COMPSTAT symposia have been held regularly since 1974 when they started in Vienna. This tradition has made COMPSTAT a major forum for the interplay of statistics and computer sciences with contributions from many well known scientists all over the world. The scientific programme of COMPSTAT '96 covers all aspects of this interplay, from user-experiences and evaluation of software through the development and implementation of new statistical ideas. All papers presented belong to one of the three following categories: - Statistical methods (preferable new ones) that require a substantial use of computing; - Computer environments, tools and software useful in statistics; - Applications of computational statistics in areas of substantial interest (environment, health, industry, biometrics, etc.).