Information on data
The aim of structural business statistics (SBS) is to provide data on the on the structure and performance of businesses. SBS data can be used to answer questions such as:
- How much value added do different economic activities create?
- How productive is a particular economic activity, and how does it fare in terms of operating profitability?
- Is there a shift from the industrial sector to the services sector, and in which specific activities is this trend most notable?
- In which activities operate most small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and how productive are they compared to large enterprises?
SBS describe the business economy through the observation of ‘units’, meaning enterprises, which are engaged in an economic activity. An enterprise:
- carries out one or more activities
- at one or more locations
- may comprise one or more legal units.
If an enterprise is active in more than 1 economic activity, all information about this enterprise, such as the value added and turnover it generates, will be classified under its principal activity. The principal activity is the one that generates the largest amount of value added for the enterprise.
SBS covers 4 major economic activities as defined by the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE revision 2):
| Economic activity | NACE sections |
|---|---|
|
Industry |
Sections B to E:
|
|
Construction |
Section F:
|
|
Trade |
Section G:
|
|
Services |
|
SBS can be broken down into a very detailed level. Many EU countries publish data at the most disaggregated level of the economic activities, which means NACE 4-digit or even more detailed national activity levels.
SBS are available for the EU and EU countries, the countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and the EU enlargement countries.
The following SBS indicators are available for different breakdowns:
| Breakdown | Indicators |
|---|---|
|
by size class and economic activity |
Enterprise population:
Economic outcomes:
Inputs:
Employment and labour:
|
| by region and economic activity |
|
The main indicators are expressed in monetary value, such as Euro, or as counts, such as the number of enterprises.
Definition
The availability of SBS data by size class differs depending on the economic activity.
The main classes used are:
- micro enterprises: less than 10 persons employed
- small enterprises: 10-49 persons employed
- medium-sized enterprises: 50-249 persons employed
- large enterprises: 250 or more persons employed
Small and medium-sized enterprises
SMEs are often referred to as the backbone of the European economy, providing a potential source for jobs and economic growth.
SMEs are defined as enterprises with 1 to 249 employees and self-employed persons. They should also have an annual turnover of up to EUR 50 million, or a balance sheet total of no more than EUR 43 million.
These definitions are important when assessing which enterprises may benefit from EU funding programmes aimed at SMEs, and for certain policies, such as SME-specific competition rules.
SBS are collected and published annually for the majority of indicators.
Data transmission is organised as following:
- T + 10 months: Eurostat receives preliminary data from the national statistical institutes (NSIs)
- T + 12 months: Eurostat publishes preliminary data, usually in December
- T + 18 months: Final and validated data must be transmitted to Eurostat by the national statistical offices (NSIs)
- T + 22 months: Eurostat publishes final data, usually in October
Preliminary data are available for 3 key-variables:
- number of active enterprises
- number of employees and self-employed persons
- net turnover.
These are collected broken down by economic activity (NACE section, division and group level) and employment size class.
There are 2 types of possible revisions:
- revisions of preliminary data, which can occur as soon as the final data are published
- exceptional revisions, which can occur due to a change of methodology or a correction of errors. Along with the regular data transmission, some countries might send data for past time periods which were revised. In such cases, Eurostat releases these revised country data and - if revisions are remarkable - also revises EU aggregates. Usually, such revisions happen approximately once per year.
SBS come from the national statistical authorities in the EU, EFTA, and enlargement countries. They implement the most appropriate data collection methods on a national level. Generally, they use a combination of sources, such as:
- direct statistical surveys of businesses
- administrative data, such as tax declarations or information relating to social security contributions
- information in statistical business registers
- estimations and modelling.
SBS does not cover:
- agriculture, forestry, and fishing (NACE section A)
- public administration (NACE section O)
SBS does generally not collect information on products. External trade and the production of specific products are covered by external trade statistics or statistics by product (PRODCOM). The exceptional presentation of products statistics within SBS involve, for example, multi-yearly data for products sold.