Germany has opened registration for its fifth edition of the European Statistics Competition, a school contest run with the EU statistics office Eurostat. The initiative is intended to strengthen both data literacy and the ability to assess news critically.

The launch was announced by Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis) on Thursday, October 1. Teams of two or three students from grades 8 to 13 may take part in one of two age groups, with a teacher responsible for registration and organizational support.

The German phase begins with a multiple-choice assessment covering statistical calculations, European statistics and news literacy. Participants who advance will examine official data and turn their findings into a presentation, while the leading teams in each age group will be invited to an awards ceremony in Wiesbaden.

Successful entrants may also qualify for the European final, where teams from 22 countries will produce a short video showing how statistical facts can be used to tell an engaging story. Nearly 29,000 students joined the competition across Europe in the 2025/26 school year, the highest participation recorded so far.