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A forecast is a description of the future state of a physical, social, political, technological, or other system. Data supporting a forecast may be quantitative (i.e. time series data), qualitative (i.e. a series of related events), both, or neither (i.e. when someone simply makes a statement of what they believe the future will be like.)

When writing forecasts, keep the forecast statement (name) clear and simple. The forecast statement should:

1.       Identify the system or part of the system the forecast is about.

2.       Identify a future date.

3.       Describe the state of the system at that future date.

For example, a good forecast statement is “Global fertility rates will be 1.75 births per woman in 2025.”

When writing forecast statements, avoid:

1.       Compound forecast statements. For example, “Global fertility rates will be 1.75 and median age 56 in 2025” should be entered into the database as two separate Forecasts.

2.       Making a trend statement instead of a forecast. For example, “Global fertility rates are decreasing” is a trend statement and should be entered into the database as a Trend.