Evolution of service statistics : proceedings of the seminar on "Service statistics within short-term business statistics" : Luxembourg, February 2002.
Date: 2002-10-20
Institutions: Eurostat
Subjects: EU statistics, European undertaking, conference proceedings, statistical method

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Evolution of 
service statistics

Proceedings of the seminar on 
"Service statistics within
short-term business 
statistics"

Luxembourg, February 2002

E U R O P E A N
C O M M I S S I O N

4

THEME 4
Industry,
trade and
services

 
A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet.
It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int).

Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2002

ISBN 92-894-3415-5

© European Communities, 2002

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SERINTRODUCTION

SERVICE STATISTICS WITHIN SHORT-TERM BUSINESS STATISTICS  . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gunter Schäfer

SHORT-TERM STATISTICS ON SERVICES FOR THE EURO AREA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Henning Ahnert and Stefano Nardelli
European Central Bank

1

5

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF SHORT-TERM DATA ON SERVICE SECTORS . . . . . . . . . . 18
Gian Paolo Oneto and Federico Polidoro
National Institute of Statistics, Italy

EXPERIENCES WITH THE COLLECTION AND EDITING OF DATA INCLUDING THEIR
PUBLICATION IN THE AREA OF TRADE STATISTICS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Erwin Fida
Directorate Business Statistics, Statistics Austria, Vienna

COOPERATION BETWEEN SHORT-TERM STATISTICS AND QUARTERLY 
NATIONAL ACCOUNTS AT EUROSTAT ON SERVICES STATISTICS 
(EXCLUDING THE RETAIL TRADE)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Frédéric Donzel
Eurostat

IMPACT OF THE USE OF ADMINISTRATIVE DATA AND NEW SURVEYS ON 
SHORT-TERM BUSINESS STATISTICS IN THE SERVICES SECTOR IN GERMANY  . . 39
Robin Lorenz and Dieter Schäfer
Statistisches Bundesamt, Wiesbaden, Germany

IMPLEMENTATION OF REGULAR SHORT-TERM STATISTICS ON SERVICES IN
HUNGARY AND FUTURE EVOLUTION  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Szilárd Páll
Hungarian Central Statistical Office, Services Statistics Department, Budapest, Hungary

SHORT-TERM STATISTICS ON SERVICES IN FRANCE  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Magali Demotes-Mainard
Département des Activités tertiaires, INSEE, France

THE FUTURE OF SERVICE STATISTICS IN PORTUGAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
António Daniel Santos and Humberto Jorge Pereira
Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Lisbon, Portugal

AN OVERVIEW OF THE UK’S EXPERIMENTAL CONSTANT PRICE MONTHLY 
INDEX OF SERVICES  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Steve Drew
Office for National Statistics, United Kingdom

SERVICE STATISTICS WITHIN SHORT-TERM BUSINESS STATISTICS  . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Franz-Josef Klein

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CORPORATE SERVICES PRICE INDEX:
An interim progress report produced for the Statistical Office of the European
Community (Eurostat)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Nick Palmer
Corporate Services Price Index Branch, Office for National Statistics, UK

DEVELOPMENT OF SERVICE PRICES IN STATISTICS SWEDEN — A SMALL
COUNTRY’S EXPERIENCE  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Vera Norrman
Prices, Economics Statistics, Statistics Sweden, Sweden

EXPERIENCES OF CONDUCTING SURVEYS AT STATISTICS DENMARK
Seminar on short-term statistics in Eurostat, March 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Bente Dyrberg
Statistics Denmark

ANNEX: DELEGATES LIST  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Introduction 

The  Short-term  Statistics  (STS)  Regulation  introduced  a  wide  range  of  indicators  covering  industry, 
construction,  retail  trade  and  services.  It  was  innovative  in  covering  service  sectors  for  infra-annual 
statistics  besides  the  more  traditional  producing  and  trading  sectors.  The  STS  Regulation  foresees  two 
quarterly indicators for services: 'turnover' and 'number of persons employed'. These two indicators provide 
some information on the volume of output and on labour input.  

However, the balance between industry and services for quantitative statistics is by far not achieved yet. 
For industry, a wide range of indicators, many of them on a monthly basis, has been available for a long 
time  thus  allowing  detailed  sectoral  and  causal  analyses.  Short-term  service  statistics  have  just  recently 
been defined and the implementation in Member States is still going on.   

This imbalance is hardly adequate in view of the economic situation. Services constitute roughly 70% of 
the GDP of European Member States and available analysis shows that these services are indeed strongly 
influenced  by  economic  cycles.  Thus,  detailed  and  timely  knowledge  of  the  evolution  of  services  is  an 
essential pre-requisite for economic and monetary policy making. This fact has been well recognised and 
has resulted in specific actions promoted by the Council of Ministers, ECOFIN as well as more operational 
decisions taken within the European Statistical System. 

This  seminar  provides  a  platform  to  discuss  the  current  status  of  short-term  service  statistics  and  its 
potential future evolution. The various contributions and the ensuing discussion are also an important input 
for the work towards a revision of the Short-term Statistics Council Regulation planned to be concluded in 
2003. The development of statistics for the service sector is a keyelement in that revision.  

Pedro Diaz-Muñoz 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SERVICE STATISTICS WITHIN SHORT-TERM BUSINESS 
STATISTICS 

Gunter Schäfer 

SUMMARY 

The Short-term Statistics Regulation covers a range of service statistics and requests quarterly 
indicators on turnover and the number of persons employed. The paper presents the coverage 
of the Regulation. It also conducts a first analysis of the data available to Eurostat. The critical 
question concerns the degree to which service sectors are business cycle sensitive. Although 
the data available to Eurostat is still very incomplete, some conclusions can already be drawn. 

1. Introduction 

It is common knowledge that services are by now the dominating part of modern, post-industrial 
societies. The service sectors dominate both in size as well as in their growth rate compared to the 
1
producing sectors as shown in a recent Eurostat publication

. 

Sector 

Agriculture 

Manufacturing 

Construction 

Trade, transport, communication 

Financial services, business activities 

Public services 

Size as share of 
value added in 
EU (in 2000) 
2.2% 

Growth in value 
added in EU 
(in 2000) 
0.1% 

22.9% 

5.3% 

21.0% 

27.2% 

21.4% 

4.0% 

1.4% 

3.9% 

4.9% 

1.6% 

The  high  growth  rates  of  the  service  sector  of  2000  are  no  exception.  They  have  been 
observed  since  a  long  time  and  economists  have  little  doubt  that  this  development  will 
continue for some time in the future. 

The  high  importance  of  the  service  sector  also  means  that  it  must  not  be  ignored  in  the 
observation  of  the  business  cycle.  Traditionally,  the  service  sectors  were  treated  with  little 
priority by almost exclusively focusing on the producing sectors of industry and construction. 

The important question for the observation of the service sectors for the purpose of business 
cycle analysis is: Which of the service sectors are business cycle sensitive? 

If a large part of services would fall into this category, their observation could be of critical 
importance  for  economic  and  monetary  analysis.  Results  from  National  Accounts  indeed 
suggest that the outputs from the aggregates for market service categories move similarly to 
the movement of overall GDP. The non-market service sectors that are largely public service 

1   Eurostat: Economic Portrait of the Union, 2000. 

1

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dominated show a much lower degree of volatility that could be attributed to business cycle 
fluctuations

. 

2

The creation of the European Monetary Union has lifted the need for a close observation of all 
factors  that  influence  the  business  cycle  onto  a  European  scale.  The  Short-term  Statistics 
Regulation  (STS)  is  a  key  instrument  for  that  purpose.  Once  fully  implemented,  STS  will 
have  a  major  role  to  play  in  providing  data  on  short-term  evolution  of  the  service  sector. 
Compared  to  national  accounts,  STS  is  going  into  sufficient  detail  to  allow  a  judgement  of 
individual service sectors. 

3
The aim of this paper is to show some preliminary results from a recent investigation
degree to which different service sectors are business cycle sensitive. 

 into the 

2. The short-term Statistics Council Regulation 

The  short-term  Statistics  Regulation  1165/98  covers  in  its  annex  D  a  quite  wide  range  of 
service  statistics  for  the  quarterly  indicators  of  turnover  and  number  of  persons  employed 
(according to NACE rev.1 classification): 

Sector (NACE Rev.1) 

Turnover 

Number of persons 
employed 

Division 50: Sale of motor 

vehicles 

Division 51: Wholesale trade 

- sum of 50.1, 50.3, 50.4 
- 50.2 
- 50.5 
- Only 50 for small MS 

- 51 at 3 digit level 
- Only 51 for small MS 

- 50 

- 51 

Division 52: Retail Trade 

Treated in STS Regulation, 

Annex C 

Division 55: Hotels and 
restaurants 

- 55 

Treated in STS Regulation, 
Annex C 

- 55 

Section I:   Transport, storage, 

communication 
(Div. 60 -64) 

- 60, 61, 62, 63 
- 64 each at three-digit level 
- Only 64 for small MS 

- 60, 61, 62, 63, 64 
- Only Section I for small MS 

Division 72: Computer and 
related activities 

- 72 

Division 74: Other business 

activities 

- sum of 74.11 to 74.14 
- sum of 74.2, 74.3 
- 74.4 to 74.8 each at three-digit 
- Only 74 for small MS 

- 72 

- 74 

However,  the  STS  Council  Regulation  does  not  cover  the  entire  Section  J  (financial 
intermediation), Division 70 (real estate activities), Division 71 (renting activities), Division 
73  (research  and  development)  as  well  as  all  activities  beyond  NACE  Division  74  that  deal 
with overwhelmingly public services). 

2   Short-term Statistics on services for the Euro Area by Henning Ahnert and Stefano Nardelli; parallel paper 

submitted to the Eurostat Seminar on short-term service statistics.  

3 

 Statistics in Focus: Short-term services statistics - Their future use in business cycle analysis, Eurostat 2001 

eurostat

2

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                   
 
3. Preliminary analysis 

The study conducted in Eurostat in early 2001 compared the evolution of GDP with that of 
different service sectors. The following table gives an overview of the expected behaviour of 
service  data  series  with  respect  to  the  cyclical  movements  and  their  correlation  with  GDP. 
The expected behaviour has been derived from the general knowledge of the different sectors. 

NACE Rev. 1 

Expected business cycle observation 

Section G 

Section H 

Section I 

Section J 

Section K 

Distributive  trades  are  likely  to  be  sensitive  to  the  business  cycle.  Motor 
trade  probably  reacts  most  to  cyclical  fluctuations,  whilst  wholesale  and 
retail trade are more likely to react in a smoother way. 

Turnover  of  hotels  and  restaurants  is  expected  to  rise  as  the  economy  does, 
due  to  more  consumer  spending  and  because  businesses  are  more  likely  to 
send staff to visit clients, attend conferences and trade fairs and so on. In times 
of recession, turnover of hotels and restaurants will probably contract as well. 

Transport  activities  are  likely  to  be  connected  to  the  business  cycle.  Air 
travel will be cyclical due to business demand rising and due to consumer 
spending rising in periods of growth. Postal activities however are probably 
only  marginally  cyclical  sensitive  and  telecommunications  are  more 
technology driven than business cycle dependent. 

During expansions there will be more activity for banks in terms of mergers 
and  acquisitions,  flotations,  loans  or  new  and  expanding  businesses  as 
well  as  for  consumers.  Insurance  is  expected  to  be  less  cyclical  and 
pension  funding  activity  even  more  stable  as  the  demand  for  retirement 
programmes is based on longer-term decision making. 

The  sensitivity  of  real  estate  activities  varies  greatly  between  Member 
States  because  of  the  different  housing  ownership  patterns.  R  &  D  is  not 
believed to be very sensitive. Computer activities are likely to be business 
cycle sensitive, but at the same time these activities are heavily driven by 
technological developments, such that the business cycle component may 
be  hard  to  discern.  The  heterogeneous  'other  business  activities'  can  be 
expected to react strongly to the business cycle. 

The  comparison  of  STS  data  with  GDP  was  done  using  the  correlation  coefficients  and 
standard deviations between quarterly growth rates of GDP and different service sectors. 

The analysis had to take a number of limiting factors into account: 

1.  The  STS  Regulation  is  still  in  the  process  of  implementation.  Data  on  services  are  only 
available from a few Member States. In none of the sectors could a sufficient coverage for 
European aggregates be achieved. 

2.  The  time  series  are  still  fairly  short  and  necessary  data  corrections,  i.e.  for  seasonal 
factors,  cannot  be  done  with  the  same  degree  of  reliability  as  long  consolidated  time 
series.  

3.  In STS, the service sectors are covered by the turnover variable, which is not corrected for 

price effects. 

Thus, the results could only be judged as very preliminary. They are shown in the following 
table. 

3

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NACE Rev. 1  Observed information based on a limited number of countries 

Section G 

Section H 

Section I 

Motor trade showed strong cyclical movements, with apparent correlation 
with  GDP  for  S  and  UK,  but  hardly  any  for  F  and  FIN.  Smoother 
developments were observed in wholesale trade, with cycles resembling 
GDP for most of the series in the four countries. Smooth retail series in 
FIN,  but  fluctuating  series  in  the  other  three  Member  States;  apparent 
correlation with GDB for FIN, S and UK, less so for F. 

Hotels and restaurants showed fluctuating series in F and FIN, although 
tied  to  GDP  in  both  cases.  Smooth  series  in  S  and  UK,  but  seemingly 
less correlated with GDP. 

Very strong cyclical movements for all transport and storage series in F 
and  FIN,  especially  for  water  transport  in  F  and  for  air  transport  in  both 
countries  (no  data  for  S  and  UK).  A  correlation  with  GDP  is  hard  to 
observe,  although  the  general  trend  of  GDP  is  matched.  Unfortunately, 
no telecommunication series are available, and only one series (FIN) for 
post and courrier activities which is strongly fluctuating and on an upward 
path, which is the only resemblance to GDP. 

Section J 

No data available. 

Section K 

Computer  activities  showed  a  strong  cyclical  pattern  in  three  of  the  four 
countries, F, FIN and S. Except for FIN, the series was increasing much 
faster than GDP. Miscellaneous business activities n.e.c., the only other 
series in this NACE Rev. 1 Section for which data are available, showed 
a cyclical pattern in three of the four countries, the series in the UK being 
smooth. However, there seemed to be a reasonable correlation with GDP 
in all countries, especially in the UK. 

4. Conclusions 

The  analysis  shows  indeed  a  number  of  indications  that  some  of  the  service  sectors  show 
strong cyclical characteristics. As a result, the service sectors should be given more attention 
for  economic  and  monetary  policy  and  therefore  more  attention  in  terms  of  economic 
statistics. 

However, it is too early for an accurate picture on the correlation between STS data on service 
sectors  and  the  GDP  evolution.  Once  more  information  will  be  available,  Eurostat  will 
continue  its  analysis.  The  proceeding  implementation  of  STS  in  the  Member  States  will 
provide a good basis for further investigations in the coming years. 

eurostat

4

 
 
 
 
SHORT-TERM STATISTICS ON SERVICES 
FOR THE EURO AREA

*

Henning Ahnert and Stefano Nardelli 
European Central Bank 

SUMMARY 

This  paper  attempts  to  identify  priorities  for  the  development  of  short-term  statistics  in  the 
service sector. The service sector covers 70% of the euro area and EU economy, but statistical 
information  at  monthly  or  quarterly  frequency  is  rare,  with  the  exception  of  information  on 
retail trade. More data will become available from some EU regulations in the course of the 
next  years,  but,  in  particular,  economic  activity  and  prices  are  not  sufficiently  covered.  The 
proposed priorities for improvements of short-term statistics therefore include new indicators 
(output, output prices and employment), improvements in coverage in particular in the market 
sector, improvements to the published level of detail for individual service branches as well as 
better timeliness for some indicators. 

I. 

Introduction 

In the 1998 report on statistical requirements in EMU 1, the Monetary Committee highlighted 
the need for progress in the development of a sound statistical basis for the service sector, and 
in  particular  “the  cyclically  sensitive  service  industries”.  The  Economic  and  Financial 
  Progress  Report  on  the  implementation  of  the  Monetary 
Committee  (EFC),  in  its  4
Committee's Report, reverted to this subject and concluded:  

th

"Yet, timely, comparable and high-frequency statistics on them are scarce in relation to those 
on the industrial sector. The qualitative business surveys introduced by the Commission (DG 
ECFIN)  earlier  this  year,  whilst  welcome,  are  not  a  long-term  substitute.  The  Regulation 
concerning Short-term (Business) Statistics provides for only a minimal set of data on service 
activities (employment and turnover in value). Though some work is underway at the national 
level it is essential to co-ordinate objectives and efforts in order to achieve early results with 
good coverage at the EU level. The SPC (Statistical Programme Committee), in co-operation 
with the CMFB, is therefore invited to develop proposals by April 2002 on what action should 
be taken to improve the availability of monthly and quarterly data on service activities." 

While  since  1998  progress  has  been  made  for  qualitative  surveys  on  service  business,  very 
limited  progress  has  been  made  for  quantitative  short-term  indicators.  For  the  latter  no 
significant  further  improvements  can  be  expected  before  the  second  half  of  2003,  i.e.  after 
derogations  granted  by  Eurostat  to  most  National  Statistical  Institutes  (NSIs)  expire. 
However,  with  the  implementation  of  existing  and  new  statistical  regulations  in  the  coming 
years  more  statistical  data  for  the  service  sector  will  become  available.  This  note,  which  is 
drafted  in  response  to  the  request  of  the  EFC,  therefore  not  only  compares  the  current 

*  This paper has been submitted for discussion to the CMFB for the meeting on 29-30 January 2002. 
1  Monetary  Committee/Working  Group  on  Statistics,  "Report  to  the  Monetary  Committee  on  information 

requirements in Economic and Monetary Union" (Brussels, 28 October 1998). 

5

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situation with the statistical requirements, but considers also the situation as it is expected to 
be in about 2-3 years after the full implementation of important statistical regulations in the 
EU. 

Moreover,  while  efforts  have  also  been  made  to  provide  an  adequate  and  harmonised 
legislative framework for the production of structural service statistics at annual frequency or 
annual  national  accounts  data,  this  note  is  focused  on  the  identification  of  gaps  in  quarterly 
and monthly short-term service statistics. No attempt is made to identify the requirements for, 
or possible gaps in, the availability of annual data. 

Priorities for action are summarised in section 5 of this document. 

II. 

The service sector and selection criteria for short-term statistics 

Almost 70% of the GDP for both the euro area and EU is produced by activities which are 
traditionally classified as services. The service sector is formed by a wide and heterogeneous 
set of activities and it cannot be expected that the statistical requirements are the same for all 
service  industries.  Services  are  often  defined  as  a  residual  item,  i.e.  the  activity  outside  the 
industry sector, or the activity that does not deal directly with the production of goods. The 
Monetary  Committee  requested  efforts  for  the  cyclically  sensitive  service  industries. 
Unfortunately, this definition is difficult to use, because it does not rely on generally accepted 
concepts and is difficult to test in practice due to the scarcity of statistical information. 

What could be an operational definition of cyclically sensitive service industries? Related to 
this  definition,  but  more  operational,  is  the  distinction  between  market  and  non-market 
services. The ESA 95 set out criteria for this distinction, which are fundamental because they 
determine the valuation principles in national accounts. According to these definitions, market 
output consists of output that is provided to the market and sold at economically significant 
prices (i.e. if more that 50% of the production costs is covered by sales, ESA para 3.16-3.19). 

Statistical data on activity, prices and employment are classified according to the NACE Rev. 
1  as  shown  for  services  in  table  A.1  of  the  annex.  Services  consist  of  10  broad  sections, 
subdivided  in  27  divisions  according  to  types  of  services  supplied  or  their  destination  (and 
further  in  the  more  detailed  NACE  group  and  class  levels).  The  distinction  between  market 
and non-market has not been a criterion for the grouping of economic activities in the NACE 
Rev.1; the main criterion used there is the "principal activity", i.e. the activity of a unit that 
contributes most to the total value added. Nevertheless, by convention a split between market 
and  non-market  activities  is  adopted  in  several  statistical  publications2.  Market  services 
include  distributive  trade,  hotel  and  restaurant,  transport  and  communication,  financial 
services  (banking,  insurance,  pension  funds,  financial  auxiliary  services),  other  market 
services  (i.e.  real  estate,  renting,  computer,  research  and  other  business  activities).  Non-
market services  include  public  administration  and  defence,  health,  education  and  other  non-
market services. However, the non-market group contains several activities which are market 
activities (e.g. driving schools, cinema, hairdressing, or health services supplied through the 
market)  and  the  market  producer  group  contains  some  activities  which  are  non-market  (e.g. 
central  banking).  Table  2.1  reports  the  share  of  market  and  non-market  services.  Market 
services account for more than two third of the total value added of all services. 

2  See, for instance, Eurostat (1999), "Services in Europe. Data 1995-1997", Luxembourg. 

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6

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                   
Table 2.1: Shares of market/non-market services in total economy value added (value 

added at basic prices, current prices, year 2000)  

Euro area 

EU-15 

Breakdown  

Whole economy 
 Services 
  Market services  

Trade, transport and 
communication  
Financial intermediation, real 
estate  

  Non market services  
Source: Eurostat, National Accounts 

L-Q 

NACE 

A-Q 
G-Q 
G-K  

Ero 
billions 

6,061.8 
4,188.9 
2,9029 

   G,H,I  

1,267,6 

   J,K  

1,635.3 

1,286,0 

% 

Euro 
billions 

% 

100 
69.1 
47.9 

20.9 

27.0 

21.2 

7,870.7 
5,481.9 
3,790,2 

1,656,2 

2,113,9 

1,691,5 

100 
69.6 
48.2 

21.3 

26.9 

21.5 

More details on the shares of activities within the service sector are given in table 2.2. Due to 
the lack of sufficiently detailed information on the value added, employment data have been 
used.  Distributive  trade  has  the  biggest  employment  share  in  services.  All  main  NACE 
sections (except P and Q) contribute with at least 5% to the total services employment, or, in 
other  words,  none  of  these  sections  can  be  disregarded  when  the  aim  is  to  develop 
representative service sector statistics. 

Table 2.2: Employment by service activity (thousands, year 2000) 

NACE groups 
G 
H 
I 
J 
K 

Wholesale and retail trade 
Hotels and restaurants 
Transport, storage, communication 
Financial intermediation 
Real estate, renting and business activities 
Public  administr.,  defence;  compulsory  soc. 
Security 
Education 
Health and social work 
Other  community,  social  and  pers.  service 
activities 
Private households with employed persons 
Extra-territorial organisations and bodies 

P 
Q 
Total services 
Source: Eurostat, Labour Force Surveys. 

L 

M 
N 

O 

Euro area 
17,574 
4,789.9 
7,041.2 
3,902.1 
9,711.3 

9,599.4 

7,586 
10,663 

5,374.7 

1,465.5 
114.4 
77,822 

% 
22.6 
6.2 
9.0 
5.0 
12.5 

12.3 

9.7 
13.7 

6.9 

1.9 
0.1 
100 

EU 
23,405 
6,366.2 
9,657 
5,379.6 
13,719 

11,982 

10,546 
15,071 

7,391.8 

1,660.2 
141.6 
105,320 

% 
22.2 
6.0 
9.2 
5.1 
13.0 

11.4 

10.0 
14.3 

7.0 

1.6 
0.1 
100 

Are service activities displaying a cyclical pattern? The assumption that market services and 
cyclically sensitive industries overlap to a considerable extent is confirmed by a comparison 
of  the  short-term  movements  of  the  three  main  service  categories  available  from  national 
accounts.  The  outputs  of  the  two  aggregate  market  service  categories  move  similarly  to  the 
movement of overall GDP (more pronounced for trade, transport and communication than for 
financial intermediation, real estate, renting and other). The non-market output is much less 
dynamic  with  annual  growth  rates  ranging  in  a  narrow  band  from  1%-2%.  However,  the 
picture  may  be  different  for  variables  other  than  output,  in  particular  for  nominal  variables 
(e.g. compensation). 

7

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Chart 1: Value added for the euro area (constant prices, ECU/euro, annual percentage changes) 

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

- 1

W h o le   E c o n o m y

T r a d e ,   r e p a ir s ,   h o r e c a ,   t r a n s p o r t   &   c o m m .

F in a n c ia l,   r e a l  e s t a t e ,   r e n t in g   &   b u s in e s s   a c t .

P u b lic   a d m in . ,   e d u c a t io n ,   h e a lt h   &   o t h e r   s e r v .

1
Q
4
9

1
Q
5
9

1
Q
6
9

1
Q
7
9

1
Q
8
9

1
Q
9
9

1
Q
0
0

1
Q
1
0

Which short-term statistics should be developed for market and non-market service activities? 
To  answer  this  question  two  criteria  are  used  in  this  paper:  relevance  and  short-term 
dynamics.  Relevance  is  the  degree  to  which  the  statistical  indicator  is  expected  to  reflect 
economic activity, prices and labour market conditions. Short-term dynamics is the degree to 
which  the  statistical  indicator  is  expected  to  vary  with  the  business  cycle  or  show  other 
significant  short-term  fluctuations.  The  indicators  examined  include  value  added,  turnover, 
new  orders,  export/imports  (or  a  breakdown  of  variables  into  domestic  and  external 
components),  business  climate,  prices,  employment  and  wages  for  NACE  sections.  This 
selection of criteria and indicators is a simplification and could be further refined, but covers 
the main aspects. Table A.2 in the annex shows the results in more detail. 

Any  statistical  indicator  should  be  relevant  and  meaningful.  Value  added  information  is  a 
meaningful  measure  for  output  in  all  branches,  though  difficult  to  measure  for  non-market 
services  and  some  market  services  (financial  intermediation).  Most  other  well  known  short-
term  indicators  for  activity  and  prices  that  are  relevant  for  the  industrial  sector  are  relevant 
only for market services (e.g. turnover, business climate, output prices). New orders may be 
relevant only in some market branches (e.g. road transport, consulting). The same applies to 
exports  and  imports,  since  most  services  are  produced  and  consumed  domestically.  Unlike 
indicators  for  activity  and  prices,  information  on  employment  and  wages  are  relevant  for 
market  and  for  non-market  sectors.  Hours  worked  appear  to  be  more  relevant  for  market 
services,  since  it  is  not  clear  whether  and  how  a  change  in  the  actual  hours  worked  affects 
output  (often  calculated  from  input  components)  and  income  (often  independent  from 
variations in working time) in non-market activities. 

Short-term  information  is  needed  when  economic  activity,  prices  /  costs,  hours  worked  or 
employment  vary  with  the  business  cycle  or  shows  other  significant  short-term  dynamics. 
Most  of  the  relevant  activity  and  price/cost  indicators  for  market  services  fall  under  this 
category; for non-market services the short-term dynamics of activity and price/cost indicators 
are  –  if  relevant  -  expected  to  be  generally  less  pronounced.  However,  employment,  hours 
worked and wage information varies both in market and non-market services. 

eurostat

8

 
 
 
 
Summarising  this  evaluation  on  relevance  and  dynamics,  short-term  information  on  activity 
and prices/costs is particularly important for market service sectors, but not all indicators are 
useful for all market sectors. For non-market sectors, short-term information on employment 
and  wages  has  the  highest  priority  for  short-term  analysis  (in  addition  to  the  value  added 
estimates  produced  for  quarterly  national  accounts).  For  all  service  activities  a  detailed 
analysis  of  data  requirements  for  individual  branches  (NACE  Divisions  and  below)  is 
necessary given the heterogeneous composition of many aggregate activity groupings in the 
NACE. 

III.  EU legal framework and available data 

1.  Current coverage of service statistics in EU regulations 

Data  on  services  are  covered  in  the  main  statistical  domains,  namely  national  accounts, 
business statistics, labour market statistics, but also consumer price statistics (the latter is not 
further discussed here). Precise legal provisions exist for all domains with the only exception 
of labour costs indices, where data are supplied on the basis of a gentlemen's agreement but a 
regulation  is  currently  under  adoption  as  a  follow-up  on  the  EMU  Action  Plan.  Table  A.3 
(Annex) gives a detailed overview of the existing regulations. 

In  general,  the  requirement  for  statistical  information  at  an  annual  frequency  is  more 
comprehensive and complete than the requirements for quarterly or monthly data. Short-term 
information  is  not  covered  homogeneously  in  the  different  regulations.  In  particular  for  the 
non-market services the coverage is very limited. Quarterly national accounts offer important 
indicators  for  all  service  branches  (value  added,  employment,  compensation  and,  in  future, 
hours  worked),  but  at  very  high  level  of  aggregation  only  (the  service  sector  is  split  into  3 
main  subgroups).  The  EU  labour  force  survey  provides  complete  quarterly  information  on 
employment and hours worked on (at least) a NACE Section level. Moreover, the currently 
discussed  draft  labour  cost  regulation  foresees  the  complete  coverage  of  the  service  sector 
(labour costs per hour worked), though long derogations of up to 5 years are possible for the 
coverage of non-market services for NACE sections. 

In  the  short-term  business  regulation  the  requirements  are  limited  to  only  two  indicators 
(turnover, employment) and to selected sub-categories of market services, namely a complete 
coverage  of  sections  G  and  I  and  an  incomplete  coverage  of  sections  H  and  K.  Section  J 
(Financial  intermediation)  is  not  covered  by  the  short-term  business  regulation.  Indicator 
coverage,  frequency  and  timeliness  requirements  in  the  short-term  statistics  regulation  for 
services  are  not  comparable  to  the  requirements  that  exist  in  the  same  regulation  for  the 
industry  sector  (see  table  3.1).  A  number  of  pilot  studies  are  foreseen  in  the  regulation  to 
extend the coverage to groups K to O, i.e. into the domain of non-market services, but have 
not been launched yet. 

9

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 3.1: Short-term statistics requested for industry and services by the STS Regulation 

Industry  

Services 

Frequency  Timeliness 

Frequency  Timeliness 

Production  

Turnover  

New orders received 

Monthly  

Monthly  

Monthly  

Number of persons employed  Quarterly  

Hours worked 
Gross wages and salaries 
Output prices 

(*) for selected branches only. 

Quarterly  
Quarterly  
Monthly  

T+45 

T+60 

T+50 

T+90 

T+90 
T+90 
T+35 

Not required 

Quarterly 
(*) 

T+90 

Not required 

Quarterly 
(*) 

T+90 

Not required 
Not required 
Not required 

Frequency  and  timeliness  are  important  quality  features  of  short-term  statistics.  All  data 
mentioned so far are required at quarterly frequency; only HICP results for service prices are 
monthly. The required timeliness for national accounts results is 120 days after the reporting 
quarter, but a revised regulation including a requirement of 70 days will be adopted under the 
EMU Action Plan. Labour force and employment data are required 90 days after the end of 
the quarter and the same applies to labour cost statistics (but these are expected to be cut to 75 
days under the proposed Regulation) and short-term statistics for the service sector. 

Not  covered  by  a  legal  act,  but  agreed  between  the  European  Commission  and  national 
statistical  institutes,  is  the  European  Commission’s  “Joint  Harmonised  EU  Programme  of 
Business and Consumer Surveys”. The monthly qualitative survey consists of five questions 
(climate,  recent  and  expected  demand,  recent  and  expected  employment).  The  Commission 
compiles  a  ‘Confidence  indicator  for  the  service  sector’.  The  survey  covers  a  sub-set  of 
market-related  service  activities,  mainly  from  the  sections  I,  K  and  O.  It  is  envisaged  to 
extend the coverage with priority for ‘Hotels and restaurants’ (division 55) and on ‘Post and 
telecommunications’ (division 64). 

2.  Current data availability 

While the coverage of service statistics in EU statistical legislation is not complete, the actual 
availability  of  data  for  the  euro  area  and  the  EU  is  even  more  limited  due  to  long 
implementation times and derogations. Quarterly euro area and EU aggregates from national 
accounts  currently  are  available  only  for  value  added.  Quarterly  employment  data  for  the 
labour  market  from  EU  labour  force  surveys  are  not  yet  available.  Aggregates  with  partial 
coverage of market services (but no coverage of non-market services) are available for labour 
cost indices. From the short-term business regulation turnover data are available only for the 
retail trade sector, whilst all other information will become available not before 2003. For EC 
Business surveys the European Commission started in 2001 publishing results for the total of 
all  service  branches  covered  for  the  balances  of  the  responses  on  climate,  demand  and 
employment. For retail trade a survey exists and contains question on business situation and 
expectations, employment expectations, stocks and orders, but no information on prices. 

However,  though  the  current  data  availability  for  all  service  branches  for  the  EU  and  euro 
area is, with the exception of retail trade information, very poor, any longer-term planning has 
to  take  into  account  the  expected  improvements  in  the  availability  due  to  already  agreed 
regulations. 

eurostat

10

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
IV. 

ECB Requirements for short-term indicators on services 

The ECB has repeatedly stressed the importance for the purposes of economic and monetary 
policy  to  have  a  methodologically  sound  and  consistent  information  system  that  produces 
relevant information in a timely fashion. Detailed requirements for general economic statistics 
including  service  statistics  have  been  endorsed  by  the  Governing  Council  of  the  ECB  and 
published for indicators, level of detail, frequency and timeliness3. 
Price  statistics  are  particularly  important  for  the  ECB  for  monitoring  the  price  dynamics 
within  the  euro  area.  A  set  of  producer  prices  for  services  would  complete  the  set  of  price 
statistics  for  services  and  provide  economic  analysts  with  an  additional  indicator  to  assess 
price evolution. Whilst prices for consumer services are covered in the consumer price index 
(HICP), prices for business to business services may serve the same purposes as the producer 
price index in industry. 

Producer  prices  may  also  be  used  as  a  deflator  for  the  part  of  the  output  sold  by  service 
businesses  to  business,  or  more  generally,  the  deflation  of  services  turnover  and  the 
calculation of output.4 Considerable research work has been carried out in the last decade in 
this  new  field  and  in  half  EU  countries  producer  prices  for  selected,  but  different  service 
activities  are  already  compiled5,  so  that  progress  towards  EU-wide  aggregates  may  be 
possible over the next years. Short-term output measures for in particular market services are 
essential  for  the  analysis  of  the  economy.  Short-term  information  on  turnover  (nominal  and 
deflated) is essential for the retail trade sector as an indicator of household consumption and 
may provide a useful indicator of activity in other market services sectors. 

Given its importance for the cyclical development and its high contribution to job creation in 
the economy, the third essential indicator for the short-term service statistics is employment 
data.  The  need  for  information  on  hours  worked  arises  in  the  market  service  sector 
particularly, given the high and still increasing share of part-time employment in this part of 
the economy. 

As  regards  leading  indicators  for  the  service  sector,  qualitative  information  on  demand, 
employment  and  price  expectations  is  important.  Quantitative  information  with  leading 
indicator properties (e.g. new orders, inventories) is desirable, but most likely not relevant or 
feasible in many service branches. 

V. 

Proposals for action 

The  following  proposals  for  the  development  of  euro  area-wide  statistics  on  services  at 
monthly and/or quarterly frequency are made. 

3  See  European  Central  Bank  (August  2000),  "Statistical  Requirements  of  the  European  Central  Bank  in  the 

field of General Economic Statistics".  

4   Producer price indices are the preferred measure for deflation in Eurostat’s Handbook of Price and Volume 
measures  in  national  accounts.  In  some  market  sectors  (e.g.  banking,  insurance)  and  most  non-market 
services (e.g. education) the calculation of producer price indices is very difficult or impossible due to the 
lack of observable prices. Calculation of volumes therefore often have to rely on second best methods which 
are described in the handbook. 
In recent years, the Voorburg Group has carried work on service producer prices. It covered sectors such as 
telecommunications,  legal  and  accounting  services.  A  survey  on  the  availability  of  producer  price  indices 
including  information  on  national  methodologies  is  available  in  the  document  "OECD  Inquiry  on  National 
Collection of Services Producer Prices -- Preliminary Report, Part 1". 

5 

11

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                   
1.  Increase in the number of indicators 

Better information on prices, output and employment in the service sector is the highest priority. 

For improving the situation on producer prices, it is essential that a significant coverage of the 
branches in particular in the market output sector is achieved. This implies the development of 
producer price indicators for NACE sections H, I, K and L. Services producer prices are not 
yet covered in the short-term statistics regulation. 

For improving the situation on output data for the service sector, two possibilities exist. The 
first  is  to  increase  the  level  of  detail  available  for  quarterly  value  added  information  from 
national  accounts  (which  provides  information  at  present  only  at  highly  aggregated  levels). 
The  second  is  to  improve  the  coverage  of  nominal  turnover  data  in  the  short-term  statistics 
regulation  and  to  add  a  requirement  for  deflated  turnover  results.  Since  it  is  likely  to  be 
difficult to increase the information from national accounts without improving the quality of 
the  underlying  primary  statistics,  the  improvement  of  the  short-term  statistics  regulation  for 
output data in the services sector might be the first step. The availability of adequate producer 
price indices in the service sector is a pre-condition to compile good quality value added or 
turnover  statistics  at  constant  prices  in  the  service  sector.  Better  producer  price  and  output 
data will also improve the quality of the GDP estimation. 

The third indicator for the services sector which should be treated with priority is employment 
statistics.  Services  employment  data  are  currently  referred  to  in  the  short-term  statistics 
regulation  for  the  currently  included  service  branches  as  well  as  in  the  labour  force  survey 
regulation  and  national  accounts.  The  improvements  in  the  short-term  statistics  regulation 
cover the same branches as the proposals for improvement for turnover and deflators above. 

Important  in  the  longer  term,  though  with  lower  priority,  is  the  development  of  a  set  of 
supplementary indicators, such as hours worked and wages and salaries at sufficiently detailed 
level in the service sector. Hours worked are not yet covered in any existing regulation; wages 
and salaries are currently included in the national accounts regulation at a high aggregation. 

Moreover, in the field of business opinion surveys the set of questions should be extended to 
cover a new variable on price expectations of retail trade and other service branches. 

2.  Improvement in coverage 

A second priority is the improvement in the coverage of service activities and in particular market 
service activities for turnover and prices in the short-term statistics regulation as well as employment 
for market and non-market activities. There was EU-wide agreement on the contents of pilot studies 
aiming at extending the coverage in the short term statistics regulation and this work should start 
soon. The EU labour force survey regulation may become one important source for the employment 
variable  if  this  data  will  be  available  at  a  sufficiently  timely  basis.  An  extension  of  coverage  of 
service branches is also desirable for the qualitative business surveys (work on this is underway). 

3.  Improvement in the available level of detail 

One  striking  difference  between  short-term  industry  and  services  statistics  is  that  industry 
statistics are produced at a sometimes extremely high level of detail, whilst service statistics, 
if available at all, cannot be broken down by the main sectoral contributions. While it is not 
the objective for short-term service statistics to achieve the high degree of detail available for 

eurostat

12

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
industry statistics (and a reduction of requirements in industry statistics might be considered, 
in particular as regards the NACE 4 digit results for some indicators), any future development 
should consider the heterogeneous composition of the service sector and the need to analyze 
the  contributions  from  sub-sectors  to  the  service  aggregates.  This  requires  sufficiently 
disaggregated  information.  As  a  rule  of  thumb,  services  statistics  should  target  a  two-digit 
Division  level  in  the  NACE  (e.g.  breaking  down  the  complete  market  services  in 
approximately  17  sub-categories),  though  in  some  cases  a  higher  level  of  detail  may  be 
required (e.g. retail trade turnover) and in other cases a lower level of detail may suffice (e.g. 
for gross wages and salaries). 

4.  Improvement in timeliness 

Short-term statistics on services fulfill their functions only if their timeliness is good. While in 
most  statistical  domains  the  timeliness  requirements  for  the  service  data  included  are  not 
different from the timeliness required for industry data, this is not the case for the short-term 
statistics regulation. The deadlines for transmission of short-term indicators on services (i.e. 
t+90)  are  unsatisfactory.  Moreover,  short-term  statistics  would  be  available  later  than  the 
corresponding counterparts in quarterly national accounts (to be available after t+70). As for 
other short-term indicators, the aim should be a timeliness of approximately t+30 for monthly 
data (e.g. retail trade turnover) and not more than t+60 for quarterly data. 

5.  Improvement of the frequency of indicators 

As  regards  the  frequency,  the  lack  of  any  monthly  information  for  the  service  sector  is  a 
shortcoming  (with  the  exception  of  HICP  and  Opinion  Survey  data).  Monthly  data  of  the 
short-term statistics is to be considered an important value added over other, quarterly sources 
(such  as  national  accounts).  In  the  long  run  the  key  indicators  for  the  market  service  sector 
output  and  prices  should  be  available  at  monthly  frequency.  However,  for  the  forthcoming 
implementation period of service statistics priority should be given to more variables, to the 
extension of coverage in the service sector, to the higher level of detail and better timeliness. 

6.  Co-ordination under different statistical EU regulations 

In  order  to  avoid  unnecessary  conceptual  differences  or  overlapping  requirements,  a  close  co-
ordination  between  the  statistical  domains  involved  should  be  enforced.  The  short-term  statistics 
regulation,  the  labour  cost  index  regulation,  the  labour  force  survey  and  the  national  accounts 
regulation  contain  relevant  information  in  the  services  area.  So  far  these  regulation  have  been 
developed largely independently of each other. For the development of short-term service statistics a 
closer co-ordination of the requirements and concepts in the different statistical domains is useful. 

7.  Further research and development 

There  are  many  difficult  statistical  questions  to  be  examined  and  developed  before  a  satisfactory 
coverage of the service sector in short-term statistics can be achieved. Many of them are linked to 
the measurement of prices and output (volumes) and are also mentioned in Eurostat’s handbook for 
national accounts deflation; some of them were included in the list of pilot studies in the short-term 
statistics  regulation  of  1998.  Joint  research  and  development  work  in  the  European  Statistical 
System will be required to produce reliable and comparable service sector statistics. 

13

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table A.1:  NACE Rev.1 two-digit classification for services

ANNEX 

G 

Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and personal and 
household goods  

50 
51 
52 

Sale, maintenance and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles 
Wholesale trade and commission trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles; repair of personal and household goods 

H 

Hotels and Restaurants 

55 

Hotels and Restaurants 

I 

Transport, storage and communication 

60 
61 
62 
63 
64 

Land transport; transport via pipelines 
Water transport 
Air transport 
Supporting and auxiliary transport activities; activities of travel agencies 
Post and telecommunications 

J 

Financial intermediation 

65 
66 
67 

Financial intermediation, except insurance and pension funding 
Insurance and pension funding, except compulsory social security 
Activities auxiliary to insurance and pension funding 

K 

Real estate, renting and business activities 

70 
71 
72 
73 
74 

Real estate activities  
Renting of machinery and equipment without operator and of personal and household goods  
Computer and related activities  
Research and development  
Other business activities  

L 

Public administration and defence; compulsory social security 

75 

Public administration and defence; compulsory social security 

M 

Education 

80 

Education 

N 

Health and social work 

85 

Health and social work 

O 

Other community, social and personal service activities 

90 
91 
92 
93 

Sewage and refuse disposal, sanitation and similar activities 
Activities of membership organisations 
Recreational, cultural and sporting activities 
Other service activities 

P 

Private households with employed persons (*) 

95(**)  Private households with employed persons 
96(***)  Undifferentiated goods producing activities of private households  
97(***)  Undifferentiated services producing activities of private households for own use  

Q 

Extra-territorial organisation and bodies 

99 

Extra-territorial organisation and bodies 

(*) Changed to "Private households with employed persons" in NACE Rev.1.1.  
(**) Changed to "Activities of households as employers of domestic staff" in NACE Rev.1.1.  
(***) New in NACE Rev.1.1.  

eurostat

14

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table A2: Relevance and short-term dynamics of

short-term service statistics

Activity indicators 

Prices 

Labour market indicators 

Value added 

Turnover  New Orders 

Ex/Import 
 (or dom./ext. 
market) 

Business 
climate 

Output 
Prices 

Employment 
(& hours 
worked) 

Rel 
++ 

Dyn  Rel  Dyn 
++ 
++ 
++ 

Rel  Dyn 
++ 

- 

Rel 
3
) 
+ (

Dyn 
3
) 
++ (

Rel 
++ 

Dyn 
++ 

Rel 
++ 

Dyn 
+ 

Rel 
++ 

G –Trade and Repair 

H – Hotels and 
restaurants 

I – Transport, storage 
and communication 

J – Financial 
intermediation 

K – Real estate, 
renting and business 
activities 

L – Public 
administration and 
defence, compulsory 
social security 

M – Education 

N – Health and social 
work 

O – Other community, 
social and personal 
service activities 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

- 

- 

++ 

++ 

2
+ (

) 

2
++ (

) 

++ 

++ 

- 

- 

2
+ (

) 

2
++ (

) 

+ 

+ 

- 

- 

+ 

- 

+ 

- 

- 

- 

1
+ (

) 

+ (

1

) 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

- 

- 

- 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

+ 

++ 

++ 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

- 

- 

- 

1
+ (

) 

+ (

1

) 

+ (

1

) 

+ (

1

) 

+ (

1

) 

+ (

1

) 

2
1
) for some transport and storage activities; (
) For market activities; (

3
) for wholesale trade. 
:  Relevance for measuring economic activity, or prices, or labour market conditions 

(
Rel 
Dyn  :   Short-term dynamics 
++ 
+  
- 
Not mentioned are consumer price statistics which are available for all relevant consumer services.

:   highly relevant / high short-term dynamics 
: 
: 

some relevance / some short-term dynamics 
not relevant / no short-term dynamics 

Wages 

Rel 
++ 

Dyn 
+ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

Dyn 
+ 

++ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

++  

1
5

e
u
r
o
s
t
a
t

 
 
 
 
 
 
e
u
r
o
s
t
a
t

1
6

Table A.3:  Coverage of annual, quarterly and monthly service sector statistics in existing EU regulations

Domains   Legal references  

Variables  

Coverage and level of detail 

Frequency  

Timeliness  

National 
Accounts 

Council Regulation (EC) No 
2223/96 of 25 June 1996 (ESA 
95).  

value added:  
- output by industry 
- intermediate consumption 
- gross value added at basic prices 
- consumption of fixed capital 
capital formation  
employment and compensation.  

Value added, compensation and 
employment.  

Structural 
Business 
Statistics 

Council Regulation (EC, 
EURATOM) No 59/97 of 20 
December 1996, amended by 
Council Regulation (EC, 
EURATOM) No 410/98 of 16 
February 1998.  
Specific Commission 
Regulations exist for insurance 
service and tourism statistics.  

demographic: number of enterprises/local 
units;  
enterprise characteristics: turnover, 
production value, value added, personal 
costs, total purchases of goods and 
services, gross investments in tangible 
goods, number of persons employed, 
number of employees;  
regional characteristics: wages and 
salaries, number of persons employed.  

Short -term 
Business 
Statistics  

Council Regulation (EC) No 
1165/98  
of 19 May 1998.  

turnover and employment.  

A31 (sections G to Q of NACE 
Rev.1)  

Annual  

9 months after the 
reference year.  

A6 (G+H+I, J+K and L to P) 

Quarterly  

Sections G, H, I, J, K  
Non-market services and public 
services are not covered.  

Annual  

4 months after the 
reference quarter  
(70 days in future)  
18 months after the 
end of the reference 
year. 
Preliminary national 
results within 10 
months for turnover 
and number of 
persons employed.  

Quarterly  

90 days after the 
reference quarter.  

Sections G, I, K (only computer 
and related activities, other 
business activities). Non-market 
services, public services and 
financial intermediation are not 
covered 
Pilot studies are planned on 
sections K (complete) and J, M, N, 
O.  

Labour 
Force 
Survey 

Council Regulation (EC) No 
577/98 of 9 March 1998.  

Labour force, employment, hours worked.   Section G-Q, possibly also 

Divisions.  

Quarterly/ 
Annual  

12 weeks after the 
end of the reference 
period (quarterly 
surveys). 
9 months (annual 
survey).  

 
 
 
Domains   Legal references  
Labour 
Cost 
Indices 

Gentlemen's agreement. 
Draft regulation in progress.  

Variables  
Total labour costs;  
labour costs excluding bonuses;  
wages and salaries;  
employers' social contributions.  

Sectors and level of detail 
Draft Regulation: Sections G to O  
Currently the level of detail is very 
limited.  

HICP 

Commission Regulation No 
2214/96 of 20 November 
1996, amended by 
Commission Regulation No 
1749/99 of 23 July 1999.  

Consumer service price indices, 
accounting for around 38% of the overall 
index for the euro area.  

The main branches covered and 
published at 3 digit COICOP level 
are:  
- rents 
– health (hospital and out-patient 
services);  
- transport;  
- telecommunications;  
- recreation and culture;  
- education;  
- restaurants and hotels.  

Frequency   Timeliness  
Quarterly  

Currently 95 days after 
the reference quarters.  
In the regulation the 
delay for national data 
is reduced to 70 days.  

Monthly  

15 days after the 
reference month.  

EC 
business 
survey in 
the service 
sector 

European Commission 
decision on the ‘Joint 
Harmonised EU Programme of 
Business and Consumer 
Surveys’ and the 
Communication from the 
Commission to the European 
Parliament and the Social and 
Economic Committee, 
Nov.2000, COM (2000) 770. 

5 questions: 
(cid:127)  assessment of the business climate 
(cid:127)  evolution of demand (in recent 
months and in the months ahead) 
(cid:127)  evolution of employment (in recent 
months and in the months ahead) 

NACE Rev.1 Section I (divisions 
60-63); Section K (divisions 71-
74); Section O (division 90) 

Monthly 

Second working day 
after the end of the 
reference month 

1
7

e
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r
o
s
t
a
t

 
 
 
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF SHORT-TERM DATA ON 
SERVICE SECTORS 

Gian Paolo Oneto and Federico Polidoro 
National Institute of Statistics, Italy 

I.  The growing weight of service sector in European economies 

Estimates  coming  from  national  accounts  data  provides  a  broad  indication  of  the  increasing 
weight of the service sector in EMU/EU economies. In France, for example, the share of the 
service  sector  on  the  economy  as  a  whole  -  in  terms  of  value  added  at  current  prices  -  has 
increased from 60.8% in 1980 to 71.7% in 2000; in Italy from 55.6 to 68.9%, in the United 
Kingdom  from  57.2  to  71.5%.  In  Germany  the  growth  of  service  sector  has  been  of  6.5 
percentage points from 1991 to 2000 and in EMU of 4.3 points. This evolution corresponds to 
a decline in the importance of the industrial sector: in 2000 industry, excluding construction, 
represented the 21,2% of the economy in EMU. 

Table 1: Value added at current prices by sectors (percentage on total value added) 

Agriculture 
Industry (excluding construction) 
Construction 
Wholesale and Retail Trade 
Financial Intermediation, real estate 
Public administration and defence 
Total Services 
Total Economy 

Agriculture 
Industry (excluding construction) 
Construction 
Wholesale and Retail Trade 
Financial Intermediation, real estate 
Public administration and defence 
Total Services 
Total Economy 

Agriculture 
Industry (excluding construction) 
Construction 
Wholesale and Retail Trade 
Financial Intermediation, real estate 
Public administration and defence 
Total Services 
Total Economy 

European  
Union 

EURO  
ZONE 

Germany   France 

Italy 

United  
Kingdom 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

3,0 
25,5 
6,2 
21,3 
22,8 
21,1 
65,3 
100 

2,1 
22,8 
5,4 
21,3 
26,8 
21,5 
69,7 
100,0 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

3,1 
25,7 
6,3 
21,3 
22,9 
20,7 
64,9 
100 

2,4 
22,9 
5,5 
21,0 
27,0 
21,2 
69,2 
100,0 

1980 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

1,4 
30,6 
6,0 
17,8 
24,0 
20,2 
62,0 
100 

4,6 
28,0 
6,6 
18,5 
23,0 
19,3 
60,8 
100,0 

1991 

3,3 
22,3 
6,0 
20,1 
27,1 
21,2 
68,4 
100,0 

2000 

1,2 
25,3 
5,1 
17,6 
29,8 
21,1 
68,5 
100,0 

2,8 
20,9 
4,5 
18,6 
30,0 
23,1 
71,7 
100,0 

5,9 
31,4 
7,2 
23,6 
15,8 
16,2 
55,6 
100,0 

3,5 
25,1 
6,2 
24,1 
21,2 
19,8 
65,2 
100,0 

2,8 
23,5 
4,9 
23,8 
26,1 
18,9 
68,9 
100,0 

2,1 
34,6 
6,1 
19,2 
17,7 
20,3 
57,2 
100,0 

1,8 
26,2 
6,0 
22,1 
22,3 
21,7 
66,1 
100,0 

1,0 
22,5 
5,0 
23,0 
27,0 
21,5 
71,5 
100,0 

eurostat

18

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
II.  STS regulation and its implementation 

Given  the  role  of  the  service  sector,  the  availability  of  a  large  set  of  indicators  at  high 
frequency  on  service  activities  has  become  more and  more  crucial  to  monitor  the  economic 
evolution of European countries. This need has been enhanced by the new framework of the 
economic and monetary policy in the EMU. The Council Regulation on Short Term Statistics 
(1165/98,  STS  Regulation)  contains  besides  the  Annex  C,  concerning  Retail  Trade  and 
Repair, an Annex (Annex D) explicitly devoted to statistics on the so-called “other services” 
sector.  However  the  present  implementation  of  Annex  D  shows  a  situation  highly 
differentiated  among  the  different  European  countries,  so  that  only  starting  from  the  end  of 
2002 it will be possible to make the first European aggregate indicators available to the users. 

Taking  into  account  that  Annex  D  is  a  compromise  between  users’  requirements  and 
feasibility  for  compiling  new  statistics  by  NSI,  EUROSTAT,  together  with  ECB,  has 
proposed to quicken the implementation of STS regulation and to widen the set of indicators 
included in it. The proposal stems from three elements: 

1) 
2) 
3) 

the growing weight of services in European economies 
the interest for the cyclical behaviour of some service sectors 
the  need  to  have  a  complete  set  of  infra-annual  indicators  able  to  detect  the  cyclical 
evolution of the European economy. 

Recently the ECB and the European Statistical System in their efforts to build a sound system 
of short term data to monitor the economic evolution in EU and Euro zone, have singled out 
the statistics on service sector as a field where substantial progresses are needed. 

19

eurostat

 
 
 
 
Table 2: Implementation of STS regulation (Annex D, turnover in services) in MS 

Nace Rev. 1 

FR  D 

501+502+504 

yes 

no 

EU Member States 

I 

no 

NL 

no 

E 

no 

UK 

yes 

P 

no 

LU  DK 

IE 

AT 

B  GR  FI  SE 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

502 

505 

511 

512 

513 

514 

515 

516 

517 

55 

60 

61 

62 

63 

641 

642 

72 

yes 

no 

no 

yes (98) 

no 

yes 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

no 

yes (98) 

no 

yes 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

no 

no 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

no 

yes 

yes  yes (98) 

yes 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

no 

yes 

yes  yes (98) 

yes 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

no 

yes 

yes  yes (98) 

yes 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

no 

yes 

yes  yes (98) 

yes 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

no 

yes 

yes  yes (98) 

yes 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

no 

yes 

yes  yes (98) 

yes 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

no 

yes 

yes  yes (98) 

yes 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

no 

3 dig.  
(98) 

yes 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

no 

yes (98) 

no 

no 

yes 

no 

yes 

yes  yes (98) 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

no 

no 

no 

no 

no 

no 

yes  yes (98) 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

no 

no 

yes  yes (98) 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes 

no 

yes (98) 

no 

no 

no 

no 

no 

yes  yes (98) 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes 

no 

no 

no 

no 

yes (98) 

no 

no 

yes  yes (98) 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes 

no 

yes (98) 

no 

no 

no 

no 

no 

yes  yes (98) 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes 

no 

yes (98) 

no 

no 

yes (98) 

no 

no 

yes 

no 

yes (98)  yes (98) 

no 

yes 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes (98) 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes (98) 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

7411+7412+ 
7413+7414 

yes 

no 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

no 

no 

yes  yes (98) 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

742+743 

yes 

no 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

no 

no 

yes  yes (98) 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

744 

745 

746 

747 

748 

yes 

no 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

no 

no 

yes  yes (98) 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes 

no 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

no 

no 

yes  yes (98) 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes 

no 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

no 

no 

yes  yes (98) 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes 

no 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

no 

no 

yes  yes (98) 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes 

no 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

no 

no 

yes  yes (98) 

no 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

eurostat

20

 
III.  Analysis of economic evolution of turnover indicators 

In  the  context  sketched  above  it  appears  interesting  to  study  the  economic  information 
provided  by  service  sector  indicators  requested  by  the  STS  Regulation  that  are  already 
available. In particular, the aim of this paper is to provide a first exploratory analysis of the 
turnover  indicators  concerning  some  of  the  largest  countries  of  EMU,  to  investigate  their 
information content and, in particular, their cyclical behaviour. 

The empirical research has to deal with some problems that do not allow to carry out a deeper 
analysis: 

1)  breakdowns established by the Regulation do not cover the entire service area; 
2) 

the degree of implementation of Annex D is highly differentiated by MS, so that only for 
few  Divisions  (i.e.  two  digits  level  of  the  NACE  classification)  turnover  indexes  are 
available in at least two large EMU countries; 

3)  available time series are very short except for France; 
4) 

indices of turnover are measured in nominal terms and indicators of output prices of the 
service sector are almost completely missing; 
there are problems of timeliness. 

5) 

Anyway it is possible to explore some of the issues above outlined as the data available allow 
undertaking the following steps: 

1.  comparison between turnover in services (for the Divisions covered in each country) and 

turnover in manufacturing for France, Germany, Italy and United Kingdom; 

2.  deflation of Italian indices of turnover in services activities, through output price proxies, 
and analysis of their cyclical properties with respect to value added at constant prices in 
market oriented services; 

3.  cross analysis between countries for a few sectors where data allow it. 

The Data base used to extract time series has been New Cronos. 

III.I.  Comparison between turnover in services and turnover in industry 

The  comparison  between  turnover  in  services  and  turnover  in  industry  has  been  started, 
looking  at  monthly  (M/M-12)  or/  quarterly  (Q/Q-4)  growth  rates  with  respect  to  an  year 
earlier. The graphical inspection shows the sectors that are linked to the industrial cycle and 
those that are not. As expected, sectors which provide services mostly to industrial enterprises 
show an evolution coherent with that of industrial turnover. This behaviour is common to the 
following sectors and countries: 

retail trade of automotive fuel (France) 

a) 
b)  Wholesale  of  non-agricultural  intermediate  products,  waste  and  scrap  (France  and 

Germany) 

c)  Wholesale of machinery, equipment and supplies (France and Germany) 
d)  Water transport (France, Germany) 
e)  Advertising (France) 
f)  Labour recruitment and provision of personnel (France). 

21

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 1:  Turnover of retail trade of automotive fuel and industrial turnover in France (Q/Q-

4 growth rates) 

20

15

10

5

0

-5

-10

1
9
9
1

1
9
9
1

2
9
9
1

2
9
9
1

3
9
9
1

3
9
9
1

4
9
9
1

4
9
9
1

5
9
9
1

5
9
9
1

6
9
9
1

6
9
9
1

7
9
9
1

7
9
9
1

8
9
9
1

8
9
9
1

9
9
9
1

9
9
9
1

0
0
0
2

0
0
0
2

1
0
0
2

1
0
0
2

industrial turnover

G505 turnover

For  these  sectors  the  analysis  has  been  deepened,  by  seasonally  adjusting  data,  extracting 
cyclical  components  through  band  pass  filter  (where  the  length  of  series  allows  it)  and 
estimating  the  cross  correlations  over  24  leads  and  lags  (on  monthly  data)  between  the 
cyclical components of service sector and industrial turnover. 

There are interesting results concerning the French wholesale of non-agricultural intermediate 
products,  waste  and  scrap  (that  shows  the  highest  value  for  the  cross  correlation  in 
correspondence  of  lead  -2)  and  the  retail  sales  of  automotive  fuel  (0,87  at  lead  -3).  France 
shows  a  coincident  cyclical  behaviour  of  wholesale  of  machinery,  equipment  and  supplies 
(0,75 the highest value of cross correlation at 0 lag). Concerning Germany, where the results 
are very provisional due to the shortness of series available, the sector of wholesale of non-
agricultural intermediate products, waste and scrap is slightly lagging, whereas wholesale of 
machinery,  equipment  and  supplies  shows  a  coincident  behaviour  even  if  weaker  than  in 
France. 

eurostat

22

 
 
Figure 2:  Wholesale of machinery, equipment and supplies and industrial turnover in 

France (cyclical components) 

industrial_turn

G_515_turn

1
0
:
0
9
9
1

7
0
:
0
9
9
1

1
0
:
1
9
9
1

7
0
:
1
9
9
1

1
0
:
2
9
9
1

7
0
:
2
9
9
1

1
0
:
3
9
9
1

7
0
:
3
9
9
1

1
0
:
4
9
9
1

7
0
:
4
9
9
1

1
0
:
5
9
9
1

7
0
:
5
9
9
1

1
0
:
6
9
9
1

7
0
:
6
9
9
1

1
0
:
7
9
9
1

7
0
:
7
9
9
1

1
0
:
8
9
9
1

7
0
:
8
9
9
1

1
0
:
9
9
9
1

7
0
:
9
9
9
1

1
0
:
0
0
0
2

7
0
:
0
0
0
2

1
0
:
1
0
0
2

7
0
:
1
0
0
2

8

6

4

2

0

-2

-4

-6

Figure 3:  Wholesale of machinery, equipment and supplies and industrial turnover in 

Germany (cross correlations) 

1.0

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8

-1.0

4
2
-

1
2
-

8
1
-

5
1
-

2
1
-

9
-

6
-

3 0 3 6 9
-

2
1

5
1

8
1

1
2

4
2

23

eurostat

 
 
III.II.  Analysis of Italian data 

Italian  quarterly  data  do  not  show  an  high  coherence with industrial turnover. Some sectors 
they cover (currently only five) are deemed to have an economic behaviour independent from 
the  aggregate  business  cycle.  Moreover,  the  short  length  of  time  series  (quarterly  data  start 
from  1998)  does  not  allow  to  remove  seasonal  and  irregular  components  making  the 
comparison with industrial turnover very difficult to interpret. 

An attempt has been made at eliminating the inflation component in turnover. The idea is to 
utilise consumer prices indexes referring, on the demand side, to products (for instance some 
typologies of transportation and telecommunication services) analogous to the ones included 
in the output of the relevant sectors. Then the growth rates of “volume” indices are compared 
with  those  of  value  added  at  constant  prices  in  market  oriented  services  and  those  M-4  of 
industrial production. The shortness of the series prevents any clear economic interpretation. 
However  deflated  series  show,  although  in  a  noisy  manner,  analogies  with  the  evolution  of 
value  added  in  market  oriented  services.  Furthermore,  in  the  most  recent  period  the  service 
sector turnover presents with respect to industrial production a much milder downturn. 

III.III.  Cross countries analysis 

The  last  step  of  the  analysis  is  aimed  at  measuring  the  correlation  existing  between  the 
evolution  over  time  of  the  service  turnover  in  different  MS.  The  analysis  is  limited  by  the 
little  number  of  sector  breakdowns  for  which  a  direct  comparison  is  possible.  As  far  as 
concerns  the  countries  examined,  the  comparison  is  possible  between  France,  Germany  and 
United Kingdom in the retail sale of automotive fuel, in the wholesales and in the sector of 
hotel  and  tourism.  The  cross  analysis  between  Italian  data  and  French  data  is  possible  for 
transports  and  for  the  computer  and  related  activities  sector.  Clear  comovements  between 
different countries can be identified in the following cases: 

a) 
b) 

in the sectors more cyclical sensitive; 
in the sectors where national markets have been opened to international competition over 
the last years (as in the air transport). 

eurostat

24

 
 
 
 
 
Figure 4:  Air transport turnover in Italy and Germany (Q/Q-4 growth rates) 

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

-5

-10

9
9
9
1

9
9
9
1

9
9
9
1

9
9
9
1

0
0
0
2

0
0
0
2

0
0
0
2

0
0
0
2

1
0
0
2

1
0
0
2

1
0
0
2

France

Italy

25

eurostat

 
EXPERIENCES WITH THE COLLECTION AND EDITING OF 
DATA INCLUDING THEIR PUBLICATION IN THE AREA 
OF TRADE STATISTICS 

Erwin Fida 
Directorate Business Statistics, Statistics Austria, Vienna 

OVERVIEW 

On the national as well as on the international level, turnover and employment indices in trade 
are  important  indicators  for  short-term  business  research.  These  items,  which  are  collected 
monthly, serve as source of information for market research and supply basic information to 
interest  groups,  to  political  decision  makers  in  the  field  of  economy  and,  last  but  not  least, 
they are used for enterprise comparisons. This lecture is to provide an overview on the Aus-
trian trade sample, its development, editing and publication. In addition, a contribution to the 
further harmonisation of short-term trend statistics is intended. 

1. Review 

In 1973, a monthly sample survey in the area of wholesale and retail trade on turnover, pur-
chases of goods , and persons employed was started. At that time, the legal foundations were 
decrees of the Federal Minister of Trade, Manufacturing and the Industry, of the Federal Min-
ister of Agriculture and Forestry and of the Federal Minister for Social Administration of De-
cember 1971. 

Till  1998,  results  were  presented  basically  unchanged  in  two  structural  forms:  according  to 
groups  and  selected  categories  of  the  Austrian Standard  Industrial  Classification  of  all  Eco-
nomic Activities 1968, starting with 26 positions in wholesale trade and 24 positions in retail 
trade, and according to Austrian provinces one position each in retail and in wholesale trade, 
respectively. In 1973 variables comprised the overall number of persons employed at the end 
of the month under report, monthly turnover in wholesale trade, retail trade, from intermedi-
ary activities and “other sales”. Purchases of goods was surveyed monthly, as well. 

With the Austrian membership in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the country’s ac-
cession  to  the  European  Communities  in  1995,  its  classification  of  economic  activities  was 
harmonized according to the respective regulation of the European Council. The breakdown 
of economic branches was effected according to Nace Revised 1 and its derived national ver-
sion (ÖNACE 1995). 

First surveys according to ÖNACE 1995 in the area of short-term statistics for the sale with 
motor  vehicles,  including  the  maintenance,  repair  of  motor  vehicles  and  sale  of  automotive 
fuel  have  been  performed  since  January  1996  (reporting  month),  adding  to  the  amount  of 
variables with “wages and salaries”. 

In  1999,  short-term  data  surveys  were  performed  according  to  the  EU  concept  in  section  G 
trade, maintenance and repair of motor vehicles. From this moment onward, results have been 

eurostat

26

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
presented  as  turnover  and  employment  indices  according  to  ÖNACE  1995  and  have  been 
adapted to the data supply requirements of European statistics. 

2. Introduction 

For business research, turnover and employment indices in trade are important indicators on 
the national as well as on the international level. These items, which are collected monthly, 
serve  as  source  of  information  for  market  research  and  supply  basic  information  to  interest 
groups, political decision makers in the field of economy and, last but not least, they are used 
for enterprise comparisons. 

3. Sample planning 

Kind of sample 

The population used for the selection of sample units in the short-term data survey on trade 
consists of all enterprises (about 70 000) of the enterprise register (Unternehmensregister/UR) 
of the ÖNACE classes 50.10 to 52.63. 

The selection procedure corresponds to stratified random selection. 

Stratified sample 

Stratification is effected according to 57 branches, and within the individual branches accord-
ing to a maximum of four size classes of the variable turnover. The distribution of the sample 
to  individual  size  classes  was  effected  according  to  the  Lavallee  and  Hidiroglou  procedure, 
which had been used for former samples, already. Due to the continuous use of the iterative 
procedure  according  to  Lavallee  no  gross  methodological  ruptures  with  regard  to  precedent 
surveys  had  to  be  observed.  The  overall  sample  size  was  determined  at  about  6  000  survey 
units. 

Rotating sample 

Since January 1999 (reporting month), annual rotation has been carried through for the sam-
ple. This means that, year after year, enterprises were exchanged except the sales strata, which 
were subject to a census (stratum class 4, in most cases). The steps along which we proceeded 
were the following: if the sampling ratio is less than 10% an exchange of all survey units is 
attempted,  if  the  sampling  ratio  is  more  than  10%  an  average  of  every  second  enterprise  is 
rotated except the enterprises subject to a census. The enterprises drawn in this way remain in 
the sample until the next drawing and are completed by new entrants, only, a procedure theo-
retically allowing the sample size to grow. Only at the beginning of each new year, the sample 
size is reduced to about 6 000 units. Except the big companies, this kind of sample enables a 
fair  and  evenly  distributed  burden  with  regard  to  the  smaller  and  medium-sized  enterprises 
and, consequently, no competitive disadvantages for these establishments. 

Due to the fact that, since 1996, no census has been conducted on structural business statistics 
in the Austrian economy it has become necessary to regularly adjust the sampling ratio to ex-
ternal  administrative  sources  (external  registers),  as  arranged  in  the  2000  Federal  Statistics 
Act. 

27

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. Editing, timeliness and delivery of data in the area of short-term statistics in trade 

Editing 

Presently, the delivery of data takes place around the 25
 month after the month under report. 
The former consignment of paper questionnaires was replaced by an electronic questionnaire 
(e-Quest) from the month under report April 2001 onward. 

th

As a third medium of report, Statistics Austria will enable monthly reports via internet for the 
coming period of report of 2002. 

The  daily  taking  delivery  of  the  ingoing  post  is  effected  by  an  independent  administrative 
working group pre-sorting the questionnaires and controlling the completeness of variables. 

Reports  arriving  electronically  are  stored  directly  in  the  short-term  data  survey  application 
(KJH) provided for this purpose. 

Reminder 

Due to the Austrian national decree legally obliging sampled enterprises to register, a multi-
stage dunning procedure is necessary. 

1st stage:  reminder  (about  1  200)  addressed  to  the  enterprises  inviting  them  to  fulfil  their 

legal obligation to register 

2nd stage:  return letter – urging letter to about 400 companies having failed to report for two 

or more months. 

If no monthly data are provided the slip of the return letter is the basis for the institution of 
administrative proceedings with the district authorities. 

Dunning deadline is the 18th of the second month following; a part of the reminders is already 
sent by e-mail. 

Register maintenance 

The changes of variables, of enterprise structure and changes in the economic activity, respec-
tively,  discovered  by  the  officials  in  charge  of  the  short-term  data  survey  on  trade,  are  pre-
pared by them for the adjustment of the business register. 

Correspondence 

Enterprises selected for sample receive a letter on the purpose of the survey, the obligation to 
register is explained to them and, in return, the selection of reporting medium as well as free 
information (very soon, free internet access) are provided. 

KJH – application 

Processing is effected by data capture on the terminal or by electronic report. 

eurostat

28

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The necessary applications are carried out by way of project with the following main selection 
menu:  

year 
month 
printer address. 

1 – Data input 

Data  input  starts  with  the  input  of  the  identification  number  of  the  enterprise  and  with  the 
presentation  of  the  essential  display  panels  (ÖNACE,  stratum  and  designation  of  the  com-
pany). 

After entering the number of persons employed and the turnover the official-in-charge carries 
out  the  first  plausibility  check  by  pressing  the  function  key.  This  machine  control  produces 
error  codes  on  the  display,  with  the  official-in-charge  carrying  through  a  plausibility  check 
based on his/her own experience of the matter. 

In addition, rotating data are displayed of the past 12 months as well as the reporting status of 
the past few months. 

The following reporting status may occur: 

1 enterprise report available 
2 enterprise inactive in reporting month  
3 unit Non-response 
4 unit Non-response, values are substituted by weighted data of the preceding month 
A selected enterprise data (new entrants) 

Error codes of the electronic plausibility check: 

FC 1 no persons employed  
FC 2 changes to preceding month exceed 10 percent or a difference of 4 persons employed  
FC 3 changes in number of persons employed to preceding month as in FC 2 
FC 4 no turnover 
FC 5 turnover exceed the sales of the preceding month by 4 times or fall below a fifth of the 
turnover of the preceding month  
FC 6 turnover difference compared to the preceding month as in FC 5 

Info – displays enterprises (data input info area)  

In this sector, written information on the individual enterprises may be entered and individual 
identification numbers of already completed months under report may be viewed. 

E - Adoption of data in electronic questionnaires  

This area adopts electronic reports into the KJH application. 

2 and 2E, respectively, plausibility catalogue of R cases 

By invoking items 2 or 2E lists are generated of all reports containing an error confirmed by 
an input of R. These lists are used for the editing of micro-plausibility checks. 

29

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3 – Substitution of missing data of all strata 

After  the  completion  of  the  micro-plausibility check reports still missing (about 10 percent) 
are substituted. 

By starting item 3 of the menu, the data of enterprises having failed to report are substituted 
for the respective month under report. The estimated value (turnover, persons employed) of a 
reporting failure per month under report is determined by multiplying the value of the enter-
prise in the month under report t-1 with a stratum-specific variation factor. This factor is cal-
culated from the ratio of the variables sum in month t divided by variables sum in month t-1. 
Summing up (numerator and denominator) has to be carried through all units of a stratum of 
which there is a reported value at moment t and a reported or estimated value at moment t-1. 

In the application, all substituted enterprises are provided with reporting status 4. 

4 – Evaluation 

This selection comprises all tables necessary for macro-plausibility checks as well as branch 
4.5 Projections. 

Projections comprise the extensive tabulation of working tables, publication tables, ISIS files 
(Statistics  Austria  data  bank)  and  EUROSTAT  files.  Evaluation  periods  are  M  for  monthly 
evaluations, Q for quarterly evaluations and J for annual evaluations. For all tables and for the 
EUROSTAT file all three evaluation periods are planned. Quarterly evaluations are available 
for  the  completed  months  under  report  of  March,  June,  September  and  December.  Annual 
evaluations are generated in December (completed month under report), only. Calculations of 
working tables (correctness of absolute values and indices) are controlled by random test. The 
plausibility  of  publication  tables  is  checked  by  comparisons  with  the  results  of  preceding 
months or years. 

5 – Confirmation of monthly balance 

By confirming the monthly balance data input is locked to the selected month under report. 
All tabulations effected afterwards are of final character and serve for the basis of our mani-
fold publications. 

Timeliness 

The monthly results of short-term statistics in trade are provided at the beginning of the third 
month following, and at present, t+62 days. As a reduction of the publication deadline of the 
retail trade index to t+30 is planned by EUROSTAT, we intend to motivate the enterprises to 
transmit their data on a voluntary basis by the 15
 day of the following month. In return, we 
offer  a  variety  of  electronic  reporting  media  (e-Quest,  online  questionnaire,  e-mail)  to  the 
business world. 

th

Quicker results depend upon the actual willingness of the enterprises to report earlier, as the 
  of  every  second  month  following  -  remains  in  effect  for  the  whole 
legal  deadline  -  the  15
reporting period of 2002. 

th

eurostat

30

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Publications 

To enable a distribution of information on the short-term data survey as broad as possible we 
publish on different scales and in a number of media. 

Rapid information reports 

Presentation  of  the  turnover  and  employment  indicators  (real  and  nominal),  their  variation 
rates  and  overall  comparisons  to  the  respective  periods  of  the  preceding  year.  Short  indica-
tions  on  the  methods  and  variables  used,  on  the  presentation  characteristics  as  well  as,  in 
March,  June,  September  and  December,  quarterly  results.  In  December  (reporting  month) 
annual results are presented, as well. 

“Statistische Übersichten” 

The publication “Statistische Übersichten“ presents short-term development in the trade area 
to a larger group (e.g., teachers, students) in the form of indices. 

Press releases 

Press releases are primarily prepared for the Austria Press Agency (APA); they contain main 
quarterly results of selected branches. 

Statistical Yearbook 

The  annual  result  is  published  within  the  chapter  domestic  trade  in  the  Austrian  Statistical 
Yearbook. 

STATAS  

STATAS  is  a  state-of-the-art  table  bank  system  of  time  series  containing  mainly  economic 
data. The results of the short-term data survey on trade are presented in index form in chapter 
10, domestic trade. 

http://www.statistik.at/ Statistische Übersichten. 

ISIS data bank 

The  ISIS  data  bank  represents  the  integrated  statistical  information  system  of  Statistics 
Austria presenting the results of, among others, the short-term data survey in the form of time 
series, starting with the year under report of 1999. Against payment, this data bank is accessi-
ble to every external user. 

Transmission of data to EUROSTAT 

Presently, transmission of monthly results to EUROSTAT is carried out by 62 days after the 
end of the respective month under report via STADIUM/STATEL. 

To ensure the comprehensibility and comparability of the data content almost all publica-
tions contain methodological background information in text form. 

31

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Comparability  of  data  in  short-term  trend  statistics  on  trade  with  other  surveys  in  business 
statistics,  e.g.,  those  of  the  structural  business  survey,  exists,  in  principle,  provided  possible 
restructuring and divergent reporting periods are taken into account. 

6. Outlook 

To safeguard the quality of the sample as the basis for economic forecasts the sampling ratio 
as well as the size of the sample should remain the same, and possible refinements should be 
attempted  exclusively  of  the  methodological  approach.  Speedier  data  supply  seems  possible 
only  with  the  improved  co-operation  of  the  concerned  enterprises  and  with  the  support  of 
electronic media. 

As  no  census  has  been  conducted  in  business  statistics  since  1996,  I  believe  that  it  will  be 
necessary to continue performing sample surveys as part of field research. At present, the pos-
sibilities of adjustment with other administrative sources are limited (variations in definitions, 
differing  activity  classifications  and  inexact  statistical  variables)  or  impossible  (no  current 
sales tax data). 

For  a  maximum  of  international  comparability  of  business  statistical  data,  seminars  as  the 
present should take place at regular intervals. 

eurostat

32

 
 
 
 
 
COOPERATION BETWEEN SHORT-TERM STATISTICS AND 
QUARTERLY NATIONAL ACCOUNTS AT EUROSTAT ON 
SERVICES STATISTICS (EXCLUDING THE RETAIL TRADE) 

Frédéric Donzel 
Eurostat 

INTRODUCTION 

There is little contact between the various Eurostat units dealing with infra-annual statistics. 
Since Eurostat does not collect information from businesses, the short-term statistics section 
is  mainly  in  contact  with  the  corresponding  units  in  the  National  Statistical  Institutes;  the 
same is true of the quarterly accounts section. Unlike some Member States which use short-
term  statistics  to  compile  quarterly  accounts,  Eurostat  draws  up  these  aggregates  entirely 
independently. 

This paper suggests a model for future cooperation between these two units with the aim of 
improving the quality of the statistics. 

I.  The current situation 

A.  Cooperation today 

As  mentioned  above,  short-term  data  are  not  used  for  calculating  quarterly  accounts 
aggregates,  at  least  directly,  since  the  situation  often  differs  from  one  Member  State  to  the 
next.  Few  quality  checks  are  carried  out,  and  those  that  are  have  so  far  been  limited  to 
industry and construction at Eurostat level. Moreover, even though there are some very rich 
national  sources  of  methodological  information  (particularly  the  STS  sources  database  for 
short-term statistics), these sources do not record the use of short-term statistics for quarterly 
accounts purposes. This situation is highly detrimental in that it restricts the opportunities for 
carrying out checks a posteriori. 

B.  Quarterly accounts 

The variable collected via quarterly accounts in the Member States is value added, measured 
at both constant and current prices. When the National Statistical Institutes collect data, they 
have to interview economic activity units as observation units. The deadline laid down by the 
Regulation is 120 calendar days. Member States are required to supply gross and seasonally-
adjusted series. The level of detail required by the Regulation is that of NACE A6. The table 
below shows the NACE classification and the respective weightings of its various branches in 
the European Union and the euro zone. 

33

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 1: Share of each branch in GDP, 1999, at constant prices (1995) 

GVA agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing 
GVA industry, including energy 
GVA construction 
GVA trade, transport and communications 
GVA business services, financial services 
GVA other services, including public services 
Taxes less subsidies on production 
FISIM 

Euro zone 
2.5% 
21.8% 
5.1% 
19.8% 
24.7% 
19.7% 
10.2% 
-3.8% 

EU15 
2.5% 
21.7% 
5.0% 
20.1% 
24.5% 
19.7% 
10.4% 
-3.8% 

Member States are also encouraged to supply the level of detail of NACE A17, but only on a 
voluntary basis. 

Table 2: NACE A17 

GVA agriculture, hunting and forestry 
GVA fishing and aquaculture 
GVA mining and quarrying 
GVA manufacturing 
GVA electricity, gas and water supply 
GVA construction 
GVA wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and household goods 
GVA hotels and restaurants 
GVA transport, storage and communication 
GVA financial intermediation 
GVA real estate, renting and business activities 
GVA public administration 
GVA education 
GVA health and social work 
GVA other community, social and personal service activities 
GVA private households with employed persons 
GVA extra-territorial organisations and bodies 

A new Regulation, currently under discussion and expected to enter into force at the end of 
2002, provides for Member States to supply gross value added at A6 level after 70 days. An 
exemption period will doubtless be necessary for some countries. This will not be necessary 
for the four largest Member States, since the information is already available and is used to 
calculate the European aggregate for the first quarterly accounts estimate, currently published 
at T+65 days. The information on Germany, France and Italy is public, although that on Italy 
is  still  confidential  to  date.  The  last  quarter  of  the  series  of  the  other  Member  States  is 
estimated  at  T+65,  and  then  progressively  replaced  with  values  supplied  directly  by  the 
Member States. Countries which have already provided information may revise their figures 
in parallel. For a given reference period there are therefore three successive estimates: T+65, 
T+100 and T+120. The length of the series provided by the Member States is satisfactory in 
general (they begin in 1992 at the latest), which enables satisfactory adjustments to be made 
for seasonal variations where necessary. 

One factor should be noted at this point. Although the sum of the two A6 levels considered 
here  (trade,  transport  and  communications  and  financial  and  business  services)  amounts  to 
over  45%  of  total  European  value  added,  which  is  considerable,  the  coverage  in  terms  of 
businesses covered and the weight they represent is relatively low and certainly below that of 
industry,  for  example.  There  are  several  reasons  for  this,  including  historical  factors 
(industrial statistics have remained dominant despite a regular drop in the share of industry in 

eurostat

34

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
GDP) and structural factors (service enterprises are often small and the sector tends to have a 
widely fluctuating demography). 

C.  Short-term statistics 

The Member States collect turnover figures in value terms on a quarterly basis. The unit of 
observation is the enterprise. The deadline laid down by the short-term statistics Regulation is 
90 calendar days. The Member States are required to provide gross series and series corrected 
for working days. Member States may supply seasonally-adjusted series voluntarily, but the 
Regulation does not oblige them to do so. The breakdown required is the NACE 2-digit level 
and occasionally the 3-digit level. Services other than retail trade comprise the sale and repair 
of  motor  vehicles  (NACE  50),  wholesale  trade  (NACE  51),  hotels  and  restaurants  (NACE 
55), transport and communication (NACE 60 to 64), computer activities (NACE 72) and other 
business activities (NACE 74). 

In  addition  to  the  purely  regulatory  aspects  outlined  above,  the  table  below  shows  the 
availability  of  data  for  short-term  statistics.  The  dates  shown  are  those  on  which  the  series 
begins. 

Freq.  Lead 
time 

5000  5100  5500  6000  6100  6200  6300  6400  7200  7400 

AT  Month 
BE  Month 
DE  Month 
DK  Quart 
ES 
FI  Month 
FR  Month 
GR 
IE  Month 
IT  Quart 
LU  Month 
NL  Month 
PT 
SE  Quart 
UK  Quart 
EU 

t+57 

Jan-90  Jan-90 

  Jan-98  Jan-98  Jan-98  Jan-98  Jan-98  Jan-98  Jan-98  Jan-98  Jan-98  Jan-98 

t+28/55 
t+100 

  Jan-94  Jan-94 

Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95 

t+90 
t+60 

Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95 
Jan-90  Jan-90  Jan-90  Jan-90  Jan-90  Jan-90  Jan-90  Jan-95  Jan-90  Jan-90 

t+150 
t+80 
t+100 

t+60 
t+95 

Jan-96  Jan-98  Jan-98  Jan-98  Jan-98  Jan-98  Jan-98  Jan-98  Jan-98  Jan-98 
  Jan-99  Jan-98 

  Jan-99 

Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95 
  Jan-98 

  Jan-98 

Jan-90  Jan-90  Jan-90  Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-90  Jan-90 
Jan-95  Jan-95  Jan-95 
  Jan-95  Jan-98  Jan-95  Jan-95 
  Jan-98  Jan-98 

  Jan-99 

The only European aggregates available are wholesale trade (51), hotels and restaurants (55) 
and post and courier activities (64.1). There is a fundamental difference here between national 
accounts  and  short-term  statistics.  Since  national  accounts  are  drawn  up  in  an  accounting 
framework which is balanced by definition, there must always be European aggregates for the 
main  branches  even  if  these  are  very  largely  estimated.  No  European  aggregate  will  be 
computed for short-term statistics if the coverage in terms of turnover is less than 60%. The 
series are often relatively short (they begin at best in 1990, but often in 1998), which restricts 
the  possibilities  of  using  them  for  econometric  purposes  or  carrying  out  processing  such  as 
seasonal adjustments. 
Some  Member  States  already  do  more  than  is  prescribed  by  the  Regulation,  however.  The 
series  are  sometimes  provided  at  the  same  time  as  retail  trade  statistics,  for  which  the 
Regulation  lays  down  a  deadline  of  60  days.  Also,  the  series  are  often  made  available  on  a 
monthly basis. The table above shows these two aspects systematically. It is worth noting that 

35

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
the  Regulation  is  due  for  amendment  in  the  medium  term.  The  Annex  D  statistics  (other 
services) will then be required on a monthly basis and with a 60-day deadline. Member States 
will also have to supply a turnover deflator. Since the exemption period ends in June 2003, 
considerably improved data availability can be expected in the shorter term. 

II.  What kind of cooperation is possible? 

The two Regulations offer only limited opportunities for using short-term statistics to draw up 
quarterly accounts for services. There are many differences, as the following summary table 
shows: 

Quarterly national accounts 
Value added 
Unit of observation: unit of economic activity 
Lead time:T+120 days 
Current and constant prices 
Presentation required: gross, seasonally adjusted 

NACE A6 
All services 

Short-term statistics 
Turnover 
Enterprise 
T+90 days 
Current prices 
Presentation 
working days 
NACE 2-digit minimum 
Certain levels only 

required:  gross,  corrected 

for 

Where  the  availability  of  short-term  statistical  series  is  not  perfect  (three  Member  States 
missing  altogether,  lead  time  not  much  less  than  for  quarterly  accounts,  series  often  fairly 
short), it appears difficult to use these series. Certain possibilities exist, however: 
−  Although  an  initial  estimate  of  the  quarterly  accounts  of  the  large  Member  States  is 
available  at  T+65,  this  is  not  the  case  with  the  smaller  countries.  Short-term  statistics 
might enable better-quality estimates to be made for these Member States, particularly for 
publication at T+65. 

−  Similarly, since the short-term statistics available are always at least at the 2-digit level of 
NACE, they are far more detailed than quarterly accounts data. This may be particularly 
useful in view of the transition to NACE A17. 

−  Moreover,  even  if  the  lead  times  for  short-term  statistics  are  not  always  significantly 
shorter  than  those  for  the  quarterly  accounts,  the  fact  that  the  series  are  often  monthly 
opens up certain possibilities. If we have two months of a given quarter, we can estimate 
the quarter. The lead times for short-term statistics are therefore slightly misleading in that 
a  forecast  may  be  available  30  days  earlier  (if  we  have  two  of  the  three  months  of  the 
quarter). 

−  We should therefore explore future as well as current possibilities. In the short to medium 
term,  i.e.  by  mid-2003,  the  end  of  the  exemptions  should  bring  a  sharp  increase  in  the 
availability  of  short-term  statistics.  In  the  longer  term,  amendments  to  the  Regulation 
should  make  it  easier  to  use  these  series  by  imposing  tighter  deadlines,  monthly 
frequencies and deflated series. 

III.  Some examples of series comparisons 

An attempt can be made to compare quarterly accounts at NACE A6 level . The only level at 
which such a comparison is possible is trade, transport and communications. The other level 
which is possible a priori (business services and financial services) is not entirely covered by 
business statistics. Three countries for which all data are available are compared. The graphs 

eurostat

36

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
compare value added at current prices in the quarterly accounts with total turnover at current 
prices in the short-term statistics. Where there is no such aggregate for short-term statistics, it 
is constructed by compiling a weighted average of the NACE 2-digit levels (50, 51, 52, 60, 
61, 62, 63, 64). These series are weighted with the help of the turnover figures for 1995 from 
structural business statistics. This comparison is shown for Sweden, France and Finland. 

Trade, transport and telecommunication Sweden

Value added NA
Total turnover STS

150.0

140.0

130.0

120.0

110.0

100.0

90.0

1995Q01

1995Q02

1995Q03

1995Q04

1996Q01

1996Q02

1996Q03

1996Q04

1997Q01

1997Q02

1997Q03

1997Q04

1998Q01

1998Q02

1998Q03

1998Q04

1999Q01

1999Q02

1999Q03

1999Q04

2000Q01

2000Q02

2000Q03

2000Q04

2001Q01

2001Q02

2001Q03

Trade, transport and telecommunication France

Value added NA
Total turnover STS

130.0

120.0

110.0

100.0

90.0

1995Q01

1995Q02

1995Q03

1995Q04

1996Q01

1996Q02

1996Q03

1996Q04

1997Q01

1997Q02

1997Q03

1997Q04

1998Q01

1998Q02

1998Q03

1998Q04

1999Q01

1999Q02

1999Q03

1999Q04

37

eurostat

 
 
Trade, transport and telecommunication Finland

Value added NA
Total turnover STS

160.0

150.0

140.0

130.0

120.0

110.0

100.0

90.0

1995Q01

1995Q02

1995Q03

1995Q04

1996Q01

1996Q02

1996Q03

1996Q04

1997Q01

1997Q02

1997Q03

1997Q04

1998Q01

1998Q02

1998Q03

1998Q04

1999Q01

1999Q02

1999Q03

1999Q04

2000Q01

2000Q02

2000Q03

2000Q04

2001Q01

2001Q02

2001Q03

For Sweden the two series are similar (doubtless for tautological reasons). 

For  France,  the  trends  in  the  indices  are  similar  despite  some  fairly  wide  gaps  between  the 
levels (particularly at the end of the period concerned). 

For Finland, the long-term trend is similar, probably because the indicators are both at current 
prices. The short-term trends differ, however. 

Since  the  concepts  of  value  added  and  turnover  differ  widely  for  a  number  of  reasons,  no 
conclusions  can  be  drawn  from  these  comparisons.  The  series  may  differ  because  their 
economic  background  is  different.  However,  the  comparison  highlights  the  various  ways  of 
using  short-term  series  even  in  the  Member  States.  It  would  be  very  useful  in  any  event  to 
know  what  methodology  is  used  in  each  Member  State,  and  particularly  whether  and  how 
short-term statistics are used in compiling quarterly accounts. 

Conclusion 

This  micro-study  aims  above  all  to  give  some guidelines on possible cooperation between short-
term statistics and quarterly accounts on services. This restricted study is more a point of departure 
than an exhaustive and definitive approach. Despite the limitations which are immediately obvious 
(differences in concept and methodology, problems with series length and the small apparent gain in 
lead time), certain possibilities exist. Short-term statistics can already be used to improve Member 
States' forecasts for which quarterly accounts are not available at first publication, and may enable 
more detailed levels of the nomenclature to be calculated. The fact that most series are monthly is 
also useful, since it enables the quarter to be estimated if figures for two of the three months are 
available.  Moreover,  the  end  of  the  exemption  period  laid  down  in  the  short-term  statistics 
Regulation and the expected amendments to the Regulation should improve matters in the future. In 
any event, the comparison shown for three countries highlights the different ways in which short-
term statistics are used to compile the quarterly accounts in the Member States. The next step must 
therefore be to find out from the Member States whether and how they use short-term statistics. 

eurostat

38

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
IMPACT OF THE USE OF ADMINISTRATIVE DATA AND 
NEW SURVEYS ON SHORT-TERM BUSINESS STATISTICS 
IN THE SERVICES SECTOR IN GERMANY 

Robin Lorenz and Dieter Schäfer 
Statistisches Bundesamt, Wiesbaden, Germany 

SUMMARY 

The main areas where action is now required to improve short-term statistics in Germany are 
NACE Sections I, "Transport, storage and communication" and K, "Real estate, renting and 
business  activities".  The  current  strategy  is  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  short-term 
statistics  (STS)  Regulation  in  these  areas  for  2003  to  2005  via  a  new,  fixed-term  primary 
survey.  Alongside  that,  extensive  tests  will  be  carried  out  by  the  end  of  2005  to  see  how 
administrative  data  can  be  used  as  secondary  statistics  illustrating  short-term  developments 
and  providing  a  response  to  other  questions.  Plans  for  the  primary  survey  and  the  use  of 
administrative data are described in detail. In 2005, a decision will be taken on the basis of 
this experience as to how the requirements of the STS Regulation can be met in these areas as 
from the 2006 reporting year. 

I.  Starting point 

The scientific and political debate in Germany about the increasing importance of the tertiary 
sector for the development of the economy has long highlighted the need for improvements to 
the  data  provided  by  official  statistics  on  market  services,  in  particular.  This  need  has  been 
further  underlined  in  recent  years  by  European  integration  and  discussions  about  the  move 
1
towards an information society.

In  certain  service  fields,  especially  hotels  and  restaurants,  statistics  have  traditionally  been 
2
 For financial 
available in Germany with the variables of structural and short-term reporting.
intermediation,  figures  come  from  the  Bundesbank  and/or  the  Bundesaufsichtsamt  für  das 
Versicherungswesen [Federal Insurance Supervisory Office]. For the public sector, figures are 
taken  from  government  budget  statistics,  and  the  annual  and  quarterly  results  of  national 
accounts provide a comprehensive overview of structural and short-term changes in services, 
more  especially  the  quarterly  reporting  in  aggregate  form,  with  a  broad  breakdown  by 
industry. Information on selected aspects is also available from other, very varied statistics - 
turnover from turnover tax statistics, for example, or employment from the microcensus. Data 
on  services  -  of  limited  availability  compared  with  data  on  the  production  industries,  in 
particular  -  have  obviously  failed  to  keep  pace  with  the  importance  of  services  for  the 
3
-
economy as a whole. The main area in which improvements are currently needed is NACE
Sections I, "Transport, storage and communication" and K, "Real estate, renting and business 
activities", for which insufficient data are available at national level if they exist at all. The 
present paper therefore concentrates on these statistics. 

Since 2000, statistics on services have been produced annually by the statistical offices as a 
means of reporting regularly on structural changes in these sections. The sample includes 15% 
of  units  at  most.  This  structural  survey  covers  variables  such  as  legal  form,  centre  of 

39

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
economic  interest,  number  of  branch  establishments,  persons  in  employment,  wages  and 
salaries,  turnover,  intermediate  consumption,  taxes,  subsidies  and  capital  formation.  We  are 
currently 
clarify 
technical/methodological problems (cf. § 7 (2) of the Federal Statistics Act) and test whether 
it would be possible to coordinate the collection of statistics on product-related services in the 
manufacturing industries with the collection of statistics on the service industries. 

carrying  out 

coordinated 

considering 

smaller 

survey 

to 

a 

There  is  greater  uncertainty  about  the  future  monitoring  of  the  business  cycle  in  NACE 
divisions  60  to  64,  "Transport,  storage  and  communication"  and  in  computer  and  related 
activities (72) and other business activities (74). Those developing new ideas for a sub-annual 
reporting system have to bear in mind that the short-term economic situation is observed by a 
wide variety of institutions and individuals who are also potential users of such statistics. At 
national  level,  the  Federal  Government,  the  Ministry  of  Finance  and  Economic  Affairs,  the 
Deutsche Bundesbank, the Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen 
Entwicklung  [the  German  Council  of  Economic  Experts],  economic  research  institutes, 
professional organisations and the finance departments of large businesses, particularly in the 
4
financial sector, are especially important.
 Information requirements at national level or at the 
level  of  the  Länder  in  Germany  also  depend  on  who  the  user  groups  are,  and  thus  vary 
considerably, especially as regards the regional and industry-related breakdowns of results. 

Discussions about meeting data needs in the NACE divisions referred to above are currently 
concentrating  on  requirements  arising  from  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1165/98  of 
19 May 1998  concerning  short-term  statistics  (the  "STS  Regulation"),  which  makes  the 
supply of certain data mandatory. According to the Regulation, the Member States are obliged 
to send Eurostat by mid-2003 at the latest quarterly data on turnover and persons employed in 
enterprises in the above NACE divisions. "Persons employed" have to be broken down into 
seven  divisions,  with  turnover  in  some  cases  broken  down  in  even  more  detail  by  NACE 
Rev.1 group. The data have to be sent to Eurostat in absolute form or as an index within three 
months of the end of each reporting quarter, with the turnover variable also in working day-
adjusted form. 

For  these  divisions  as  a  whole,  Germany  has  applied  for  a  derogation  from  the  STS 
Regulation,  requesting  a  transition  period  up  to  June  2003  in  every  case.  At  national  level, 
attempts  will  then  be  made  to  meet  European  information  requirements  by  devising 
instruments which can at the same time meet the requirements of other user groups, especially 
the  Länder.  To  provide  these  short-term  indicators,  Germany  has  to  construct  a  new  sub-
annual reporting system, including a legal basis. There are two possible ways of doing this: 

•  carrying out a new primary survey, or 
•  extracting  the  required  information  on  turnover  and  persons  employed  from  existing 
administrative  records  (alternative  plan),  namely  the  turnover  tax  files  held  by  the  tax 
authorities  of  the  Länder  and  data  from  the  Bundesanstalt  für  Arbeit  [Federal  Labour 
Office] on persons in employment liable to pay social insurance contributions and those 
with minor employment. 

In  Germany,  short-term  business  statistics  have  traditionally  been  collected  via  primary 
surveys, and so implementing the second solution would be tantamount to a paradigm shift. It 
would  be  more  cost-intensive  initially,  since  there  would  be  greater  design,  organisational, 
technical and legal problems to be solved. Nevertheless, considering that the statistical offices 
are facing growing demands for more extensive data to be made available, while at the same 

eurostat

40

 
 
 
 
 
 
time  dealing  with  complaints  from  information-providers  about  the  increasing  burden 
5
imposed by statistical surveys and coping with the constraints of cost-cutting in the offices,
attempts should obviously be made to produce short-term economic indicators on the basis of 
administrative data. 

The  original  plan  was  to  use  administrative  data  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  STS 
Regulation as from the reporting year 2003. However, in the wake of intensive discussions at 
national  level  -  especially  about  the  new  legal  basis  that  would  be  needed  for  the  use  of 
administrative data (Use of Administrative Data Act) - the objectives have been extended and 
the  plan  amended.  The  current  plan  is  to  meet  the  Regulation  requirements  in  the  relevant 
service areas during the period 2003 to 2005 via a new, fixed-period primary survey. At the 
same time, extensive tests on administrative data are planned by the end of 2005, on the basis 
of a new Use of Administrative Data Act, to solve various problems. Sections 2 and 3 below 
give further details of plans for the primary survey and administrative data. This experience 
will then provide the basis for a decision in 2005 on how the service statistics requirements of 
the STS Regulation can be met as from the reporting year 2006 (Section 4). 

II.  Short-term indicators using administrative data 

II.1.  Basic plan and legal basis 

The  discussion  on  how  administrative  data  should  be  used  for  the  short-term  monitoring  of 
services  is  at  present  concentrating  on  the  "turnover"  and  "persons  employed"  variables 
6
which,  according  to  Annex  D  of  the  STS  Regulation,  are  planned  for  "other  services".
  To 
cover these variables, sub-annual data will be required from the tax authorities of the Länder. 
The necessary data will come from the turnover tax monthly prepayment notice and payments 
system  (UVV)  and  from  the  Bundesanstalt  für  Arbeit  -  from  the  integrated  reporting 
procedure for social insurance. 

Data  from  these  two  sources  are  already  used  for  statistical  purposes,  e.g.  for  employment 
statistics,  turnover  tax  statistics,  the  statistical  register  and  intra-Community  trade  statistics. 
Every year, the tax authorities send the statistical offices of the Länder data sets (tailor-made) 
relating to all enterprises reporting under the UVV procedure. The data have been cumulated 
to give an annual result and adjusted on the basis of correction returns. These transmissions 
would  have  to  be  converted  to  sub-annual  periodicity  for  the  evaluation  of  short-term 
indicators. The Bundesanstalt für Arbeit sends the Statistisches Bundesamt, inter alia, annual 
employment  data  from  its  business  data  file,  and  these  figures  are  then  passed  on  to  the 
statistical offices of the Länder in regionalised form, for the business registers maintained by 
the  Länder.  Here,  too,  the  data  would  have  to  be  sent  sub-annually  to  the  Statistisches 
Bundesamt, for forwarding to the statistical offices of the Länder. The tax authorities and the 
Bundesanstalt  für  Arbeit  are  willing  and  able  to  transmit  data  sub-annually  provided  that 
legislation is introduced covering the purpose and scope of this operation. 

Experience  to  date  suggests  that  there  are  no  fundamental  quality  problems  with  the  use  of 
these  data  for  this  new  purpose,  i.e.  producing  short-term  statistics,  in  the  services  fields 
referred to above. However, in view of the specific STS requirements, there are plans to link 
the individual data files from both sources with a lead file derived from the business register. 
It  is  only  the  business  register  which  can  be  used  to  dovetail  administrative  data  from 
different sources in an integrated reporting system and/or adjust the data to the requirements 

41

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
of  the  STS  Regulation  (in  particular  as  regards  the  underlying  units  and  allocation  by 
industry).  This  method  could  possibly  also  be  used  to  link  administrative  data  and  primary 
surveys. 

The general advantages of using administrative data are obvious: along with exhaustiveness 
(full  survey)  and  the  resulting  possibilities  for  disaggregation,  plus  cost  advantages  in  the 
longer term, at least, the alternative plan would have the advantage of not overburdening the 
economy  with  new  surveys  and  reporting  obligations  which  would  inevitably  cost  money. 
Businesses  and  professional  associations  long  thwarted  attempts  to  introduce  the  annual 
structural  survey  on  services  to  which  we  referred  at  the  beginning  of  this  paper.  The 
alternative  plan  would  fit  in  with  the  political  objectives  of  reducing  bureaucracy  in  the 
economy and make use of modern information technologies in public administration and the 
statistical offices. It has the backing of umbrella organisations in the Germany economy and 
of the Statistischer Beirat [Statistical Advisory Board]. It would, however, involve a change 
of  method,  which  cannot  immediately  be  applied  to  the  existing  short-term  statistics, 
especially since the statistical offices have limited experience of the alternative plan and the 
procedures it would entail. 

Since the turnover data held by the tax authorities are subject to statistical confidentiality and 
employment  data  held  by  the  Bundesanstalt  für  Arbeit,  as  social  data,  are  protected  by  the 
Sozialgesetzbuch [Social Security Code], a new national legal basis specifically regulating use 
of  such  data  for  statistical  purposes  will  be  required  if  the  alternative  plan  is  to  be 
implemented.  The  first  drafts  of  a  Use  of  Administrative  Data  Act  have  been  discussed  in 
great detail in the statistical offices of the Länder and in the Statistisches Bundesamt, as well 
as  by  the  federal  authorities  concerned,  and  have  been  amended  many  times.  These 
discussions threw up a few new aspects which have led to greater expenditure and a longer 
time-scale than originally planned: 
•  The  current  (December  2001)  draft  of  the  Use  of  Administrative  Data  Act  is  no  longer 
geared solely to the production of short-term data on services at federal level to meet EU 
requirements,  but  is  also  intended  to  supply  the  necessary  regional  data  by  producing 
results at Land level. 

•  This  legislation  will  also  provide  a  basis  for  examining,  inter  alia  by  comparisons  of 
administrative  data  and  the  results  of  primary  surveys,  whether  it  would  be  possible  to 
switch  from  primary  to  secondary  statistics  for  other  areas  of  the  economy  as  well 
(wholesale trade, commission trade, hotels and catering, the crafts sector). This would also 
be a cost-saving measure. 

•  We  shall  also  investigate  whether  the  data  deliveries  from  the  fiscal  authorities  can  be 
combined for the various requirements into a uniform data set. Comprehensive, uniform 
data memories would have to be constructed first of all, but such a system would lead to 
improvements for other statistical purposes (sub-annual updating of the business register, 
the  sub-annual  preparation  of  turnover  tax  statistics  or  the  presentation  of  intra-
Community trade statistics by branch of the economy). 

•  Since the statistical tasks carried out up to now with the help of administrative data - with 
the  exception  of  intra-Community  trade  statistics  -  have  been  performed  decentrally,  by 
the statistical offices of the Länder, the technical concepts for the production of short-term 
statistics on services should, wherever possible, also be geared to decentralisation. 

• 

In  addition,  the  present  draft  of  the  Act  provides  for  extensive  tests  to  be  carried  out  to 
establish  the  suitability  of  administrative  data  for  the  various  intended  purposes.  A 

eurostat

42

 
 
 
revision  clause  makes  continuation  of  data deliveries and their further use dependent on 
the  results  of  these  tests,  which  will  include  comparisons  of  administrative  data  and 
primary data. 

•  While  the  use  of  administrative  data  is  in  the  test  phase,  the  requirements  of  the  STS 

Regulation will be met by a primary survey for a limited period (see Section III). 

In view of the current state of play, the Use of Administrative Data Act cannot be approved 
during  the  current  legislative  period  (i.e.  by  September  2002),  as  was  the  original  aim. 
Nevertheless,  sufficient  agreement  should  be  reached  to  enable  it  to  be  passed  very  quickly 
during the next legislative period. Although this means postponing further work and tests, the 
introduction of a primary survey for the transitional period means enables us to gain the time 
needed to carry out the extra tasks which the use of administrative data involves, and opens 
up various possibilities for tests on and improvements in the procedure applied. 

II.2.  The turnover variable 

With  the  use  of  tax  authority  data  as  secondary  statistics  for  the  turnover  variable,  certain 
properties  of  these  data  must  be  investigated  more  closely  to  check  on  their  suitability  for 
short-term statistical purposes. These have to do with the definition of the variable, the date 
for  which  turnover  is  recorded,  branch  allocation,  time  restrictions,  the  treatment  of 
Organschaften [integrated groups of companies] and the possibilities for data regionalisation. 
We shall touch on these aspects below before discussing, in conclusion, the first test results. 

•  Delimitation of the variable 

The  main  difference  between  tax  and  statistical  turnover  is  the  different  treatment  of 
extraordinary  receipts  (such  as  rental  income  for  company-owned  production  plant, 
machinery,  dwellings  or  land  used  by  third  parties,  sales  of  own  land  and  fixed  assets).  In 
statistics, these are not included in turnover but they are included as taxable turnover in the 
UVV, and may therefore in certain circumstances distort the short-term picture. 

Since  the  bulk  of  such  extraordinary  receipts  are  reported  under  the  UVV  heading  "non-
taxable  goods  and  services  with  no  deduction  of  tax  prepayment",  the  size  of  the 
extraordinary  receipts  can  be  estimated  fairly  accurately.  The  share  of  this  heading  in  total 
goods  supplied  and  services  performed  changes  very  little  in  most  industries.  In  those 
industries which are relevant here, the share at the breakdown levels specified by the EU is 
somewhat  higher,  as  much  as  10%  under  a  few  headings.  Nevertheless,  the  fact  that  the 
definition of turnover for tax purposes may differ from the definition used in statistics should 
not be a barrier to meaningful use of UVV data on services. Presumably, it will be possible to 
omit this heading when short-term indicators are produced for Eurostat: the tests should check 
this. 

•  Time when turnover is recorded 

The  EU  requires  information  on  performance  during  a  given  quarter  measured  in  terms  of 
agreed  payments  -  the  "target  income"  of  tax  statistics.  The  UVV  applies  this  imputed 
taxation  to  most  businesses.  Enterprises  with  a  turnover  of  less  than  DEM 250  000 
(EUR 127 823)  per  annum  and  those  in  the  liberal  professions  can  opt  for  taxation  on  the 
basis of actual income, i.e. actual incoming payments during the assessment period, regardless 
of  the  date  of  production  of  the  goods  or  services  concerned.  If  the  payment  is  then  made 

43

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
during  one  of  the  following  quarters,  UVV  data  based  on  actual  income  payments  do  not 
accurately reflect the short-term economic situation in a given period. 

Taxation  is  more  often  based  on  actual  income  in  the  services  industries.  However,  an 
evaluation  of  turnover  tax  statistics  for  1998  shows  that  changes  in  taxation  on  the  basis  of 
actual income are so small that in our view they are scarcely a hindrance to the meaningful 
use of UVV data. Although in some NACE subdivisions a very high percentage of taxpayers 
choose to pay tax on actual income (up to 20% in 64 and 74.2), the share of total goods and 
services  supplied  by  these  taxpayers  in  the  relevant  areas  of  the  economy  is  as  a  rule  very 
much smaller and only in 74.2 (architectural and engineering activities and related technical 
7
consultancy) does it reach a value (11.3%) which might possibly lead to slight distortions.

•  Allocation to branch of the economy 

The tax authority branch allocations do not entirely meet statistical requirements. The plan is 
therefore to use the branch data from the business register, linking the turnover returns with a 
statistical lead file derived from the business register. Only in the case of units which cannot 
be allocated at the time of this linking would we then have to have recourse to the branch of 
the economy reported by the tax authorities.  

Information  on  branch  allocation  in  the  business  register  is  steadily  being  improved.  By 
means of annual statistics on services, the share of business register branch data which comes 
from primary surveys is gradually increasing in NACE Sections I and K, and since the 15% of 
enterprises questioned every year represent a much higher share of total turnover than 15%, 
with the use of administrative data the branch allocation of UVV turnover on the basis of the 
business register should yield results whose quality is on a par with those of a primary survey. 

•  Time restrictions 

To meet the requirements of the STS Regulation, turnover data must be available on time and 
be exhaustive wherever possible. If results are to be supplied for the first quarter at the end of 
June, incoming data can presumably be taken into account up to the beginning of June. Under 
tax legislation, businesses which have not been given a permanent extension for the filing of 
returns (25%) have to submit their UVV returns by the 10th of the month following the end of 
the  reporting  period  and  businesses  with  a  permanent  extension  (75%)  by  the  10th  of  the 
second  month  after  the  end  of  the  reporting  period  (for  the  first  quarter  (those  who  pay 
quarterly) or for March (those who pay monthly) up to 10 May). 

However,  experience  to  date  with  the  first  test  assessments  indicates  a  possible  timing 
problem  for  the  third  month  of  the  quarter  with  returns  from  enterprises  which  have  a 
permanent extension, regardless of whether they pay quarterly or monthly. The result of test 
investigations  from  2000  showed  -  albeit  with  only  a  few  enterprises  -  that  a  return  was 
available in around 90% of such cases. The few missing returns would have to be estimated. 
Thus in our view the fact that the returns are in some cases incomplete would not lead to any 
technical problems for the purposes of short-term statistics. 

•  Organschaften [integrated groups of companies] 

According  to  turnover  tax  legislation,  a  number  of  enterprises  (Organgesellschaften,  i.e. 
controlled  subsidiary  companies)  may  under  certain  circumstances  combine  to  form  an 

eurostat

44

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8

 In this case, only one of the enterprises, the Organträger, 
integrated group, an Organschaft.
or  controlling  company,  will  submit  a  return  showing  the  total  turnover  of  the  integrated 
group. The tax authorities will not store any information on the composition of the group or 
the  division  of  turnover  among  the  different  enterprises  in  the  group.  If,  in  statistical 
evaluations,  the  total  turnover  of  an  Organschaft  is  allocated  to  the  branch/location  of  the 
controlling  company  but  the  enterprises  in  the  group  are  not  all  of  the  same  kind,  i.e.  they 
come under different branches of the economy, the branch allocations may be inaccurate. The 
problems  caused  by  Organschaften  are  much  more  serious  when  it  comes  to  producing 
correct results by Land, since in this case a regional breakdown of group turnover is required 
as well. 

The  business  register  now  contains  some  indication  -  from  a  register  enquiry  -  of  how 
Organschaften  are  made  up.  In  addition,  the  Bundesamt  für  Finanzen  [Federal  Finance 
Office] keeps a file on such groups, with data on the composition of Organschaften involved 
in  external  trade.  These  data  could  be  used  for  the  register,  subject  to  a  legal  basis.  In 
conjunction with auxiliary variables from the business register to be used for the breakdown 
of  turnover,  such  as  turnover  figures  from  primary  surveys  or  numbers  in  employment, 
information from the Bundesamt für Finanzen and results from the register enquiry - provided 
this enquiry is repeated in the future - would be good starting points for the breakdown of the 
turnover of Organschaften. This would go a long way towards solving the problems with such 
groups. 

In NACE Sections I (Transport, storage and communication) and K (Real estate, renting and 
business  activities),  Organschaften  are  presumably  less  important  than  in  manufacturing, 
(NACE Section D) or financial intermediation (J), for example. The share of the total branch 
turnover  reported  by  the  Organträger  [controlling  companies]  in  the  relevant  branch  was, 
according to 1998 turnover tax statistics, 12% in NACE Section I and 7.9% in K (as opposed 
to 33.6% and 37.4% in Sections D and J respectively). However, these figures do not indicate 
the size of the turnover of Organgesellschaften [controlled subsidiaries] in Sections I and K if 
these  submit  returns  combined  with  the  figures  from  a  controlling  company  in  a  different 
NACE section. 

•  Regionalisability 

Whether  the  tax  administration's  turnover  data  are  regionalisable  or  not  depends  largely  on 
whether the turnover of Organschaften and enterprises which have activity in more than one 
Land  can  be  assigned  to  the  correct  Land.  The  breakdown  by  Land  of  UVV  data  on  such 
enterprises  may  be  based  on  annual  service  statistics,  the  breakdown  of  turnover  may  be 
based on numbers in employment or there may be an additional enquiry among a few large-
scale  enterprises.  Carrying  out  a  primary  survey  in  accordance  with  §  5  (2)  of  the  Federal 
Statistics Act and supplying administrative data at the same time will be extremely helpful in 
developing appropriate regionalisation concepts. 

•  First test results on the turnover variable 

As already stated, for a comprehensive test on whether or not tax authority data are suitable 
for  short-term  statistical  purposes,  a  new  legal  basis  is  required.  Up  to  now  it  has  been 
possible  to  carry  out  only  a  few  test  investigations  in  this  field,  yielding  few  results  and  no 
individual data. Tax authority data have been compared with turnover data from the monthly 

45

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
report  relating  to  174  multi-establishment  enterprises  in  manufacturing,  two  of  which  were 
paired in each case. 

The  comparison  of  levels  of  UVV  returns  and  monthly  reporting  results  highlighted 
discrepancies which, in the majority of enterprise pairs investigated, moved within an order of 
magnitude which might be deemed acceptable, considering the dissimilarity of the two data 
sources.  Seen  in  relation  to  the  test  enterprises  as  a  whole,  the  discrepancies  in  the  1999 
annual turnover calculated from the individual monthly values were -3.5% (see Figure 1). A 
comparison  of  movements  in  the  figures  produced  a  similar  outcome.  Here,  there  were  no 
noticeable differences between the two sources. Any differences arose largely from the way in 
which the intensity of movements in turnover was depicted (comparison of absolute figures 
for rates of change). As with the comparison of levels, any comparison of movements must 
avoid overstating the results, owing to the small numbers involved. With so few units being 
tested, in the worst-case scenario a single pair of enterprises may be responsible for potential 
discrepancies in values indicating change. 

Figure 1:   Level of and movements in the quarterly total turnover of all enterprises tested 

4.500

4.400

4.300

4.200

4.100

UVV

Monthly report

r
e
v
o
n
r
u
t
n
o

i
l
l
i

m
M
E
D

4.000
1st quarter 99

2nd quarter 99

3rd quarter 99

4th quarter 99

No firm conclusion can be drawn from the test on tax authority turnover data. No objective 
assessment  of  the  difference  which  emerged  in  both  levels  and  movements  of  figures  is 
9
possible  with  so  few  cases.
  In  addition,  results  for  manufacturing  cannot  be  transferred 
directly  to  enterprises  in  NACE  Sections  I  and  K  (Transport  and  communication,  computer 
activities, business activities etc.). Despite all the reservations, however, tests carried out so 
far suggest, at least, that the UVV data are suitable for short-term statistics. This impression 
was  on  the  whole  strengthened  by  further  comparisons  of  annual  turnover  data  from  the 
investment in manufacturing survey with turnover data from the UVV on the one hand and of 
primary data on intra-Community deliveries from intra-Community trade statistics with UVV 
data on the other. 

II.3.  "Persons employed" variable 

The  use  of  data  from  the  Bundesanstalt  für  Arbeit  [Federal  Labour  Office]  as  secondary 
statistics  for  the  purposes  of  the  STS  Regulation  raises  specific  questions  about  the 
delimitation  of  the  variable,  the  underlying  statistical  unit  and  branch  allocation,  as  well  as 
about restrictions on time. The section below will touch on these points and on selected test 
results. 

eurostat

46

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
•  Delimitation of the variable 

The variable "persons employed" referred to in the STS Regulation covers the whole of the 
  But 
occupied  population,  i.e.  both  employees  and  the  self-employed  and  family  workers.
administrative documents from the Bundesanstalt für Arbeit provide data only on those who 
are liable to pay social insurance and those with minimal employment. No data are available 
from this source on the self-employed, family workers or government officials, for instance. 
For  the  monthly  calculation  of  employment  in  the  national  accounts,  appropriate  data  from 
other sources are therefore estimated and added in. A similar procedure could be chosen for 
implementation of the STS Regulation. If so, we should have to check, in particular, whether 
groups not covered by the Bundesanstalt für Arbeit affect to any noticeable extent either the 
level  of  the  "persons  employed"  variable  or  changes  over  time  in  the  service  fields  under 
consideration. 

10

•  Units and branch allocation 

The  Bundesanstalt  für  Arbeit  is  able  to  report  employment  data  only  at  the  level  of  the 
establishment. According to the STS Regulation, the enterprise is the basic reporting unit in 
the services field, i.e. it is not the individual establishments which have to be assigned to the 
branches  in  question  but  the  enterprises,  according  to  their  centre  of  economic  interest. 
However,  the  connection  between  individual  establishments  in  an  enterprise  cannot  be 
derived from Bundesanstalt für Arbeit data alone. If information from the business register on 
the  connection  between  establishments  and  enterprises  is  used  as  well,  it  is  still  possible  to 
combine  establishments  into  enterprises  and/or  to  ascertain  the  branch  of  the  enterprise  to 
which an establishment belongs.

11

•  Time restrictions 

12

Tests have already been carried out using figures for employees liable to pay social insurance 
contributions, to see whether data from the Bundesanstalt für Arbeit meet the time criteria of 
  The  employment  data  for  a  specific  quarterly  reference  date  were 
the  STS  Regulation.
counted  and  compressed  to  establishment  data  once  after  three  months  -  as  required  by  the 
alternative  plan  schedule  based  on  the  STS  Regulation  requirements  -  and  once  after  six 
months - by which time, in the experience of the Bundesanstalt, for any given reference date 
additional  entries  and  deleted  entries  relating  to  persons  in  employment  liable  to  pay  social 
insurance  contributions  are  to  all  intents  and  purpose  complete  in  the  integrated  reporting 
system for social security. 

Providing that the reporting date for the employment enquiry is not the end of the quarter but 
an  earlier  date  (end  of  the  second  month  in  the  quarter)  -  for  the  first  quarter  of  2001, 
therefore, 28 February 2001, for example - and assuming that the statistical offices themselves 
need approximately four weeks for data preparation and analysis, including the transmission 
of  results  to  Eurostat,  the  time  lag  between the reporting period and the retrieval/evaluation 
date  for  employment  data  from  the  Bundesanstalt  für  Arbeit  must  be  cut  by  50%  from  its 
present level, from six months to three months. Only then can the results be sent to Eurostat 
on time. According to information from the Bundesanstalt, after three months it has received 
only  some  80  to  85%  of  the  additional  entries  and  deleted  entries  relevant  to  a  particular 
reference date. 

47

eurostat

 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
The comparison of levels made first of all showed clearly that, for almost all establishments in 
NACE Sections I and K, the provisional - counted after three months - and the more or less 
final  -  counted  after  six  months  -  employment  data  either  match  in  full  or  are  only  slightly 
different. The time restrictions are not generally a problem when it comes to illustrations of 
changes  over  time,  either,  if  we  disregard  the  few  cases  of  restructuring,  which  are 
unimportant  in  quantity  terms.  The  use  of  three-monthly  values  would  therefore  appear  in 
principle to be appropriate for short-term statistical purposes. 

•  Further test results 

In any event, comparisons of movements in the figures (three-monthly values compared with 
six-monthly values) showed that the rates of change can vary considerably depending on the 
methodology used to delimit the reporting units and the distribution of establishments among 
the branches of the economy.
 Further work is therefore needed on methodology, along with 
comprehensive test investigations, to solve problems of methodology such as the delimitation 
of  the  reporting  units  (constant  or  variable)  and  how/when  it  would  be  useful  to  show  a 
change in branch. 

13

An additional comparison of administrative data and data from a primary survey, the monthly 
report  on  manufacturing  industry,  showed  that  the  three-monthly  values  tally  fairly  closely 
with the Bundesanstalt's six-monthly values, but there are larger discrepancies when monthly 
reporting  results  are  compared  with  six-monthly  values  taken  from  administrative  data.  No 
further  conclusions  are  possible  on  this  point  at  present,  however,  since  it  would  seem  that 
discrepancies in the rates of change arise largely from existing (methodological) differences 
between the monthly report and the integrated reporting process as regards delimitation of the 
reporting  units  and  variables,  and  from  the  Bundesanstalt's  less  up-to-date  branch 
classification. 

The  outcome  of  tests  so  far  indicates  that  the  employment  data  retrieved  three  months  after 
the end of the reference date from the integrated social insurance reporting procedure would 
in principle be suitable for the purposes of short-term statistics. The tests also showed clearly, 
however,  that  assessments  of  the  suitability  of  the  data  for  short-term  statistical  purposes 
depend  very  much  on  the  choice  of  methodology.  There  is  a  further  reservation:  the  tests 
carried out so far included only a very rough simulation of the later procedure. In particular, 
they  were  unable  to  link  administrative  data  with  the  business  register,  and  it  was  therefore 
not possible to check what effects the business register "interface" would have on the branch-
specific results (the business register system would "fine-tune" the results).  

II.4.  Addition of further variables 

Data users would consider that illustrating short-term changes in services on the sole basis of 
the  "turnover"  and  "persons  employed"  variables  is  a  starting  point  rather  than  satisfactory 
definitive  coverage.  Accordingly,  proposals  for  the  further  development  of  short-term 
statistics  at  European  level  include  changes  in  "other  services"  in  the  STS  Regulation 
 These refer to the following variables: hours worked, gross wages and salaries 
(Annex D).
and  producer  prices.  The  aim  is  to  produce  results  for  these  variables  as  from  2003,  with  a 
transition time of three years at the most. 

14

From  the  technical  point  of  view,  producer  prices  can  to  a  large  extent  be  developed  and 
,  whereas  it  is  not  clear  how  the 
obtained  independently  of  the  other  survey  variables

15

eurostat

48

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
variables, "gross wages and salaries" and "hours worked" can be covered in the future if the 
administrative  data  plan  comes  into  effect.  Up  to  now,  the Bundesanstalt  für  Arbeit has not 
had  available  any  data  on  gross  wages  and  salaries  or  hours  worked,  but  current  plans  for 
remuneration  statistics  should  mean  that  it  will  be  possible,  using  the  Bundesanstalt's 
breakdown  of  persons  in  employment  by  full-time,  part-time  and  minimal  employment,  to 
derive data on gross wages and salaries and, possibly, hours worked at intervals of less than 
one  year.  The  details  of  the  methodology  and  a  comprehensive  assessment  of  data  quality 
will, however, have to be examined as part of the test investigations. 

III.  Short-term indicators via primary surveys 

An independent survey in Germany for short-term indicators for NACE Section I, "Transport, 
storage  and  communication"  and  computer  and  related  activities  (72)  and  other  business 
activities (74) has either been postponed or has proved not to be feasible, primarily because 
preference  has  been  given  to  developing  an  annual  structural  survey,  funds  have  been  short 
and it has been difficult to persuade the economic players to accept such a survey. 

With  no  legal  basis  as  yet  for  the  use  of  administrative  data,  work  is  now  under  way  on  a 
regulation for a quarterly survey, which will oblige enterprises in the NACE areas concerned 
to  provide  information  on  turnover,  number  of  persons  in  employment  and  their  main 
economic activity, in order to meet the requirements of the STS Regulation as from 2003 and 
expand national and regional short-term statistics. In line with §5 (2) of the Federal Statistics 
Act, a regulation of this kind is limited to three years, i.e. reference years 2003 to 2005. If the 
survey is to be continued after that, a new legal basis will be necessary. 

16

The current plan is for the survey to be organised as a sub-survey of the structural survey in 
the  relevant  services.
  New  entries  are  to  be  taken  into  account  at  least  once  a  year.  The 
maximum size of the sample was originally to have been 5% (around 28 000 enterprises), but 
in  the  meantime  an  increase  to  15%  has  been  discussed,  so  that  reliable  results  might  be 
obtained for the majority of the Länder, at least. To enable more reliable results to be obtained 
for regional short-term analysis, the "turnover" and "persons employed" variables will also be 
broken down by Land in the case of survey units with branches in more than one Land and 
turnover or income of EUR 250 000 or more.  

For the sample selection and extrapolation, there will be stratification by Land, by three-digit 
level of the economic classification and at least a few turnover size classes. The survey itself 
will  be  carried  out  as  an  electronic  enquiry  as  well  as  with  the  traditional  type  of 
questionnaire.  The  aim  is  to  be  make  the  results  available  two  months  after  the  reference 
quarter. 

The general advantages of a primary survey as opposed to the use of administrative data plan 
are obvious: under the new arrangements, the survey can be designed specifically to meet the 
STS  Regulation  requirements.  The  methodology  for  incorporating  further  survey  variables 
such as gross wages and salaries or hours worked will be easier. As regards the breakdown of 
results by Land, it will be an advantage that, for the larger survey units, at least, turnover and 
numbers in employment will be collected in a breakdown by Land. However, the size of the 
sample  -  depending  on  final  arrangements  -  means  that  reliable  regionalisation  is  possible 
only  within  narrower  limits  than  if  administrative  data  are  used,  since  these  are  based  on  a 
total  survey.  Furthermore,  a  primary  survey  will  burden  respondents  with  extra  work  and 

49

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
hence higher costs and will also increase the cost for official statistics, at least in the medium 
term. 

IV.  Overall assessment and outlook 

Germany  can  meet  the  vast  majority  of  the  STS  Regulation  requirements  via  existing 
statistics.  There  are,  however,  substantial  gaps  in  NACE  Sections I  "Transport,  storage  and 
communication"  and  K  "Real  estate,  renting  and  business  activities",  gaps  which  can  be 
closed with the planned use of administrative data or with a new primary survey. 

Since there has been no legal basis, it has not yet been possible to carry out a comprehensive 
test  on  the  use  of  administrative  data,  but  a  primary  survey  in  conjunction  with  the 
development  of  administrative  data  use  will  enable  extensive  tests  to  be  carried  out  in  the 
relevant  services  by  2005.  By  comparing  data  collected  via  primary  surveys  with  data 
collected via secondary statistics, these tests will give a differentiated picture of the strengths 
and  weaknesses  of  the  two  approaches.  The  impact  on  the  quality  of  the  short-term  data 
should  be  positive  in  the  end,  since  the  test  phase  can  be  used  to  solve  any  running-in 
problems  with  the  administrative  data  plan  and  data  preparation  methods  can  be  optimised, 
whilst  comparisons  of  data  results  will  pinpoint  any  potential  problem  areas  in  the  primary 
survey. This work will then provide a firm foundation for decisions to be taken in 2005 as to 
which plan or mix of two plans is to be given priority in the areas in question as from 2006, 
taking  into  account  quality  and  costs.  If  the  planned  amendment  to  the  STS  Regulation  is 
approved,  it  will  also  be  useful  to  see  what  quality  level  can  be  achieved  for  the 
supplementary variables "gross wages and salaries" and "hours worked". 

There are further aspects which may affect decisions in the areas in question: the demands of 
the Länder for the regionalisation of short-term reporting, for example, or, from the point of 
view of future viability, user requirements above and beyond the proposals for amendments to 
the  STS  Regulation  currently  under  discussion.  Thus  Eurostat's  ideas  for  a  switch  in  the 
medium-term  from  quarterly  to  monthly  reporting if administrative data are used would not 
involve any serious changes, since the basis would already be monthly data. In the case of a 
primary survey, however, there would be a substantial additional burden for the information-
providers,
 though at the same time the use of administrative data, i.e. a full survey, makes 
possible a more detailed subdivision of heterogeneous service areas by branch, and this may 
be of interest to individual user groups. 

17

There  are  also  increasing  demands,  from  the  European  Central  Bank  in  particular,  for 
improved  topicality.  For  quarterly  short-term  statistics,  there  is  talk  of  shortening  the  data 
transmission  deadline  from  three  to  two  months.  Experience  suggests  that  users'  ever  more 
urgent  demands  for  topicality  can  better  be  met  via  a  primary  survey  or  a  mix  of  the  two 
concepts than by the use of administrative data. 

An assessment of the plan for the use of administrative data must, however - bearing in mind 
the  extended  objectives  referred  to  Section  II.1  -  consider  more  than  just  its  suitability  for 
supplying short-term indicators for NACE Section I, "Transport, storage and communication" 
and divisions 72 "Computer and related activities" and 74 "Other business activities". Where 
short-term  economic  reporting  is  concerned,  the  use  of  administrative  data  can  potentially 
yield suitable results, at least for all areas of the economy where market services predominate. 
Existing  short-term  statistics,  in  particular  on  wholesaling,  commission  trade,  hotels  and 
restaurants and the craft industries, could therefore conceivably be replaced, with a saving in 

eurostat

50

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
costs  and  a  lighter  burden  for  respondents.  At  the  same  time,  administrative  data  could  be 
tested to see how much additional information they could provide for areas not as yet covered 
by national short-term reporting (e.g. market producers in other divisions of Section K "Real 
estate, renting and business activities" or in parts of Section O "Other community, social and 
personal service activities"). Such information which might be used for national and regional 
accounts,  for  example.  Thought  could  also  be  given  to  introducing  special  additional 
investigations based on the use of administrative data and relating to areas not so far covered 
by short-term statistics (e.g. enterprises below the cut-off threshold). In the end, however, the 
possibilities  for  this  extended  use  of  administrative  data  for  short-term  statistical  purposes 
should  depend  on  the  results  of  the  exhaustive  tests  on  services  planned  between  now  and 
2005. 

1  

2  

3  
4  

5 

6  

7  

8  

See,  for  example,  PP.  Köhler/G.  Kopsch:  Die  Bedeutung  der  internationalen  Vergleichbarkeit  von 
Statistiken über die Informationsgesellschaft, in: Wirtschaft und Statistik, Volume 11/1997, pp. 751ff.  
See  O.  Angermann/V.  Polte/A.  Dollt:  Überlegungen  zur  Durchführung  der  europäischen  Verordnungen 
über die Unternehmensstatistik in Deutschland, in Wirtschaft und Statistik, Volume 7/1998, pp. 555ff.  
Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community (NACE Rev. 1). 
See  W.  Strohm:  Beitrag  der  amtlichen  Statistik  zur  gesamtwirtschaftlichen  Konjunkturbeobachtung,  in 
Wirtschaft und Statistik, Volume 10/1997, pp. 683ff. 
See  B.  Schmidt:  Registergestützte  Datengewinnung,  in:  Spektrum  der  Bundesstatistik,  Volume  15  "Neue 
Erhebungsinstrumente  und  Methodeneffekte",  Wiesbaden,  2000  and  H. Lützel:  Registergestützte 
Datengewinnung  –  Überlegungen  zur  Umsetzung  der  EU-Unternehmensstatistiken,  in:  Statistische  Ämter 
des Bundes und der Länder, Amtliche Statistik, 1999.  
See  Section  II.4  on  the  variables  currently  being  discussed  as  extensions:  producer  prices,  wages  and 
salaries and hours worked. 
There is, moreover, no guarantee that enterprises which choose to be taxed on the basis of actual income 
would report target incomes if there were a primary survey. 
The  requirement  for  being  counted  as  an  integrated  group  under  turnover  tax  legislation  is  that  a  legal 
person (controlled subsidiary company) is integrated into an enterprise (controlling company) taking into 
account  all  the  relevant  facts  -  financial,  economic  and  organisational.  See  Statistisches  Bundesamt, 
Fachserie  14  "Finanzen  und  Steuern",  Series 8,  "Umsatzsteuer"  and  S.  Hagenkort/P.  Schmidt: 
Schwierigkeiten  und  Lösungsmöglichkeiten  der  Behandlung  von  steuerlichen  Organschaften 
im 
statistischen Unternehmensregister, in: Wirtschaft und Statistik, Volume 11/2001, pp. 922ff.  

9   When the suitability of the UVV data is being assessed, the fact that it was in every case the first returns 
submitted by the enterprises which were taken into account must be borne in mind. The test did not take 
into account any subsequent corrections in the turnover tax prepayment notice. It is possible that use in the 
test of the first returns submitted early on for the UVV was a source of error, especially since the turnover 
data have to be reported for the monthly report within a very short period of time. When the alternative plan 
comes  into  use,  it  will  be  possible  under  certain  circumstances,  at  least  for  the  first  two  months  in  each 
reporting quarter, to use corrected turnover values as well. This could improve the quality of data from the 
UVV. 

10   For these details, see Commission Regulation No 588/2001 of 26 March 2001. 
11  

In the case of establishments not included in the URS [Business Register System] lead file, and for which 
there  is  therefore  no  information  available  on  the  enterprise  connection,  the  branch  to  which  the 
establishment belongs must be taken from the Bundesanstalt für Arbeit information. This does at least mean 
that the branch allocation remains constant throughout the year, since the branch information used is that 
which referred to the establishment in question at the time of the first delivery during the year. 

12   For  these  investigations,  however,  the  branch  allocation  used  by  the  Bundesanstalt  für  Arbeit  for  the 

establishments in question was used. 

13   For  further  explanations,  see  R.  Lorenz/B.  Schmidt:  Endbericht  "Registergestützte  Umsetzung  der  EU-
Konjunkturverordnung  im  Dienstleistungsbereich  (NACE-Abschnitte  I  und  K)",  Part  1,  Project  report  for 
Eurostat No 9.442.015, Wiesbaden 2000. 

14   See G. Schäfer: Proposal for the evolution of the STS Regulation, Version 1.1, Eurostat, 4 December 2001. 
15  
In  any  event,  turnover  data  will  be  required  here  in  as  detailed  a  breakdown  as  possible  by  type  of 
turnover/branch of the economy, for index weighting. 

51

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16   The  following  description  is  based  on  documents  produced  during  the  expert  discussions  on  services 

statistics and discussed with the statistical offices of the Länder. 

17   There  is  similar  potential  for  the  improvement  of  national  short-term  reporting,  with  the  availability  of 
monthly data from the alternative plan leading to an improvement in the data situation in the construction 
industry, for example. 

eurostat

52

 
IMPLEMENTATION OF REGULAR SHORT-TERM 
STATISTICS ON SERVICES IN HUNGARY AND FUTURE 
EVOLUTION 

Szilárd Páll 
Hungarian Central Statistical Office, Services Statistics Department, 
Budapest, Hungary 

SUMMARY 

The  Hungarian  statistical  system  is  in  a  continuous  change  determined  mainly  by  the 
harmonisation  with  European  Union,  and  the  changes  caused  by  the  progress  of  European 
statistics itself. First, this presentation shows some data regarding the weight of the services 
within  national  economy,  than  are  presented  the  regular  short-term  statistics,  the  latest 
amendments, future evolution within tourism, transport, telecommunication section and other 
services. 

I.  The share of the services 

In the last few years the modification, planification, new implementation of statistical surveys 
were determined mainly by the regulations, directives of the European Union, as part of the 
harmonisation  of  the  Hungarian  statistical  system.  The  “bottleneck”  between  the  variables 
listed in Annex D of Council Regulation 1165/98 and the variables from our regular surveys 
is poor. Their scope is, after all, different: in our regular statistics the aim is to survey a given 
activity in general irrespective of the NACE activity code of the data supplier. Nevertheless, 
in the last years a new conception has started to function in our statistical system: in the past 
the statistics were independent units, without any significant connexion among them; now the 
starting point is the statistic system, as a uniform whole, in which the activity-specific surveys 
should  be  more  or  less  integrated.  This  new  integration  refers  both  to  the  annual  and  short-
term  statistics.  This  year  we  will  begin  to  elaborate  a  new  questionnaire  for  services  (other 
than retail trade) within the annual survey of enterprises for business statistics. As regards the 
short-term  surveys,  a  new  softver  for  short-term  statistics  data  was  elaborated  in  2001,  and 
beginning  with  year  2002  we  have  started  to  «integrate»  some  of  the  other  regular  activity-
specific questionnaires into this softver. 

To  have  a  view  over  the  activities  we  work  with,  first  I  would  like  to  present  some  data 
regarding  the  share  of  these  activities  have  within  total  industries.  (Data  are  taken  from  the 
Statistical Yearbook of Hungary for year 2000). 

53

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Table 1:  The  values  for  employed  persons  and  number  of  active  corporations  and 

unincorporated enterprises by industries for year 2000 

Section 

Nr. of 
employed 
persons 
(thousand) 

Share within 
total industries 
(%) 

Nr. of active 
corporations 
& 
unincorporate 
enterprises 
(thousand) 

Share 
within total 
industries 
(%) 

H (Hotels & restaurants) 

I (Transport, storage & 
telecommunication) 

J (Financial intermediation) 

K (Real estate, renting & 
business activities) 

M (Education) 

N (Health and social work) 

O (Other community, social 
and personal activities) 

 133 

 312 

  84 

205 

318 

242 

166 

 3,5 

 8,1 

 2,2 

 5,3 

 8,3 

 6,3 

 4,3 

Total 

1 459 

37,9 

 42 

 46 

 22 

237 

 18 

 23 

 54* 

441 

 4,9 

 5,4 

 2,6 

27,9 

 2,1 

 2,7 

6,3 

52,0 

(*) 

Including Section P&Q – Private households with employed persons and extra-territorial organisations and 
bodies. 

Logically, the number of corporations compared to the number of employed persons is very 
high  in  section  K,  where  the  character  of  the  activity  (real  estate,  renting,  other  business 
activities as accounting, advertising, book-keeping etc. activities) involve a great number of 
corporations  with  few  employees.  On  the  other  hand  within  section  I  there  is  a  great 
concentration of staff in the key-companies of the respective activity. (These are the so-called 
“four  giant  M”:  MÁV  –  the  national  railway  transport;  MAHART  –  the  biggest  Hungarian 
water  transport  company,  MALÉV  –  the  Hungarian  Air-transport  company;  MATÁV  –  the 
biggest Hungarian telecommunication company). 

Table 2:  The  gross  value  added,  and  the  share  within  total  industries  in  year  2000  (in 

billion EURO) 

H (Hotels & restaurants) 

I (Transport, storage & 
telecommunication) 

J (Financial intermediation) 

K (Real estate, renting & business 
activities) 

M (Education) 

N (Health and social work) 

O (Other community, social and personal 
activities) 

Total  

eurostat

Gross value added 
(billion EUR) 
 0,8 

Share within total 
industries (%) 
  1,8 

 4,2 

1,8 

 7,3 

 2,1 

 2,0 

1,3 

19,4 

54

  9,6 

4,0 

16,5 

  4,7 

 4,6 

3,0 

44,2 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
II.  Regular short-terms statistics on tourism activity 

At  present  there  are  three  short-term  surveys  related  to  the  tourism  activity.  The  Report  on 
collective accommodation establishment is a monthly survey where the data suppliers are the 
accommodation establishments. The questionnaires are collected by the local offices, and the 
aggregation of the data is carried out by the HCSO. 

The table containing the tourist-traffic has two variables: 
− 
− 
data broken down by the nationality of the tourists arrived. 

tourist arrivals 
tourist nights 

functional days 

The table regarding the capacity data contains the number of: 
− 
−  employees 
− 
−  beds effectively let during the month. 

rooms, beds to be let at the end of the month 

The tables related to the number of rooms and room-prices enclose information on every type 
of room and apartment, as well as data on renting prices for campings. 

The turnover data of the accommodation establishments contain: 
−  accommodation charge with and without breakfast 
−  Revenues issuing from other services. 

For Restaurants, bars, canteens and catering data are collected for the following variables: 
−  number of units 
− 
turnover. 

In the last few years, only small adjustments were made on the questionnaire. We are planning 
the  extension  of  the  data-suppliers,  involving  the  non-profit  accommodation  establishments 
(due to Directive Nr. 57/1995 of the European Union). 

Methodologically,  the  turnover  data  arising  from  this  survey  and  the  short-term  statistics 
based on the Council Regulation 1165/98 cannot be compared, because here the data suppliers 
are  the  accommodation  establishments  and  restaurants  within  the  whole  national  economy, 
irrespective  if  their  main  activity  is  in  the  section  H  or  not.  Yet,  the  calculations  we  made 
show that for year 2000 the turnover of public accommodation and restaurant/catering units is 
higher by 80% than the aggregate turnover data of Section H (data from business short-term 
statistics). That means that roughly the 40% of the turnover related to activities from Section 
H come from companies whose main activity is out of Section H. 

The  second  survey  within  the  tourism  activity  is  the  Report  on  private  accommodations 
completed  twice  a  year  by  local  governments,  who  collect  data  from  the  private 
accommodations.  The  questionnaire  contains  data  both  for  rented  private  rooms  and  rural 
room services. The variables are: 
− 
−  capacity data – number of rooms and beds. 

tourist arrivals, tourist nights (broken down on domestic and tourists from abroad) 

55

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The third survey is the monthly statistics on border statistics is a full-scope survey carried out 
by the Hungarian frontier guards, and contain information regarding the number of foreigners 
crossing the border (by citizenship and by mode of transport). 

We are preparing a pilot survey this year on the domestic tourism demand, in accordance with 
the  EU  Directive  57/1995,  collecting  data  on  the  tourism  habits,  motivations  and  spending 
patterns of Hungarians. A regular survey based on the pilot survey will be launched beginning 
with year 2003 or 2004. An other planned survey will collect data on foreign tourism demand; 
survey on the expenditures of foreigners in Hungary, taking into account the experience of an 
1994 survey on the same theme. A pilot survey on foreigners’ expenditure and behaviour will 
be carried out in 2002, the experience and information gained from this project will form the 
groundwork  of  a  new  regular  survey,  to  be  introduced  in  2003  or  2004.  Naturally,  all  these 
data can be used as basic information at the compilation of the tourism accounts as well. 

III.  Regular  short-terms  statistics  on  transport  activities,  and  the  activity  of  travel 

agencies and tour operators 

Within  these  activities  we  have  four  short-term  surveys.  The  data  suppliers  for  survey  on 
goods and passenger transport performances by transport links, are the companies listed in 
land  transport  (other  than  freight  transport  by  roads)  transport  via  pipelines,  water  and  air 
transport. The survey is quarterly. 

The first table is divided on goods transport performances by either rail or air or pipeline, and 
respectively goods transport performances by waterways. The variables are: 
−  Quantity of goods transported 
−  Tonne-kilometre 
−  Freight charge receipts in HUF 
by  rail,  aircraft  or  pipeline  respectively  by  waterways.  The  water  transport  data  are  broken 
down by vessel traffic on rivers and vessel traffic on sea. 

The data suppliers transmit national and international data as well. The international data are 
broken down by: 
−  unloaded 
− 
loaded 
− 
transit 
−  not touching Hungarian border traffic. 

The  second  group  of  variables  contains  data  on  interurban  transport  by  transport  links.  The 
division on transport modalities is identical as for goods transport performances, the variables 
are: 
−  number of passengers carried 
−  passenger-kilometre 
− 

fare receipts. 

The data for national transport are broken down by: 
−  scheduled traffic 
− 
− 

traffic on contract basis and 
traffic by extra services. 

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56

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Within the international data we also have information on scheduled traffic. 

The third table is related to urban passenger transport performances. The variables for: 
−  buses 
− 
trams 
− 
trolley-buses 
−  metro, underground 
−  suburban rail 
−  vessels (of which in Budapest and on the Lake Balaton) 
are: 
−  number of passengers carried 
−  passenger-kilometre 
− 

fare receipts. 

The revenues from freight charge and fare receipts represents about 40-50% for rail transport 
and inland water transport companies, and about 85-90% for the air transport companies. 

The respondents for The survey on the road transport of goods are the owners of operators of 
selected motor vehicles. This survey, running since 1997 is in concordance with the Council 
Regulation No 1172/98 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road. 

The survey was elaborated well before the issue of the CR 1172/98 as a necessity to observe 
the  Hungarian  freight  transport  activity.  In  the  past,  before  the  nineties  and  in  the  early 
nineties there were only some few actors – big state-owned freight transport companies – but 
with the privatisation and the liberalisation of the market, there took place a strong structural 
change:  the  number  of  undertakings  related  to  freight  transport  rose  sharply,  and  it  became 
inevitable to change the statistical unit, so actually we survey not the company but the vehicle. 

The  sample  is  chosen  from  a  number  of  250,000  motor  coaches  and  road  tractors  in 
accordance with a three-level stratification criteria: 
−  vehicle operator’s legal status (corporation or individual) 
− 
− 

load capacity 
regional criteria. 

The  samples  contain  a  pack  of  12  -14,000  vehicles.  (The  number  of  data  suppliers  is  less, 
because  one  data  supplier  might  have  more  than  one  vehicle  in  the  sample.)  The  data-
suppliers have to fill up their questionnaire four time a year, in the same period of the quarter 
proportionally for every period of the year (the surveyed period is one week; to have a more 
exact  observation  of  the  international  road  freight  transport,  since  year  2002,  for  the 
international freight transport, the period has been extended up to two weeks/quarter). 

In the first table the data supplier give information regarding the changes in the operation of 
the motor vehicle. In the second table we have major details of the motor vehicle and trailer 
(semi-trailer), regarding the: 
−  details  about 

trailer/  seem-trailer  attached 

the  motor  vehicle  (loading 

the 

to 

capacity/number of axles) 

−  body type 
−  details of the transport activity (hire/reward or own account) 
− 
−  number of days in and out of service. 

fuel purchased during the survey period 

57

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The third table contains detailed information regarding the journeys during the survey week: 
− 
−  weight of goods loaded, unloaded, the ADR code of the goods carried, the type of cargo, 

loading, unloading place, day and month 

the distance travelled 
type of transport (hire/reward or own account). 

− 

th

 table contains the same data for delivery and/or collection during the survey period, 

The 4
also including the number of stops during a journey. 

As can be seen, the survey doesn’t contain any freight charge data (for a given journey it is 
very hard to link any transport charge) – this isn’t the aim of the CR 1172/98 either. 

We  made  some  improvements  on  the  survey  this  year,  with  the  scope  of  having  a  more 
precise  measurement  of  the  road  transport  activity.  Beside  the  extension  of  the  observation 
period for international road transport data another decision was the narrowing of the basis: 
before year 2002 we drew the sample from the vehicles with load capacity more than 1 tonne. 
According to our calculations and our experience the vehicles between 1 t – 3,5 t capacity are 
the more problematic category (regarding the number of non respondents, the great number of 
changes of the owners and operators within a year), and their weight within the road transport 
values,  weren’t  high  at  all,  since  1997  haven’t  exceeded  9%.  Starting  with  year  2002  the 
vehicles  with  less  than  3,5  t  loading  capacity  are  ruled  off,  and  will  be  surveyed  every  five 
year. 

Starting with year 2003, in concordance with CR 1172/98, 96/35, 2000/18 we will introduce 
new quarterly survey for the transport of dangerous goods on roads. The survey is full-scope; 
the data suppliers are the participants on the market, which have security adviser (beginning 
st
with 1
 of January 2003 in Hungary all enterprises that transport dangerous goods should hire 
a security adviser). 

As regards the inland waterway transport statistics there is a monthly data collection launched 
by the Ministry of Transport and Water Management which aims to meet the requirements of 
the Council Directive 1119/80/EC. The reporting units of the data collection are the ports. The 
survey of the main indicators meets the requirements of the concerning Directive, in respect 
of the methodology the harmonisation is at an advanced level however in some respects (for 
example  as  groups  of  goods  the  NST/R  and  type  of  vessels  is  not  applied)  it  is  not  in 
accordance  with  the  Directive.  In  co-operation  with  the  Ministry  the  concrete  analysis  and 
harmonisational proposal will be made with the aim of building it in the statistical program 
for 2003. 

In 2001 a PHARE pilot project on aviation statistics have started which aims to analyse the 
existing data collection systems in the candidate countries as well as to set up data production 
and  transmission  systems  gradually  compatible  with  the  EC  statistical  requirements  in  this 
field.  During  the  first  mission  of  the  Eurostat  expert  it  was  realised  that  from  2003  it  is 
necessary to launch a survey on airport traffic on quarterly basis that covers the data indicated 
in the respective Draft Regulation. 

For  the  activity  of  travel  agencies  and  tour  operators  (NACE  63.30)  we  have  a  very 
comprehensive  quarterly  survey,  that  have  to  be  completed  by  the  undertakings  with  tour 
operator licence registered by the Ministry of Economic Affairs MEA), irrespective of their 

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58

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
main  activity.  The  register,  updated  by  the  MEA  quarterly  contain  among  other  data  sub-
offices, number of employees. 

In the first part of the survey, the data suppliers give information regarding the nature of their 
activities. These can be: 
−  Outbound  tourism  (international  conducted  tourism,  by  own  organisation  and  own  sale, 

− 

travel organisation from abroad to abroad, rent of accommodation abroad, etc.) 
Inbound tourism (own organisation, own sale, sale of Hungarian services to international 
tour operators of intermediates) 

−  Domestic  tourism  (own  organisation,  own  sale,  or  as  a  representing  of  a  travel  agency 

from abroad, etc.). 

The data suppliers should give variables regarding the: 
−  organised domestic tourism (for Hungarian citizens) 
−  Organised congresses (in Hungary/abroad, for Hungarians/foreigners) 
−  outbound, inbound tourism activity by own organisation 
− 
− 
−  Hungarians travelling abroad by countries. 

international participants on separated sale of domestic programs 
international arrivals by countries 

For these tables the variables are: 
−  number of participants/excursionists 
−  number of tourist arrivals 
−  number of tourist nights. 

The quarterly surveys do not contain turnover data: these data are obtained from the annual 
survey  of  tour  operators.  The  survey  has  been  continuously  amended  during  the  last  few 
years.  The  last  implementation  was  launched  in  2001:  the  data  suppliers  should  give  an 
estimation of the percentile distribution of the tourism traffic broken down by the scope of the 
travel (congress-trip, round voyage, holiday, etc.). 

IV.  Short-term statistics on telecommunication 

In  the  Hungarian  Central  Statistical  office  there  are  two  short-term  surveys  related  to 
telecommunication activities (NACE 64.20). These surveys concentrate on the most important 
performances  of  the  telecommunication  activity,  they  are  activity-specific  and  not  NACE-
specific, so the target of the observation are not the the companies classified in NACE 64.20, 
but which have the license for some given telecommunication activity (i.e.: fixed or mobile 
network operators, VOIP operators). 

Related  to  the  Monthly  report  on  traffic  in  fixed  telephone  networks,  there  are  12  data 
suppliers.  The  survey  contains  two  tables.  In  the  first  table  the  telephone  companies  report 
traffic 
the  calls  (local/long 
distance/international) and by the caller (calls initiated from residential/business/public lines). 
The meausure is million calls. 

their  network  broken  down  by 

the  destination  of 

in 

59

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In the second table data suppliers report the international traffic broken down by destination 
(countries). The measure is thousand minutes. 

All data on the traffic of the companies are in natural units, and these surveys do not contain 
questions on economic performances. 

Data  suppliers  on  telephony  and  broadcasting  (collected  quarterly)  are  the  firms  which 
operate  fixed  or  mobile  telephone  networks,  VOIP  providers  and  broadcasting  companies. 
There are 50 data suppliers. 

The questionnaire contains five tables. In the first table we collect data on telegram service. 
The variables are the telegrams/faxes (number/pages). 

In the second table data suppliers report their traffic on the fixed and mobile network. Fixed 
network operators have to break up the traffic by: 
− 
−  business 
−  public line. 

residential 

And by the destination of the calls: 
− 
local 
− 
long distance 
−  mobile network. 

The mobile network operators report on the traffic broken up by the called party: 
−  calls ending in the same mobile network 
− 
− 
− 

to other mobile network 
to the fixed network 
international calls. 

The measure is thousand calls and thousand minutes. 

In  the  third  table  we  collect  data  on  traffic of the VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). The 
companies  detail  their  traffic  by  the  destination  of  the  calls  (countries).  The  measure  is 
thousand minutes. 

In  the  fourth  table  the  fixed  and  mobile  network  operators  report  on  the  number  of  their 
subscribers. There are the following variables: 
−  number of residential/business/public/main lines 
−  number of ISDN channels 
− 
−  number of mobile phone subscribers. 

leased lines 

The  fifth,  the  last  table  is  on  broadcasting:  we  collect  data  on  the  radio  and  television 
broadcasting time, detailed by the type of the broadcasted programmes (local/regional/nation-
wide). 

All the data are on the traffic of the companies in natural units, and doesn’t contain variables 
on economic performances either. 

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60

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The rapid changes in the telecom sector, the introduction of new technologies, methods and 
regulations urge us to adjust our surveys. The most important event of the last year was the 
new  Unified  Telecom  Act  launched  in  December.  Liberalisation  of  the  telecom  market  will 
increase the number of actors on the market – number of our data suppliers – and it will result 
in new types of actions – which have to be observed in the future. 

V.  Other services 

The  HCSO  has  a  quarterly  updated  Local  unit  register  for  trade  and  services  (KISREG)  for 
stores  and  other  local  units  with  operating  licence  emitted  by  the  local  governments.  The 
register include the following activities: 
−  Sale,  maintenance,  repair  of  motor  vehicles,  vehicle  parts  &  accessories  (NACE  classes 

50.10 – 50.40) 

−  Retail sale of automotive fuel (NACE class 50.50) 
−  Wholesale stores 
−  Retail trade, repair of personal and household goods (NACE classes 5211 – 5250, 5270) 
− 
 Hotels, camping sites (NACE classes 5511 – 5523) 
−  Restaurants, catering (NACE classes 5530 – 5551) 
−  Travel agencies (NACE class 6330) 
−  Renting activities (NACE classes 7110 – 7140). 

the name of the local unit 
its main activity 
type of the activity (permanent/seasonal) 
identity number 

The Register contain the following data: 
− 
− 
− 
− 
−  since  2000,  for  units  with  more  than  20  employees:  number  &  annual  income  of  the 
employees, the surface of the unit, and the yearly turnover for units within NACE classes 
50-55. 

The  Register  is  frequently  used  for  regional  analyses  related  to  local  units,  retail  trade  and 
service units, and for regular publications as well. Since 1998 we have a quarterly publication 
with retail trade stores data; in year 2001 the HCSO issued a publication containing data on 
wholesale stores and renting units, and in 2002 will be issued a publication on repairing units, 
shopping centres and hypermarkets. 

Excepting the quarterly business survey (in compliance with the CR 1165/98 of the European 
Union)  for  the  other  activities  within  the  other  services  the  HCSO  don’t  have  other  regular 
short-term  statistics.  During  the  year  2001  there  was  made  a  comprehensive  study  on  the 
available statistical and administrative data sources, and the future demands both of Hungary 
and  the  European  Union.  This  exploring  work  will  continue  in  year  2002,  including  some 
very  useful  consultations  as  the  bilateral  meetings  we  have  with  the  Statistical  Institute  of 
France. 

61

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SHORT-TERM STATISTICS ON SERVICES IN 
FRANCE 

Magali Demotes-Mainard 
Département des Activités tertiaires, INSEE, France 

SUMMARY 

Before  discussing  the  outlook  for  the  French  system  of  short-term  statistics  on  services,  we 
have to define the field covered and report on sources currently available. The first of these 
points leads us to consider the groupings used by activity and product classifications, and to 
discuss whether these are relevant to the objectives of short-term analysis. An up-to-date list 
of indicators shows that, despite the wide variety of statistical departments which contribute 
to it, the French system manages to provide fairly uniform information on both industrial and 
service enterprises. 

The plan for the next few years is to concentrate essentially on the following three aspects: 
−  consolidating the monthly monitoring of turnover; 
−  extending the coverage of the price indices for business services, and 
− 

launching a quarterly survey on products, charges and assets. 

The growing constraints of European comparability mean, of course, that these developments, 
along with the more minor adaptations to the present system, are driven by the choices made 
at Community level. 

I.  Defining services 

To begin with, the services sector has to be defined. In the broadest sense, it may refer to the 
whole  of  the  tertiary  sector,  i.e.  sections  G  to  O  of  the  NACE,  as  opposed  to  the  primary 
sector  and  a  secondary  sector  made  up  of  industry,  construction  and  energy  distribution. 
Household (section P) and extra-territorial services (section Q) have specific features which 
automatically rule them out of the picture. 

In this broad sense, the services sector covers nine NACE sections: wholesale and retail trade 
(G),  hotels  and  restaurants  (H),  transport,  storage  and  communication  (I),  financial 
intermediation  (J),  real  estate,  renting  and  business  activities  (K),  public  administration  and 
defence; compulsory social security (L), education (M), health and social work (N) and other 
community, social and personal service activities (O). 

The first point to note is that in France this group is monitored in varying ways for short-term 
statistics. The kind of monitoring may vary even within a given section. 

Broadly  speaking,  the  tertiary  sector  in  France  is  broken  down  as  follows  for  business 
statistics, whether the data are structural or short-term: 

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62

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trade 

Trade and repair of motor vehicles 
Wholesale trade 
Retail trade 

Transport (*) 

"Services" 

Real estate 
Business services 
Services for individuals (*) 

Financial services 

Services which are mainly non-market 

(*) Travel agencies (63.3) are included in services to individuals. 

NACE 

50 
51 
52 

60 to 63 
(except 63.3) 

70 
64, 71 to 74 
55, 63.3, 90 to 93 

65 to 67 

75, 80, 85 

In France, financial services (section J) and sectors which are mainly non-market (sections L, 
M  and  N)  are  monitored  via  sub-annual  indicators  geared  specifically  to  certain  aspects  of 
these activities. Since short-term statistics are restricted to the market sector, the activities of 
membership organisations, which come under Section O (Division 91) are excluded de facto. 
The  rest  of  this  document  will  therefore  concentrate  on  the  three  groups  made  up  of  trade, 
transport  and  "services"  in  the  narrow  French  sense of the term. Below, the term "services" 
will refer to the whole of this group. 

II.  Availability of sub-annual data on services 

The  weekly  "scoreboard"  produced  by  the  INSEE  shows  the  main  short-term  indicators 
published  regularly,  in  particular  those  referring  to  services.  Scoreboards  relating  solely  to 
services, and giving results at a more detailed level of classification, are compiled periodically 
and sent out to our main correspondents. The most detailed level available is published in the 
INSEE's  "Informations  rapides",  which  are  specific  to  each  indicator,  and  in  the  monthly 
statistical Bulletin. 

Short-term surveys covering industry, construction and services taken together, are qualitative 
surveys on past and future trends as perceived by businesses. The same principle underlies all 
these  surveys,  but  the  details  differ  depending  on  the  nature  of  the  activity  or  the 
characteristics of the enterprises in the sector. Both the questionnaire and periodicity may be 
adapted: 
−  questions on stocks, orders, sales to other countries, imports or payment deadlines are not 

− 

included for sectors where they would have little meaning; 
the short-term surveys are monthly for retail trade and, since 2001, for "services" in the 
narrow sense (as for industry), two-monthly for wholesale trade and quarterly for transport 
(cf. Table 1). 

Most of the sub-annual quantitative data on the services sector are obtained from statistical 
investigations  covering  the  whole  area  of  private  enterprises  (excluding,  in  some  cases, 
agriculture  and  financial  services):  turnover,  stocks,  business  start-ups  and  closures,  paid 
employees,  wages  and  salaries  (cf.  Table  2).  In  this  case,  the  methods  of  collecting 
information, processing and dissemination deadlines are the same for services as for the other 
sectors. 

There  is  also  a  specific  monthly  survey  of  hypermarkets  and  supermarkets  selling  food, 
designed to obtain from these outlets a breakdown of their turnover into food and non-food 

63

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
products  and  fuel  (cf.  Table  3).  The  need  for  this  information  highlights  the  usefulness  of 
short-term information identifying the type of product sold rather than the vendor's sector of 
activity. 

Finally,  quarterly  accounts  provide  results  on  the  output  of  branches  and  the  market  for 
products,  in  a  breakdown  into  five  services  branches  and  three  products  (plus  trade  and 
transport margins). 

The way in which data on the prices of services are obtained is specific to this sector, owing 
to  its  nature.  For  services  included  in  household  consumption,  the  consumer  price  index  is 
representative  of  a  production  index  whenever  the  consumption  "basket"  may  be  deemed  a 
good match with the production "basket": consumer price indices are thus used to deflate the 
turnover of hotels and restaurants and personal services. 

To deflate trade, price indices are sought for the different products at the various marketing 
stages.  For  retail  trade,  combinations  of  consumer  price  indices  of  the  goods  sold  are  used. 
For  wholesale  trade,  various  indicators  are  used:  purchase  prices  (industrial  sales  prices, 
agricultural  producer  prices)  or  selling  prices  (wholesale  prices  on  the  Rungis  market, 
consumer prices, export prices, etc.). 

Specific  monitoring  is  required  for  the  prices of  businesses  services.  The  general  method  is 
based on that used for industrial sales prices but the periodicity is different: whereas industrial 
sales  prices  are  monitored  monthly,  the  prices  of  services  are  monitored  either  quarterly  or 
annually.  In  fact,  the  basis  for  monitoring  services  is  frequently  contracts  or  fees,  since 
businesses do not generally revise these monthly. Overall, therefore, the prices of services do 
not reflect market pressures from one month to the next. 

Coverage  of  the  prices  of  business  services  is  still  incomplete.  By  the  end  of  2002,  price 
indices will be available for engineering, advertising, accountancy services, cleaning, vehicle 
hire, the hire of machinery and equipment for construction and survey and security services. 
These  sectors  taken  together  represent  a  little  over  one  quarter  of  the  output  of  business 
services. 

For transport, there is a quarterly index of the price of goods transport by road. 

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64

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 1:   Short-term surveys on services: opinion polls 

Retail trade: 
non-specialised stores 
(52.1), specialised stores 
excluding food and 
pharmacies (52.3) 

Wholesale trade: 
excluding agents (51.1) 

Variables 
sales, order intentions, stocks, 
past and future prices, general 
activity outlook, cash position, 
past and future staffing, time 
allowed for payment 

sales, export sales, deliveries 
from other countries, order 
intentions, stocks, past and 
future prices, prices expected 
for sales to other countries, 
prices expected from foreign 
suppliers, general activity 
outlook, cash position, past and 
future staffing 

Transport : 
transport of goods by road 
(60.24 excluding removal 
and vehicle hire, activity by 
road of freight transport 
organisers - 63.40) 

recent and expected trend for: 
domestic and international 
traffic, staffing, domestic prices, 
cash position, time allowed for 
payment, vehicle purchases, 
vehicle utilisation 

Level of detail 

5 sets: non-specialised, major household 
fixtures and fittings, small household fixtures 
and fittings, culture/leisure/luxury goods, 
leather, clothing 
sales by product (all sectors), 18 products 

4 sets (+ 2 partial): food consumer goods, 
non-food consumer goods (of which non-
pharmacy), capital goods, intermediate goods 
(of which industrial) 

Periodicity 
monthly 

Deadline 

m + 5 days 

two-monthly 

2m + 5 days 

1 item « transport of goods by road » 

quarterly 

t + 45 days  

"Services" 

recent and expected trend for: 
activity, activity in other 
countries, staffing, prices, 
operating results, 
expected demand trend 

7 sets (+ 1 partial): consultancy and 
assistance, operational services (including 
temporary), travel agencies, hotels and 
restaurants, cultural, recreational and 
sporting activities, personal services, real 
estate  

monthly 

t + 5 days  

6
5

e
u
r
o
s
t
a
t

 
 
 
 
 e
u
r
o
s
t
a
t

6
6

Table 2:   Transverse short-term transactions covering the services sector 

Coverage (NACE) 
excluding other short-term 
accommodation (55.2), research 
(73), recreational activities 
excluding audio-visual (92.3 to 
92.7) 

trade (50 to 52), excluding food 
retail,  
partial for other services (*) 

Turnover 

Stocks 

Business start-ups 

Paid employment 

Basic monthly salaries 

establishments with more than 
10 salary-earners 

Level of detail 

Periodicity 

Deadline 

in general NAF 4-digits, 
a few regroupings 

monthly 

m + 60 days 

3 NACE sections for trade 
1 item for transport + "services" 

quarterly 

t + 75 days 

NAF 4-digits  

5 sets: trade, transport, real estate, business 
services, services for individuals 

9 sets : trade, transport, real estate, 
consultancy and assistance, operational 
services, research and development, hotels-
cafés-restaurants, recreational, cultural and 
sporting activities, personal services 

monthly 

quarterly 

quarterly 

m + 45 days 

t + 100 days 
(t + 45 days for the "tertiary" 
total) 

t + 100 days 
(t + 45 days for the "tertiary" 
total) 

t + 50 days 

Quarterly accounts: 
output and value added of 
the branches, 
uses of products 
(*) Output of services outstanding only - sectors covered: transport excluding space transport, business services, recreational, cultural and sporting activities 

5 branches: trade, transport, real estate, 
business services, services for individuals, 3 
products + trade and transport margins 

quarterly 

Table 3:  Survey of supermarkets and hypermarkets selling food 

Hypermarkets and 
supermarkets 

sales of food products, sales of non-food products, sales of fuel, number of 
stores, selling area 

Variables 

Periodicity 

Deadline 

monthly 

m + 35 days 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Finally,  the  list  of  quantitative  data  available  includes  the  indicator  of  the  consumption  of 
manufactured products, compiled approximately 20 days after the end of each month. On the 
face of it, this indicator appears to be for industry rather than services, but in fact it represents 
an aggregate very close to retail trade turnover and is calculated in part from observations of 
sales of various products. Analysts find this early indicator useful for more than just sectoral 
analysis: it can be used to monitor a share of household consumption which accounts for one-
third  of  GDP  and  which,  being  rapidly  available,  is  an  advance  indicator  of  the  short-term 
economic situation in general. 

III.  Comparison with manufacturing industry 

In comparison, three sets of indicators are available for manufacturing industry which have no 
equivalent for services. 

The  first  concerns  the  sub-annual  monitoring  of  investment  and  production  capacity. 
Admittedly,  the  manufacturing  sector  is  probably  more  directly  affected  by  pressures  on 
production  capital,  and  investment  is  much  less  concentrated  in  the  services  sector  and 
therefore more difficult to cover via small-scale surveys. For all that, investment is of almost 
the same order of magnitude in business services as in industry. If we add trade, transport and 
services  to  individuals,  services  as  a  whole  excluding  real  estate  invest  twice  as  much  as 
industry every year. Information on investments made by businesses is included on their VAT 
returns and in the quarterly survey on "products, charges and assets", but no use is made of 
this information at present. However, there are plans to process the survey data in 2003. 

The  second  relates  to  external  trade.  There  is  no  services  equivalent  of  customs  data:  the 
information available from the balance of payments lacks precise details of the nature of the 
transactions  recorded.  But  if  external  trade  is  in  fact  marginal  for  certain  services,  it  is 
definitely  not  for  others,  and  the  scale  of  such  services  is  likely  to  increase  markedly.  The 
difficulties  of  measuring  external  trade  in  services  are  largely  structural.  Monitoring  export 
turnover may provide some kind of response to the problem, but only a partial one. 

Finally, there is no real equivalent of industrial output indices. Only monthly returns relating 
to  the  tonnage  of  goods  transported  by  the  different  modes  of  transport  and  of  numbers  of 
passengers  can  provide  equivalent  information  in  the  transport  field.  There  is  a  survey  of 
telecommunications  operators  which  in  principle  comes  close  to  measuring  output  volume: 
information is collected on quantities from all operators, whatever their sector of activity. But 
the enquiry is at present annual: a quarterly enquiry is planned for the main operators in 2002. 

IV.  Planned Developments 

In France, work on short-term indicators for services will concentrate on the following three 
aspects in the coming years: 

•  Consolidating the monthly monitoring of turnover 

This  consolidation  involves  technical  aspects  linked  to  the  setting  up  of  a  new  chain  of 
computer  processing  of  VAT  returns,  but  it  also  has  a  bearing  on  the  consistency  and 
relevance of the available processed information. 

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The  monthly  turnover  of  enterprises  is  a  variable  which  can  be  used  to  track  ad  hoc 
exogenous  factors  as  well  as  "purely"  economic  trends.  Adjustments  for  seasonal  variation 
and working days help with the problems to some extent, especially in the case of activities 
where  seasonality  is  irregular  or  of  minor  importance.  But  the  monthly  indices  should  be 
interpreted with care, to check whether they substantiate or alter the trend of previous months. 
Our publications have to guide users along these lines. 

More  specifically,  a  great  deal  is  expected  from  the  monitoring  of  retail  trade.  On  the  one 
hand,  the  European  authorities  have  asked  for  an  early  30-day  indicator.  Secondly,  the 
profession would like an indicator which is representative of small-scale trade. Finally, data 
relating to concepts which are close to each other but based on different information have to 
be  linked  together:  as  well  as  the  turnover  of  enterprises  classified  according  to  the  activity 
classification, we have available data on hypermarkets and supermarkets by form of sale and 
by total products as well as the early indicator of the consumption of manufactures. We are 
therefore  planning  a  data  availability  system  which  would  highlight  the  particular  kind  of 
information provided by each of these operations: 
−  an  early  30-day  index  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  future  STS  regulation,  compiled 
according to methods which are similar to those used for the consumption index. It has not 
yet been decided how this new indicator will tie in with the consumption indicator, which 
is defined specifically for immediate use in quarterly accounts; 

−  within  60  days,  detailed  indices  by  detailed  sectors,  supplemented  by  an  indicator  of 
"small-scale trade", possibly broken down into a few sub-sectors, and by information on 
the detailed activity of hypermarkets and supermarkets derived from the specific enquiry. 

Finally,  the  global  indices  have  to  be  supplemented  in  the  longer  term,  in  all  sectors,  by  a 
breakdown into domestic and export markets. 

•  Extending the coverage of the price indices for business services 

This  extension  will  relate  initially  to  computer  services,  telecommunications  and  temporary 
work. Management consultancy would follow, which would make price indices possible for 
59% of the business services field or even 65% if we exclude business administration activity, 
for which no price index is directly observable owing to the importance of holding companies 
in this sector. 

The construction of a price index for inland waterway transport is also being studied. 

•  Launching a quarterly survey on products, charges and assets 

The  INSEE  has  just  completed  a  reorganisation  of  the  quarterly  survey  on  the  main 
components  of  the  operating  account,  the  value  of  stocks  and  the  intangible  assets  of 
businesses  with  more  than  20  employees  in  trade  (excluding  food  retailing),  transport 
(excluding  space  transport),  business  services  (excluding  part  of  NACE  74.1)  and 
recreational, cultural and sporting activities. These results should lead to indicators of value 
added,  gross  operating  surplus,  investment  and  changes  in  stocks  available  around  75  days 
after  the  end  of  the  quarter.  The  various  indicators  are  expected  to  come  into  production 
gradually: the stock indicators are already being published, data on balancing items could be 
available by the end of 2002 and data on capital formation during 2003. 

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V.  Thoughts on activity classifications 

The  value  of  short-term  economic  data  lies  in  the  speed  with  which  they  can  be  made 
available. This advantage of speed may be offset by a relative lack of detailed aggregates. It is 
useful in this connection to see which groupings have been considered relevant for services, 
either when information is collected or when the results are analysed. 

Table 4:  Classification used for short-term statistics on services 

Level 1 

Level 2 

Motor vehicle trade and repairs 

Wholesale of food consumer goods 
Wholesale of non-food consumer goods 

Trade 

Wholesale of capital goods 
Wholesale of intermediate goods 

Non-specialised retailing 
Retail sales of major household fixtures and fittings 
Retail sales of small household fixtures and fittings 
Retail sales of cultural, leisure and luxury products 
Retail sales of clothing and leather 

Transport 

Real estate activities 

Business  
services 

Consultancy and assistance 
Operational services 

Research and development 

Services to  
individuals 

Hotels, cafés, restaurants 
Recreational, cultural and sporting activities 
Personal services 

Of which 
excluding 
pharmacies 

Of which 
industrial 

Of which 
temporary 

The first level (cf. Table 4), used by quarterly accounts and short-term employment statistics, 
breaks  the  whole  set  down  into  five  items  which  do  not  exactly  match  the  five  NACE 
sections.  On  the  one  hand,  the  grouping  of  transport  and  telecommunications  (I)  is  not 
retained,  the  second  of  these  activities  being  included  in  business  services.  Secondly,  real 
estate activities have been separated out even at this first level, whereas hotels and restaurants 
are grouped together with community, social and personal services in an item referred to as 
"services to individuals". 

The short-term surveys allow for more detailed analysis by working at a more detailed level 
of around 20 items (level 2). Most of the other data are available at the most detailed level of 
the activity classification. 

This table should be added to the file when the revision of classifications is under discussion, 
as at present. Although it reflects the current experience of French experts working on short-
term  economic  aspects,  and  in  this  sense  has a  specific  history  which  cannot  necessarily  be 
generalised, it also has the merit of describing a tool which has been judged effective for one 
of the objectives of an aggregate economic classification, namely short-term analysis. 

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THE FUTURE OF SERVICE STATISTICS 
IN PORTUGAL 

António Daniel Santos and Humberto Jorge Pereira 
Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Lisbon, Portugal 

SUMMARY 

With  the  entry  into  force  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1165/98  and  the  creation  of 
Monetary  Union  (UM),  Member  States  face  a  new  challenge:  disseminating  better-quality 
short-term statistical information earlier. 

This paper looks at how Portugal has implemented the Regulation, and Annexes C and D in 
particular, how enterprises have cooperated, what information has been collected, the use of 
new  technologies  in  collecting  statistical  information  as  well  as  the  difficulties  encountered 
and the developments which the future may bring in this field. 

In  Portugal,  basic  statistical  information  on  the  services  sector  was  in  short  supply,  and  the 
Regulation on short-term indicators is therefore a good opportunity to fill this gap. In addition 
to  the  requisite  variables,  it  was  decided  to  obtain  information  for  others  which  would  not 
only strike a better balance between the different annexes but would improve knowledge of 
the different sectors of activity. The aim was to seek more detail on NACE Rev. 1 groups and 
to reduce the monthly reference period for all the variables in Annex D and for the number of 
employees in Annex C. 

Implementing the Regulation in this area of services is not without technical problems, which 
are also set out hereafter. 

We shall also present the measures taken by the INE in pursuit of the objective defined by the 
Statistical Programme Committee of making the turnover index in retail trade available within 
30 days at most, an objective which Portugal will achieve in 2002. 

Preliminary remark 

While  this  Seminar  focuses  on  Other  Services  (Annex  D  to  the  Regulation),  and  this 
contribution  concentrates  essentially  on  this  area,  it  is  important  to  refer  to  some  aspects 
relating to retail trade (Annex C) as an activity within services in the broad sense. 

Framework 

When  the  Regulation  was  approved  the  Member States  already  had  a  significant  number  of 
the indicators which it provided for, these did not have the level of detail or the characteristics 
which the regulation laid down. 

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Some indicators, such as those for services, had to be created from scratch because they did 
not exist in Portugal's National Statistical System. 

It  was  also  clear  that  short-term  statistical  information  on  services  was  in  scant  supply. 
Beyond a few qualitative operations, there was precious little available. This, combined with 
the  lack  of  administrative  information  which  could  be  used  to  produce  the  new  indicators, 
forced the decision to set up new statistical operations looking at business. 

Although care was taken not to overload respondents, in view of the lack of information on 
services,  these  new  operations  had  to  include  variables  beyond  those  required  by  the 
Regulation, for which reason the periodicity was reduced and the scope extended. 

Characteristics of the statistical operations set up 

As already mentioned, in spite of our concern not to overburden enterprises responding to a 
statistical  operation,  the  lack  of  information  dictated  changes  to  the  provisions  of  the 
Regulation,  so  that  these  operations  incorporated  some  variables  and  levels  of  detail,  etc. 
which were provided for in the pilot study. 

Variables 

It was, of course, important to include the so-called social variables which make for a better 
balance  between  the  different  Annexes  of  the  Regulation.  The  Business  Statistics  Directors 
Group (BSGD) had recently discussed this subject and made an appeal to this effect, which 
Eurostat was incorporating into its proposed revision of the Regulation. 

turnover; 

The following variables were therefore surveyed (in Annex C and Annex D): 
• 
•  number of persons employed; 
•  number of hours worked (not provided for in the Regulation); 
•  wages and salaries (not provided for in the Regulation). 

Periodicity 

Annex  C  to  the  Regulation  provided  monthly  periodicity  for  turnover  and  quarterly  for  the 
remainder, while Annex D provided that the quarter be adopted as the reference period for all 
variables. Portugal chose to adopt the month as the reference period for all the variables and 
both Annexes. 

It would thus be possible to obtain fresher information if enterprises were cooperative. This 
proved to be the case, as will be seen. 

Level of detail 

On  the  level  of  detail,  too,  changes  were  made  on  the  provisions  of  the  Regulation,  as 
recommended by the pilot study. 

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As  the  level  of  detail  required  for  the  retail  trade  was  already  considered  sufficient,  it  was 
only increased for Other Services (Annex D). The following levels of detail, which are greater 
than those provided by the Regulation, were therefore adopted: 
•  Groups 513, 514 and 515 at NACE Rev.1 class level; 
•  Division 60 – Land transport and transport by pipelines at NACE Rev. 1 group level; 
•  Division 63 – Travel agencies, at NACE Rev. 1 group level; 
•  Division 64 – Post and telecommunications at NACE Rev. 1 group level; 
•  Division 70 – Real estate activities at NACE Rev. 1 group level; 
•  Division 71 – Renting of machinery and equipment without operator and of personal and 

household goods at NACE Rev. 1 group level. 

•  Class 7415 - Management activities of holding companies in NACE Rev. 1. 

Survey organisation 

As this was a new survey and no-one had any great experience of processing the information 
on these new sectors, there were doubts as to how willing enterprises would be to respond. 

To reduce the burden on respondents, it was decided that responses could be sent by e-mail, 
and businesses were invited to play their part in electronic data collection. 

The  response  to  electronic  collection  was  a  success,  in  that  some  25%  of  the  businesses 
surveyed stated an interest in this method in the first two weeks. 

Alongside  electronic  collection,  it  was  also  possible  to  use  faxes  and  a  fax  server.  This 
procedure  also  proved  useful  in  data  collection,  particularly  for  sending  out  reminders  to 
enterprises which had not opted for electronic collection. 

Initially, it was planned to suspend the collection of information on activities which were not 
compulsory  for  the  purposes  of  the  Regulation  in  case  the  response  rate  was  poor  or 
enterprises  raised  obstacles  or  proved  reluctant  to  respond.  Specifically,  enterprises  were 
expected to record difficulties in adopting monthly periodicity for Annex D. In fact, however, 
they were highly receptive, and the response rates from numerous enterprises were very high. 

The  good  response  was  largely  due  to  the  INE's  decision  to  pursue  personal  contacts  in 
collecting information. Instead of increasing costs, personal contacts with enterprises reduced 
them  in  the  long  term,  because  the  contacts  tend  to  diminish  and  enterprises  respond  more 
promptly and provide quality data. Regularly offering little gifts also increased the motivation 
to respond. 

Dissemination 

Bearing  in  mind  the  exceptions  requested  and  accepted  by  the  Commission  for  all  the 
indicators concerned, it should be possible to begin to disseminate the information during the 
first half of 2002. 

As these are new statistical operations, the year 2000 will be taken as the base for the indices 
to  be  produced,  using  the  information  relating  to  the  statistical  operations  in  the  context  of 
Structural Business Statistics (SBS) to compile the weighting structure. 

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As the series for the retail trade turnover index is 1995-based, the base will be changed at the 
same time, and preparations to this end have been under way since 2001. 

The form they will take in the new indicators – which should include those following on from 
adopting a greater number of variables - will correspond to that defined in the Regulation and 
discussed in the working group on short-term indicators. Portugal is keen to align the form of 
dissemination  on  that  used  by  Eurostat  and  the other  Member  States.  This  should  avoid  the 
systematic problems posed by the apparent contradiction between indicators disseminated by 
different organisations (INE or Eurostat). 

As  regards  dissemination,  the  INE  would  emphasise  the  importance  it  attaches  to  the 
harmonisation of the rules for dissemination between Eurostat and the Member States as the 
only means of avoiding sewing confusion among users. This should be a constant concern for 
producers of statistical information. Accordingly, given the importance of indicators in short-
term analysis within the Union, the INE is prepared to make the necessary changes to how it 
disseminates its statistical information to make it easy to read these important indicators. 

As the time to begin dissemination draws near, however, it is important that a final decision 
be taken on these matters. Discussions between the Member States has already begun, but it is 
important that a decision be reached quickly which can be adopted by those which will begin 
to disseminate new indicators and proceed to change the base for existing ones. 

It is therefore crucial that a prompt agreement be reached on the following: 
•  Form of dissemination: Should only homologous rates of change (n/n-12) and month-on-

month rates of change (n/n-1) be disseminated, or should others? 

•  Correction of working days: How should this be done? Can the Member States opt for any 
method (regression or proportional)? If regression is chosen, how many regressors should 
be adopted? 

•  Seasonal correction: Which options should be taken? 
•  Revision of series: How should the series be revised: revision of the last two months with 

a final revision at the end of each year, or should another procedure be chosen? 

Some difficulties encountered 

Although  these  operations  were  a  success  in  terms  of  enterprises'  willingness  to  cooperate, 
some of the difficulties encountered should be discussed because some of them undoubtedly 
concern the part included in the pilot studies. 

Annex C to the Regulation 

Retail sale of second-hand articles in stores 

One  of  the  series  to  be  transmitted  to  Eurostat  includes  Group  52.5,  which  corresponds  to 
retail sales of second-hand articles in stores. 

This group should include antique dealers. The variations in turnover recorded in this kind of 
business may be determined by sales – which, according to the kind of article sold (works of 
art),  may  reach  abnormally  high  values  –  or  by  auctions  which  are  not  organised  to  any 
regular schedule. 

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The  kind  of  activity  these  enterprises  pursue  makes  the  series  erratic  and  their  economic 
significance  hard  to  interpret.  In  Portugal,  specifically,  while  the  relative  weight  of  this 
activity is very limited, its impact on the general index is sometimes unmissable and, given its 
characteristics, may distort interpretation of the index. 

Accordingly, and given the “perverse effects” on the results to be published, the wisdom of 
retaining this activity in the series to be sent to Eurostat and including it in the general index 
could be reassessed. 

Other non-store retail sale 

Another of the series to be sent to Eurostat and which is part of the general index is Group 
52.60, including, in Class 52.63, mobile sales. In Portugal, this activity is closely bound to a 
certain  kind  of  culture  and  even  ethnic  background,  in  that  it  is  sometimes  carried  out  by 
nomadic groups. This increases the difficulties of establishing contact and obtaining responses 
for statistical operations. While this does not account for all mobile sales in Portugal, it does 
represent a good share of the total. 

Many  mobile  sales  carried  out  by  individuals  as  sole  proprietorships  are  also  tied  to  the 
informal economy and the sale of counterfeit products, which makes monitoring them within 
the framework of this indicator even more difficult. 

While the features of mobile sales in Portugal are undoubtedly not typical of every Member 
State,  some  are  bound  to  face  the  same  kind  of  problem,  and  this  is  one  factor  in  the  poor 
quality of the information produced. 

Here  again,  the  wisdom  of  including  class  52.63  in  those  surveyed  could  be  examined.  In 
analysing  this  situation,  the  relative  weight  of  this  activity  should  be  assessed  within  retail 
trade as a whole. 

Annex D to the Regulation 

Overall, Portugal has not encountered any major difficulties within the set of activities to be 
covered by the various indicators to comply with the Regulation. 

On some of the sectors provided for the pilot study, however, some questions could be raised 
in this seminar. 

Some adjustment is needed to apply the concept of turnover in some NACE Rev. 1 entries for 
Annex D, given that some activities do not really entail sales or the provision of services as 
usually  observed  in  industry  or  in  the  retail  trade.  This  is  true  of  Division  71  –  Renting  of 
machinery and equipment without operator and of personal and household goods. In this case, 
the  income  received  by  enterprises  from  their  principal  activity  should  be  considered  as 
turnover. 

Real estate activities 

Division 70 covers real estate activities. This kind of activity presents a very erratic series. As 
a  rule,  this  kind  of  enterprise  is  generally  small-scale,  acts  as  an  intermediary  in  property 

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74

 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
sales,  and  records  high  values  over  a  specific  period  (a  month)  but  may  not  realise  any 
transactions in subsequent periods. 

The way in which this market operates may mean that the series obtained makes no economic 
sense.  Periods  of  growth  and  decline  may  not  be  identified  because  the  enterprises  in  the 
sample have not carried out any transactions. 

If,  then,  it  is  decided  to  extend  the  detail  and  coverage  of  these  indicators,  the  difficulties 
which could then arise in analysing statistical series and interpreting them in economic terms 
should be borne in mind. 

Management activities of holding companies 

The pilot study provides for obtaining the indicators provided for in Annex D for the activities 
of holding companies included in Class 74.15 of NACE Rev. 1. 

Holding  companies'  sole  contractual  purpose  is  the  management  of  holdings  in  other 
businesses as an indirect form of exercising economic activity. 

It follows from the very definition of this kind of enterprise where a group of companies is 
generally  supported  by  one  (usually  the  parent  company)  that  many  often  employ  no  staff 
directly because the majority of the people working in them are common to other enterprises 
(within the group). 

Even  if  changes  are  made  to  the  concept,  there  is  normally  no  turnover  which  can  be 
monitored monthly or quarterly. 

Bearing this in mind, this kind of activity should not be included in the set which contributes 
to the kind of indicators which we are producing. The INE has therefore suspended surveys of 
enterprises  in  class  74.15,  these  businesses  have  been  dropped  from  the  sample,  and  this 
statistical series will not therefore be reported. 

The process of reducing the deadlines for turnover in the retail trade  

As the Statistical Programme Committee decided to act on the proposal presented by Eurostat 
following  the  initiative  taken  by  the  Task  Force  Benchmarking  on  infra-annual  statistics  to 
reduce the time for reporting turnover in retail trade to 30 days, Portugal has taken steps to 
achieve this important objective. 

Given the importance and the urgency of reducing the time needed to present information on 
this  sector,  the  INE  has  set  itself  the  objective  of  making  the  turnover  index  for  retail  trade 
available 30 days after the end of the reference period by the end of 2002. 

A number of measures have been defined with a view to achieving this objective: 

•  Personal contact with enterprises 

The INE has been forging closer links with enterprises since mid-2001. To this end, officials 
telephone individuals in an attempt to persuade enterprises to keep to the deadlines. 

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It  is  important  to  persuade  enterprises  to  respond  rather  than  imposing  fines  in  the  event  of 
non-response (although these are still imposed when necessary). 

At  the  same  time,  those  enterprises  which  have  proved  most  reluctant  to  respond  are  sent 
letters  spelling  out  the  importance  -  for  Portugal  and  for  Europe  -  of  responding  to  surveys 
conducted in this field. 

•  Electronic collection 

Electronic collection has proved to be an excellent tool for increasing businesses' speed of response. 

Using  the  so-called  new  technologies,  it  is  possible  to  check  the  quality  of  the  information 
received by validating it as it is input. 

The excellent results in terms of the cooperation from enterprises and acceptance of this kind 
of response has to be emphasised. 

•  Fax server 

Enterprises without e-mail or which chose not to use this method have preferred to use the fax 
via a server. 

It  is  possible  to  contact  more  enterprises  more  quickly,  and  while  the  time  saved  is  not  the 
most significant, it does contribute to the whole process of cutting down deadlines. 

Goals achieved 

Putting all these measures into practice has made it possible to begin the process of reducing 
deadlines. 

D issemination of Turnover Index on R etail Trade

s
y
a
d
f
o

.

o
n

180

150

120

90

60

30

0

Re fe re nce  P e riod

The graph shows that, from June to December 2001, the time needed to submit this indicator 
fell from 55 to 38 days. It is intended to continue this campaign. 

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76

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Studies  comparing  analysis  within  30  days  (with  a  poorer  response  rate)  and  the  current 
performance show that there are no great changes at the level of the general index, although 
the same cannot be said of the levels of detail transmitted to Eurostat. In view of how work is 
progressing,  however,  we  are  extremely  optimistic  that  we  will  be  able  to  achieve  the 
objective set out during the current year. 

CONCLUSION 

Our aim was to present how short-term statistics on services are organised, with the emphasis 
on their characteristics, success stories and failures. 

We  also  set  out  the  measures  taken  to  achieve  the  objective  of  reducing  the  time  needed  to 
submit the turnover index for the retail trade to 30 days, as a first step towards achieving even 
prompter submission times. 

We referred how certain statistical series should be interpreted, bearing in mind the coverage 
of activities which present erratic behaviour. 

Lastly, we are calling on Eurostat and the other Member States urgently to define rules to be 
observed in disseminating short-term information and in correcting seasonality and working 
days. This is crucial when we are preparing to publish new indicators and to change the base 
for existing ones in the first half of 2001. 

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AN OVERVIEW OF THE UK'S EXPERIMENTAL 
CONSTANT PRICE MONTHLY INDEX OF SERVICES 

Steve Drew 
Office for National Statistics, United Kingdom 

SUMMARY 

In  December  2000,  the  ONS  launched  an  experimental  monthly  index  of  services  (IoS)  in 
response  to  demands  from  users  of  economic  data.  It  completed  the  first  stage  of  a 
development  programme  aimed  at  improving  the  periodicity,  range  and  quality  of  output 
indicators  for  the  UK  service  industries.  The  IoS  is  consistent  with  the  corresponding 
quarterly series in the output or production measure of GDP.  

This paper explains the background to how the IoS has been developed, what work has been 
completed  so  far  and  the  methodology  and  data  sources  that  make  up  the  index.  The  paper 
then  looks  at  the  programme  in  place  for  improving  the  IoS  through  its  established 
development  programme.  Since  these  developments  will  also  improve  the  quality  of  the 
quarterly  output  measure  of  GDP  it  will  move  the  ONS  towards  publication  of  a  monthly 
estimate of GDP. 

Introduction 

the reasons why the Index of Services has been developed 

Service industries account for around two thirds of GDP in the UK. An experimental constant 
price monthly Index of Services has been developed in response to user demands. This paper 
covers the following: 
• 
•  what we have done so far 
• 
• 
• 

the methodology and data sources that make up the index 
the proportion of monthly data that make up the index 
the development programme that is in place to improve the IoS. 

Why develop an index of services? 

Over the years, in the UK, services have become a much larger part of the economy. In 1948, 
services  accounted  for  only  46%  of  the  economy,  whereas  now  it  accounts  for  66%.  The 
increasing dominance of the services sector has meant increased pressure for more timely data 
to measure the service sector In response, the ONS has developed an experimental constant 
price monthly index of service sector output. 

Much of the pressure has come from the main users; HM Treasury and Bank of England. In 
the  UK,  the  Bank  of  England  is  responsible  for  setting  UK  interest  rates  (Monetary  Policy 
Committee). 

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78

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
They want ONS to redress the imbalance between the data available for the production sector 
and  the  data  available  for  the  service  sector,  both  in  terms  of  data  quality  and  timeliness. 
Currently the UK's monthly Index of Production (IoP) is published 5½ weeks after the end of 
the  month,  but  as  the  Bank  and  HM  Treasury  are  particularly  interested  in  improving  the 
quality of the indicators, it may prove impractical to publish a monthly index of services to 
the same timescale as the IoP.  

The  other  main  benefit  of  developing  a  monthly  IoS  is  that  it  drives  improvements  to  the 
quarterly GDP estimates in terms of improving the data sources and improving the quality of 
the early estimate of the quarterly output measure of GDP (GDP(O)). The IoS and GDP(O) 
share the same data sources and methods. 

What have we done so far 

Work started in this area in 1999, and the first output was an Index of Distribution (CPA50-
52). This was launched as an experimental series in December 1999. In the UK experimental 
series are data that are still being tested and are not yet fully developed, but they have been 
released for three main reasons: 
• 
• 
•  and for people to use knowing the limitations of the series). 

in order to consult with potential users whilst developing the series 
to acclimatise users with the new series  

A  year  later  the  experimental  index  for  the  rest  of  services  was  published.  The  series  is 
published monthly and is broken down into 5 broad industry categories. These are: 
•  distribution 
•  hotels and restaurants 
• 
•  business and finance 
•  government and other services. 

transport, storage and communications 

The IoS and IoD were originally published 13½ weeks after the end of the month, however in 
May  2001,  the  Index  of  Distribution  was  given  First  Release  status  and  at  the  same  time 
publication  was  speeded  up  to  9½  weeks.  This  followed  an  extensive  evaluation  process 
within ONS. 

In January 2002, publication of the IoS was speeded up to 9½ weeks. 

Methodology and sources 

As mentioned above, the IoS uses the same data sources and methods as used to compile the 
service element of quarterly GDP(O). The main sources are as follows: 

Turnover — the ONS has been conducting turnover inquiries for the service sector since the 
early  90's.  They  were  originally  collected  quarterly  but  have  all  now  been  converted  to 
monthly. As well as ONS surveys, administrative turnover data is also used both as a proxy 
for measuring movements in GVA and also to validate ONS surveys. The table below shows 
the  industries  currently  covered.  In  total  30,000  forms  are  sent  out  each  month  to  service 
sector companies. 

79

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 1:  Coverage of UK Monthly turnover survey 

SIC 
50.1  Sale of motor vehicles 

Description 

  SIC 
  55.5  Canteens and catering 

Description 

  SIC 
  74.1 Legal, consultancy etc; 

Description 

holdings 

50.2  Maintenance & repair of 

  60.2  Other land transport 

  74.2 Architectural, technical 

motors 

consult 

50.3  Sale of motor vehicle parts 

  63.1  Cargo handling and 

  74.3 Technical testing and 

etc 

50.4  Sale, repair etc m'cycles & 

parts 

50.5  Retail sale of automotive 

fuel 

storage 
  63.2  Other supporting 
transport 

  63.3  Travel agencies etc; 
tourist nec 

analysis 

  74.4 Advertising 

  74.5 Labour recruitment 

51.5  Wholesale fee or contract 

  63.4  Other transport agencies   74.6 Investigation & security 

basis 

51.2  Wholesale raw materials & 

  64.12  Courier other than 

  74.7 Industrial cleaning 

animals 

51.3  Wholesale food, beverages 

& tobacco 

national post 
  64.2  Telecommunications 

  74.8 Miscellaneous business 

nec 

51.4  Wholesale of household 

  71.1  Renting of automobiles 

  80.3 Higher education 

goods 

51.5  Wholesale intermediate 

prods, waste 
51.6  Wholesale machines, 
equipment etc 
51.7  Other wholesale nec 

55.1  Hotels 

55.2  Camp sites & short-stay 

accom’n 

55.3  Restaurants 

  71.2  Rent other transport 
equipment 

  80.4 Adult and other 

education 

  71.3  Rent other machinery & 

  85.1 Human health activities 

equipment 

  71.4  Rent personal & h’hold 

  85.2 Veterinary activities 

goods nec 

  72.2  Software consultancy 
and supply 
  72.5  Maintenance office, 

comp’g mach 
  72.6  Other computer related 

activities 

  90  Refuse disposal, 

sanitation etc 
  92.2 Radio and television 

activities 

  92.3 Other entertainment 

activities 

55.4  Bars 

  73.2  R&D on social sciences & 

  92.4 News agency activities 

human’s 

  93  Other service activities 

Deflators  —  in  the  UK  a  range  of  corporate  service  price  indices  are  collected  and  these 
measure  the  prices  of  services  that  are  sold  between  businesses.  These  series  are  currently 
experimental, but a small number are already used within the IoS and GDP(O). Where these 
industry  specific  deflators  are  not  available,  CPIs  (Consumer  Price  Indices),  AEI  (Average 
Earnings Indices) PPIs (Producer Price Indices of manufactured products) are used. 

Volume  indicators  —  these  include  proxies  such  as  passenger  km  for  rail  travel,  volume  of 
letters delivered (broken down by type). 

Input indicators — for some industries these are the only short-term indicators available, the 
most obvious of which is employment. 

eurostat

80

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chart 1:   Composition of the IoS by indicator (as at 02/2002) 

39%

S
o
I

f
o
n
o
i
t
r
o
p
o
r
P

45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%

21%

26%

14%

Deflated service
turnover

Volume series

Other current price

Employment

Type of indicator

As well as using the same data sources and methods in  both the services part of the quarterly 
GDP(O) and the experimental monthly the two teams work closely together in compiling the 
indices. The monthly IoS is presently constrained to the quarterly path of GDP(O). 

Proportion of monthly data 

At present, the IoS is made up of 38% monthly data, with the rest either quarterly or in some 
cases  annual.  However,  this  proportion  is  not  equal  across  the  service  industries.  The 
following graph shows the breakdown by the 5 broad industry categories. 

Chart 2:   Proportion of monthly data in IoS component series (02/2002) 

100%

2%

5%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

98%

95%

64%

36%

83%

17%

93%

7%

Distribution

Hotels &
Restaurants

Transport, storage
& comms

Business services
& finance

Government &
other services

Monthly Other

81

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
As the graph shows, the source data is mostly monthly within distribution and within hotels 
and restaurants, whereas only 7% of source data for government is available monthly. 

One obvious question is, what do we do where we do not have any monthly data available? 
The procedure that we use is to forecast the quarter three points ahead and then interpolate a 
monthly path. Forecasting is carried out using the Holt-Winters method and interpolation uses 
a cubic spline. More details of these procedures can be found within the IoS documentation 
on the ONS website (see link at end of document). 

Developments 

We will now look at the development programme that is in place to take the IoS forward and 
eventually lead to the dropping of the experimental label. 

When  the  experimental  IoS  was  launched,  an  article  was  also  published  that  set-out  the 
development programme. There are four main themes: 
• 
• 
• 
• 

improving timeliness 
improving data sources and methods 
increasing "monthliness" 
improving the range of price indices used. 

Improving timeliness — Speeding up 

We  have  already  seen  the  steps  taken  in  publishing  the  IoS  and  IoD  more  quickly.  Future 
improvements  will  come  from  carrying  out  the  procedures  for  constructing  and  quality 
assuring the index more. 

Improving data sources and methods 

The strategy that has been adopted for improving the data sources and methods is an industry-
by-industry  review  approach.  Each  of  the  industries  within  services  will,  over  time,  be 
reviewed. 

The review process examines the existing data sources and methods. The current methods are 
then  evaluated  against  the  Eurostat  guidance  for  annual  price  and  volume  measurement. 
Alternative data sources that are available are investigated; this includes both internal sources 
(this is mainly through taking on the ONS turnover data that has been collected since the early 
90s that has not yet been used within quarterly GDP(O)) and external data sources (i.e. other 
government departments, external organisations). Consultation is also held, this can be with 
trade  associations,  industry  experts,  academics  and  other  NSIs.    Once  a  preferred  option  is 
identified, the data is tested. This is followed by a National Accounts Peer Group Appraisal, 
where 
to  National  Accounts  experts  and 
is  presented 
Methodologists  within  ONS  and  approval  is  sought.  Once  this  has  been  completed,  final 
reports  for  industry  are  written  and  the  system  changes  implemented  on  the  computer 
systems. 

the  proposed  methodology 

eurostat

82

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This  process  has  already  reviewed  the  motor  trade  and  wholesale  industries.  For  the  motor 
trade  we  are  currently  using  volume  data  of  vehicle  registrations  and  petrol  and  from  June 
2002 will be using deflated turnover. 

For wholesale we are currently using deflated turnover for parts of the wholesale division, and 
we use the IoP and Retail Sales Index as proxies for wholesaling for over 75% of the division. 
As a result of the industry review we will be using deflated turnover for all of wholesale from 
June 2002. 

Future programme of reviews 

In planning the future programme of reviews, we have been faced with competing priorities, 
these include: 
•  addressing recognised weaknesses 
• 
• 

taking on new data sources 
reviewing rapidly changing industries 

After consultation with our main users, we have set out the future programme of reviews that 
yields a balanced approach to addressing the various priorities. As a result the reviews that are 
currently taking place are retail and computer services, and these will be followed by post and 
telecommunications,  hotels  and  restaurants  and  other  business  services.  The  aim  is  to  cover 
the entire service sector.  

Improved "monthliness" 

As the slide earlier showed, the Index of Services currently comprises of 38% monthly data, 
and part of the development programme is focussed on using more monthly data. There are 
three main areas that we are looking at. 

The  main  way  that  the  proportion  of  monthly  data  will  be  increased  is  by  using  the  ONS 
turnover survey data as monthly data. The ONS services turnover survey was converted from 
quarterly to monthly in two stages, in April 2000 and January 2001. Although it is collected 
monthly,  since  there  is  insufficient  monthly  data  in  order  to  seasonal  adjust  (at  least  two 
years, preferably three years data are required), we have to wait a minimum of 2 years before 
the  monthly  data  can  be  used  within  the  IoS.  We  will  not  be  able  to  derive  a  seasonally 
adjusted monthly path from the newly converted monthly data until April 2002 at the earliest, 
for those industries that were converted to monthly in the first stage and January 2003 for the 
other industries. 

The  graph  overleaf  shows  the  proportion  of  monthly  data  within  the  IoS  components  once 
these monthly series have been taken on. 

83

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chart 3:   Proportion of monthly data in IoS component series (from 06/2002) 

0%

0%

100%

100%

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

51%

49%

49%

51%

90%

10%

Distribution

Hotels &
Restaurants

Transport, storage
& comms

Business services
& finance

Government &
other services

Monthly Other

As can be seen, both distribution and hotels and restaurants will be exclusively monthly data, 
transport,  storage  and  communications  and  business  services  and  finance  will  remain  at 
roughly 50% monthly data. Government and other services will see a slight increase to 10% 
monthly data. Overall the proportion of monthly data will increase from 38% to 48%. 

Turnover data is currently collected for 45% of the service industries (by GVA), but there are 
areas such as finance and government where turnover is not a suitable proxy for value added.  
There is a particularly low proportion of monthly data within government and finance. 

We  are  also  reviewing  the  data  that  we  currently  receive  on  a  quarterly  basis from  external 
sources  and  asking  suppliers  (mainly  other  government  departments),  whether  they  have 
monthly data available. 

Linked  to  this,  we  are  also  considering  benchmarking  monthly  series  onto  series  that  we 
currently  receive  quarterly.  Good  examples  of  this  may  be  in  health,  where  more  detailed 
quality data is available only quarterly, and key output indicators may be available monthly, 
which, although lower in quality (they don’t measure output directly), can help to inform the 
monthly path of the quarterly data. 

Improving the range of price indices 

The final area of development is in the field of service price indices. In the UK, there has been 
a rolling programme of developing CSPIs (Corporate Service Price Indices). 

CSPIs  are  based  on  the  price  movements  of  services  provided  to  the  business  community, 
central and local government. Virtually all of the activities classified to the service sector are 
covered,  but  any  element  where  the  service  is  provided  directly  to  the  individual  for  final 
consumption is excluded. 

eurostat

84

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Just over 50% of the potential coverage has been achieved so far. Indices for 28 industries are 
currently  released  every  quarter  along  with  an  experimental  top-level  index  in  the 
experimental statistics area on the ONS website. 

It is the aim of the IoS development programme, to take on CSPIs once they are developed, 
for inclusion as deflators within the IoS and GDP(O). The development programmes of both 
IoS and CSPI are linked closely together. 

A separate paper on the agenda of this meeting will provide an overview of the UK CSPIs. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The experimental monthly IoS is a first step toward providing, for the service industries, the 
periodicity,  range  and  quality  of  output  indicators  that  has  existed  for  the  production 
industries for many years. By improving the quality of the service industry output statistics, it 
will in turn, improve the quality of the quarterly estimate of GDP(O), by improving the data 
sources and quality and by increasing the amount of data available when the early estimate of 
GDP(O) is published. 

Although  we  have  made  encouraging  progress  we  acknowledge  that  this  is  a  long-term 
project with a lot of work ahead and many outstanding issues that need to be addressed. 

85

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
REFERENCES 

1  Rob  Pike  and  Geoff  Reed.  Introducing  the  Experimental  Monthly  Index  of  Services. 
Economic Trends, No 565 December 2000. 
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/themes/economy/articles/general/extracts/downloads/Experiment
al_Monthly_IoS_Aug_2000.pdf  

2  Hugh  Skipper  and  Ian  Cope.  Plans  for  the  Development  of  a  Monthly  Index  of  Services. 
Economic Trends, No. 551 October 1999. 
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/themes/economy/articles/general/extracts/downloads/Experiment
al_Monthly_IoS_Aug_2000.pdf  

3 Gross Domestic Product: Output approach (Gross Value Added), GSS Methodology Series 
No.15,  1999,  a  GSS  publication  available  from  the  National  Statistics  Direct  on  01633-
812078. 

4  Hugh  Skipper  and  Ian  Cope.  Release  of  a  Prototype  Monthly  Index  of  Distribution. 
Economic Trends, No. 553 December 1999. 
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/themes/economy/articles/shorttermindicators/downloads/Indexof
Services.pdf  

5 Index of Services methodology – this can be found on the ONS website 
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/themes/economy/articles/shorttermindicators/IoS_Methodology/
default.asp 

For more information on the IoS, including latest data and some of the articles above, please 
visit IoS area on the National Statistics website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/ios  

eurostat

86

 
 
 
 
 
 
Seminar

Service Statistics within Short-term 

business statistics

Luxemburg, February 2002

Franz-Josef Klein

87

eurostat

Short-term opinion surveys in the surveys sectors

Sample

Timing

Periodicity

Questionnaire

Sample and Response rate.

I N S T I T U T E

W I F O
B N B
D S T
I F O
IN T E R G A L L U P
C F I E
I N S E E
F E I R
I S A E
E S R I
S T A T E C
C B S
I N E
N I E R
G F K  U K

E T H
G K I
E K I

S A M P L E

1 5 4 0 + 8 4
9 9 9

1 ,2 2 0
6 3 8 + 6 4
7 5 + 1 0
4 ,3 0 0

1 ,0 0 0

5 ,0 0 0
9 2 6 + 4 4
1 4 5 0 + 8 5 0
5 0 0 + 3 0 0

1 ,4 3 0
1 ,6 0 0
1 2 0

R E S P O N S E
R A T E
 (%)

3 8
9 0 -9 4

5 0 -7 0
2 0 -2 3
8 0 -8 5
5 5 -7 0

1 4 -1 7

6 5 -7 0
5 3 -6 7

6 6 /7 7
2 0 -2 5
7 0 -8 0

eurostat

88

Timing

• Fieldwork: in the first half of the month

• Results arrive at the Commission before the 

end the month

• The Comission will publish the results on 

the last working day of the month  

Periodicity?

6

4

3

Monthly

Quarterly

Other

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

89

eurostat

Questionnaire service sector

• Assessment of business climate

– good
– satisfactory(normal for the season)
– bad

• Evolution of demand in recent months

– Up
– Unchanged
– Down

Questionnaire service sector

• Evolution of demand expected in the 

months ahead
– Up
– Unchanged
– Down

• Evolution of employment in recent months

– Up
– Unchanged
– Down

eurostat

90

Questionnaire service sector

• Evolution of employment expected in the 

months ahead
– Up
– Unchanged
– Down

Do you consider the questionnaire adequate?

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

1 1

2

0

Y es

No

N/A

91

eurostat

 
Do you include more questions?

9

4

Yes

No

N/A

0

Rate of response suitable?

10

3

0

Yes

No

N/A

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

eurostat

92

 
 
What are the more significant sectors?

Very Important

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

63.3

64 65 66 67 70 80 85 91 92

•
•
•

•

•

•
•
•
•

•

63.3 travel agencies
64    post and telecomm.
65    financial intermediation 
excl. 66
66    insurance and pension 
funding
67    activities auxiliary to 
financial intermediation
70   real estate activities
80   education
85   health an social work
91   activities of memberships 
organizations
92   recreational, cultural and 
sporting activities

What are the more significant sectors?

Important

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

63.3

64 65 66 67 70 80 85 91 92

•
•
•

•

•

•
•
•
•

•

63.3 travel agencies
64    post and telecomm.
65    financial intermediation 
excl. 66
66    insurance and pension 
funding
67    activities auxiliary to 
financial intermediation
70   real estate activities
80   education
85   health an social work
91   activities of 
memberships organizations

92   recreational, cultural and 
sporting activities

93

eurostat

 
What are the more significant sectors?

Important

•
•
•

•

•

•
•
•
•

•

63.3 travel agencies
64    post and telecomm.
65    financial intermediation 
excl. 66
66    insurance and pension 
funding
67    activities auxiliary to 
financial intermediation
70   real estate activities
80   education
85   health an social work
91   activities of 
memberships organizations

92   recreational, cultural and 
sporting activities

63.3 64 65 66 67 70 80 85 91 92

What are the more significant sectors?

"Significance" index

•

•
•
•

•
•

•

•
•
•

65 Financial intermediation exc. 
insurance & pension funding
64 Post & telecommunications
66 Insurance & pension funding
67 Activities auxiliary to 
financial intermediation
63.3 Travel agencies
70 Real estate activities

92 Recreational, cultural and 
sporting activities
80 Education
85 Health an social work
91 Activities of memberships 
organizations

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

18

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

65 64 66 67 63,3 70 92 80 85 91

eurostat

94

 
0

EU

Min.

Max.

2002

2001

6  12-94

-27  07-93

-28  07-93

Since 01/1990

1. industrial conf. ind.

2. consumer conf. ind.

Value Date Value Date

Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec.

Indicators of confidence and economic sentiment (s.a.) 

Economic sentiment indicator
(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)
(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)

(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)

103,1 102,5 102,1 101,6 101,1 100,7 100,1 100,1

103,2 102,5 102,2 101,5 101,4 101,1 100,3 100,3

3. construction conf. ind.

3. construction conf. ind.

=5. economic sent. ind.

=5. economic sent. ind.

4. retail trade conf. ind.

4. retail trade conf. ind.

93,1  08-93 104,6  06-00

93,5  07-93 104,4  06-00

2. consumer conf. ind.

1. industrial conf. ind.

6. services conf. ind.

6. services conf. ind.

-21  03-93

-44  10-93

-18  12-92

-31  08-93

-29  08-93

-47  10-93

34  06-00

34  06-00

-6  11-01

-4  11-01

7  06-00

2  01-01

4  03-90

8  06-00

2  12-00

6  03-90

6  06-00

Euro

area

Jan.

99,1

98,6

98,9

99,0

99,3

98,7

98,9

99,3

-10

-12

-10

-10

-10

-11

-13

-17

-19

-19

-16

-10

-12

-10

-10

-11

-16

-18

-17

-14

-10

-12

-11

-12

26

25

25

23

23

17

14

26

25

24

22

21

18

13

12

12

-9

-8

-4

-7

-7

-4

-8

-6

-9

-9

-4

-5

-8

-2

-2

-8

-9

-2

-4

-5

-3

-5

-5

-2

-5

-4

-7

-6

-1

-4

-5

-2

-8

-9

-2

-5

-7

-9

-5

-2

-6

-5

-8

-1

-4

-8

-1

-2

-3

-7

-4

-7

-9

-9

-3

-6

-1

-4

-3

-7

-9

-3

-6

-2

-2

-2

-8

-5

-8

0

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

0

-7

-8

-6

-1

-4

4 3

3 8

1 4

1 7

2 3

2 5

3 4

1 3

1 8

2 2

2 5

3 4

1 2

2 5

2 3

2 5

2 6

2 1

2 4

2 6

EU

EU

J u ly

M a y

M in .

J a n .

O c t .

A p r .

N o v .

D e c .

S e p .

J u n e

A u g .

M a x .

2 0 0 2

2 0 0 1

 0 8 -0 0

 0 6 -0 0

 0 6 -0 0

 1 1 -0 1

 1 1 -0 1

 1 1 -0 1

 1 1 -0 1

C L IM A T E

S ER V IC ES

Eu r o   a r e a

Eu r o   a r e a

IN D IC A T O R

F e b . M a r .

EV O L U T IO N

O F   D EM A N D

C O N F ID EN C E

O F   B U S IN ES S

S in c e  0 1 / 1 9 9 0

A S S ES S M EN T

V a lu e D a t e V a lu e D a t e

M o n t h ly   s u r v e y   o f  s e r v ic e s   —   M o n t h ly   q u e s tio n s

B a la n c e s :  i. e .  d if f e r e n c e s   b e tw e e n  t h e  p e r c e n t a g e s  o f  r e s p o n d e n t s  g iv in g   p o s itiv e  a n d   n e g a tiv e  r e p lie s  ( s .a . )

(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)

Services indicator
(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)
(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)
(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)
(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)
(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)

IN  T H E  M O N T H S

IN  T H E  M O N T H S

EV O L U T IO N  O F

EV O L U T IO N  O F

EM PL O Y M EN T

EM PL O Y M EN T

O F   D EM A N D

EV O L U T IO N

Eu r o   a r e a

Eu r o   a r e a

Eu r o   a r e a

Eu r o   a r e a

IN  R EC EN T

IN  R EC EN T

EX PEC T ED

EX PEC T ED

M O N T H S

M O N T H S

A H EA D

A H EA D

 1 1 -0 1

 0 1 -0 2

 0 1 -0 2

 1 1 -0 1

 0 5 -9 8

 0 5 -0 0

 0 8 -0 0

 0 3 -0 0

 0 3 -0 0

 1 2 -0 1

 1 2 -0 1

 1 1 -0 1

 1 1 -0 1

 0 6 -0 0

 0 3 -9 9

 0 2 -0 1

 0 2 -0 1

EU

EU

EU

EU

-1 6

-1 1

-1 1

-1 1

-1 6

3 5

3 3

2 8

3 3

3 4

2 9

1 6

1 6

2 2

1 8

1 4

2 1

1 6

1 4

2 0

2 1

2 9

2 3

2 4

1 8

1 8

1 5

1 7

1 7

1 6

3 8

2 3

2 1

1 5

1 2

1 2

1 2

1 7

1 6

1 5

3 6

3 1

1 7

3 9

3 6

3 0

2 1

2 1

1 8

2 7

1 6

1 0

2 7

1 6

1 1

2 2

2 2

1 5

1 2

2 1

2 1

1 4

2 5

1 9

1 9

1 3

2 8

2 4

2 1

1 6

3 1

1 3

1 2

3 2

1 0

1 0

1 7

-4

-4

-4

-5

-3

-4

-4

-3

-2

-6

-5

-6

-8

-7

-2

-4

-7

-5

-4

-4

-6

-6

-7

-4

-1

-5

-3

-4

-3

0

8

0

5

3

1

9

7

8

8

2

0

1

8

9

5

7

8

2

0

8

5

2

0

9

9

6

2

0

5

1

1

1

6

6

4

5

95

eurostat

 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE CORPORATE SERVICES PRICE 
INDEX: 
An interim progress report produced for the Statistical 
Office of the European Community (Eurostat) 

Nick Palmer 
Corporate Services Price Index Branch 
Office for National Statistics, UK 

Introduction 

1.  This is an interim progress report produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for 
the Statistical Office of the European Community (Eurostat) in support of an application 
for payment of €30,000, being the second tranche of a grant of €150,000 in total agreed in 
December, 2000 (Eurostat Contract ς 200044200018). The first payment of €60,000 was 
made  in  January,  2001.  The  report  is  required  specifically  under  Article  5  of  the  Grant 
Agreement – Reports and Other Documents. 

Summary 

2.  The  overall  objectives  of  the  programme,  to  develop  a  full  range  of  price  indices  for 
corporate  services  in  the  UK,  were  outlined  in  detail  in  the  documentation  provided  in 
o
support  of  the  first  grant  application  for  this  project  (Eurostat  Contract  N
  9.442.016, 
agreed  in  December  1999).  The  project  comprises  three  phases,  linked  by  a  common 
thread,  and  this  report  specifically  refers  to  progress  on  the  second  phase.  The  table 
attached to this report at Annex A illustrates the phases in detail. 

3.  Significant progress has been made against the key areas of the project plan (as set out in 
the Strategic Development Proposal included with the contract documents). Expectations 
have been exceeded in terms of wider dissemination and the CSPI quarterly publication is 
achieving  recognition  as  being  a  reliable  and  key  source  of  data.  For  example,  CSPI  is 
acknowledged  as  a  key  source  of  data  by  the  Bank  of  England’s  Monetary  Policy 
Committee in its regular Inflation Report which sets out its decisions on base interest rates 
and  the  reasons  for  any  changes.  A  full  copy  of  this  report  is  available  on-line  at 
www.bankofengland.co.uk/inflationreport. 

4.  The  excellent  working  relationships  have  continued  with  colleagues  in  other  national 
statistical offices such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa, the US and other 
Member  States  of  the  European  Community.  The  exchange  of  ideas  and  procedures 
through  forums  such  as  the  Voorburg  conferences  has  been  an  important  element  in  the 
ongoing development process, leading to the consideration of some of the UK’s methods 
and procedures by other countries, and vice versa. The UK has also provided guidance to 
other  Member  States,  e.g.  Statistics  Sweden,  during  visits  and  presentations  and  the 
feedback  received  has  been  very  positive.  As  a  result  of  this  growing  level  of  contact, 
recognition of ONS as one of the leaders in the field of measuring and monitoring price 
movements in the area of services provided to corporate consumers has increased. 

eurostat

96

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Background 

5.  Very limited development of service sector price indices began in the early 1990s as an 
adjunct  to  the  familiar  and  well-established  Producer  Price  Index  (PPI)  system  for 
estimating  price  changes  in  manufactured  goods.  Initial  efforts  concentrated  on  price 
collection  in  a  small  number  of  relatively  straightforward  industries  where  collection 
methods used were very similar to those already in place for the PPI. The first inquiries 
were voluntary and went to around 150 companies in five industries. 

6.  In  1995,  the  ONS  committed  further  resources  for  the  independent  development  of  service 
sector prices with the establishment of a proper branch structure (Corporate Services Price Index 
branch) and the employment of dedicated staff to take things forward. After a slow beginning, 
the  number  of  industries  published  and  under  development  has  increased  substantially;  28 
separate service sector indices are now published and a further 15 are under active development. 
A  wide  range  of  price  collection  methodologies  are  employed  to  cope  with  the  problems  of 
defining  prices  in  some  of  the  more  difficult  industries  generally  defined  as  “professional 
business services”, such as architects and legal services. 

7.  Funding  for  the  first  full  year  of  the  expansion  was  grant-aided  by  the  European 
Community and the availability of this aid is seen by ONS as broad support by Eurostat 
for the overall development programme (with its potential as a pilot study for any future 
statistical  outputs  of  a  similar  nature  produced  by  other  Member  States).  It  is  also  an 
important endorsement of the programme’s primary objectives. 

8.  Development of the UK indices for prices in the corporate services sector has not been in 
isolation;  every  opportunity  has  been  taken  to  incorporate  the  advances  made  by  other 
countries in this field. The ONS has continued to liaise closely with the Australian Bureau 
of Statistics, Statistics Canada and the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, all of whom have 
made  significant  and  valued  contributions  to  the  UK’s  progress  in  this  field.  ONS 
continues  to  be  a  major  participant  and  contributor  at  international  conferences,  such  as 
Voorburg, which helps to maintain these established contacts. 

9.  The  development  of  this  increasingly  important  economic  measure  has  been  expanded 
again  in  2001/2002  by  the  recruitment  of  extra  staff  resources.  This  has  enabled  the 
expansion of the development work to continue and for important work to commence on 
rebasing  the  current  CSPI  indices  from  1995=100  to  2000=100,  in  accordance  with  the 
requirements  of  the  primary  users.  A  key  element  of  the  rebasing  exercise  is  a  one-off 
survey  to  collect  turnover  information  by  service  category,  and  such  a  survey  has  been 
conducted during the latter part of 2001 with results due by April 2002. The information 
obtained  from  the  survey  has  many  potential  uses  beyond  the  rebasing  project;  it  will 
provide essential information for sampling, recruitment and development, for example. 

10. Another  major  area  of  development  is  the  current  and  future  use  of  outputs  as  deflators 
within the National Accounts. CSPI data are currently used as deflators for 8 indices in the 
quarterly GDP(O) and Index of Services (IoS) and indices for a further 15 industries have 
been  identified,  and  prioritised,  for  future  incorporation  by  these  key  users.  A  key 
milestone  was  achieved  in  this  phase  of  the  development  when  a  set  of  quality-based 
acceptance criteria, to be satisfied prior to adoption of CSPI data for deflation purposes, 
was  agreed  with  our  National  Accounts  users.  This  systematic  and  rigorous  evaluation 
process (as illustrated below) is thought to be the first to be adopted anywhere.  

97

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
Process for evaluating CSPIs as deflators for IoS/GDP(O) 

Q uality assurance report 
w ritten by C S P I 

A cceptance criteria 
assessm ent report 
provided by C S P I 

A /B   (cid:1)   Y es 

U sers docum ent decision 
w ith an evaluation 
response report 

C  (cid:1)   N o? 

C S P I taken on 
as a deflator 

D ecision to take 
on CSPI 
dependen t upon 
existing data 
source 

A reas of further 

developm ent highlighted 

CSPI form ulate 
action plan 

Progress achieved against the main elements of the development plan 

11. The  primary  objectives  of  the  development  project  were  defined  in  the  supporting 

documentation to the application for the first phase of the programme as follows: 

Wider dissemination 

(a)  The quarterly results continue to be easily accessible and available through the National 
Statistics  web  site  (www.statistics.gov.uk/cspi)  –  with  free  and  open  access  to  all.  On 
average, the results web page already receives more than 500 hits a month. There is also 
evidence of growing external demand for this data over the past year with more than 100 
regular users, within and outside the UK, now receiving an electronic version of the CSPI 
publication on the release date. The team also deals with around 20 ad hoc requests per 
month  for  data  and  advice  from  the  business  community  and  other  Government 
departments. 

(b)  Due  to  the  ongoing  review  of  the  National  Statistics  publication  policy,  which  also 
includes  reviewing  the  First  Release  series,  the  results  are  still  categorised  as 
experimental and will continue to be treated as such until the quality assurance process 
has been completed and identified improvements implemented. This does not appear to 
have  had  a  negative  impact  on  their  usefulness  in  the  wider  context,  however.  For 
example,  the  Bank  Of  England  uses  the  data  to  compare  price  inflation  with  data  on 
average costs index and average prices charged produced by the Institute of Purchasing 
and Supply, a well-respected industry source. 

eurostat

98

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(c)  The  scope  of  published  information  has  been  significantly  increased  with  data  for  28 
individual  service  industries  now  available  (compared  to  22  in  January  last  year).  The 
aim is to increase this to 35 by the end of 2002 or early 2003. 

(d)  Improvements  to  the  format  and  presentation  of  the  CSPI  publication  have  been  made 
each quarter and, due to fine tuning of the results procedures, the published data are now 
available almost a full week earlier in the cycle compared to twelve months ago. A full 
copy  of  the  latest  data  set  (for  the  third  quarter  of  2001)  is  attached  for  information  at 
Annex B of this report. 

(e)  In addition to the electronic release on the web, CSPI data continues to be made available 
through the regular publication of Economic Trends, following a launch article containing 
the first full set of results in the July, 2000 edition.  

12. There  are  10  main  strands  in  the  development  plan  and  the  progress  to  date  for  each  is 

reported below: 

(a) Development of reliable price mechanisms for remaining industries 

Work has continued in this area and some progress has been made in the development of 
representative  and  robust  pricing  mechanisms  in  the  areas  of  accountancy,  hotels,  legal 
and other professional services, as described below: 
•  Architects,  consulting  engineers  and  quantity  surveyors  –  In  the  light  of  work  by 
Statistics  Canada  and  the  CSPI  pilot  study  into  consulting  engineers,  the  notion  of 
using model prices approach has been replaced by a charge-out rate methodology. 
•  Legal  services  –  A  pilot  form  on  charge-out  rates,  for  data  collected  over  a  2  year 
period  (1998–2000),  has  been  analysed  thoroughly.  It  is  clear  that  the  open-ended 
survey  of  10  charge-out  rates  per  sector  will  have  to  be  further  refined.  The  inquiry 
will seek specific rates for the four grades of staff that have been identified (partner, 
solicitor, trainee, and administrative staff) although the details have yet to be finalised.  
•  Accountants  and  management  consultants  –  CSPI  will  accept  both  model  and  actual 
contract  prices  (primarily  from  small  and  medium  enterprises)  and  fee  income  by 
grade from larger companies, but these have yet to be integrated to form a composite 
index.  The  work  is  ongoing,  but  there  is  a  clear  case  to  differentiate  between 
accountancy and management consultancy services and so the eventual aim will be to 
produce two separate price indices.  

•  Hotels – The initial development programme is almost complete. Small but significant 
improvements  in  quality  have  been  identified  and  implemented,  by  enhancing  the 
sample  and  updating  the  family  tree  for  more  representative  coverage,  for  example. 
The index is being considered for inclusion in the experimental statistics series in the 
near future. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  the  final  industry  development  and  QA  reports  –  including  any 
conclusions and recommendations for action - are made widely available for evaluation, 
analysis  and  comment  by  key  users  and  other  interested  parties.  The  development  and 
QA processes are open and transparent, and enables early notification and validation of 
proposed  methodology  changes,  pricing  mechanisms  etc.  The  following  diagram 
illustrates the full development and evaluation process. 

99

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
CSPI Development
P

      Stage 1                   Stage 2

      Stage 3                    Stage 4                 Stage 5             Stage 6            Stage 7

Primary
development

Experimental
status assessment

OK

Published
experimental
CSPI

Not OK

Deflator
assessment

    OK

Not
OK

Quality
assurance

OK

Experimental
status review

 Not OK

Further
development or
redevelopment

CSPI
usable as
deflator

Published
CSPI

Regular
quality
assurance

Continued
publication

Deficiencies

e.g new products
       identified

(b)  Quality assurance of all developed industries and those currently under development 

A comprehensive programme to ensure a rigorous quality assurance review (QA) under 
an  agreed  protocol  has  continued  and  all  current  industries  are  subject  to  this  process, 
Reports for six industries have been finalised, twelve industries are currently undergoing 
this  process  and  are  at  various  stages  of  completion  (target  is  end-2002)  and  the 
remaining ten industries will undergo the QA process during 2002/2003. Two industries 
are being re-developed, namely: 
•  Business Telecommunications – Through discussions with the Government regulator, 
Oftel, it became apparent that: (i) the trend recorded in the current CSPI index was too 
stable,  (ii)  the  changing  rates  and  variables  of  the  mobile  telephone  sector  were  not 
being  adequately  reflected  and  (iii)  the  model  for  monitoring  fixed-line  telephone 
services  was  weakened  by  the  huge  growth  in  Internet  use  and  changes  in  available 
discounts. Therefore a new methodology (based on revenues and volumes), which has 
the flexibility to react better to changing technology, is being developed. This is being 
done in conjunction with our colleagues in the Retail Price Index (RPI) as the industry 
is an important element in both indices. 

•  Computer  Services  –  Data  have  been  collected  for  a  range  of  activities  within  this 
industry since 1998, but an index has not been published due to problems caused by 
the  rapidly  changing  technology.  The  key  area  is  understanding  the  technical 
specifications of the service contracts and changes to them which might impact on the 
quality  of  the  service.  At  the  outset,  supplier  companies  were  not  asked  to  provide 
sufficient details of the services supplied and so it is difficult to accurately assess the 
impact of any changes to the service. Consultation with industry continues in order to 
resolve  the  problem  and  a  strategy  for  interpreting  future  changes  in  a  consistent 
manner is being developed. 

Each  of  the  key  elements  in  the  development  phase  (structure  of  the  industry,  sample 
design,  pricing  mechanism,  etc.)  are  re-visited  and  re-evaluated  during  the  QA  process. 
The views of both data providers and data users are key inputs to this, especially in the 
context of the quality of the relevant industry index produced to date. Although progress 
has  been  made  with  the  quality  assurance  programme,  some  resources  have  had  to  be 
diverted over the last few months to work on the rebasing project, checking the integrity 
of historical data prior to the construction of the new rebased series. 

eurostat

100

 
 
 
 
 
 
The progress reports for the following industries are available: 
•  Car repair and maintenance 
•  Car contract hire 
•  Telecommunications 
•  Security services 
•  Couriers 
•  Technical testing. 

(c)  Re-assessment of weighting schemes 

The methodology has been reviewed as part of the QA process, and all weights are being 
re-evaluated.  New  weighting  patterns  will  be  derived  for  products  as  a  result  of  the 
rebasing  project,  i.e.  2000=100.  The  turnover  inquiry,  which  is  the  first  stage  of  the 
project, will be completed by the end of January 2002 and the aim is to re-calculate the 
top  index  weights  for  all  indices  by  October  2002.  The  implementation  of  any  new 
processes  will  be  dependent  on  data  produced  from  the  rebasing  process  and  revised 
results on 2000=100 are unlikely to be published until mid-2003. 

(d)  Establishment of CSPI database and improvements to the robustness and efficiency of 

data capture methods 
The  new  CSPI  inquiry  database  and  results  processing  system  was  successfully 
introduced  for  results  in  the  second  quarter,  2001.  The  processing  system  is  fully 
independent  of  the  monthly  PPI  system  and  specifically  deals  with  the  needs  of  data 
capture, validation and processing for a quarterly inquiry. Some of the key benefits of this 
database are: 
•  The system holds quarterly data making processing quicker and more reliable than the 

monthly system, whilst still allowing mid-quarter prices to be taken on. 

•  The Telephone Data Entry (TDE) programme works more efficiently and data can be 
completely  processed  and  cleared  within  this  system,  a  much  quicker  and  more 
effective approach. 

•  A new results calculation system has been introduced: it is quicker to use (all industry 
data can be processed in half an hour, compared to half a day) and enables on-screen 
analysis at each stage of the calculation process. 

•  More effective management information can be accessed quickly, enabling a greater 
range of integrity checks leading to improved data quality and more informative and 
useful briefing commentary. 

(e)  Development of CSPI compilation system 

There  has  been  approval  in  principle  for  a  comprehensive  re-development  of  the  basic 
index compilation system, to include all price index inquires within the ONS (including 
PPI and RPI), and that has subsumed the plan to independently develop a CSPI-specific 
routine.  The  new  CSPI  system  outlined  at  para.12(d)  above  has  been  introduced  as  an 
intermediate measure until the new processing system is available. The detailed business 
case  for  the  major  system  re-write  is  being  prepared  for  submission  to  the  ONS 
Investment Board with a decision on funding expected in April this year. 

(f)  Quarterly publication of experimental top-level CSPI data in Economic Trends 

The  CSPI  data  has  been  made  available  to  users  within  and  outside  government  via  a 
regular, quarterly article in Economic Trends since July, 2000. 

101

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(g)  Design  and  market  testing  of  CSPI  First  Release  format  and  content,  together  with 

release and revisions protocol 
As mentioned in para.11(b) above, the National Statistics publication policy is currently 
under review, including the “First Release” series. Regular improvements are being made 
to the presentation of results, even though there is now an established format and content 
for the CSPI publication; the next step will be to remove the experimental status and to 
incorporate  an  agreed  revisions  protocol.  In  the  short  term,  it  is  expected  that  some 
industry-specific indices will have this status removed when the relevant QA procedures 
have been completed. 

(h)  Research and development of price collection mechanisms for professional services 

Significant  progress  has  been  made  in  the  development  of  representative  and  robust 
pricing  mechanisms  for  professional  services,  see  para.12(a).  Banking  and  insurance 
services  are  the  two  largest,  and  most  complex  sectors  currently  in  the  process  of 
extended  development.  Positive  progress  has  been  made  with  both  industries  over  the 
past 12 months, following a series of meetings with senior representatives in both areas 
which  resulted  in  general  agreement  on  the  principles  and  procedures  to  be  followed. 
Discussions  with  representatives  are  currently  focused  on  the  fine  details  and 
practicalities of data collection, etc. 
•  Banking  —  ONS  has  been  working  in  close  consultation  and  collaboration  on 
methodological  issues;  a  joint  project  plan  has  been  set  up  involving  the  Bank  of 
England  and  the  British  Bankers’  Association.  Work  on  a  prototype  price  index  is 
progressing  (for  commercial  loans  and  deposits  only  at  the  moment)  using  data  on 
interest payments, balances and fees provided by the Bank of England. The proposed 
methodology  was  discussed  at  a  recent  international  conference  on  service  sector 
statistics. 

•  Insurance — Discussions have been held with representatives of various associations 
including  the  Association  of  British  Insurer’s  and  Lloyds  of  London  on  a  possible 
pricing methodology for this complex sector. A number of alternative methodologies 
are being explored but a final decision has yet to be made. 

(i)  Examination  of  the  methodology  underlying  the  collection  and  compilation  of  the 

indices 
Work  on  improving  all  methodology  underpinning  the  compilation  of  indices  is  an 
ongoing  process,  and  changes  to  processes  to  correct  any  apparent  weaknesses  are 
introduced  at  appropriate  times.  The  ONS’  Methodology  and  Statistical  Development 
Directorate  is  involved  in  key  areas  of  this  work  and  will  approve  and  endorse  any 
recommendations for change. The methodologists are advising on the development of an 
enhanced sampling strategy for the regular prices survey, based on contributors returning 
data to the turnover inquiry linked to the rebasing project. 

(j)  Rebasing the CSPI to the year 2000 

The  rebasing  project  started  in  April  2001;  a  project  plan  and  a  project  initiation 
document were created and an internal project board has met regularly since its inception. 
As  service  sector  statistics  in  the  UK  do  not  have  the  equivalent  of  the  manufacturing-
based PRODCOM inquiry, it was necessary to conduct an independent turnover survey to 
collect the relevant information on product category turnover for the new base year, 2000. 
A pilot survey was successfully carried out in August 2001, followed by the main survey 
in  September  2001.  Work  on  collecting,  validating  and  processing  this  data  will  be 
completed  by  end-January  2002,  well  within  the  projected  timescale,  with  final  results 

eurostat

102

 
 
 
due  in  April.  More  than  5,000  businesses  were  included  in  the  survey  and  a  very  good 
response  rate  of  over  75%  has  already  been  achieved.  Some  large  and  important 
businesses are still to respond, however, and work is currently focused on obtaining data 
from them. 

Phase 2 of the project will begin in February 2002 and will include the calculation of new 
product weights which will then be applied to the main CSPI dataset. A full set of CSPIs 
rebased  to  the  year  2000  is  due  to  be  available  by  mid-2003.  As  part  of  this  phase,  a 
recruitment exercise will begin for each industry in the published series, and those under 
development,  to  enhance  the  sample  for  the  regular  prices  survey.  The  objective  is  to 
double  both  the  existing  number  of  data  suppliers  (to  2,000)  and  prices  collected  (to 
around 6,000). The sample for recruiting the additional contributors will be derived from 
those which responded to the turnover inquiry. Recruitment of new contributors is due to 
start in April 2002 and will be staged over the remainder of this year. 

Conclusion 

13. On  the  basis  of  the  evidence  of  progress  made  on  the  development  of  the  CSPI  –  in 
accordance with the overall project plan, ONS requests payment of the second tranche of 
grant  aid  for  €30,000,  as  per  Article  5  of  the  Grant  Agreement  (Reports  and  Other 
Documents)  made  in  December,  2000,  contract  no.  200044200018.  An  invoice  for  said 
amount will be sent separately. 

14. Any further documentation or evidence required by Eurostat to support this application for 
payment will be provided. ONS will also be pleased to discuss any of the matters raised 
above or other related issues. Keith Jones (e-mail keith.h.jones@ons.gov.uk) tel.(44) 1633 
812037 or Sonia Jones on (44) 1633 812410 (e-mail sonia.jones@ons.gov.uk) should be 
contacted in the first instance for further information or advice required on any aspect of 
this report. 

Nick Palmer 
February, 2002 

Office for National Statistics 
Government Buildings 
Cardiff Road 
Newport 
Gwent NP10 8XG 
Tel. (44) 1633 813493 
E-mail: nicholas.palmer@ons.gov.uk 

103

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ANNEX: CORPORATE SERVICES PRICE INDEX (EXPERIMENTAL) 
– 4th QTR 2001 

Contact: Nick Palmer         UK Office for National Statistics 
Tel: (01633) 813493                          email: cspi@ons.gov.uk 

This summary contains the latest quarter’s results 
for  the  experimental  Corporate  Services  Price 
Index  (CSPI)  and  the  industry-level  indices  it 
encompasses.  “Corporate  services”  are 
those 
services purchased by businesses and government 
from  other  businesses  to  support  them  in  their 
usual  line  of  activity.  Broadly,  the  CSPI  is  the 
services  sector  equivalent  of  the  manufacturing 
Producer Price Index (PPI). 

An  article  published  in  the  July  2000  issue  of 
Economic Trends contained background details of 
the  development  of  the  CSPI  (also  available  at 
www.statistics.gov.uk/cspi). 

The main uses of the CSPI are as: 

(cid:127) 

(cid:127) 

(cid:127) 

a key indicator of inflation in the services 
sector; 
a deflator of service sector output for use 
in  calculating  GDP  and  the  Index  of 
Services; and 
an information tool for business itself. 

N.B.  Measurement  of  service  sector  prices  is 
inherently  difficult  and  challenging.  When 
viewing  the  results  it  should  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the 
indices  shown  are  regarded  as 
experimental,  particularly  those  that  have  been 
added to the series most recently. Therefore some 
of the results will be subject to revision before the 
completion of the CSPI development project. The 
index  should  also  be  viewed  as 
top-level 
experimental. 

Experimental top-level CSPI compared with the Retail Price index 
(RPI) for services and the PPI for manufactured products: 
percentage change on same quarter a year ago 

C S P I

P P I

R P I se rvice s

Q 1
1997

Q 2

Q 3

Q 4

Q 1
1998

Q 2

Q 3

Q 4

Q 1
1999

Q 2

Q 3

Q 4

Q 1
2000

Q 2

Q 3

Q 4

Q 1
2001

Q 2

Q 3

Q 4

6 .0

5 .0

4 .0

3 .0

2 .0

1 .0

0 .0

-1 .0

-2 .0

Results for Quarter 4, 2001 

The  top-level  CSPI  is  constructed  by  weighting 
together  the  currently  available  industry-level 
indices.  Coverage  is  now  around  50  per  cent  of 
the  total  turnover  of  the  targeted  corporate 
services sector. 

The  graph  above  shows  that  the  annual  rate  of 
increase  for  the  CSPI  reduced  to  3.9  per  cent  in 
Q4  2001,  compared  to  4.4  for  the  previous 
quarter.  (It  should  be  noted  that  the  prices 
collected are the average prices for each quarter) 

The  top-level  quarterly  results  are  shown  in  the 
table  on  the  next  page.  Results  are  also  shown 
with property rental payments excluded, due to its 
relatively  high  weighting  within  the  top-level 
index (just under a third). 

As a reminder, this summary includes revisions to 
the  indices  for  business  telecoms  and  technical 
testing  which  were  first  incorporated  into  the 
results for quarter 3 2001. These have had a minor 
effect on the top-level CSPI. 

eurostat

104

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Experimental corporate services price index (CSPI), 
quarterly index values and percentage changes: 

Quarterly CSPI index values (1995=100) 
Excluding rent 

Including rent 

Percentage change on same quarter in 
previous year (%) 

Including rent 

Excluding rent 

1996 

1997 

1998 

1999 

2000 

Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 

Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 

Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 

Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 

Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 

2001 

Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
       Q4 

100.5 
101.3 
101.6 
103.0 

104.2 
105.1 
105.7 
106.1 

107.0 
108.0 
108.5 
109.1 

110.2 
111.1 
112.0 
113.0 

113.8 
115.4 
116.7 
118.2 

120.0 
121.2 
121.8 
122.7 

100.2 
101.0 
101.2 
102.9 

104.2 
105.2 
105.6 
105.8 

106.4 
107.4 
107.7 
107.9 

108.8 
109.5 
109.8 
110.4 

111.0 
112.6 
113.7 
115.0 

116.6 
117.4 
117.6 
118.0 

In  Q4  2001,  the  CSPI  (including  property  rental 
payments)  rose  by  0.8  per  cent.  The  key  rises 
contributing  to  this  were  for  property  rental 
payments and road freight. Smaller impacts on the 
top-level CSPI were due to increases for business 
airfares and decreases for freight forwarding. 

The  top-level  CSPI  (excluding  property  rental 
payments)  is  compared  to  the  net  sector  output 
PPI for manufactured products in the top graph on 
the right. Prices of corporate services covered by 
this  inquiry  have  shown  a  relatively  smooth 
upward path since 1997 but have been rising at a 
greater  rate  over  this  period  than  that  of  the  PPI 
(which has begun to fall in recent quarters). 

The  annual  increases  have  been  slowing  for  both 
CSPI  and  PPI  in  recent  quarters.  Increases  in  the 
CSPI  have  almost  always  been  higher  than  PPI 
from 1997 onwards. 

0.7 
1.3 
1.7 
2.7 

3.6 
3.8 
4.0 
3.0 

2.7 
2.8 
2.7 
2.9 

3.0 
2.9 
3.2 
3.6 

3.2 
3.9 
4.1 
4.6 

5.4 
5.0 
4.4 
3.9 

0.2 
1.0 
1.4 
2.7 

4.0 
4.1 
4.3 
2.9 

2.2 
2.2 
1.9 
2.0 

2.2 
1.9 
2.0 
2.3 

2.0 
2.9 
3.5 
4.1 

5.0 
4.2 
3.4 
2.6 

Experimental top-level CSPI and PPI for manufactured 
products: index values (1995=100) 

C S P I excl rent

P P I m anuf. products

118

116

114

112

110

108

106

104

102

100

Q 1
1997

Q 2

Q 3

Q 4

Q 1
1998

Q 2

Q 3

Q 4

Q 2

Q 3

Q 4

Q 1
1999

Q 1
2000

Q 2

Q 3

Q 4

Q 1
2001

Q 2

Q 3

Q 4

Experimental top-level CSPI and PPI for manufactured 
products: percentage change on same quarter a year 
ago 

C S P I e xcl re nt

P P I m a nuf. p ro d ucts

Q 1
1997

Q 2

Q 3

Q 4

Q 1
1998

Q 2

Q 3

Q 4

Q 1
1999

Q 2

Q 3

Q 4

Q 1
2000

Q 2

Q 3

Q 4

Q 2

Q 3

Q 4

Q 1
2001

6.0

5.0

4.0

3.0

2.0

1.0

0.0

-1.0

-2.0

105

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Industry-specific indices 

the  28 

The  tables  on  the  next  4  pages  contain  the  series 
for 
indices  of 
industries  for  which 
corporate  services  prices  are  currently  available. 
The weighting for each index is shown separately 
for  when  property  rentals  are  included  and 
excluded. Some key points to note are: 
(cid:127)  bus  and  coach  hire  show  a  3.0  per  cent 
increase over the year for Q4 2001. Increases 
in  fuel  bills  and  drivers’  wages  remain  the 
major factors, according to the industry 
a 1.2 per cent price increase is shown for road 
freight in the latest quarter although prices are 
still  4.7  per  cent  higher  than  a  year  ago  – 
apparently mainly due to higher fuel costs; 
sea  and  coastal  water  freight  prices  show  a 
decrease  of  4.6  per  cent  this  quarter.  This 
decline is due to increasing competition in the 
market , according to the industry; 

(cid:127) 

(cid:127) 

(cid:127) 

(cid:127)  price increases for long-haul flights have been 
the  main  cause  for  the  2.0  increase  shown 
over last quarter for business airfares (10 per 
cent higher than a year ago), according to the 
industry; 
the  freight  forwarding  price  index  is  the 
lowest it has been since the series started and 
shows  a  1.0  per  cent  decrease  this  quarter, 
reportedly  due  to  market  conditions  and  a 
general decline in trade levels. 
increases  in  fuel  bills  and  drivers’  wages  are 
again reported to have been the main cause of 
a  3.7  per  cent  increase  for  courier  services 

(cid:127) 

over the last year, although the annual rate of 
increase has slowed. 

(cid:127)  property  rental  payments  are  6.5  per  cent 
higher than a year ago; rental prices of office 
property were the main factor, as reported by 
data suppliers, IPD; 

(cid:127)  price rises for car contract hire through 1999 
and  early  2000  have  been  offset  by  falls  in 
recent  quarters  and  prices  are  now  at  their 
lowest level since 1997. This is apparently the 
net result of: an upward effect from the end of 
1998  to  the  end  of  2000  caused  by  leasing 
companies  expecting  lower  sale  values  of 
their  cars  at  the  end  of  the  lease;  and  the 
continued  downward  trend  in  new  car  prices 
from June 2000; 
security services has shown an increase of 2.4 
per cent over the previous quarter (and 3.9 per 
cent higher than a year ago) mainly due to the 
increase  in  the  minimum  wage,  according  to 
the industry. 

(cid:127) 

(cid:127) 

(cid:127)  adult education has shown an increase of 1.6 
per cent, 4.1 per cent higher than a year ago, 
to reflect increases in course costs at the start 
of  the  educational  year,  according  to  the 
industry; 
charges for waste disposal have been affected 
in  recent  years  by  increases  in  the  rate  of 
Landfill  Tax  following  its  introduction  in 
quarter 4 1996. The latest quarter shows a 0.2 
per  cent  increase  and  prices  are  now  5.2  per 
cent higher than a year ago. 

The next set of CSPI results will be issued on 17th May 2002 via the National Statistics website 
www.statistics.gov.uk (under “Experimental Statistics”). 

Note to the main table: There are external sources for the indices denoted by an asterisk, as follows: 

Index 

Property rental payments 
Car contract hire and  
Maintenance and repair of motor vehicles 
Construction plant hire 
Business telecommunications 

Sewerage services 
National post parcels 

Source 

Investment Property Databank (IPD) 
Yewtree.com Ltd 

Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) 
Published sources: Tarifica Telecom Pricing 
Intelligence and What Cellphone magazine 
Ofwat (Office of the Water Regulator) 
Parcelforce 

eurostat

106

 
 
 
 
 
 
Corporate Services Price Indices (EXPERIMENTAL) (1995=100) 

Freight transport by road 

Maintenance 
and repair of 
motor vehicles* 
50.20 

Canteens 
 and catering 
55.50 

Bus and 
coach hire 
60.23/1 

3.95 
5.71 

0.59 
0.86 

100.0 
100.0 
103.8 
103.0 
110.4 
108.5 
113.4 
115.2 
116.5 
119.7 
123.6 
130.5 
135.6             132.6 

SIC(92): 
1995 net sector weights (%): 
      (including property rentals) 
      (excluding property rentals) 
Annual 

100.0 
1995 
99.8 
1996 
104.5 
1997 
106.0 
1998 
108.0 
1999 
110.0 
2000 
2001                 112.6 

Percentage change, latest year on previous year 

1996 
1997 
1998 
1999 
2000 
2001 

0.2 
4.7 
1.4 
1.9 
1.9 
2.4 

Quarterly results (not seasonally adjusted) 

1997 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1998 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1999 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2000 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2001 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 

104.2 
104.4 
104.8 
104.8 
105.4 
106.4 
106.3 
106.1 
107.0 
107.9 
108.2 
108.9 
109.2 
109.5 
110.1 
111.2 
111.9 
112.6 
113.1 
112.8 

0.78 
1.13 

.. 
.. 
.. 
112.0 
114.7 
115.9 
120.3 

.. 
.. 
.. 
2.5 
1.0 
3.8 

.. 
.. 
111.0 
110.8 
110.8 
111.9 
112.4 
112.8 
113.9 
114.9 
115.1 
115.1 
115.1 
116.1 
116.2 
116.3 
119.6 
120.5 
120.4 
120.7 

Percentage change, latest quarter on previous quarter 

1997 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
                                    1998 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1999 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2000 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2001 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 

3.4 
0.2 
0.4 
0.0 
0.6 
0.9 
-0.1 
-0.2 
0.8 
0.8 
0.4 
0.6 
0.2 
0.3 
0.5 
1.0 
0.6 
0.6 
0.5 
-0.3 

.. 
.. 
.. 
-0.1 
0.0 
1.0 
0.5 
0.4 
0.9 
0.9 
0.2 
-0.1 
0.0 
0.9 
0.1 
0.1 
2.8 
0.8 
-0.1 
0.2 

3.0 
5.4 
6.1 
3.9 
9.1 
3.9 

106.8 
108.4 
109.2 
109.8 
111.9 
115.5 
116.2 
117.1 
118.4 
119.6 
120.1 
120.5 
126.6 
130.8 
131.9 
133.0 
134.2 
135.1 
136.1 
137.0 

2.4 
1.5 
0.8 
0.5 
1.9 
3.2 
0.6 
0.8 
1.1 
1.0 
0.5 
0.3 
5.1 
3.3 
0.8 
0.8 
0.9 
0.7 
0.7 
0.7 

Percentage change, latest quarter on corresponding quarter of previous year 

1997 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1998 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1999 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2000 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2001 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 

5.1 
5.0 
4.9 
4.0 
1.1 
1.9 
1.4 
1.3 
1.5 
1.4 
1.8 
2.7 
2.0 
1.5 
1.7 
2.1 
2.5 
2.8 
2.8 
1.4 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
1.3 
1.8 
2.8 
2.7 
2.4 
2.0 
1.1 
1.0 
1.0 
1.1 
3.9 
3.8 
3.6 
3.8 

4.8 
5.9 
5.5 
5.3 
4.8 
6.6 
6.4 
6.6 
5.8 
3.5 
3.4 
2.9 
6.9 
9.3 
9.8 
10.4 
6.0 
3.3 
3.2 
3.0 

International 
component 

Commercial 
vehicle ferries 
61.10/1 

Sea and 
coastal 
 water freight 
61.10/2 

Business 
air fares 
62.10/1 

0.51 
0.74 

.. 
.. 
96.9 
96.4 
101.9 
101.3 
101.2 

.. 
.. 
-0.4 
5.6 
-0.6 
-0.1 

99.2 
98.0 
95.8 
94.4 
97.0 
96.3 
95.9 
96.6 
103.8 
102.7 
101.5 
99.6 
102.1 
101.5 
101.4 
100.3 
103.7 
101.9 
100.2 
98.9 

100.0 
101.1 
105.2 
105.4 
101.4 
103.4 
104.6 

1.1 
4.0 
0.2 
-3.8 
1.9 
1.2 

101.7 
106.3 
106.3 
106.3 
105.2 
105.8 
106.0 
104.6 
104.3 
100.6 
100.5 
100.4 
102.3 
102.3 
102.9 
106.1 
106.1 
106.3 
102.2 
104.0 

-1.7 
-0.8 
-1.2 
4.6 
-2.3 
0.0 
-1.4 
0.0 
2.7 
-1.1 
-0.8 
0.6 
-0.4 
0.2 
0.8 
-1.3 
7.4 
-0.3 
-1.1 
-3.6 
-1.2 
-0.1 
-1.8 
-0.1 
2.5 
1.9 
-0.6 
0.0 
-0.1 
0.6 
3.1 
-1.1 
0.0                    3.4 
-1.7 
0.2 
-1.7 
-3.8 
-1.3 
1.8 

0.1 
6.3 
6.1 
3.8 
3.4 
-0.5 
-0.3 
-1.6 
-0.9 
-4.9 
-5.2 
-4.1 
-1.9 
1.7 
2.4 
5.7 
3.7 
3.9 
-0.6 
-1.9 

.. 
.. 
-7.4 
-6.5 
-2.2 
-1.8 
0.1 
2.3 
7.0 
6.6 
5.8 
3.1 
-1.6 
-1.1 
-0.1 
0.6 
1.5 
0.4 
-1.2 
-1.4 

0.59 
0.85 

.. 
.. 
95.4 
88.6 
79.6 
82.1 
84.9 

.. 
.. 
-7.2 
-10.2 
3.2 
3.4 

95.2 
95.4 
95.7 
95.5 
93.7 
88.4 
88.1 
84.0 
81.8 
81.2 
77.1 
78.0 
79.6 
81.9 
83.1 
83.8 
85.8 
87.3 
85.2 
81.2 

-1.1 
0.2 
0.3 
-0.2 
-1.9 
-5.7 
-0.3 
-4.6 
-2.6 
-0.7 
-5.1 
1.1 
2.1 
2.8 
1.5 
0.9 
2.4 
1.7 
-2.4 
-4.6 

.. 
.. 
-1.6 
-0.8 
-1.5 
-7.3 
-7.9 
-12.0 
-12.7 
-8.1 
-12.5 
-7.2 
-2.7 
0.8 
7.7 
7.4 
7.8 
6.6 
2.5 
-3.1 

1.97 
2.85 

.. 
103.4 
115.1 
123.5 
127.2 
135.3 
153.5 

.. 
11.3 
7.3 
3.0 
6.3 
13.5 

112.7 
113.7 
116.6 
117.3 
119.8 
124.2 
124.9 
125.1 
125.4 
127.5 
127.7 
128.3 
129.5 
132.4 
135.9 
143.3 
150.3 
150.8 
154.9 
157.9 

3.9 
0.8 
2.6 
0.6 
2.2 
3.7 
0.6 
0.1 
0.2 
1.7 
0.2 
0.5 
1.0 
2.2 
2.6 
5.5 
4.9 
0.3 
2.7 
2.0 

11.2 
11.7 
14.5 
8.1 
6.2 
9.3 
7.1 
6.7 
4.7 
2.6 
2.2 
2.6 
3.3 
3.8 
6.4 
11.7 
16.0 
13.9 
14.0 
10.2 

Total 
60.24 

19.80 
28.63 

3.8 
6.3 
2.7 
2.7 
6.1 
7.3 

108.3 
110.5 
111.3 
111.4 
112.2 
113.3 
113.9 
114.3 
114.8 
115.5 
116.8 
119.0 
119.3 
121.9 
124.9 
128.3 
131.1 
132.1 
132.8 
134.4 

2.3 
2.0 
0.6 
0.1 
0.8 
0.9 
0.5 
0.3 
0.5 
0.6 
1.2 
1.9 
0.3 
2.2 
2.5 
2.7 
2.2 
0.8 
0.5 
1.2 

5.9 
7.0 
7.4 
5.1 
3.6 
2.5 
2.4 
2.6 
2.3 
1.9 
2.6 
4.1 
3.9 
5.6 
7.0 
7.9 
9.9 
8.4 
6.3 
4.7 

107

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Corporate Services Price Indices (EXPERIMENTAL) (1995=100) – continued 

Freight 
forwarding 
63.40 

National post 
parcels* 
64.11 

Courier 
services 
64.12 

Business 
telecomm- 
-unications* 
64.20 

Property 
rental 
payments* 
70.20 

Real estate 
agency 
activities 
70.30 

Car contract 
hire* 
71.10 

Construction 
Plant 
hire* 
71.32 

SIC(92): 
1995 net sector weights (%): 
      (including property rentals) 
      (excluding property rentals) 
Annual 

5.78 
8.35 

1995 
1996 
1997 
1998 
1999 
2000 
2001 

.. 
.. 
103.9 
99.2 
95.5 
96.1 
96.0 
Percentage change, latest year on previous year 
.. 
.. 
-4.5 
-3.7 
0.6 
-0.1 

1996 
1997 
1998 
1999 
2000 
2001 

Quarterly results (not seasonally adjusted) 

1997 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1998 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1999 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2000 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2001 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 

103.5 
103.7 
104.0 
104.4 
102.2 
99.7 
98.1 
96.7 
97.4 
94.7 
94.5 
95.4 
95.2 
95.7 
96.3 
97.1 
98.0 
97.0 
94.9 
94.0 

Percentage change, latest quarter on previous quarter 

1997 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1998 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1999 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2000 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2001 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 

.. 
0.2 
0.3 
0.4 
-2.1 
-2.5 
-1.6 
-1.4 
0.7 
-2.8 
-0.2 
0.9 
-0.2 
0.5 
0.6 
0.8 
1.0 
-1.0 
-2.1 
-1.0 

4.28 
6.19 

.. 
100.0 
103.7 
110.5 
113.3 
118.6 
122.3 

.. 
3.7 
6.6 
2.5 
4.7 
3.1 

100.0 
104.9 
104.9 
104.9 
104.9 
112.4 
112.4 
112.4 
112.4 
113.6 
113.6 
113.6 
113.6 
120.3 
120.3 
120.3 
120.3 
122.9 
122.9 
122.9 

0.0 
4.9 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
7.1 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
1.1 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
5.8 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
2.2 
0.0 
0.0 

0.97 
1.40 

.. 
100.4 
101.4 
105.6 
107.0 
110.1 
116.5 

.. 
1.0 
4.2 
1.3 
2.9 
5.9 

101.2 
101.5 
101.2 
101.7 
102.7 
105.8 
106.8 
107.3 
107.3 
106.9 
106.9 
107.0 
108.5 
108.6 
109.3 
114.0 
114.8 
116.2 
116.9 
118.3 

0.6 
0.3 
-0.4 
0.5 
1.0 
3.1 
0.9 
0.5 
0.0 
-0.4 
0.0 
0.1 
1.4 
0.1 
0.6 
4.4 
0.7 
1.2 
0.7 
1.1 

Percentage change, latest quarter on corresponding quarter of previous year 

1997 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1998 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1999 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2000 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2001 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
-1.2 
-3.8 
-5.7 
-7.3 
-4.7 
-5.0 
-3.6 
-1.3 
-2.3 
1.0 
1.8 
1.7 
3.0 
1.4 
-1.4 
-3.2 

0.0 
4.9 
4.9 
4.9 
4.9 
7.1 
7.1 
7.1 
7.1 
1.1 
1.1 
1.1 
1.1 
5.8 
5.8 
5.8 
5.8 
2.2 
2.2 
2.2 

1.5 
1.2 
0.3 
1.1 
1.4 
4.2 
5.5 
5.5 
4.5 
1.0 
0.1 
-0.3 
1.1 
1.6 
2.2 
6.6 
5.8 
7.0 
7.0 
3.7 

eurostat

108

7.40 
10.71 

.. 
.. 
86.1 
83.4 
81.7 
77.7 
75.6 

.. 
.. 
-3.2 
2.1 
-4.9 
-2.6 

88.3 
86.1 
85.6 
84.4 
83.5 
83.1 
83.5 
83.5 
83.5 
83.0 
81.5 
78.7 
79.1 
78.7 
77.0 
75.9 
75.9 
75.5 
75.5 
75.6 

.. 
-2.5 
-0.6 
-1.4 
-1.1 
-0.4 
0.4 
0.0 
0.0 
-0.5 
-1.8 
-3.5 
0.5 
-0.5 
-2.1 
-1.4 
0.0 
-0.6 
0.0 
0.1 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
-5.5 
-3.5 
-2.4 
-1.1 
0.0 
-0.1 
-2.4 
-5.8 
-5.3 
-5.3 
-5.5 
-3.5 
-3.9 
-4.1 
-2.0 
-0.4 

30.84 
0.00 

100.0 
102.2 
105.4 
110.0 
116.0 
122.6 
130.5 

2.2 
3.1 
4.3 
5.4 
5.7 
6.5 

104.2 
105.1 
105.7 
106.7 
108.4 
109.3 
110.5 
111.7 
113.4 
114.9 
116.9 
118.7 
120.1 
121.7 
123.3 
125.2 
127.6 
129.6 
131.4 
133.3 

0.9 
0.8 
0.6 
0.9 
1.6 
0.9 
1.1 
1.1 
1.5 
1.3 
1.8 
1.5 
1.2 
1.3 
1.3 
1.6 
1.9 
1.5 
1.4 
1.5 

2.8 
3.2 
3.3 
3.3 
4.0 
4.1 
4.5 
4.8 
4.7 
5.1 
5.8 
6.2 
5.9 
5.9 
5.4 
5.5 
6.3 
6.5 
6.6 
6.5 

1.18 
1.71 

.. 
.. 
.. 
119.5 
125.5 
134.5 
139.0 

.. 
.. 
.. 
5.0 
7.2 
3.3 

1.34 
1.94 

.. 
.. 
96.4 
97.5 
99.2 
102.2 
97.0 

.. 
.. 
1.2 
1.7 
3.0 
-5.1 

.. 
96.1 
.. 
96.7 
.. 
96.2 
.. 
96.5 
117.0 
97.6 
119.0 
98.4 
120.9 
96.9 
121.3 
97.3 
121.9 
97.8 
124.6 
98.1 
126.6 
99.6 
128.8 
101.4 
131.8 
102.3 
133.9 
102.7 
135.2 
102.2 
101.6 
137.2 
138.6               99.5 
96.6 
139.1 
96.2 
139.2 
95.7 
139.1 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
1.7 
1.6 
0.4 
0.5 
2.2 
1.6 
1.7 
2.3 
1.6 
1.0 
1.4 
1.0 
0.4 
0.0 
0.0 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
4.2 
4.8 
4.7 
6.1 
8.1 
7.4 
6.8 
6.5 
5.2 
3.9 
2.9 
1.4 

2.1 
0.6 
-0.5 
0.3 
1.1 
0.8 
-1.5 
0.4 
0.5 
0.3 
1.6 
1.9 
0.9 
0.4 
-0.5 
-0.6 
-2.1 
-2.9 
-0.4 
-0.5 

.. 
3.5 
3.2 
2.5 
1.5 
1.8 
0.8 
0.8 
0.2 
-0.3 
2.7 
4.2 
4.7 
4.8 
2.6 
0.2 
-2.8 
-6.0 
-5.9 
-5.8 

1.99 
2.88 

.. 
98.4 
96.5 
99.8 
103.9 
109.3 
113.9 

.. 
-1.9 
3.4 
4.1 
5.1 
4.2 

98.2 
96.3 
94.9 
96.6 
101.3 
99.8 
99.1 
99.1 
105.3 
102.6 
103.0 
104.9 
105.6 
110.1 
111.1 
110.2 
111.3 
118.0 
114.8 
111.4 

1.5 
-1.9 
-1.4 
1.8 
4.8 
-1.4 
-0.7 
0.0 
6.3 
-2.6 
0.5 
1.8 
0.7 
4.3 
0.8 
-0.7 
1.0 
6.1 
-2.7 
-3.0 

-0.2 
-3.4 
-4.1 
-0.1 
3.1 
3.6 
4.4 
2.5 
4.0 
2.8 
4.0 
5.9 
0.3 
7.4 
7.8 
5.1 
5.4 
7.2 
3.4 
1.0 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Corporate Services Price Indices (EXPERIMENTAL) (1995=100) – continued 

Market 
research 
74.13 

Technical 
testing 
74.30 

Employment 
Agencies 
74.50 

Security 
Services 
74.60 

Industrial 
cleaning 
74.70 

Commercial 
 film 
processing 
74.81/9 

Contract 
packaging 
74.82 

SIC(92): 
1995 net sector weights (%): 
      (including property rentals) 
      (excluding property rentals) 
Annual 

1.28 
1.85 

1995 
1996 
1997 
1998 
1999 
2000 
2001 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
112.2 
116.1 
120.9 
Percentage change, latest year on previous year 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
3.5 
4.1 

1996 
1997 
1998 
1999 
2000 
2001 

Quarterly results (not seasonally adjusted) 

1997 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1998 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1999 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2000 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2001Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
106.8 
108.6 
111.7 
112.0 
112.4 
112.8 
115.2 
115.7 
116.5 
117.1 
120.5 
121.0 
120.7 
121.4 

Percentage change, latest quarter on previous quarter 

1997 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1998 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1999 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2000 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2001 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
1.6 
2.9 
0.3 
0.4 
0.3 
2.1 
0.5 
0.7 
0.6 
2.9 
0.4 
-0.2 
0.6 

1.21 
1.75 

.. 
.. 
.. 
106.7 
109.1 
110.2 
111.3 

.. 
.. 
.. 
2.2 
1.0 
1.0 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
106.1 
106.7 
106.7 
107.4 
109.1 
109.1 
109.0 
109.3 
109.5 
110.3 
110.6 
110.6 
109.9 
111.2 
111.8 
112.4 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
0.5 
0.0 
0.7 
1.6 
0.0 
-0.2 
0.3 
0.2 
0.7 
0.3 
0.0 
-0.7 
1.2 
0.5 
0.6 

6.32 
9.14 

.. 
.. 
108.9 
114.9 
120.6 
124.4 
128.7 

.. 
.. 
5.5 
4.9 
3.1 
3.5 

107.0 
108.4 
109.9 
110.4 
112.9 
114.1 
115.3 
117.5 
119.4 
120.7 
121.0 
121.3 
121.9 
124.4 
125.1 
126.0 
128.4 
129.3 
128.5 
128.5 

.. 
1.2 
1.4 
0.5 
2.2 
1.1 
1.0 
1.9 
1.6 
1.0 
0.2 
0.3 
0.5 
2.0 
0.6 
0.7 
1.9 
0.8 
-0.6 
0.0 

1.15 
1.66 

.. 
99.4 
99.5 
100.3 
103.0 
105.0 
107.8 

.. 
0.1 
0.9 
2.7 
1.9 
2.7 

98.9 
99.2 
99.7 
100.0 
100.3 
99.8 
100.4 
100.8 
101.4 
102.5 
103.9 
104.3 
104.3 
104.4 
105.6 
105.7 
106.8 
107.2 
107.3 
109.8 

0.2 
0.3 
0.5 
0.3 
0.3 
-0.5 
0.6 
0.3 
0.6 
1.1 
1.4 
0.4 
0.0 
0.1 
1.1 
0.2 
1.0 
0.4 
0.0 
2.4 

2.27 
3.29 

100.0 
99.4 
98.8 
101.3 
101.8 
102.0 
101.8 

-0.6 
-0.5 
2.5 
0.5 
0.1 
-0.1 

98.8 
98.6 
98.9 
99.0 
100.8 
101.3 
101.5 
101.7 
101.8 
101.9 
101.9 
101.7 
102.0 
102.1 
102.0 
101.7 
101.6 
101.7 
101.4 
102.7 

0.0 
-0.2 
0.3 
0.1 
1.8 
0.5 
0.2 
0.1 
0.1 
0.1 
0.0 
-0.2 
0.3 
0.1 
-0.2 
-0.2 
-0.1 
0.1 
-0.2 
1.2 

Percentage change, latest quarter on corresponding quarter of previous year 

1997 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1998 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1999 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2000 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2001 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
5.2 
3.9 
3.1 
3.3 
3.6 
3.9 
4.6 
4.6 
3.6 
3.7 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
2.8 
2.3 
2.1 
1.7 
0.3 
1.0 
1.5 
1.2 
 0.3 
0.9 
1.0 
1.6 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
5.5 
5.3 
4.9 
6.4 
5.8 
5.7 
4.9 
3.2 
2.1 
3.1 
3.5 
3.9 
5.3 
4.0 
2.7 
2.0 

-1.3 
-1.0 
-1.2 
-1.1 
0.2 
1.0 
0.3 
1.3 
2.1 
1.4 
2.8 
0.6 
2.6 
0.7 
2.6 
0.8 
0.9 
1.1 
0.6 
2.6 
0.4 
3.4 
0.1 
3.5 
0.2 
2.9 
0.2 
1.9 
0.0 
1.6 
0.0 
1.4 
2.4 
-0.4 
2.7                    -0.5 
1.6                    -0.5 
3.9                     1.0 

0.09 
0.12 

100.0 
101.7 
104.7 
105.5 
105.6 
106.3 
107.6 

1.7 
2.9 
0.8 
0.1 
0.7 
1.2 

104.4 
104.4 
104.7 
105.3 
105.5 
105.5 
105.5 
105.5 
105.5 
105.6 
105.6 
105.6 
105.9 
105.9 
106.5 
107.0 
106.8 
107.0 
108.2 
108.4 

0.3 
0.0 
0.3 
0.6 
0.2 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
0.1 
0.0 
0.0 
0.3 
0.0 
0.5 
0.4 
-0.2 
0.2 
1.2 
0.2 

3.0 
3.3 
4.5 
1.1 
1.1 
1.1 
0.8 
0.2 
0.0 
0.1 
0.1 
0.1 
0.4 
0.3 
0.8 
1.3 
0.8 
1.0 
1.6 
1.4 

0.49 
0.71 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
109.4 
112.7 
112.9 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
3.0 
0.2 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
109.2 
109.5 
109.5 
109.5 
112.0 
112.2 
113.5 
113.0 
112.6 
112.8 
113.2 
112.9 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
0.3 
0.0 
0.0 
2.3 
0.1 
1.2 
-0.5 
-0.3 
0.1 
0.4 
-0.2 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
2.6 
2.4 
3.7 
3.2 
0.5 
0.5 
-0.3 
0.0 

109

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Corporate Services Price Indices (EXPERIMENTAL) (1995=100) – continued 

Direct 
marketing & 
secretarial 
services 
74.83 (part) 

Translation & 
Interpretation 
services 
74.83 (part) 

Adult 
Education 
80.42 

Sewerage 
services 
90.00/1 

Waste 
disposal 
90.00/2 

Commercial 
washing & 
dry cleaning 
93.01 

TOP-LEVEL CSPI 

Including 
property 
rentals 

Excluding 
property 
 rentals 

SIC(92): 
1995 net sector weights (%): 
      (including property rentals) 
      (excluding property rentals) 
Annual 

1995 
1996 
1997 
1998 
1999 
2000 
2001 

0.19 
0.27 

.. 
.. 
.. 
108.0 
109.9 
109.5 
107.3 

0.15 
0.21 

.. 
.. 
.. 
106.9 
108.5 
108.6 
107.7 

Percentage change, latest year on previous year 

1996 
1997 
1998 
1999 
2000 
2001 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
1.5 
1.8 
-0.3                    0.0 
-2.0                  -0.8  

Quarterly results (not seasonally adjusted) 

1997 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1998 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1999 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2000 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
                                       2001 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
106.4 
108.1 
109.1 
108.2 
109.3 
110.4 
109.7 
110.0 
110.2 
109.8 
110.2 
107.8 
106.9 
106.8 
107.6 
107.7 

.. 
.. 
106.5 
106.6 
106.9 
106.7 
106.9 
107.1 
108.5 
108.6 
108.5 
108.5 
109.1 
109.1 
108.2 
107.9 
107.9 
108.0 
107.7 
107.3 

Percentage change, latest quarter on previous quarter 
1997 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1998 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1999 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2000 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2001 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
1.7 
0.9 
-0.8 
1.0 
1.0 
-0.6 
0.3 
0.2 
-0.4 
0.4 
-2.2 
-0.8 
-0.1 
0.8 
0.1 

.. 
.. 
.. 
0.1 
0.2 
-0.1 
0.2 
0.2 
1.3 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
0.5 
0.0 
-0.8 
-0.2 
0.0 
0.0 
-0.2 
-0.4 

0.58 
0.84 

100.0 
103.4 
108.5 
111.1 
114.7 
118.8 
123.5 

3.4 
4.9 
2.4 
3.2 
3.6 
4.0 

107.2 
107.3 
108.8 
110.7 
111.1 
110.9 
110.7 
111.9 
113.9 
114.4 
115.0 
115.4 
117.6 
117.6 
119.7 
120.4 
122.1 
123.3 
123.4 
125.4 

3.0 
0.1 
1.4 
1.7 
0.3 
-0.2 
-0.2 
1.1 
1.8 
0.4 
0.5 
0.4 
1.9 
0.0 
1.8 
0.6 
1.4 
0.9 
0.1 
1.6 

Percentage change, latest quarter on corresponding quarter of previous year 

1997 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1998 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
1999 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2000 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 
2001 Q1 
Q2 
Q3 
Q4 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
2.8 
2.1 
0.6 
1.7 
0.8 
-0.6 
0.5 
-2.0 
-3.0 
-2.7 
-2.4 
-0.1 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
0.4 
0.4 
1.6 
1.7 
1.5 
1.4 
0.5 
0.5 
-0.3 
-0.6 
-1.0 
-1.0 
-0.4 
-0.6 

4.5 
3.7 
5.1 
6.4 
3.6 
3.3 
1.7 
1.1 
2.5 
3.2 
3.8 
3.1 
3.2 
2.8 
4.1 
4.4 
3.8 
4.8 
3.1 
4.1 

110

eurostat

1.33 
1.92 

100.0 
105.5 
109.9 
114.1 
118.1 
107.8 
105.6 

5.5 
4.2 
3.8 
3.4 
-8.7 
-2.0 

2.39 
3.46 

100.0 
111.3 
126.8 
129.0 
138.1 
145.2 
149.9 

11.3 
13.9 
1.8 
7.0 
5.2 
3.3 

126.4 
106.8 
125.9 
111.0 
126.8 
111.0 
128.0 
111.0 
128.5 
111.0 
129.2 
115.2 
128.9 
115.2 
129.3 
115.2 
130.9 
115.2 
139.6 
119.0 
140.8 
119.0 
140.9 
119.0 
141.7 
119.0 
147.3 
104.0 
146.2 
104.0 
104.0 
145.5 
104.0             145.5 
148.7 
106.1 
152.5 
106.1 
153.2 
106.1 

0.0 
3.9 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
3.8 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
3.3 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
-12.6 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
2.0 
0.0 
0.0 

5.3 
3.9 
3.9 
3.9 
3.9 
3.8 
3.8 
3.8 
3.8 
3.3 
3.3 
3.3 
3.3 
-12.6 
-12.6 
-12.6 
-12.6 
2.0 
2.0 
2.0 

2.2 
-0.4 
0.7 
0.9 
0.4 
0.5 
-0.2 
0.3 
1.2 
6.7 
0.8 
0.1 
0.6 
4.0 
-0.8 
-0.4 
-0.1 
2.2 
2.5 
0.4 

20.0 
17.6 
16.1 
3.4 
1.6 
2.6 
1.7 
1.1 
1.9 
8.1 
9.2 
8.9 
8.2 
5.5 
3.8 
3.3 
2.7 
0.9 
4.3 
5.2 

0.58 
0.83 

.. 
.. 
.. 
108.9 
112.1 
114.8 
116.2 

.. 
.. 
.. 
2.9 
2.4 
1.2 

.. 
.. 
106.5 
107.7 
107.3 
109.2 
109.8 
109.4 
110.5 
112.5 
112.4 
112.9 
114.6 
114.9 
115.3 
114.4 
115.6 
116.2 
116.1 
116.9 

.. 
.. 
.. 
1.1 
-0.4 
1.7 
0.6 
-0.4 
1.0 
1.8 
-0.1 
0.5 
1.5 
0.2 
0.4 
-0.7 
1.0 
0.5 
-0.1 
0.7 

.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
.. 
3.1 
1.5 
3.0 
3.0 
2.3 
3.2 
3.7 
2.1 
2.6 
1.3 
0.9 
1.2 
0.7 
2.1 

100.00 
.. 

100.0 
101.6 
105.3 
108.2 
111.6 
116.0 
121.4 

1.6 
3.6 
2.8 
3.2 
4.0 
4.7 

104.2 
105.1 
105.7 
106.1 
107.0 
108.0 
108.5 
109.1 
110.2 
111.1 
112.0 
113.0 
113.8 
115.4 
116.7 
118.2 
120.0 
121.2 
121.8 
122.7 

1.2 
0.9 
0.5 
0.4 
0.9 
0.9 
0.5 
0.5 
1.0 
0.8 
0.8 
0.9 
0.7 
1.4 
1.1 
1.3 
1.5 
1.0 
0.5 
0.8 

.. 
100.00 

100.0 
101.3 
105.2 
107.4 
109.6 
113.1 
117.4 

1.3 
3.8 
2.1 
2.1 
3.2 
3.8 

104.2 
105.2 
105.6 
105.8 
106.4 
107.4 
107.7 
107.9 
108.8 
109.5 
109.8 
110.4 
111.0 
112.6 
113.7 
115.0 
116.6 
117.4 
117.5 
118.0 

1.3 
1.0 
0.5 
0.2 
0.6 
0.9 
0.2 
0.3 
0.8 
0.6 
0.3 
0.6 
0.5 
1.5 
0.9 
1.2 
         1.3 
0.7 
0.1 
0.4 

4.0 
3.6 
4.1 
3.8 
4.3 
4.0 
2.9 
3.0 
2.2 
2.7 
2.2 
2.8 
1.9 
2.7 
2.0 
2.9 
2.2 
3.0 
1.9 
2.9 
2.0 
3.2 
2.3 
3.6 
2.0 
3.2 
2.9 
3.9 
3.5 
4.1 
4.6 
4.1 
5.4                        5.0 
4.2 
5.0 
3.4 
4.4 
2.6 
3.9 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF SERVICE PRICES IN STATISTICS 
SWEDEN — A SMALL COUNTRY’S EXPERIENCE 

Vera Norrman 
Prices, Economics Statistics, Statistics Sweden, Sweden 

SUMMARY 

Private services represent about 50 percent of GDP in Sweden. Together with governmental 
services, services represent 70 percent of GDP. These large amounts should be deflated with 
good figures. Designing price indices for that purpose is a true challenge. Since the subject is 
methodologically complex, it is difficult for small countries to initiate the work and allocate 
resources for developing price indexes for services. 

The  Price  section  of  Statistics  Sweden  compiles  several  price  indexes  for  services.  It  also 
develops new service price indexes. The National Accounts section of Statistics Sweden has 
commissioned the development of new service price indexes. Since January 2000, this work 
is carried out in project form at the departmental level. 

This  paper  presents  the  project  and  describes  its  history  and  how  it  is  currently  working.  It 
focuses on some of our experiences and finishes with some ideas for future work. There are 
currently a number of different methods for tackling the problem. Various methods are used 
in different countries and for different sectors. However, a discussion of these methods and an 
evaluation of their advantages and disadvantages are beyond the scope of this paper. 

I.  Current production of TPI 

TPI is an abbreviation for Service Price Index in Swedish (TjänstePrisIndex). 

In  Sweden,  the  search  resumed  for  relevant  deflators  for  service  businesses  within  the 
framework of the National Accounts during the first half of the 1990s. These efforts led to the 
production  of  four  price  indexes  for  service  industries  that  have  been  used  by  the  Price 
program since the mid-1990s: Hotels, Scheduled air transport services, Telecommunications 
and  Real  estate  activities  on  a  fee  or  contract  basis.  This  production  was  fragmented  and  a 
review has been ongoing since 2000. Differences in existing TPI indexes are primarily due to 
the  lack  of  uniform  rules  and  control  instruments  for  the  area  as  a  whole,  in  Sweden  and 
internationally. 

II.  Organising development on a project basis 

All  previous  experiences  led  to  the  idea  of  an  interdepartmental  development  co-operation 
involving  users,  the  National  Accounts  program,  the  Prices  program  and  the  Services 
program. This idea was welcomed due to the ongoing quality improvements in the National 
Accounts.  Since  January  2000,  this  work  is  carried  out  in  project  form  at  the  departmental 

111

eurostat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
level.  A  project  board  was  formed  consisting  of  the  departmental  head  as  chairperson  and 
involved the program managers, the department chief statistician and the project managers as 
members. 

The  purpose  of  developing  a  service  price  index  is  to  create  a  producer  price  index  for 
services  to  be  used  in  the  Swedish  National  Accounts  system  to  calculate  the  production  of 
services  at  fixed  prices  at  the  product  group  level.  This  is  done  regardless  if  household, 
government or enterprises use the service. Alternatively, a service price index can be created 
by  weighing  together  information  on  price  developments  for  the  product  use  by  enterprises 
and  government  with  the  corresponding  CPI  (which  measures  the  price  development  for 
households). 

The  creation  of  any  sector-wide  price  index  requires  knowledge  about  the  structure  of  the 
sector  (its  size  and  concentration),  the  economic  players’  (the  enterprises’)  size,  number, 
turnover,  geographical  dispersion  in  the  industry,  etc.  It  requires  study  of  price  setting 
mechanisms and identification of typical products. International contacts are necessary. This 
preparatory work is very time consuming and the results are dependent upon this research in 
several aspects. 

III.  The development of TPI 

Thus,  the  first  price  indexes  for  services  had  a  CPI  component.  List  prices  were  collected 
once every measurement period, sometimes including VAT. Their goal was not to model the 
PPI for goods, which in Sweden intends to measure the average price development for goods 
during  a  month.  Nonetheless,  the  production  of  these  first  price  indexes  for  services  can  be 
considered quite an achievement. The above experience provided insight into the necessity for 
the new project of having a firm foundation of knowledge on how the PPI for services should 
be formed and what is considered valid in an international context. 

The project started the review and found that the price indexes for services are not included in 
the terms of reference of the European regulations. The work on the Handbook on Price and 
Volume  Measures  in  National  Accounts  was  ongoing  under  the  leadership  of  Eurostat.  The 
first  work,  which  the  project  ordered  from  the  co-operating  National  Accounts,  was  an 
inventory  of  the  A,  B  and  C  methods  then  used  for  deflating  services  (at  the  product  group 
level).  From  this  inventory,  the  project  was  able  to  gain  a  clear  picture  of  the  number  of 
product groups that awaited an improved deflator. There were over a hundred product groups 
that were to be replaced, while at the same time the project budget allowed for the work of 
only  1½  full  time  staff  per  year.  An  internal  marketing  effort  of  the  project  was  started  to 
inform about the conditions. 

The project also found that the PPI manual was outdated (published in 1979 by the UN) and 
that the revised PPI manual will include services and is scheduled to be completed in 2003. 
This ment that there were no solutions yet. 

IV.  Work methods 

The  project  maintain  co-operation  with  industry  organisations  and  companies  since  the 
objectiv of the project is observing and describing price changes. Initially, the project had to 

eurostat

112

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
develop special industry competence. These special industry competences require much time, 
but  both  co-operation  and  competence  are  extremely  essential  components  of  the  work  for 
each  industry  where  a  price  index  should  be  established.  The  project  spend  much  time  on 
communicating  with  firms  and  their  industry  organisations  and  on  industry  studies.  Due  to 
budget restrictions, the project prefers to find price leaders and limit the inquiries to them. 

Director  General  became  personally  interested  in  the  project  and  Statistics  Sweden’s 
Scientific Council has discussed the subject. The Council found that the subject is complex, 
but that the project is on the right path. 

Despite  all  the  goodwill  and  hard  work,  the  project  began  to  understand  that  organised  and 
systematic co-operation is lacking in the area and that such co-operation would be useful for 
the harmonisation of statistics in the EU. 

V.  Future work 

The  organisation  of  development  work  as  a  departmental  project  with  the  co-operation  of 
several  programs  has  created  interest  from  some  smaller  countries,  which  are  looking  for 
solutions to problems of price indexes for services. The project is already part of an informal 
Nordic  network.  Even  though  the  project  has  grown  by  nearly  a  hundred  per  cent,  the 
resources are small. The speed by which the project moves forward is very dependent on the 
remaining financial situation of the Prices program. 

It is difficult for small countries to start work on and finance the development of price indexes 
for  services.  The  number  of  service  industries  for  which  price  indexes  are  sought  in 
accordance with ISIC/NACE/etc. is the same regardless of the size of the country. Therefore, 
a  collaboration  of  efforts  is  desirable.  For  example,  statisticians  from  small  countries  can 
cooperate  in  the  development  of  a  price  index  for  a  certain  industry.  Another  group  of 
countries can develop a price index for a different industry. Then all the groups can share the 
results.  Such  an  approach  would  be  able  to  achieve  a  greater  methodological  comparability 
among different countries for a certain industry. There is currently no statistical body that is 
prepared to formally shoulder the full responsibility for such collaboration. 

It is my hope that Eurostat will play a major role in this context. 

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EXPERIENCES OF CONDUCTING SURVEYS AT 
STATISTICS DENMARK 
Seminar on short-term statistics in Eurostat, March 2001 

Bente Dyrberg 
Statistics Denmark 
E-mail: bdy@dst.dk 

In  Denmark  the  production  of  statistics  is  centralised  at  Statistics  Denmark.  A  very 
considerable  volume  of  statistics  is  based  on  administrative  registers.  About  50  surveys, 
primarily in the division for business statistics, are based on questionnaires. Except for a few, 
it is compulsory for the enterprises to participate in these surveys. 

Over the last 5 years Statistics Denmark has focused on especially 3 topics regarding how to 
conduct surveys in general. The issues have been: 

•  Timeliness 
•  Response burden 
•  Cooperation with respondents — a question of quality. 

Timeliness 

The question of timeliness was one of many goals presented in a corporate plan, Strategy for 
Statistics Denmark from 1995 covering the period 1995-2000. The goal had two dimensions. 
The  first  one  was  to  reduce  the  release  time  every  year  by  a  certain  percentage  for 
respectively  monthly,  quarterly  and  annual  statistics.  The  other  part  was  for  all  statistics  to 
fulfil certain minimum standards, which were easy to remember, namely: 

•  Monthly statistics have to be released not later than 2 months after the end of the reference 

period 

•  Quarterly  statistics  have  to  be  released  not  later  than  3  months  after  the  end  of  the 

reference period 

•  Annual statistics have to be released not later than one year after the end of the reference 

year. 

These  goals  covered  all  statistics,  e.g.  both  statistics  based  on  administrative  registers  and 
surveys based on questionnaires. 

For most of the economic short-term indicators, the second part of the goal was already fulfilled 
right from the beginning. So for these statistics the goal was primarily to reduce release time. 

The results have been evident. In the following table 1, the raw percentage changes in release 
times in the period 1996-1999 are shown. 

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Table 1:  Percentage changes in release times 1996-1999.Statistics Denmark 

All statistics 

Busines statistics 

Monthly surveys 
Quarterly surveys 
Annual surveys 

-18 % 
-16 % 
-21 % 

-33 % 
- 9 % 
-22 % 

Most of the statistics covered in the Short-Term Regulation are categorised under the division 
Business Statistics, but not, for example, employment statistics. 

The next two issues are only dealing with surveys based on questionnaires. 

Response burden 

Over the last 5 years there has also been a political discussion about the response burden imposed on 
enterprises.  The  discussion  has  been  general.  Of  all  the  administrative  burdens  imposed  on 
enterprises, it turned out that the proportion of Statistics Denmark amounted to about 6 percent. 

It was a surprising small proportion, but Statistics Denmark decided as a consequence of the 
discussions  to  make  annual  calculations  of  the  response  burden.  The  burden  is  measured  as 
the  number  of  data  reports  multiplied  by  estimated  time  consumption  for  each  data  report. 
The time estimates are based on assessments conducted by the trade organisations. 

In the following figure the results are shown. 

Response burden 1996 to 2000 

M an-year 

350 

300 

250 

200 

150 

100 

50 

0 

1996 

1997 

1998 

1999 

2000 

The figure shows that after a decline in 1997 the burden has almost remained at the same level. The 
increase in 1999 was caused by a total survey of forests, which is conducted every 10th year. 

The  overall  dominating  survey  is  the  foreign  trade  survey,  which  amounts  to  2/3  of  the  total 
response burden, which reached 240 man-years in 2000. Totally the number of reports amounted to 
about 400.000 in 2000. Without reducing the burden on foreign trade, it is difficult to reduce the 
overall response burden; and this is even more difficult in times of comprehensive demands, and 
maybe also future demands in the field of economic short-term statistics. 

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However, Statistics Denmark's goal according to our new Strategy 2005 covering the period 
2000-2005, is not to increase the response burden. 

Cooperation with respondents — a question of quality 

How to deal with the respondents is another issue that has been discussed and much work has been 
performed over the last 5 years. The question is indeed a question of quality. A good and efficient 
cooperation with the enterprises ensures first that the questionnaires are filled in correctly, second 
that the reports are sent back timely for inclusion in the results of the survey. 

The  question  of  improving  the  efficiency  of  contacts  with  the  respondents  has  been  important  to 
Statistics Denmark, although it is a fact that the majority of the surveys based on questionnaires, are 
compulsory.  Because  of  this,  the  response rate right from the beginning has had a high level, i.e. 
around 95-98 %. For voluntary surveys the level varies depending on which branches are involved. 

But in spite of these high response rates, it has been important to set up common guidelines 
for all questionnaire-based surveys. From the beginning of the 1990’s, there was a tendency to 
decentralize many of the functions connected to conducting a survey. This did indeed result in 
a  major  improvement,  but  the  decentralizing  process  had,  to  a  certain  degree,  also  the 
consequence that common rules were suddenly replaced by rules for each statistics. 

Consequently, an internal committee dealing with these questions was set up in 1996. In this 
committee all mayor surveys are represented. The main goal is to draw up common standards 
to secure a fair treatment of all respondents. The result of this work was a guideline. 

The guideline focused on 5 areas. These were: 

1.  Motivating respondents 

Information in advance 
Folder about each survey 
Cooperation with Trade organisation 
Etc. 

2.  The questionnaires 

Explanations on form, if possible 
Pilot surveys 
Different methods of data collection 
Common design 
Etc. 

3.  Reminder policy 

Standard rules for respectively monthly, quarterly and annual surveys 
Mixture of methods (mail, telephone, recommended letters) 
About 300 cases annually submitted to the police 
Etc. 

Scope: fair and equal treatment in all surveys. 

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116

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4.  Handling of questions from respondents 

Contact person on the form 
Quick and satisfactory replies 
Etc. 

5.  Feedback to respondents 

Offer to send, e.g. a news release 
Direct feedback on the next form 
Etc. 

Since 1 January 2001 statistical information can be obtained free from the Statbank Denmark. 
This can change the feedback-policy in the future. 

The  work  in  the  committee  is  still  continuing  and  more  and  more  common  standards  are 
developed,  e.g.  all  kinds  of  letters.  The  work  is  supported  electronically  via  Intranet.  The 
committee is also the forum where new experiences are discussed. 

Conclusions 

The conclusion from the Danish experiences is: 

Focus on timeliness can reduce release times to a certain point. (After that other means should 
be taken into consideration, if necessary to reduce further.) 

It  is  a  very  good  exercise  to  calculate  the  annual  response  burden.  It  enhances  the 
consciousness of being careful with new or added questionnaires. On the other hand, it is not 
always  easy  in  a  more  and  more  demanding  world  in  regard  of  statistics  to  secure  a  non-
increasing response burden. 

The question of how to cooperate with the respondents is also a question of quality. Although, 
it is difficult to measure it is unquestionably a good area to continuously improve. The results 
are  increased  efficiency  —  and  at  the  same  time  respect  and  understanding  for  the  respon-
dents' work are shown. To find new ways creative thoughts are necessary all the time. 

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ANNEX
 Delegates list

Mr. Manfred EHLING 
Altkönigenweg 14 
D-65510 IDSTEIN 
E-mail: manfred.ehling@destatis.de 

Mr. Dieter SCHÄFER 
Gustav-Stresemann-Ring 11 
D-65189 WIESBADEN 
E-mail: dieter.schaefer@destatis.de 

Mr. Erwin FIDA 
Statistik Österreich 
Hintere Zollamtstraße 2b 
Postfach 9000 
A-1033 WIEN 
E-mail: erwin.fida@statistik.gv.at 

Mrs. Magali DEMOTES-MAINARD 
Institut National de la Statistique et des Études 
Économiques 
18, boulevard Adolphe Pinard 
F-75675 PARIS 
E-mail: magali.demotes-mainard@insee.fr 

Mrs. Vera NORRMAN 
Statistics Sweden 
Karlavägen 100 
S-11581 STOCKHOLM 
E-mail: vera.norrman@scb.se 

Mr. Franz-Josef KLEIN 
Burggrafenweg 2 
D-70569 STUTTGART 

Mr. Steve DREW 
18 Penlline Road 
Whitchruch  
Cardiff 
CF14 2AD 
E-mail: steve.drew@ons.gov.uk 

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118

Mr. Nicholas PALMER 
9 Usk Road 
Llanishen 
CARDIFF 
CF14 0NN 
E-mail: nicholas.palmer@ons.gov.uk 

Mr. Federico POLIDORO 
Via fiume delle perle 11 
I-00144 ROMA 
E-mail: polidoro@istat.it 

Mr. Szilard PÀLL 
Hungarian Central Statistical Office 
Keliti Karoly 5-7 
PO Box 51 
HU-1525 BUDAPEST 
E-mail: Szilard.pall@office.ksh.hu 

Mr. Marc DEBUSSCHERE 
National Institute of Statistics 
Leuvenseweg 44 
B-1000 BRUSSELS 
Phone: +32 (2) 548 6571 
E-mail: 
marc.debusschere@statbel.mineco.fgov.be 

Mr. Erich MIELKE 
Landesamt für Datenverarbeitung und Statistik 
Nordrhein-Westfalen 
Postfach 10 11 05 
D-40002 DÜSSELDORF 
Phone: (+49) 211 94 49 – 24 00 
E-mail: erich.mielke@lds.nrw.de 

Mrs. Irmtraud BEUERLEIN 
Statistisches Bundesamt 
Gustav-Stresemann-Ring 11 
Postfach 5528 
D-65189 WIESBADEN 
Phone: 0049 611 75 2810 
E-mail: irmtraud.beuerlein@destatis.de 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mrs. Theano TYFOXYLOU 
National Statistical Service of Greece 
14 – 16, Lycourgou Street 
GR-101 66 ATHENS 
Phone: 00301 32 89 506 
E-mail: theaty@statistics.gr 

Mrs. Montserrat MANTILLA MARTÍN 
Instituto Nacional de Estadística 
Paseo de la Castellana, 183 
E-28046 MADRID 

Mr. Michel EURIAT 
Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes 
Economiques 
18, boulevard Adolphe Pinard 
F-75675 PARIS 
Phone: 00331 4117 6781 
E-mail: michel.euriat@insee.fr 

Mr. Thomas MCMAHON 
Central Statistics Office 
Skehard Road 
CORK 
Ireland 

Mr. Mauro POLITI 
Instituto Nazionale di Statistica 
Via Tuscolana, 1788 
I-00173 ROMA 
Phone: 0039 06 7297 6129 
E-mail: politi@istat.it 

Mr. Frank HANSEN 
STATEC - Service Central de la Statistique et 
des Etudes Economiques 
6, Boulevard Royal 
L-2013 LUXEMBOURG 
Phone: 00352 478 4235 
E-mail: frank.hansen@statec.etat.lu 

Mrs. Helga NEUHOLD 
STATISTIK AUSTRIA (ST.AT) 
Bundesanstalt öffentlichen Rechts 
Hintere Zollamtstraße 2b 
Postfach 9000 
A-1033 WIEN 
Phone: 0043 1 711 28-7546 
E-mail: Helga.Neuhold@statistik.gv.at 

Mr. Gerald KATZBECK 
Statistik Austria (ST.AT) 
Bundesanstalt öffentlichen Rechts 
Hintere Zollamtstraße 2b 
Postfach 9000 
A-1033 WIEN 
Phone: 0043 1 711 28-7065 
E-mail: Gerald.Katzbeck@statistik.gv.at 

Mr. Humberto Jorge PEREIRA 
Instituto Nacional de Estatìstica 
Avenida Anonio José Almeida, 5 
P-1078 LISBOA CODEX 
Phone: 00351 21 842 61 00 
E-mail: humberto.pereira@ine.pt 

Mrs. Marlene FERRADOSA 
Instituto Nacional de Estatística 
Avenida Antonio José Almeida, 5 
P-1078 LISBOA CODEX 
Phone: 00351 21 842 61 00 
E-mail: marlene.ferradosa@ine.pt 

Mr. Mari SUVIRANTA 
Statistics Finland 
Työpajakatu 13 
FIN-00022 HELSINKI 

Ms. Kirsi RISTOLA 
Statistics Finland 
Työpajakatu 13 
FIN-00022 HELSINKI 
Phone: 00358 917 34 2430 
E-mail: kirsi.ristola@stat.fi 

Mrs. Anita ULLBERG 
Statistics Sweden 
Karlavägen 100 
S-11581 STOCKHOLM 
Phone: 0046 8 5069 4650 
E-mail: anita.ullberg@scb.se 

Mr. Graeme WALKER 
Office for National Statistics 
Government Building 
Cardiff Road 
NEWPORT GWENT NP9 IXG 
United Kingdom 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mrs. Claire COLLINS 
Office for National Statistics 
Government Building 
Cardiff Road 
NEWPORT GWENT NP9 IXG 
United Kingdom 
Phone: 0044 1633 81 2160 
E-mail: claire.collins@ons.gov.uk 

Mr. Angelo ZANETTA 
Office fédéral de la Statistique 
Espace de l’Europe 10 
CH-2010 NEUCHATEL 
Phone: (+41) 32 713 6699 
E-mail: angelo.zanetta@bfs.admin.ch 

Mr. Lorenzo CASCIONI 
Office fédéral de la Statistique 
Espace de l’Europe 10 
CH-2010 NEUCHATEL 

Mr: Luu NGUYEN 
Office fédéral de la Statistique 
Espace de l’Europe 10 
CH-2010 NEUCHATEL 
Phone: (+41) 32 713 6147 
E-mail: luu.nguyen@bfs.admin.ch 

Mr. Roger JENSEN 
Statistics Norway 
Kongesgate 6 
Postboks 8131 Dep. 
N-0033 OSLO 
Phone: 0047 62 88 55 45 
E-mail: roj@ssb.no 

Mrs. Vania JELEVA 
National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria 
2, P. Volov Street 
BG-1504 SOFIA 
E-mail: vjeleva@nsi.bg 

Mrs. Guergana MAEVA 
National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria 
2, P. Volov Street 
BG-1504 SOFIA 
Phone: (+359) 2 9857 269 
E-mail: gmaeva@nsi.bg 

Mrs. Evangelia EFSTAHIOU 
Statistical Service of Cyprus 
13 Andreas Araouzos Street 
CY-1444 NICOSIA 
E-mail: cydsr@sytanet.com.cy 

Mrs. Marie BOUSKOVA 
Czech Statistical Office 
Sokolovska 142 
CZ-186 04 PRAHA 8 
Phone: (+420) 2 7405 2935 
E-mail: bouskova@gw.czso.cz 

Mrs. Irena LICKOVA 
Czech Statistical Office 
Sokolovska 142 
CZ-186 04 PRAHA 8 
E-mail: lickova@gw.czso.cz 

Mrs. Ly VILLEMI 
Statistical Office of Estonia 
Endla 15 
EE-0100 TALLIN 
Phone: (+372) 62 59 230 
E-mail: ly.villemi@stat.ee 

Mr. Istvan MACSARI 
Hungarian Central Statistical Office 
Keleti Karoly 5 – 7 
PO Box 51 
HU-1525 BUDAPEST 
E-mail: istvan.macsari@office.ksh.hu 

Mr. András HERCZEG 
Hungarian Central Statistical Office 
Keleti Karoly 5 – 7 
PO Box 51 
HU-1525 BUDAPEST 
Phone: (+361) 345 6842 
E-mail: andras.herczeg@office.ksh.hu 

Mrs. Dzintra BERZINA 
Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia 
Lacplesa Street 1 
LV-1301 RIGA 
Phone: (+371) 7366 632 
E-mail: dberzina@csb.lv 

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120

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mrs. Anete ZAUMANE 
Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia 
Lacplesa Street 1 
LV-1301 RIGA 

Mrs. Laima BRAKAUSKIENE 
Statistics Lithuania 
29 Gedimino pr. 
LT-2746 VILNIUS 
Phone: (+370) 2 364611 
E-mail: laimb@mail.std.lt 

Mrs. Inga MICKEVICIENE 
Statistics Lithuania 
29 Gedimino pr. 
LT-2746 VILNIUS 

Mrs. Malgorzata DYTMAN 
Central Statistical Office 
Al. Niepodleglosci 208 
PL-00925 WARSZAWA 
Phone: (+48) 22 608 3473 
E-mail: m.dytman@stat.gov.pl 

Mr. Ivan SKULTETY 
Statistical Office of Slovak Republic 
Mileticova 3 
SK-824 67 BRATISLAVA 
Phone: (+421) 2 50236 279 
E-mail: Ivan.Skultety@statistics.sk 

Mrs. Violeta BAICOIANU 
National Commission for Statistics 
16, Libertatii Avenue 
Sector 5 
RO-70542 BUCHAREST 
E-mail: florescu@insse.ro 

Mrs. Jeni TIPSIE 
National Commission for Statistics 
16, Libertatii Avenue 
Sector 5 
RO-70542 BUCHAREST 
Phone: (+40) 1 410 1843 
E-mail: florescu@insse.ro 

Mr. Henning AHNERT 
European Central Bank 
Kaiserstrasse 29 
D-60311 FRANKFURT AM MAIN 
Phone: 0049 69 1344 7677 
E-mail: henning.ahnert@ecb.int 

Mr. Stefano NARDELLI 
European Central Bank 
Kaiserstrasse 29 
D-60311 FRANKFURT AM MAIN 
Phone: 0049 69 1344 6388 
E-mail: stefano.nardelli@ecb.int 

Mr. Pedro DÍAZ MUÑOZ 
Eurostat/D 
Bech B4/303 
L-2920 LUXEMBOURG 
Phone: (+352) 4301 35474 
e-mail: pedro.diaz@cec.eu.int 

Mr. Gunter SCHÄFER 
Eurostat/D3 
Bech E2/808 
L-2920 LUXEMBOURG 
Phone: (+352) 4301 33566 
e-mail: gunter.schaefer@cec.eu.int 

Mr. Frédéric DONZEL 
Eurostat/D3 
Bech E2/813 
L-2920 LUXEMBOURG 
Phone: (+352) 4301 32025 
e-mail: frederic.donzel@cec.eu.int 

Mrs. Romy BECKER-SCHNEIDER 
Eurostat/D3 
Bech E2/811 
L-2920 LUXEMBOURG 
Phone: (+352) 4301 32065 
e-mail: romy.becker-schneider@cec.eu.int 

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