From populations to pandemics, official statistics are indispensable to thinking about modern society. Alex Fenton sets out a sociological approach to analysing how these powerful numbers are produced by government agencies and their fight over them. He shows how statistics extend the capacities of the state and represent social problems. Using archives, interviews, and official publications, he presents a detailed case study of the development of poverty and income statistics in Britain and West Germany. With this, the book demonstrates the importance of historical analysis and underlines the ambivalent position of official statistics between politics, government, and science.