6.5. Punctuation in figures

A point is used to separate whole numbers from decimals, except in the Official Journal, and a space is used to separate thousands in whole numbers.6.5

In English, Irish and Maltese publications, except the Official Journal, a point is used to separate whole numbers from decimals. A comma is used for this in all other languages and also in multilingual texts. A space is used to indicate thousands in whole numbers (not a comma). Decimals are grouped in a single block:

In the Official Journal a comma is used to separate whole numbers from decimals for technical purposes to speed up production.

Budgetary data: million or billion

billionmillion

In English use billion to mean 1 000 million (see Section 10.5(d)).

When dealing with budgetary data, it is advisable to use the following form.

• Up to three decimal places, keep to the appropriate unit:

  1.326 billion (not 1 326 million)

• Above three decimal places, descend to the smaller unit:

  1 326.1 million (not 1.3261 billion)

This makes the figures easier to read and compare.