Industry, trade and services
Background information
‘Industry, trade and services’ includes short-term business statistics (STS), which provide information on:
- current trends in industry, construction, trade, and services
- a wide range of economic activities classified by NACE Rev. 2 (Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community) and main industrial groupings (MIGs)
These statistics are important tools for formulating and monitoring the economic and monetary policy of the EU and the euro area. STS indicators are indices (time series), that reflect the changes in a variable (production, net turnover, etc.) over time but not the absolute amount or monetary value of the variable.
STS indicators are extensively used in business cycle analysis. In particular, the industrial production index has long been the reference series for the cyclical assessment and dating and detection of turning points. Several variables from this area are useful for calculating leading indicators and predicting how the economy will move in the future because of their leading ability.
Information in the database
STS indices cover the following 4 major topics and their respective indicators:
- industry: production, net turnover, producer prices, import prices, and labour inputs
- construction: production, producer prices in construction and construction costs, building permits, and labour inputs
- trade: volume of sales, net turnover, and labour inputs
- services: net turnover and producer prices
Data are compiled based on the fixed base year Laspeyres formula. The current base year is 2015 (2015=100). Percentage changes for month-on-month, quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year are also available.
This section also covers monthly data on:
- energy: production, consumption, and imports of the most import energy commodities