The PSQ was launched in 1992 by the National Statistics Office (NSO), the primary statistical arm of the government, and the Philippine Statistical Association (PSA), a non-stock, non-profit organization of professional statisticians from government and non-government agencies and the academe. The quiz is the brainchild of then NSO Administrator Tomas P. Africa who was also the PSA President at that time.

The NSO and the PSA sought the cooperation of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Statistical Research and Training Center (SRTC) in the first PSQ. However, due to budgetary constraints the competition was limited to participants in the National Capital Region. Fourteen (14) students competed in the Quiz Finals held on September 25, 1992 at the Philippine Social Science Center in Diliman, Quezon City as among the highlights of the 40th anniversary celebration of the PSA. The winners were awarded modest cash prizes. From then on, the PSQ has become one of the many important undertakings of the PSA and NSO.

With the entry of more sponsors and donors in 1993, the PSQ went national. Eliminations were held in the regions to determine the representatives to the national competition held in Metro Manila. Representations in the national finals were largely based on the number of colleges and universities in the respective regional areas.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and San Miguel Corporation were the main sponsors. The Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), Social Security System (SSS), Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) joined the league of sponsors and supporting agencies.

In 1994, the Commission on Higher Education began endorsing the PSQ. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Philippine Coconut Authority, University of the Philippines (UP), Philippine Airlines (PAL) and commercial banks such as the Philippine National Bank (PNB), Philippine Commercial and Industrial Bank (PCIBank) and Asian Bank helped sponsor the year’s contest along with the original supporters. With better funding support, cash prizes also increased by thousands more.

Beginning 1995 only one champion from each of the fifteen regions in the country competes in the national finals held in Metro Manila. The years after, goods news came as prizes had been doubled with APO Production Unit, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), Metrobank Foundation, National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) and the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) joining the league of sponsors. Coaches of winning students also took home cash prizes equivalent to the half the winner’s prize in recognition of their efforts.

The Asian economic crunch did not spare the PSQ. Fund raising activities did not measure up to the amount necessary in conducting the National Finals in Manila. But with the help of over a dozen Internet Service Providers (ISPs), the 1998 PSQ became what is believed to be the first online quiz in the country.

The NSO developed a special software for the conduct of the PSQ via the Internet. Questions were launched via the information superhighway at the NSO Central Office in Sta. Mesa while the finalists logged their answers in pre-determined sites in the regions under the supervision of a Technical Committee Representative in coordination with the NSO Regional Offices and local organizers of the PSQ. Foreign delegates and local participants to the Seventh National Convention on Statistics were also able to monitor the remote coverage of the PSQ online as a viewing site was also set up at the Shangri-la EDSA Plaza.

In 1999, the PSQ is again able to put an eventful national finals with the financial assistance of its loyal supporters which included, among others, PAGCOR, BSP, Metrobank Foundation, APO Production Unit, NSCB, Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, BLES and SRTC.