Writing numbers
Write all numbers 10 and over as numerals, up to 999,999.
Write numbers zero to nine as words unless they are technical or precise, such as dates, figure or table titles, or relate directly to the statistics being presented.
On the one hand…
This is the most effective of the two measures…
7 March 2017
1,000
Figure 1
Where a range crosses the 10 boundary, use numerals.
9 to 12 respondents, not nine to 12 respondents
Write out rankings first to ninth, then use numerals. Do not use superscript for “st”, “nd”, “rd” and “th”.
first
10th
A sequence of numbers should use the same format for both, which should follow the higher number.
6th out of 12
Do not use abbreviations of “numbers”, such as “no” or “nos”. They can be read incorrectly.
Use commas to separate thousands in numbers of four digits or more, and never spaces (except when writing years – these should have no punctuation).
100,000
2,548
1995
Avoid writing sets of numbers together.
In 1961 just over 2,500 births were recorded
Not
In 1961 2,543 births were recorded
Use a 0 where there is no digit before the decimal point in a number.
0.6%
Do not start a sentence with a numeral. Rearrange the sentence accordingly.
The number of people who drive a car is 52.4 million
Not
52.4 million people drive a car
Do not use a hyphen to indicate a range of numbers, separate with “to”.
Around 15 to 20 people attended the event.