Content
About the statistics
Definitions
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Name and topic
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Name: Information and communication, structural business statistics
Topic: Technology and innovation
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Responsible division
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Division for Structural Business Statistics
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Definitions of the main concepts and variables
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Enterprise
In the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) an enterprise is the smallest combination of legal entities that is an organizational unit producing goods or services, which benefits from a certain degree of autonomy in decision making.
Local kind-of-activity unit (local KAU)
The SIC defines a local KAU as a functional unit, which at a single physical location is engaged primarily in activities within a specific activity group.
Location
The location is determined in accordance with municipal borders as of 1 January 2002. In some industry divisions an enterprise can conduct business in several municipalities and counties without being divided into several KAUs. In such cases, the combined operations of the enterprise are registered at the head office address.
Owners
Owners include owners of sole proprietorships, or general partnerships with trade income greater than NOK 100 000, and family members who work for the enterprise on a daily basis without receiving regular wages. Co-owners of limited companies and cooperatives who are paid for working for the enterprise are not included, nor are family members of owners of sole proprietorships or general partnerships when they receive regular wages.
Employees
The number of employees is collected through the Register of Employees and Employers (the A/A-register). An employee is a person who works for an employer and receive compensation in the form of wages, pay, fee, bonuses, payment in kind etc. There are conditions that the work should last for at least six days and that the employee must be employed on average four hours or more per week for the employee to be notifiable to the A/A-register.
Employment
Employment is the sum of owners and employees. Compared to the register based Employment Statistics , where a person is only counted in the principal job where they are employed, the structural statistics allows persons with more than one job to be counted as employee in several industries at the same time. The statistics on employment will therefore not be directly comparable.
Employment statistics show the average number of persons employed in the year.
Turnover/sales
Turnover is defined as the sum of remuneration for rendering of services to customers and sales of merchandise, and gross income from other activities. Rental income and commissions are included, while special taxes, subsidies and profits from sales of business assets are not. VAT is not included in the statistics.
Merchandise
Merchandise is goods bought and resold with no value added.
Wage costs
Wage costs include wages, holiday allowance, remuneration, employers' national insurance contribution, reportable pension costs and other personnel expenses. Wage costs do not include remuneration to owners of sole proprietorships or partnerships or to family members without regular pay.
Production value
Production value means turnover adjusted for changes in inventory, and goods and services purchased for resale.
Value added (at factor cost)
Value added is the total of production value less the purchase of goods and services (for other goods and services than those purchased for resale) and corrected for changes in stocks of raw materials and consumables. Special public grants for manufactured/sold merchandise and other public grants/reimbursements are included.
Total purchases of goods and services
Total purchases of goods and services include the value of all goods and services purchased during the year for resale ment for use in the enterprise's own production process or for stock. Investments are not included in these figures.
Gross investments
Gross investments are the total value of new capital goods such as buildings and plant (except housing), machinery, tools, fixtures and fittings and vehicles and other means of transport (except for personal use), both new and used. Improvements are added whereas sales of used capital stock are deducted. Investment figures are exclusive of incoming value added tax.
Acquisitions
Acquisitions include all fixed assets acquired and completed in the course of the year. In assessing the value of the asset, cost price is used for purchases and production cost for own manufacturing. Acquisitions through financial leasing are included when entered as assets in the balance sheet.
Sale of assets
The sale of assets is estimated at sales value (replacement value) upon realisation of used assets over the course of the year. The figures include investment tax. Assets are regarded as sold at the time of delivery.
Improvement of own assets
This includes the value of all capitalised improvements and major repairs purchased and executed by others and/or undertaken by own employees on own business assets. It is required that such improvements increase the efficiency/value of and/or extend the lifetime of the asset. The improvement is estimated at cost price or at production cost for own manufacturing.
Gross operating surplus
Gross operating surplus is the surplus generated by operating activities after the labour factor input has been recompensed. It can be calculated from the value added at factor cost less the personnel costs. It is the balance available to the unit which allows it to recompense the providers of own funds and debt, to pay taxes and eventually to finance all or a part of its investement.
Payments for agency workers
Payments for agency workers are payments to temporary employment agencies and similar organisations supplying workers to clients' businesses for limited periods of time to supplement or temporarily replace the working force of the client, where the individuals provided are employees of the temporary help service unit. However, these agencies and organisations do not provide direct supervision of their employees at the clients' work sites. Only the payments for the provision of personnel which is not linked to the provision of a particular industrial or other non-industrial service is included.
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Standard classifications
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The Standard Industrial Classification (SN2007) used in Statistics Norway is based on the EU´s NACE-standard.
Earlier time series with figures up to 2008 are published according to SN2002 (based on EU's NACE Rev.1.). Many of the industries that according to the new industrial standard (SN2007) constitute Information and communication can be retrieved in StatBank in accordance to the previous standard. See head 6.1
Here you can find information about the transition to the new Standard Industrial Classification .
Administrative information
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Regional level
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National level
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Frequency and timeliness
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Frequency: Annual
Timeliness: Data pertains to the statistical year of 2017. Final figures are normally published 17 months after the last month of the statistical year. Preliminary figures on employment and turnover are published 10 months after the last month of the statistical year.
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International reporting
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The statistics are reported to EUROSTAT.
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Microdata
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Primary data and information on sample units and population are stored temporarily in the programming language SAS, and stored permanently as text-files.
Background
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Background and purpose
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The structural business statistics for information and communication are a part of the industrial statistics of Statistics Norway, and present detailed information about the activities in this sector on the basis of financial information.
The statistics are compiled in accordance with the EU regulation on structural business statistics, and were first published for parts of the sector in 1998. Since 1999 final results have been published on both the enterprise level and the local kind-of-activity unit (local KAU) level.
Preliminary figures for turnover and employment on the enterprise level were published for the first time for 2001, in accordance with the EU regulation.
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Users and applications
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Users include public and private sector agencies, private organizations, individuals and international organizations such as EUROSTAT, as well as the National Accounts and other divisions of Statistics Norway.
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Equal treatment of users
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No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on ssb.no at 8 am. Prior to this, a minimum of three months' advance notice is given in the Statistics Release Calendar. This is one of Statistics Norway’s key principles for ensuring that all users are treated equally.
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Coherence with other statistics
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The structural business statistics for Information and communication are adapted to the EU regulation on structural business statistics, in the same way as the structural business statistics for wholesale and retail trade, business activities and construction that are also compiled by Statistics Norway.
When making comparisons with other statistics for employment, for instance the labour force survey at Statistics Norway or statistics based on the Register of Employees and Employers, it must be kept in mind that definitions and methodology varies between the statistics. The structural business statistics are compiled according to definitions given by the EU regulation on structural business statistics (see section 4.2).
The structural business statistics are used as a base when making the National accounts.
See accounts statistics for information about non-financial limited companies in the information sector
See other statistics on technology and innovation
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Legal authority
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Statistics Act Sections 2-2 and 2-3
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EEA reference
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Regulation 295/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning structural business statistics amended by Regulation 251/2009, 517/2013 and 446/2014
Production
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Population
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The structural statistics for Information and communication are organized according to the NACE-standard (see section 4.2) and include the following industry divisions:
58 Publishing activities
59 Motion picture, video and television programme production, sound recording and music publishing activities
60 Programming and broadcasting activities
61 Telecommunications
62 Computer programming; consultancy and related activities
63 Information service activities
The structural business statistics comprise most of the enterprises that are registered in the abovementioned industry divisions, as long as the enterprise was registered with activity in Norway in the relevant statistical year.
The exception is enterprises within the public service sectors 6100 and 6500. Such units are not included in the structural business statistics for construction even though they should happen to have operations in the abovementioned industry.
However, all other enterprises in the public sector or owned by the public sector, i.e. units with sector codes 1110, 1120, 1510 og 1520, are included in the statistics if they have activity in the abovementioned industry.
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Data sources and sampling
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For a sample of the enterprises and enterprises with more than one local kind-of-activity unit (local KAU) in the population, the statistics are based on Trading Statements (NO) and a supplementary questionnaire. The Trading Statements are either attached to the questionnaires or submitted electronically via the Norwegian Internal Revenue Service. Residual enterprises outside the sample are asked to report turnover through the structural survey.
Employment are collected through Employee-/employer register (A/A-register).
Information, like the accounts and turnover about enterprises with only one local KAU outside the sample, is obtained from the Register of Annual Company Reports in Brønnøysund, the VAT Register and trading statements (NO) electronically submitted via the Norwegian Internal Revenue Service.
The Register of Establishments and Enterprises at Statistics Norway is used to obtain necessary information about the population. The VAT Register, the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities, information from trade organizations and direct input from the enterprises are used to update the Register of Establishments and Enterprises.
Starting with the year 2008, figures for gross investments are collected from the Write-off blankett RF 1048B from the tax authority
The population consists of all enterprises in the relevant industry divisions with registered activity in the reference year. The population is divided into subpopulations, called strata, after criteria like industrial classification and number of employees. In some of the strata, all enterprises are always included in the sample. From the remaining strata, a representative selection of enterprises is drawn. All enterprises in this sample are asked to report a full set of Trading Statements and to complete a questionnaire.
This detailed survey of accounting data is combined with the additional information from the various registers and the structural survey of Statistics Norway to form the basis for the estimation of the financial structures of the different industries.
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Collection of data, editing and estimations
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The questionnaires are sent out within three months after the end of the statistical year, with a response deadline of three or four weeks. The enterprises that do not respond on the first letter will be given reminders in writing for about a further six months from the first deadline.
Editing and corrections are carried out on the information obtained from the sample population and the structural survey. The raw data are checked against reports for last year, the Central Register of Establishments and Enterprises, the Register of Annual Company Reports in Brønnøysund and other available sources, and by contacting the respondent if necessary.
For enterprises in the sample, where we have a complete Standard Industry form and questionnaire, no variables are estimated. For enterprises where we only have a Standard Industry form the questionnaire variables are estimated. For other enterprises all variables, except turnover and employment, are estimated on the basis of sample figures.
Turnover and employment are considered as known variables for all enterprises and are therefore used as a basis for computing missing variables. Previously an industry mean based on sample units was used to estimate missing data for non-sample units (ratio estimates). As of the statistical year 2011 the method is based on finding a sample unit similar to the non-sample unit to be estimated, based on a set of criteria, and using the sample-unit to estimate the missing values (nearest neighbour estimation). The nearest neighbour criterion is industry combined with the turnover/employment ratio, in that order.
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Seasonal adjustment
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Not relevant
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Confidentiality
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If data from less than three statistical units are represented in a table Statistics Norway will withold from publishing the actual number. The reason for this is to maintain the anonymity of our respondents.
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Comparability over time and space
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Many enterprises and local KAUs within the industry division Information and communication (J) operates within different industries. The unit is placed in the division in which it has its main activity. If a unit changes its activity it may also have to move to a different industry. This is more common within industry division J than in most other industries. The result is that figures in one year not necessarily is directly comparable to subsequent years. The effect of this is larger in figures for enterprises than for local KAUs. At the same time, some industries may be dominated by a few lagre units, changes in theese may result in changes for the entire industry.
The figures for 2007 within publishing of books, periodicals and other publishing activities (58.1), sound recording and music publishing activities (59.2) and aggregated figures in which they enter, are not directly comparable to subsequent years, especially when counting enterprises. The reason for this being the change of processing when publishing moved from industry to information and communication
In previous years gross investments was calculated from enterprises in the sample to the entire population. Starting with the year 2008, figures for gross investments are collected from the Write-off blankett RF 1048B from the tax authority. This source provides more correct figures for gross investments.
Earlier time series with figures up to 2008 are published according to SN2002 (based on EU's NACE Rev.1.). Many of the industries that according to the new industrial standard (SN2007) constitute Information and communication can be retrieved in StatBank in accordance to the previous standard. See cultural services , computer and related activities , and telecommunications as completed time series.
Connected to theese figures you can find earlier Todays Statistics: Cultural services , computer and related activities and telecommunications .
Connected to theese figures you can find earlier metadata (About the statistics): Cultural services , computer and related activities and telecommunications .
See 4.2 for information about the transition to the new Standard Industrial Classification
Table 08242 in StatBank contains turnover by product for all the enterprises in nace 58.2, 62 and 63.1 according to the new Standard for Industrial Classification (SN2007). Previous tables on turnover by product are populated with enterprises in nace 72 according to EU's NACE Rev.1/SN2002.
Accuracy and reliability
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Sources of error and uncertainty
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Returned questionnaires are read optically and automatically checked. An optical image of the form is first saved electronically and then checked manually in order to ensure that the primary data are as correct as possible. Nevertheless, the results of a statistical survey may contain some collection and processing errors.
Measurement errors are defined as data errors due to the measurement instrument. Examples of such errors are vague or ambiguous questions, misunderstandings or incorrect data supplied by the respondent. A typical error can be the use of incorrect units of measurement, for instance NOK instead of NOK 1 000. Processing errors are errors from coding or errors that occur during the transferring of information from the questionnaire to a machine-readable medium or during revisions. Examples of such errors are misinterpretation of the answers on printed questionnaires when these are read optically, for instance if the figure 1 is read as the figure 7, or if correct figures are considered incorrect and changed.
Non-response, that is when the respondent does not return the form or returns the form with incomplete information, will always be an aspect of form-based surveys. In the structural business statistics, non-respondent enterprises are treated the same way as enterprises outside the sample population.
In the structural business statistics, the Register of Establishments and Enterprises, the Register of Annual Company Reports in Brønnøysund, the VAT Register and the Register of Employees and Employers (the AA Register) are used in order to define the population and help collect the necessary data.
Errors in these administrative registers - like time gaps in registration, incorrectly identified unit characteristics etc. may therefore be a potential source of uncertainty in the statistics and may for instance have an impact when dividing the population into adequate strata.
The variables in the preliminary figures (number of enterprises, employment and turnover) are based on a full census, and sampling errors are not relevant for these variables.
The structural business statistics use the Central Register of Establishments and Enterprises, the Register of Company Accounts, the VAT Register and the Register of Employees and Employers to define the population and collect the necessary data.
The most common errors are those caused by delayed registration. Such delays can be a result of a delay in reporting to the registers or the fact that changes are normally recorded some time after they have occurred. As a result, the registers are not updated at all times, which may lead to sample skewness or the use of old data.
When drawing samples, characteristics such as industry code, status etc in the Central Register of Establishments and Enterprises are also important. The quality of these characteristics is imperative when dividing the population into adequate strata, and may affect the quality of the sample.
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Revision
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Information and communication, structural business statistics are published annually.
Preliminary figures are normally published about ten months after the end of the statistical year. This publication includes number of enterprises, turnover and employment for enterprises only.
Final figures produced after revision of the preliminary figures are normally published sixteen to seventeen months after the end of the statistical year. More variables are included in this statistics. Figures for both enterprises and local kind of activities are presented.
The statistics is now published as Business statistics.