Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SURS)

Price Statistics Section

Litostrojska cesta 54, SI-1000 Ljubljana

The data on Services Producer Price Indices (SPPI) present quarterly trends in prices of services in selected activities provided by enterprises as producers of services to their customers. The data cover transactions with all entities (B2All), including the sales of services to businesses (B2B) and private consumers (B2C). The sales of services to businesses also includes sales to the public sector – government (B2G).

Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community (NACE Rev. 2) is used.

SPPI cover activities in the following NACE Rev. 2 sections: H-Transportation and storage, I-Accommodation and food service activities, J-Information and communication, L-Real estate activities, M-Professional, scientific and technical activities (excl. M701, M72, M75) and N-Administrative and support service activities.

The SPPI measure the development of transaction prices in services that enterprises as producers of services provide to their customers/buyers. The transaction prices exclude value added tax and similar deductible taxes, rebates and other discounts that the producer approves to the buyer, whereas subsidies received by the producer, if there are any, should be added. Monitored services are those of most importance to the selected enterprises either in terms of the frequency of performing the service or in terms of the value of the service.

Data on prices of selected representative services in observed activities are collected from enterprises providing these services.

The target population comprises around 1,120 enterprises operating in the following NACE Rev. 2 activities: H49 Land transport and transport via pipelines, H50 Water transport, H51 Air transport, H52 Warehousing and support activities for transportation, H53 Postal and courier activities, I55 Accommodation, I56 Food and beverage service activities, J58 Publishing activities, J59 Motion picture, video and television programme production, sound recording and music publishing activities, J60 Programming and broadcasting activities, J61 Telecommunications, J62 Computer programming, consultancy and related activities, J63 Information service activities, L68 Real estate activities, M69 Legal and accounting activities, M702 Management consultancy activities, M71 Architectural and engineering activities; technical testing and analysis, M73 Advertising and market research, M74 Other professional, scientific and technical activities, N77 Rental and leasing activities, N78 Employment activities, N79 Travel agency, tour operator reservation service and related activities, N80 Security and investigation activities, N81 Services to buildings and landscape activities, N82 Office administrative, office support and other business support activities. The frame for identifying enterprises is the Statistical Business Register of Slovenia.

Reference area is the whole territory of the Republic of Slovenia.

The availability of indices differs depending on when the production of the index for each activity started. B2All SPPI for divisions H50, H51, H53, J61, J62, J63, M69, M71, M73, N78, N80 and group M702 are available from 2010 on. For section H and divisions H49, H52, H81 they are available from 2017 on. For sections I, L and divisions I55, I56, L68, N77, N79 they are available from 2018 on. For agregate of sections H to N (excl. K, M701, M72, M75), sections J, M (excl. M701, M72, M75), N and divisions J58, J59, J60, N74, N82 they are available from 2020 on.

Indices that reflect sales between enterprises are also calculated. B2B SPPI for activities H494, H501_H502, H51, H521, H5224, H531, H532, J61, J62, J63, M69_702, M71, M73, N78, N80, N812 and their aggregate are available from 2006 on. Indices for additional groups in activities H49, H52 and N81 are available from 2017 on. Indices for activities I55, I56, L68, N77, N79 and for activities J58, J59, J60, M74, N82 are available from 2018 and from 2020 on, respectively.

Year 2021 = 100.

Indices.

Quarter.

The legal basis is the Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics, repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics (EBS-Regulation), Commission Implementing Regulation 2020/1197 laying down technical specifications and arrangements pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistic (General Implementing Act), the National Statistics Act (OJ RS, No 45/95 and 9/01) and the Annual Programme of Statistical Surveys for 2023 (OJ RS, No 146/22).

All non-confidential data are available on SURS website. Following a predetermined timetable, selected data are transmitted only to Eurostat.

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data.

National Statistics Act (OJ RS, No 45/95 and 9/01).

In order to protect business interests of reporting units, only aggregated data are published. Therefore, adjusted contents of the tables are in use (confidential data are suppressed) and certain rules are applied to protect data, such as a threshold minimum number of units.

Release dates are available in the SURS release calendar one year in advance (at the end of the year for the following year).

The release calendar can be found on SURS website http://www.stat.si/StatWeb/en/ReleaseCal.

The data are released as a First Release published on the SURS website http://www.stat.si/StatWeb/en/. Following the publication the data are transmitted to Eurostat in SDMX format via eDAMIS. No user has prior access to the data. Data can also be obtained on the SURS SiStat Database https://pxweb.stat.si/SiStat/en/ (Theme: Prices and Inflation, Sub-Theme: Prices in Manufacturing and Services), via mail, phone and e-mail.

Data are published with quarterly frequency.

First data are issued with a notice called First Release in accordance with the release calendar at 10:30 a.m. on SURS website. First Release is available within 50 days after the reference quarter.

Not applicable.

Data are disseminated in full detail on the SURS SI-STAT Database https://pxweb.stat.si/SiStat/en/Home/GetSearchResultsRedirect?searchQuery=0427601S%20OR%200427602S&searchString=0427601S%20OR%200427602S.

Microdata are not disseminated.

Data are sent to Eurostat to be used in European aggregates and/or to be released as national data.

A description of the methodology is available on SURS website https://www.stat.si/statweb/en/Methods/QuestionnairesMethodologicalExplanationsQualityReports (Theme: Prices and Inflation, Sub-theme: Prices in Manufacturing and Services).

Quality documentation can be reached on SURS website https://www.stat.si/statweb/en/Methods/QuestionnairesMethodologicalExplanationsQualityReports (Theme: Prices and Inflation, Sub-theme: Prices in Manufacturing and Services).

The quality assurance framework for SURS statistics is based on the European Statistics Code of Practice. In order to assure an appropriate quality of SPPI indices quality checks and validations are made throughout data collection as well as data processing process. More information on quality in national statistics is available on SURS website https://www.stat.si/StatWeb/en/FundamentalPrinciples/QualityInStat.

Quality documentation can be reached on SURS website https://www.stat.si/statweb/en/Methods/QuestionnairesMethodologicalExplanationsQualityReports (Theme: Prices and Inflation, Sub-theme: Prices in Manufacturing and Services).

Services Producer Price Indices are produced in compliance with methodological requirements and standards.

Services producer prices indicator is one of the Principal European Economic Indicators which has been identified by key users as being of prime importance for the conduct of monetary and economic policy of the euro area. Data are used by different users: Eurostat, ECB, national bank, government departments, trade unions, researchers, students, internal users (national accounts, business statistics), enterprises/businesses.

The principal users in Slovenia are asked about their needs, interests, views, opinions at the regular meetings, i.e. at the Advisory Committee for Price Statistics.

SURS measured general user satisfaction for the last time in 2023. Respondents assessed general satisfaction with SURS with the average score of 8.0 (on a scale from 1 – disagree completely to 10 – agree completely).

All statistics that are required by current Regulation are available.

The accuracy of SPPI is considered to be high because all methodology recommendations are taken into account. Different processes are directed to eliminate or reduce errors in the collection phase and in subsequent editing and imputation.

Sampling error cannot be calculated because the survey is not conducted on the basis of a random sample. In order to ensure good representativeness the enterprises which play an important role on the market are included in the sample. The sample is thus compiled of various enterprises which perform as many different services implemented under particular activity as possible. Monitored services are those of most importance to the selected enterprises either in terms of the frequency of performing the service or in terms of the value of the service.

Unit non-response rate (annual average 2023): 4.3%

SURS reminds the reporting units of their obligation via e-mail. After having received the second reminder, the units that have not yet completed the questionnaire are called. SURS has established a call centre which helps the reporting units in case of lack of understanding of the questionnaire, and a list of frequently asked questions with answers is published online. However, usually there are some eligible units from which we do not succeed to obtain desired data by the deadline for data processing.

Item non-response rate (annual average 2023): 8.3%

Imputation rate (annual average 2023): 8.3%

Where the prices of services could not be collected or the services were not performed, missing data were edited with imputation procedures. When inserting data, we use the mean imputation method, the historical imputation method or the logical imputation method.

Editing rate (annual average 2023): 0.4%

The new web questionnaire has built-in logical controls that alert the reporting unit to potential errors. As a result, the number of errors in the reported data is small. In case of error detection at capture of input data to the data entry and control program, reporting unit is contacted again and incorrect values are manually edited. 

Over-coverage rate (annual average 2023): 0.6%

Units that informed us that they no longer provide services in the observed activities are taken into account.

Data are published not later than 50 days after the end of the reference period.

All news releases are published according to the announced release calendar.

Survey results are based on the requirements of the EBS-Regulation, which is in use in all EU Member States. This ensures a good comparability between national data and good-quality European aggregates.

Survey results represent Slovenia as a whole (no geographical dimension).

The time series of indices that reflect the sales of enterprises with all entities (B2All) is available since:

– 2010 for divisions H50, H51, H53, J61, J62, J63, M69, M71, M73, N78, N80 and for the group M702

– 2017 for section H and divisions H49, H52 and H81

– 2018 for sections I, L and divisions I55, I56, L68, N77 and N79

– 2020 for sections J, M (excl. M701, M72, M75), N and divisions J58, J59, J60, N74 and N82.

The time series of indices that reflect sales between enterprises (B2B) is available since:

– 2006 for activities H494, H501_502, H51, H521, H5224, H531, H532, J61, J62, J63, M69_702, M71, M73, N78, N80, N812 and their aggregate

– 2017 for additional groups in divisions H49, H52 and N81

– 2018 for divisions I55, I56, L68, N77 and N79

– 2020 for divisions J58, J59, J60, M74 and N82.

There are no breaks in the time series.

There is no known similar survey that could be used as a reference source for comparison.

Data are internally coherent. High level aggregations are derived from detailed indices according to well-defined procedures.

The number of working hours spent for the selection of enterprises in the sample, preparing the address book, designing and distribution of questionnaires and notification letters, data capture, data entry and data verification, calculation of the results and their publication, etc. was 3,282.

Total time spent by reporting units was 829 hours. Number of reporting units that submitted the data was 1,027, annual number of questionnaires per unit was 4, time spent to fill in a questionnaire was 12 minutes.

The data are final when first released and are not subject to revision. Exceptionally, if a mistake is discovered, a special revision is introduced with an official note on SURS website commenting the reason why and the impact. 

The same revision policy is applied nationally and in transmissions to Eurostat.

The data are final when first released and are not subject to revision.

Methodological changes are previously discussed with the Advisory Committee for Price Statistics. Major changes in methodology are announced in advance by placing a notice in First Release. Detailed explanation of methodological changes is provided in methodological explanations on the SURS website.

The data used to calculate SPPI are obtained with the statistical survey. The list of reporting units is determined on the basis of threshold coverage (i.e. cut-off sampling). Our source is the sampling frame of the Statistical Business Register of Slovenia. The main criteria for the inclusion are activity in which the unit is registered and annual net turnover. Based on the Structural Business Statistics data (SURS’s survey), units in an individual activity are first classified (in descending order) by turnover and then as many units are selected from the top of the list that their turnover reaches the selected share (around 60%) in total turnover of all units registered in a specific activity. If there are only five units or less in an observed activity, we include all those units in the list of reporting units. In 2023, we revised the list of services whose prices we monitor and the list of enterprises that report prices. The survey includes around 1,120 enterprises that report prices for almost 5,000 services per quarter.

Data are collected quarterly.

Services producer prices are collected with the web questionnaire CENE-STOR/ČL. Each questionnaire is individually designed. This means that only services for which the unit reported prices in the previous reference quarter are stated on the questionnaire. Reporting units access a web questionnaire through the eSTAT web application. Every quarter individual units enter sales prices in the observed quarter into the questionnaires and transmit it to SURS. Units are obliged to deliver the required data within eight days after the end of the reference quarter. The data collection for a particular reference period closes one month after the end of the reference quarter. About 95% of prices are collected with the questionnaires.

For some prices, data sources are price lists published on the Internet. In this way, around 5% of prices of services are collected.

Data collected by web questionnaires are first checked with logic controls in the computer program for data entry and control. Once all the collected data are in the computer program for data entry and control, they are transferred to database where they are manually checked also by the person responsible for the survey. Changes, if any, have to be explained on the questionnaire. If there are doubts about the reliability of the data, these data are checked once again by contacting the corresponding reporting unit.

In order to ensure a full response for all surveyed units micro-estimates are made every quarter. Missing values are edited using the mean imputation method, the historical imputation method or the logical imputation method.

The individual index for each service is calculated by comparing the price of the service in the individual quarter with the price of the service in the fourth quarter of the previous year. From individual indices aggregate indices at the class or group and division level are calculated by using weighted arithmetic mean. Further on aggregate indices are grouped higher until the total index is calculated. Each aggregate index calculated in this way (last quarter of the previous year = 100) is Laspeyres index of fixed type, which means that it is calculated with weights from the same weight base period and with the same coverage of services.

Weights for 2023 are based on Structural Business Statistics data on turnover in 2021. In designing the weights, turnover data are recalculated (indexed) to the last quarter of the previous year with the SPPI for Oct–Dec 2022 / average of the year 2021. Weights are changed every year.

Data are not WDA nor SA adjusted.

Not available.