Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Business Register, Central Statistics Office, Skehard Road, Cork
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
22 April 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
22 April 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
22 April 2025
3.1. Data description
The annual Business demography data collection covers variables which explain the characteristics and demography of the business population. The methodology allows to produce data on enterprise births (and deaths), that is, enterprise creations (cessations) that amount to the creation (dissolution) of a combination of production factors and where no other enterprises are involved (enterprises created or closed solely as a result of e.g. restructuring, merger or break-up are not considered).
A summary of the available indicators is listed below. The data is available at EU, country and regional level, with breakdowns for type of activity, legal form and size class.
For the population of active enterprises:
Number of active enterprises
Number of enterprise births
Number of enterprise survivals up to five years
Number of enterprise deaths
Related variables on employment: 'employees' and 'persons employed' (employees and self-employed persons)
For the population of active employer enterprises:
Number of enterprises having at least one employee
Number of enterprises having the first employee
Number of enterprises having no employees anymore
Number of enterprise survivals up to five years
Related variables on employment: 'employees' and 'persons employed' (employees and self-employed persons)
For high-growth enterprises, the following indicators are available at EU and country level:
Number of high-growth enterprises (growth by 10% or more)
Number of employees of high-growth enterprises
Number of young high-growth enterprises (up to five years old high-growth enterprises)
Number of employees of young high-growth enterprise
3.2. Classification system
From 2008 onwards NACE Rev.2 classification (Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community) is used for all indicators.
Starting with reference year 2021, BD data cover the economic activities of market producers within the NACE Rev. 2 Sections B to N, P to R and Divisions S95 and S96. The total economy is presented as Industry, construction and services (code BTSXO_S94).
For the reference years 2008-2020, data for the Sections P, Q, R and S were provided on a voluntary basis and K64.2 was not covered.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
BD constitutes an important and integrated part of the new European Business Statistics Regulation; 2152/2019.
The activity status of an Enterprise is determined based on Revenue returns. The criteria of employment and/or turnover are used to determine if entperise is active.
Large Cases were investigated manually as some who might not have a return in the reference year might still be active, and these would need to be included.
3.5. Statistical unit
Statistical unit "enterprise"
3.6. Statistical population
The target population is the private sector economy, including all active (having either turnover or employment at any time during the reference year) enterprises. Non market producers are excluded. In the additional datasets on employer business demography, the threshold is set to one employee at any time of the reference period. The following thresholds are used:
1 employee - population of employer enterprises,
10 employees in the beginning of the growth - average annualised growth greater than 10% over a three year period - population of high-growth enterprises,
10 employees in the beginning of the growth - enterprises up to 5 years old - average annualised growth greater than 10% over a three year period - population of 'gazelles'.
3.7. Reference area
Ireland
3.8. Coverage - Time
2021-2022
3.9. Base period
Not applicable
Basic variables (active, birth, death and survival enterprises and their employment) are in absolute figures. Derived indictors are expressed in percentages.
2022
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Starting with reference year 2021, two new regulations form the legal basis of BD statistics:
Before reference year 2021, EU Regulation 2008/295 on structural business statistics, Annex IX, was providing a legal basis for the BD data collection. The Commission implementing EU Regulation 2014/439 ensured data collection on employer enterprises (with at least one employee), high-growth enterprises (more than 10% annual growth over three years) and their employment.
Up to reference year 2006 data have been collected under gentlemen's agreement within the context of the development of Structural Business Statistics.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Not applicable.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
National legislation describing the statistical confidentiality is covered by the Data Protection Act 1988, the Data Protection Act 2003 and the Statistics Act 1993
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
The primary confidential rules are applied to employment variables for cells with less than 3 enterprises. Secondary confidential values are applied so that recalculation of primary confidential cells is prevented. Results for more than two reporting units can be suppressed to prevent recalculations from aggregates.
7.2.1. Confidentiality rules (primary and secondary)
Data treatment
Remarks
Confidentiality rules applied
yes
Threshold of number of enterprises (Number)
fewer than 3 Enterprises
Number of enterprises non confidential, if number of employments is confidential
no
Dominance criteria applied
yes
If dominance criteria is applied, specify the threshold (in %) and the method of applying the dominance rules
if one unit accounts for more than 80% of the total
if two units account for more than 90% of the total
Secondary confidentiality applied
yes
If secondary confidentiality is applied, explain the rules and the methods used
Tau Argus
7.2.2. Measures taken to reduce the number of confidential cells
Remarks
Measures taken to reduce the number of confidential cells
no
no steps can be taken other than verifying that the rules mentioned above are applied correctly
If measures have been taken, describe them briefly
Impact of these measures
not applicable
8.1. Release calendar
Business Demography figures are released via national publication in Q3 of the year of transmission. These figures are coherent with teh data transmitted to Eurostat.
The information which is not available in the published publications and/or in the published on-line databases is provided to some of the public authorities and to some of our main users.
Annual per publication and per Eurostat rules regarding demography returns.
Central Statistics Office Ireland is committed to ensuring the highest quality with respect to the compilation of statistical information. The Code of Practice is applied.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
BD data were collected followign quality standarts and disseminated in the best delays.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The unit has regular consultations with the main users, that are SBS and National Accounts (sample frames, enterprise tracking and query control). Externally with microdata users (type and availabilty of data) and general public queries.
Business demography data published at national level different from the data sent to Eurostat. The Size Classes in the breakdowns on the CSO release are different to the Size Classes required by Eurostat, but the totals are the same.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
No surveys organised related to the users' satisfaction adn no information about downloads of data.
12.3. Completeness
BD data are complete
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
100%
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Not requested.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Enterprises that are part of enterprise groups may be wrongly designated as non-active using these methods, because their employment and turnover may be registered against another enterprise in the group. Group enterprises that are not active on Revenue account for less than 1% of the total population of active enterprises.
In some cases, particularly for very small enterprises, no information could be found to determine if an enterprise was a real birth or death or not. This accounted for approximately 5% of the total number of enterprises that were manually checked.
13.3.1. Coverage error
Not requested.
13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate
Not requested.
13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion
Not requested.
13.3.2. Measurement error
Not applicable.
13.3.3. Non response error
Not applicable.
13.3.3.1. Unit non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.3.2. Item non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.4. Processing error
There were no significant processing errors.
13.3.5. Model assumption error
Not requested.
14.1. Timeliness
The administrative data that identifies the population of active enterprises for a given year is not fully available until 15 months after the end of the year. This is sufficient to allow the production of population, births and survival data 18 months after the end of the reference year. However, it does not allow the production of preliminary enterprise deaths until 30 months after the end of the reference year, or final enterprise deaths until 42 months after the reference year, using the methodology supplied in the Business Demography manual
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
Not requested.
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
Not requested.
14.2. Punctuality
All transmission deadlines to Eurostat were resptected
14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
Not requested.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Not requested.
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
Not applicable.
15.2. Comparability - over time
The first reference year available following the latest methodology is 2021.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
2021-
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
The central statistics office undertook a project to improve coherency between SBS, Business Demography and National Accounts. All areas are now coherent.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable.
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
Not requested.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Not requested.
Not requested.
17.1. Data revision - policy
2021 Business Demography was revised to remove non market enterprises, further improve coherence with SBS and to fix methodology issues in survivals.
17.2. Data revision - practice
The difference between preliminary and final enterprise death data is because of timing issues due to availability of admin data.
In 2021 was revised methodology for survivals, EBD births and deaths, improve coherence with SBS and removed non market enterprises.
17.2.1. Data revision - average size
2021, relative mean of absolute revisions for
enterprise death was 0.34, persons employed in them 0.56, employees in them 0.95
employer enterprise death 0.45, persons employed in them 0.99, employees 1.06
preliminary final high-growth enterprises vs preliminary 0.37, employees in them 0.46
18.1. Source data
a) Type of data source
CSO Business Register is the source for updating the Statistical Business Register (SBR).
b) Coverage of SBR
All enterprises that are registered with the Revenue Commissioners for VAT, Corporation Tax, Income Tax or PREM (employer registrations), and that pay Corporation Tax, Income Tax, or have employees, are included in the Business Register.
Registrations from different tax sources (PREM / IT / CT) are matched using Revenue customer number to create a single quasi legal unit for each Revenue customer.
New registrations are matched to existing enterprises by customer number and also name and address, so that new registrations that are related to existing enterprises are added to them, rather than new enterprises being created for them.
This reduces the number of enterprises that appear as potential births but are in fact merely due to administrative changes within the enterprise.
Enterprise birth and death dates are stored in the Business Register. Birth dates come from several sources: in some cases this information is available from a survey form, and is considered high quality. However, in most cases this date comes from the date the registration numbers were registered, and this often does not correspond to the start of real business activity.
Similarly, where cessation dates come from contact with the enterprise via various business survey forms or phone calls etc this is considered high quality, but for smaller enterprises which are not surveyed, only the administrative deregistration dates are available, which are unreliable as an indicator of enterprise death date.
The process of updating the Business Register changed from being survey dependant to using administrative data. The Business Register Births Inquiry form which had been issued to all new enterprises was stopped, and processes were developed to load enterprise characteristics from various administrative sources.
c) Matching, profiling or imputation
Data matching is carried out using linking administrative numbers where possible. Text matching on name and address is also used, with the Exorbyte application providing fuzzy search methods.
Ongoing feedback from users of the Business Register identifies further enterprises that were birthed onto the register, but are actually duplicates of existing enterprises, for example sole traders changing to limited companies. The new enterprises are ceased and their details added to the original enterprises.
The initial population of potential births was generated by matching the population of active enterprises from one year with the population from the previous two years. This matching was done on enterprise number and also on Revenue customer number (unique legal unit identifier).
To remove potential births due to changes of employer registration number, the individual ID numbers of all employees on potential births with at least 3 employees were compared with all employer registrations active in the previous year. Potential births for which more than 70% of employees in the birth year were employed by the same employer registration number in the previous year, were considered not to be a real enterprise births.
Potential births that were subsequently identified as duplicates of existing enterprises from survey area feedback were also removed.
So all remaining large potential births (20+), and a sample of smaller enterprises were checked manually, using the Business Register, internet searches, and direct contact with enterprises (phone calls, emails etc). For enterprises with less than 20 employees, the results of the sample checking were applied to the whole population of potential births.
The same process was used to calculate the population of real deaths from potential deaths, and a similar process was used to estimate enterprise survival data.
All location matching was done manually, so all potential locations were checked.
The full population of active enterprises from the Business Register for each reference year, which includes all registered legal units in NACE codes outside the scope of the Business Demography data collection, was used to calculate the population of potential births and deaths. Therefore units moving out of scope were not considered potential births or deaths, as long as they were active in each reference year.
24,591 reactivations were discovered when matching the different birth and death populations, based off the Business demography from the final frame for 2020.
Manual checking was very resource-intensive, and in some cases no satisfactory answer could be found.
18.1.1. Concepts and sources
The raw source of SBR contain all information.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Annual.
18.3. Data collection
Business demography variables are compiled from the national statistical business register.
18.3.1. Data matching
a) Data matching process and tools:
Data matching is carried out using linking administrative numbers where possible. Text matching on name and address is also used, with the Exorbyte application providing fuzzy search methods.
Ongoing feedback from users of the Business Register identifies further enterprises that were birthed onto the register, but are actually duplicates of existing enterprises, for example sole traders changing to limited companies. The new enterprises are ceased and their details added to the original enterprises.
b) Matching:
The initial population of potential births was generated by matching the population of active enterprises from one year with the population from the previous two years. This matching was done on enterprise number and also on Revenue customer number (unique legal unit identifier).
To remove potential births due to changes of employer registration number, the individual ID numbers of all employees on potential births with at least 3 employees were compared with all employer registrations active in the previous year. Potential births for which more than 70% of employees in the birth year were employed by the same employer registration number in the previous year, were considered not to be a real enterprise births.
Potential births that were subsequently identified as duplicates of existing enterprises from survey area feedback were also removed.
So all remaining large potential births (20+), and a sample of smaller enterprises were checked manually, using the Business Register, internet searches, and direct contact with enterprises (phone calls, emails etc). For enterprises with less than 20 employees, the results of the sample checking were applied to the whole population of potential births.
The same process was used to calculate the population of real deaths from potential deaths, and a similar process was used to estimate enterprise survival data.
All location matching was done manually, so all potential locations were checked.
The full population of active enterprises from the Business Register for each reference year, which includes all registered legal units in NACE codes outside the scope of the Business Demography data collection, was used to calculate the population of potential births and deaths. Therefore units moving out of scope were not considered potential births or deaths, as long as they were active in each reference year.
24,591 reactivations were discovered when matching the different birth and death populations, based off the Business demography from the final frame for 2020.
Manual checking was very resource-intensive, and in some cases no satisfactory answer could be found.
18.3.2. Manual checks
Historically, all large (20+) potential births were manually checked, and all large (20+) potential deaths.
In addition, all 10 - 19 enterprises and samples of under 10 enterprises were manually checked.
From these, a weighting was calculated and applied to outstanding data. After several years of the manual checks providing similar weights, it was decided that there wasn't enough of a change to merit the resources put into the checks. Therefore a weighting was determined based on results from previous years, each of which was very similar. This weighting is applied since 2015.
For under 10 potential births, the proportions of real births found in the manually checked results were applied to the under 10 population to estimate the real birth population.
The same method was used for estimation of real deaths.
Circa 60% historically was confirmed as real birth and death.
New large births appeared in various sectors, including some film production companies.
Large real death occured in many sectors - manufacturing, retail, construction etc.
Some extra manual checks took place on surviving enterprises that were small in the first year of birth, but grew large in subsequent years. All enterprises with over 50 persons engaged in the survival year that had not been previously manually checked were checked, along with a sample of extra 10 – 50 enterprises. The enterprises that were found not to have been real births were removed. The results of the checking showed that the proportion of these enterprises that were real births were more closely aligned with the checking results for 10+ large enterprise births than under 10 enterprise births, so this reduced proportion was used to weight the remaining survivals with at least 10 persons engaged in the survival year.
Other potential births that were found to be active during the survival year were weighted using the same proportions as used to estimate the population of real births.
Finally, the results from the manual checking of potential deaths were used to calculate the proportion of potential births that could not be matched in the surviving population, but were confirmed as survivals from manual checking.
18.4. Data validation
Before sending to Eurostat, the following checks are performed: hierarchical, inter-variable plausibility, confidential and completeness.
18.5. Data compilation
Information will follow
18.5.1. Imputation - rate
Not requested.
18.6. Adjustment
Not applicable.
18.6.1. Seasonal adjustment
Not applicable.
The annual Business demography data collection covers variables which explain the characteristics and demography of the business population. The methodology allows to produce data on enterprise births (and deaths), that is, enterprise creations (cessations) that amount to the creation (dissolution) of a combination of production factors and where no other enterprises are involved (enterprises created or closed solely as a result of e.g. restructuring, merger or break-up are not considered).
A summary of the available indicators is listed below. The data is available at EU, country and regional level, with breakdowns for type of activity, legal form and size class.
For the population of active enterprises:
Number of active enterprises
Number of enterprise births
Number of enterprise survivals up to five years
Number of enterprise deaths
Related variables on employment: 'employees' and 'persons employed' (employees and self-employed persons)
For the population of active employer enterprises:
Number of enterprises having at least one employee
Number of enterprises having the first employee
Number of enterprises having no employees anymore
Number of enterprise survivals up to five years
Related variables on employment: 'employees' and 'persons employed' (employees and self-employed persons)
For high-growth enterprises, the following indicators are available at EU and country level:
Number of high-growth enterprises (growth by 10% or more)
Number of employees of high-growth enterprises
Number of young high-growth enterprises (up to five years old high-growth enterprises)
Number of employees of young high-growth enterprise
22 April 2025
BD constitutes an important and integrated part of the new European Business Statistics Regulation; 2152/2019.
The activity status of an Enterprise is determined based on Revenue returns. The criteria of employment and/or turnover are used to determine if entperise is active.
Large Cases were investigated manually as some who might not have a return in the reference year might still be active, and these would need to be included.
Statistical unit "enterprise"
The target population is the private sector economy, including all active (having either turnover or employment at any time during the reference year) enterprises. Non market producers are excluded. In the additional datasets on employer business demography, the threshold is set to one employee at any time of the reference period. The following thresholds are used:
1 employee - population of employer enterprises,
10 employees in the beginning of the growth - average annualised growth greater than 10% over a three year period - population of high-growth enterprises,
10 employees in the beginning of the growth - enterprises up to 5 years old - average annualised growth greater than 10% over a three year period - population of 'gazelles'.
Ireland
2022
Not requested.
Basic variables (active, birth, death and survival enterprises and their employment) are in absolute figures. Derived indictors are expressed in percentages.
Information will follow
a) Type of data source
CSO Business Register is the source for updating the Statistical Business Register (SBR).
b) Coverage of SBR
All enterprises that are registered with the Revenue Commissioners for VAT, Corporation Tax, Income Tax or PREM (employer registrations), and that pay Corporation Tax, Income Tax, or have employees, are included in the Business Register.
Registrations from different tax sources (PREM / IT / CT) are matched using Revenue customer number to create a single quasi legal unit for each Revenue customer.
New registrations are matched to existing enterprises by customer number and also name and address, so that new registrations that are related to existing enterprises are added to them, rather than new enterprises being created for them.
This reduces the number of enterprises that appear as potential births but are in fact merely due to administrative changes within the enterprise.
Enterprise birth and death dates are stored in the Business Register. Birth dates come from several sources: in some cases this information is available from a survey form, and is considered high quality. However, in most cases this date comes from the date the registration numbers were registered, and this often does not correspond to the start of real business activity.
Similarly, where cessation dates come from contact with the enterprise via various business survey forms or phone calls etc this is considered high quality, but for smaller enterprises which are not surveyed, only the administrative deregistration dates are available, which are unreliable as an indicator of enterprise death date.
The process of updating the Business Register changed from being survey dependant to using administrative data. The Business Register Births Inquiry form which had been issued to all new enterprises was stopped, and processes were developed to load enterprise characteristics from various administrative sources.
c) Matching, profiling or imputation
Data matching is carried out using linking administrative numbers where possible. Text matching on name and address is also used, with the Exorbyte application providing fuzzy search methods.
Ongoing feedback from users of the Business Register identifies further enterprises that were birthed onto the register, but are actually duplicates of existing enterprises, for example sole traders changing to limited companies. The new enterprises are ceased and their details added to the original enterprises.
The initial population of potential births was generated by matching the population of active enterprises from one year with the population from the previous two years. This matching was done on enterprise number and also on Revenue customer number (unique legal unit identifier).
To remove potential births due to changes of employer registration number, the individual ID numbers of all employees on potential births with at least 3 employees were compared with all employer registrations active in the previous year. Potential births for which more than 70% of employees in the birth year were employed by the same employer registration number in the previous year, were considered not to be a real enterprise births.
Potential births that were subsequently identified as duplicates of existing enterprises from survey area feedback were also removed.
So all remaining large potential births (20+), and a sample of smaller enterprises were checked manually, using the Business Register, internet searches, and direct contact with enterprises (phone calls, emails etc). For enterprises with less than 20 employees, the results of the sample checking were applied to the whole population of potential births.
The same process was used to calculate the population of real deaths from potential deaths, and a similar process was used to estimate enterprise survival data.
All location matching was done manually, so all potential locations were checked.
The full population of active enterprises from the Business Register for each reference year, which includes all registered legal units in NACE codes outside the scope of the Business Demography data collection, was used to calculate the population of potential births and deaths. Therefore units moving out of scope were not considered potential births or deaths, as long as they were active in each reference year.
24,591 reactivations were discovered when matching the different birth and death populations, based off the Business demography from the final frame for 2020.
Manual checking was very resource-intensive, and in some cases no satisfactory answer could be found.
Annual per publication and per Eurostat rules regarding demography returns.
The administrative data that identifies the population of active enterprises for a given year is not fully available until 15 months after the end of the year. This is sufficient to allow the production of population, births and survival data 18 months after the end of the reference year. However, it does not allow the production of preliminary enterprise deaths until 30 months after the end of the reference year, or final enterprise deaths until 42 months after the reference year, using the methodology supplied in the Business Demography manual
Not requested.
The first reference year available following the latest methodology is 2021.
