1. Of course you're expected to use the statistics given to you on the exam, why else would they provide them.
2. Including other statistics and examples in your exam paper will definitely be looked upon with respect by the examiner, it shows an instant depth of knowledge to the assessor.
Recent statistics such as economic growth, inflation, unemployment, budget deficits/surpluses, interest rates etc. should become second nature to you and will allow you to answer in a level of depth that 95% of the cohort cannot do.
You should be able to match these figures to specific indicators: 0.6%, 3%, 7.25%, 1.5%, 5.8%
For example, if a question asked you to talk about the success or otherwise of the response to the global financial crisis by the government's fiscal policy. Including a reference to treasury stating that economic growth would be -1.3% in 2008-2009 without the stimulus, but is infact 0.6% due to the stimulus is a pretty powerful statement to back up your response and will probably earn you a mark outright.
So yeah, use stats and examples, they'll cream and give you marks
Note: treasury are a tad bias so its best not to actually believe them, nevertheless use them in the exam
