Table of contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Data order in tables
  3. Hierarchy and grouping
  4. Column spacing
  5. Fonts
  6. Bold text in tables
  7. Number alignment
  8. Number rounding
  9. Effective rounding
  10. Totals
  11. Measures
  12. Shading, gridlines and other lines
  13. Units
  14. Titles and subtitles
  15. Annotations
  16. Source

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Titles and subtitles

Titles should be clear, concise and explain clearly what the table is about and what it measures. This description is known as the statistical measure and is followed by the geography and time period.

Table 3: Percentage of children in workless households, UK, 2013 and 2018

Include a descriptive main title if the table has a clear trend that lends itself to it. Follow the style for chart titles and write a title that is descriptive and tells the trend of the data or highlights the main story in no more than 10 words.

When using a descriptive main title, place the statistical measure, geography and time period in the subtitle.

Table 1: Services was the largest contributor to GDP growth at 0.24 percentage points
Three-month growth and contributions to GDP growth, UK, March to May 2019