Breakdown of Son las cifras las que nos importan ahora.
ser
to be
las
the (feminine plural)
ahora
now
que
that / than
Questions & Answers about Son las cifras las que nos importan ahora.
Why does this sentence start with son instead of es like in the English "It is"?
Why do we use las que here instead of just que?
In Spanish cleft sentences, when you focus on a noun, the relative pronoun usually agrees with that noun in gender and number. Since las cifras is feminine and plural, we use las que.
Could I just say Las cifras nos importan ahora? What does this longer structure add?
You absolutely could! The shorter version simply means "The figures matter to us now." Using the cleft structure (Son... las que...) adds strong emphasis. It clarifies that it is specifically the figures, and not something else, that matter right now.