I believe that there are plenty of fake time slips turned in, some by the publishers and some by the hounders in an attempt to appease the hounder-hounder. On top of that, there are all too many children that are being forced out in field circus against their will, further inflating the number of publishers (and baptisms). Not to mention the fact that they correct errors that are too low, but will leave the errors that are too high alone.
Another year closer to Armageddon, 4.5 billion more to go.