Annual structural business statistics


Metadata
Period: Annual
Year: 2018

REFERENCE METADATA
01. Contact
02. Metadata update
03. Statistical presentation
04. Unit of measure
05. Reference Period
06. Institutional Mandate
07. Confidentiality
08. Release policy
09. Frequency of dissemination
10. Accessibility and clarity
11. Quality management
12. Relevance
13. Accuracy and reliability
14. Timeliness and punctuality
15. Coherence and comparability
16. Cost and Burden
17. Data revision
18. Statistical processing
19. Comment

01. ContactTop
01.1. Contact organisation

Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia

01.2. Contact organisation unit

Structural business statistics unit

01.3. Contact name

Biljana Brajovic

01.4. Contact person function

Head of Structural business statistics unit

01.5. Contact mail address

5 Milana Rakića, Belgrade

 

01.6. Contact email address

biljana.brajovic@stat.gov.rs

01.7. Contact phone number

(+381) 11 2412 922/ 308 ext

01.8. Contact fax number

Not available.


02. Metadata updateTop
02.1. Metadata last certified
20/03/2020
02.2. Metadata last posted
19/3/2020
02.3. Metadata last update
19/3/2020

03. Statistical presentationTop
03.1. Data description

The survey aims at calculating indicators necessary for the analysis of the structural enterprises’ activity, structure of input and output in the production process, business profit and losses, and enterprises’ competitiveness at certain level of activity, business operations of small and medium enterprises,  as well as for the development of business operations on regional, national and international levels in non-financial business economy.

Structural Business Statistics indicators are devided into demographic (number of enterprises, number of local units etc.), those related to inputs (number of persons employed, hours worked, total purchases of goods and services, personnel costs, gross investments in tangible goods etc.) as well as those related to output (turnover, production value, gross value added at factor costs, gross operating surplus etc.). Indicators are calculated in annual and multi annual periodicity, for enterprises and local units. Results are published by activities of CA (2010), for the levels of the regions of the Republic of Serbia, as well as by size of enterprise.

 

 

 

03.2. Classification system

 

The National classification of Activities - CA (2010) that is available on the website of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia:  

http://www.stat.gov.rs/media/2319/zakon-o-klasifikaciji-delatnosti.doc

This classification completely corresponds to the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community (NACE Rev.2).

Nomenclature of Statistical Territorial Units (NSTU).

03.3. Coverage - sector

 

The survey includes non-financial business economy i.e. all economically active enterprises and other legal entities that, pursuant to the Classification of Activities, are classified into the following sections:

А             Agriculture, forestry and fishing

В             Mining and quarrying

C             Manufacturing

D             Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply

Е              Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities

F              Construction

G             Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles

H             Transportation and storage

I               Accommodation and food service activities

J              Information and communication

L              Real estate activities

М            Professional, scientific and technical activities

N             Administrative and support service activities

P             Education

Q            Human health and social work activities

R             Arts, entertainment and recreation

S             Оther service activities

The survey does not include business entities from sections K (Financial and insurance activities) and О (Public administration and defence; compulsory social security). Even though, according to international standards, SBS survey does not cover business entities from the sections А (Agriculture, forestry and fishing), in this survey they are included, mainly for national accounts purposes, but those data as well as data from sections P (Education), Q (Human health and social work activities), R (Arts, entertainment and recreation) and S (Оther service activities, beside division 95) are not published in SORS publications in order to be in line with international standards.

03.4. Statistical concepts and definitions

Items required in thе questionnaire SBS-01 have to be available in accounting, human resources and other records of enterprises. These are:

  • income – revenues from sales, income from sub-contracting, donations, breakdown of income by products;
  • costs – breakdown of costs for industrial and non-industrial services and costs of materials; 
  • employment – annual average number of persons employed, number of agency workers;
  • current and capital transfers – inward and outward, by recipient;
  • regional data – breakdown of the total turnover, persons employed, gross salaries and wages, depreciations and fixed assets of the enterprise by classes of the Classification of Activities (2010) and municipalities.

From the reference year 2017 for certain number of enterprises have been asked detailed data on the structure of income and costs, by products or group of products. The following data are collected:

  • Revenues from sales of products, stocks of finished products and work in progress;
  • Revenues from sales of merchandise, trade margin rate in % or price difference, stocks of merchandise;
  • Revenues from sales of products, stocks of finished products and work in progress, in construction activities;
  • Reveneus from sales of industrial and non-industrial services (specially for ICT and other business services);
  • Costs and stocks of materials;
  • Costs of industrial and non-industrial services.

Based on the results of the SBS-01 survey and data from annual financial statement, indicators defined by the EU Regulation 295/08 are produced  The most important indicators are:

Number of enterprises includes the total number of enterprises and parts of other legal entities which were active at least up to the reference period, according to the data from the Statistical Business Register.

Turnover comprises the invoiced values during the reference periods, which correspond to the values of market sale of goods and services to third parties. The turnover includes all invoiced taxes and duties (except VAT and similar deductible taxes), as well as charges passed on to the customer (transport, packaging, etc.). Excluded are reductions in prices, rebates and discounts, the value of returned merchandise, as well as subsidies, financial, extraordinary and other income.

Production value refers to the amount of goods and services actually produced during the reference period. It is measured by the value of the realised turnover, including the capitalised production and other operating income (excluding subsidies), which is adjusted by the changes in stocks of finished goods, work in progress, minus the value of purchases of goods and services for resale.

Value added at factor costs is the gross income from operating activities, after adjusting for subsidies and indirect taxes. The calculation of the value added includes the value of production and subsidies, minus taxes on products and production, as well as the value of intermediate consumption which covers the cost of materials, cost of industrial and non-industrial services and part of other personnel cost.

Gross operating surplus is the operating surplus accruing from an enterprise’s activity, after production input has been remunerated. It can be calculated as the difference between the value added at factor costs and personnel costs. The enterprise may pay out debts, pay taxes or finance investments from the gross operating surplus. Financial and extraordinary income is excluded.

Personnel costs refer to all remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable regularly and temporarily by the employer to employees in return for work done by the latter in the reference period. They also include taxes and employees’ social security contributions payable by the employer, as well as other remunerations payable to employees, such as severance payments, gratuities, bonuses, family allowances, transport, overtime, nigh work, etc.

Gross wages and salaries refer to total remunerations, in cash or in kind, payable regularly or temporarily by the employer to employees (counted on the payroll) in return for work done in the reference period. Gross wages and salaries include taxes and social contributions payable by the employees, as well as other remunerations payable to employees, as severance payment, gratuities, bonuses, family allowances, transport, overtime, night work, etc.

Number of persons employed refers to all persons in the enterprise, including working proprietors, partners and unpaid family workers, voluntary workers, as well as persons working outside the enterprise but counted on its payroll (sales representatives, maintenance workers, delivery, etc.).

Number of employees refers to persons who have a work contract with an employer for definite or indefinite time and are paid for their work. It includes temporary absenteeism (sick leave, paid leave, etc.), part-time workers, seasonal and temporary workers, home workers under an agreement with the employer, apprentices, as well as working proprietors and family workers on payroll of the enterprise. It excludes workers from temporary employment agencies, long absenteeism and voluntary workers.

Value added per person employed (labour productivity), according to the methodology applied in EU countries, this is the main indicator for the measure of labour productivity. This indicator shows the volume of the value added per person employed. It is calculated by dividing the value added in an activity by the number of persons employed in this activity.

Wage-adjusted labour productivity. In measuring productivity, where the number of persons employed is taken to be the input, the problem is that full-time and part-time workers, as well as temporary absent workers are treated as one employee. This is particularly obvious in activities with a high share of part-time workers. Consequently, such productivity is adjusted by personnel costs. The wage-adjusted productivity is expressed in percentages and calculated by dividing the value of productivity by the average personnel costs.

Average personnel costs are calculated by dividing personnel costs in an activity by the number of employees in that activity.

Profitability indicates the share of the gross operating surplus in the total turnover in an activity, i.e. to what degree each dinar of revenues from sale participates in the gross operating surplus. Higher share means better enterprise’s performance and better earning capacity.

Number of persons employed per enterprise, as the indicator of size, measures the average size of enterprises by activities.

Turnover per person employed indicates the enterprise’s sales capacity in a selected CA activity. It is calculated by dividing the total turnover in an activity by the number of persons employed in that activity.

 

03.5. Statistical unit

Statistical and reporting unit is an economically active enterprise or market-oriented other legal unit (business entity) that have submitted the annual financial statement for the previous year. 

The principal statistical unit is the enterprise. Given that the enterprise may perform one or more activities, in one or more sites, the local unit is also considered statistical unit. 

 

03.6. Statistical population

The SBS-01 survey covers non-financial business economy, i.e. active enterprises engaged in the production and sale of goods and services, as well as the part of other legal entities that produce and render market-oriented services, which is established by a practical criterion saying that their income from selling goods and services should exceed 50% of their total operating income, provided that they have submitted the annual financial statement for the previous year. The target population consists of economically active statistical enterprises whose principal activity is one of the mentioned under item 3.3. of this document. Entrepreneurs are not included in the survey.

03.7. Reference area

Results are calculated by activities of CA, for the Republic of Serbia and statistical territorial units Srbija– sever and Srbija – jug (NSTJ1) and regions (NSTJ2).

(Remark: Starting from 1999 the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia has not at disposal and may not provide available certain data relative to AP Kosovo and Metohia and therefore these data are not included in the coverage for the Republic of Serbia (total).

 

03.8. Coverage - Time

Data have been disseminated from the reference year 2007 annualy.

03.9. Base period

Not applicable.


04. Unit of measureTop
04. Unit of measure

Values (financial) items are expressed at current prices and in dinars, VAT excluded.

The results are presented in absolute numbers, as the percentage structure (share in totals) of the results and by the enterprise size defined by the number of persons employed or operating income. 

 

 


05. Reference PeriodTop
05. Reference Period

Reference period is a calendar year. For a minor number of variables reference period is multi annual (two, three or five years).


06. Institutional MandateTop
06.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements

Conducting Annual Structural Business Survey is based on the following legal acts of the Republic of Serbia:

 

National legislation:

 
- Official Statistics Law
 
- Resolution on the Programme of official statistics
 
- Regulation on the Plan of official statistics for the current year
 
* The above documents are available at SORS website:  www.stat.gov.rs/en-US/o-nama/dokumenti

 

EU legislation (acquis communautaire):  

– Regulation (EC) No 295/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning structural business statistics (recast)

– Commission Regulation (EC) No 250/2009 implementing Regulation (EC) No 295/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the definitions of characteristics, the technical format for the transmission of data, the double reporting requirements for NACE Rev.1.1 and NACE Rev.2 and derogations to be granted for structural business statistics

– Commission Regulation (EC) No 251/2009 implementing and amending Regulation (EC) No 295/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the series of data to be produced for structural business statistics and the adaptations necessary after the revision of the statistical classification of products by activity (CPA)

– Commission Regulation (EU) No 275/2010 implementing Regulation (EC) No 295/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council, as regards the criteria for the evaluation of the quality of structural business statistics

– Commission implementing Regulation (EU) No 439/2014 amending Regulation (EC) No 250/2009 implementing Regulation (EC) No 295/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning structural business statistics, as regards the definitions of characteristics and the technical format for the transmission of data

– Commission implementing Regulation (EU) No 446/2014 amending Regulation (EC) No 295/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning structural business statistics, and Commission Regulations (EC) No 251/2009 and (EU) No 275/2010, as regards the series of data to be produced and the criteria for the evaluation of the quality of structural business statistics

 

06.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing

Data are regularely transmitted to Eurostat. There is no data exchange with other international institutions.


07. Confidentiality Top
07.1. Confidentiality - policy

Data confidentiality is stipulated by:

 

- Official Statistics Law (Official Gazette of RS, number 104/2009), Articles 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, and 49.

(www.stat.gov.rs/media/2322/zakon_o_statisticie.pdf)

 

- Rulebook on statistical data protection in the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia

(www.stat.gov.rs/media/2343/rulebook-on-statistical-data-protection-in-sors.doc )

 

- Guidelines on measures of data and information protection in the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia

(www.stat.gov.rs/media/2341/guidelines-on-measures-of-data-and-information-protection-in-the-sors.doc )

07.2. Confidentiality - data treatment

Confidential data are treated according to Official Statistics Law and Rulebook on Statistical Data Protection in the SORS of the RS, article 3. "Confidential statistical data, in terms of this Rulebook, are individual data as well as aggregates based on which the data holder may be in whatever way recognized", article 11."Confidential data from Article 3 of this Rulebook are considered official secret and cannot be published or communicated, that is, they cannot be part of aggregated data from which individual data can be identified".

   Data are published on the level at which they are not confidential. 


08. Release policyTop
08.1. Release calendar
Calendar of releases is available at SORS website on the 1st day of December every year for the forthcoming year (http://www.stat.gov.rs/en-US/calendar).
 
All SORS releases are launched at 12.00.
Any divergence from the defined time schedule are announced in advance and explained in the Calendar.  

 

08.2. Release calendar access

Calendar of releases is available at SORS website:

http://www.stat.gov.rs/en-US/calendar

 

08.3. Release policy - user access
The data obtained through statistical surveys are released at the internet presentation (http://www.stat.gov.rs/en-US/),
in statistical releases and publications (http://www.stat.gov.rs/en-US/publikacije/). 
 
The results of official statistics are available at the same time to all users on impartial basis; any privileged access by external users before their release is not allowed.  

 


09. Frequency of disseminationTop
09. Frequency of dissemination

Data are disseminated annualy.


10. Accessibility and clarityTop
10.1. Dissemination format - News release

Not available.

10.2. Dissemination format - Publications

Data are published in Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Serbia.

10.3. Dissemination format - online database

Data from theme Structural Business Statistics, subtheme Annual Structural Business Statistics, are available on SORS statistical database:

http://data.stat.gov.rs/Home/Result/190402?languageCode=en-US

10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
On request, the access to anonymized microdata is ensured to scientific and research institutions.
The request can be placed by email at stat@stat.gov.rs, or by regular mail addressed at 
5 Milana Rakića St, Belgrade.

 

10.5. Dissemination format - other

Data have been transmitted to Eurostat from the reference year 2016 in the required tecnical format.

10.6. Documentation on methodology

Methodological explanations are available in Statistical Yearbook, on SORS web site

 http://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2018/Pdf/G20182051.pdf

10.7. Quality management - documentation

Not available.


11. Quality managementTop
11.1. Quality assurance
The SORS quality management system is relied on the Serbian official statistics mission and vision, as well as on the European Statistics Code of Practice – CoP and the Total Quality Management – TQM principles, which together make the common quality framework of the European Statistical System (ESS).
 
For more information, please see the documents at http://www.stat.gov.rs/en-US/o-nama/sistem-upravljanja-kvalitetom.

 

11.2. Quality management - assessment

Results from the Annual Structural Business Survey are produced in line with methodological requirements and standards, combining data from statistical survey SBS-01 and administrative data sources (annual financial reports).

Data are compared withdata from the previous period as well as with data from the other statistical domains.The level of reliability and accuracy is high. Before data publishing detailed quality control of data is done.

Release of data is in line with Calendar of releases and data are available to all the users.

Combining multiple sources and data collection methods is in line with international recommendations, standards and practise. Data are internationally consistent because they follow EU practise as well as relevant international concepts, definitions and classifications.


12. Relevance Top
12.1. User needs

Beside data released in regular publications in SORS, special data processing is done at the request of the user.

Users on statistical data on structural business statistics are found in all areas of economic and social life. These are natural persons, business entities, state administration bodies and units of local self-government, academic and scientific-research institutions, Eurostat and other domestic and international users.

12.2. User satisfaction

On biennial basis (once in two years), by the means of web interview, implemented is the User Satisfaction Survey. The survey results are available at SORS website: http://www.stat.gov.rs/en-US/o-nama/sistem-upravljanja-kvalitetom.

 

12.3. Completeness
The SBS-01 survey includes a non-financial business economy, i.e. active enterprises engaged in the production and sale of products and services, as well as other legal units that produce and provide services for the market. The target population consists of economically active statistical enterprises whose principal activity is one of the mentioned under item 3.3. of this document. Entrepreneurs are not included in the survey.

13. Accuracy and reliabilityTop
13.1. Overall accuracy
Given that the response rate for the annual Structural Business Statistics survey is about 91%, the overall accuracy is very good.

In the case of unit non-response, imputation or estimation is made from administrative data sources.
13.2. Sampling error

Not applicable.

13.3. Non-sampling error

Not applicable.


14. Timeliness and punctualityTop
14.1. Timeliness
The data are published on the website of the Statisical Office of the Republic of Serbia 15 months after the reference period.

Preliminary data for a limited number of variables are transmitted to Eurostat in the required technical format 10 months after the reference period, and complete final data 18 months after the reference period.
14.2. Punctuality
All data is published in accordance with the announced Calendar of Release.
 
 
The data are transmitted to Eurostat in the required deadlines and tecnical format.
 
 

15. Coherence and comparabilityTop
15.1. Comparability - geographical
The same concept of calculation of results is applied in the territory of the whole Republic of Serbia.

Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia applies a methodology that is in line with international standards in the area of structural business statistics, which ensures good comparability with other countries.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Data have been available since the year 2007 ownards. The data are comparable and available for all years, taking into account that value data is given at current prices.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Data from the annual structural business statistics is compared with data from the quarterly structural business statistics, as well as data from the other statistical domains:
 
  • annual data from SBS-01 are used to produce annual national accounts, as well as to create an input-output tables;
  • also, there is a comparison with the results from the Annual Survey on Industrial Production;
  • data from the SBS-01 annual survey are used to obtain weighting coefficients for calculating the index of industrial production, on the  levels  industry - total, the sections of CA and the Main Industrial Groups according to the economic purpose;
  • data are also used for updating data in the Statistical Business Register.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Data are calculated at all levels of the CA (2010), for the levels of the territory of the Republic of Serbia, the statistical territorial units Serbia - sever and Serbia - jug (NSTJ1). The results of the survey are also presented as the percentage structure of the results (share in total) and according to the size of the enterprise defined by the number of employees or operating income.

Due to the high level of data detail, before publishing the final data and sending them to Eurostat, the logical and computational control of data in the Eurostat software package EDIT is done. All errors and warnings that appear must be corrected or explained. This ensures high internal consistency of data.

16. Cost and BurdenTop
16. Cost and Burden

Not available.


17. Data revisionTop
17.1. Data revision - policy
The SORS general revision policy constitutes the global frame ensuring that each statistical domain shall define its own revision policy in compliance with its specific nature. 
 
The general SORS revision policy determines:
 
- general rules of revisions of the published data,
- forms of informing users as regards the possible causes of revisions,
- categories of revisions, and
- documents covering all aspects of revisions.
 
The general SORS revision policy is available at http://www.stat.gov.rs/media/2332/general-revision-policy.docx.

 

17.2. Data revision - practice
Published data are considered final, unless otherwise stated. Corrections and revisions are possible.

Significant methodological changes are announced and users can be informed about them on the SORS website.

18. Statistical processingTop
18.1. Source data
Reporting method of data collection based on the SBS-01 questionnaire is applied in the survey. In addition, data from administrative sources (annual financial statements) are also used.

Data sources for annual structural business statistics are:
  • SBS-01 statistical survey for large and medium-sized enterprises (with 50 or more persons employed), as well as for business entities with less than 50 employees which according to the financial statements for the previous year, are large or medium, or of greater importance for the certain activity;
  • administrative data sources (annual financial statements) for other business entities defined by the coverage of units;
  • Statistical Business Register.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Data are collected in annual periodicity.
18.3. Data collection
The survey is carried out as mandatory, prescribed by the Annual Plan of Statistical Surveys adopted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

Reporting units transmit the data by entering them through a web questionnaire. Data entry and control is done in the regional statistical units of the SORS, responsible for collecting data for its territory, and the Administration of the City of Belgrade, Department of Statistics.
 
Apart from submitting data via a web questionnaire, reporting units can send completed questionnaires by e-mail. It is usual practise to contact the reporting unit by telephone for the purpose of providing expert assistance and consultations when filling in the questionnaire, due to its scope and complexity. Sometimes the data is collected by telephone.

In order to increase the response rate, reporting units are recontacted by telephone or e-mail. In case of unit non-response, imputations or estimations are made based on data from administrative and other available sources.
18.4. Data validation

Data quality control is carried out within data entry through a web application, in which the criteria of logical and calculation control are implemented. This way wrong data or warnings are marked in the application, suggesting that the reporting unit should check and correct such data.

The data are then transmitted to IST, a software application created in the SORS, which is used to control, process and tabulate data. In addition to the data from the current year (at the reporting unit level), the IST also contains relevant data from the previous year, as well as data from administrative sources. Based on this data set, data control is performed as well as imputation of data in case of non-response. IT programs function on the basis of a rule for error detection, distinguishing "warning" and "very significant" errors, which indicate that data correction is necessary. In order to correct errors, consultation with reporting units is often necessary.

Corrected aggregated data is also controlled in the EDIT program made by Eurostat. Any errors or warnings that the software detects must be corrected or explained. In this way, the controlled data are transmitted to Eurostat in a defined technical format, where the quality and completeness of data sets, which are defined in the EU regulations, are assessed.

 

18.5. Data compilation

Data processing is done at the level of the sections, divisions and groups of CA (2010), for territories of the Republic of Serbia, statistical territorial units Srbija - sever and Srbija - jug (NSTJ1) and regions (NSTJ2).

As laid down in the European recommendations, the results of the survey are presented according to the principal activity, which implies that, if a unit performs several activities, it attributes the overall result to its principal activity. Also, the results are expressed in absolute terms, as a percentage structure of the results (share in total) and according to the size of the enterprise, the latter being defined by the number of persons employed or operating income. Value (financial) data are presented at current prices and in dinars, excluding VAT.

Calculation and definitions of SBS variables are in line with EU regulations concerning structural business statistics.

 

18.6. Adjustment

Not applicable.


19. CommentTop
19. Comment

Not applicable.