Switzerland's national center for public statistics, the FSO produces and disseminates key statistical information showing the current status and trends in the areas of demographics, economy, society, planning and the environment. The FSO's vision is to deliver statistical information to sustain the democratic process in Switzerland. The information it provides helps shape public opinion, facilitate policy making and enable assessment of government action in the nation. 

|||The FSO celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding in 2010, as its predecessor - the Statistical Office of the Federal Department of Home Affairs - was established in 1860. The FSO was previously dispersed over eleven different sites in Bern, but was moved to Neuchatel in 1998, with all its activities consolidated in a single location.