Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS) issued many population, social and economic press releases which reflect statistical changes in the State of Qatar in April 2014. Among the important press releases issued by the ministry during April is the election of the State of Qatar a member of the United Nations Statistical Commission and the Commission on Population and Development to represent the Asia-pacific Group for  2016- 2019 term.This election came in recognition of the efforts exerted by the State of Qatar in the areas of statistics, population and development, and as a fruit of non-stop and effective coordination between the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS), the Permanent Population Committee (PPC) and the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations. Moreover,  this election came from the Asia-pacific Group in recognition of the role that could be played by the State of Qatar in the development and modernization of statistical systems and activation of population and development issues at the national, continental and global levels, especially since the United Nations is on the threshold of the adoption of the Post- 2015 Sustainable Development Agenda entitled "Realizing the future we want for all by 2030." This is considered as a critical stage of development in the life of the United Nations system and its member states.Furthermore, the ministry issued a press release on the 31st Meeting of the Committee of Undersecretaries and Deputies of Planning and Development Agencies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States hosted by the State of Qatar, represented by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics, on 27-28 April 2015, where undersecretaries discussed a number of topics related to planning and development in the GCC countries. The Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS) and The Diplomatic Institute at Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the fifth report of the Millennium Development Goals in Qatar, which is the last report in respect of the current MDGs. It is expected that the United Nations will declare new goals for the development agenda beyond 2015 in next September.The report data stressed that the State of Qatar is committed to achieve the MDG targets in order to improve life conditions in the country, and has made great strides towards achieving these objectives, particularly with regard to universal education and health care and improving people's standard of living. This has helped the State of Qatar to be ranked 31st globally in the2014 Human Development Report (HDR) and considered within the group of countries with very high human development index.Moreover, MDPS released the 14th issue of (Qatar: Monthly Statistics) bulletin which is developed to include annual changes to economic and social statistics, as well as statistical changes that took place in Qatar in February 2015. The bulletin data indicate that the number of population existing in the State of Qatar in February amounted to 2.334 million people, compared to 2.225 million in January 2015, a decrease of 4.9%, and a 10.3% increase compared to February 2014. In addition, the ministry also issued a press release on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of March 2015. CPI attained 103.8 points, a rise of 0.1% compared to February 2015, and 1.4% to March 2014. This CPI bulletin is the 3rd to be built on 2013 base year by using the Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (COICOP). This classification is composed of 12 major categories starting from food & beverages and ending by miscellaneous goods & services. Over 1100 goods and services fall under these categories.During last month, the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics released the Quarterly Sequence of Accounts (QSoA) providing estimates of the national income, saving and the expenditure components of GDP for the Q4 2014 at current prices. Qatar’s Quarterly Sequence of Accounts provides a comprehensive picture of current economic developments in the country, as well as major macroeconomic variables such a GDP, National Income, Savings etc. The quarterly estimates of Gross National Income (GNI), for the Q4, 2014 is placed at QR 186.47 billion, reflecting an increase of 4.9% compared to the GNI estimates of Q4, 2013 [QR 177.83 billion].Besides, the ministry also released the Producer Price Index (PPI) for the industrial sector for February 2015, which accounted for 108.3 points, a rise of 3.6% vis-à-vis January 2014, and decline of 38.9% compared to February2014. The industrial sector includes mining, electrical  power, water, and manufacturing. The PPI is considered an index for local producers prices average for their products in a particular period compared to another. It clarifies the monthly and yearly changes of this index.As for the General Simplified Census of Population, Housing and Establishments 2015, MDPS issued a press release to praise Qatari and resident family members, business owners, and enterprises effective cooperation with census researchers during their visits recently, as they provided them with the information required for the census. This mirrored everybody’s keenness and belief in the importance of providing correct and accurate data and information to researchers.  MDPS also asked all citizens and residents to continue their cooperation with census-takers and to facilitate the performance of their duties in order to accomplish this important national action before 31 May.   By the end of April, MDPS released its preliminary report on foreign trade statistics of March 2015. The report features data on exports (of local origin and re-exports), and imports. The Qatari exports’ value (exports of local origin and re-exports) accounted for QR26.6 billion, a decrease of 40.7% compared to March 2014, and of 3.3% compared to February 2015. The commodity imports increased to QR 10.1 billion in March 2015, a rise of 9.9% compared to March 2014, and a rise of 9.0% compared to February 2015. Furthermore,  MDPS issued a press release on its participation among the jury panel in Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Qatar’s “Meeting of the Minds” event. This high-profile annual event highlights research projects conducted by undergraduate and postgraduate students at the university. At the end of the event, five research projects were awarded the Ministry’s prizes for being in-line with Qatar’s National Development Strategy 2011–2016.