why it had taken so long for the bulletin to be published, the spokesperson said: "The bulletin is being changed to make the style more appealing and reader-friendly.

"It will also include charts and graphs along with analysis of the figures. Although the bulletin has not been published, the information has still been available on request and we have provided the information to many businesses and individuals."

And she denied that the changes made to the bulletin would alter the content and said it would still be printed quarterly.