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.
The annual Business demography data collection covers variables which explain the characteristics and demography of the business population. The methodology allows for the production of 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 EU Regulation 2019/2152 on European Business Statistics (EBS Regulation).
Units which have employment or turnover in a given period are considered active.
There were no specific inclusions into, and exclusions from the population of active units, in terms of activity, legal form, location, quality etc.
We use the annual Balance Sheets to verify if a unit is active. As we know, the birth and death dates do not show us whether a unit is active or not.
We followed the methodology specified in the ”Eurostat-OECD Manual on Business Demography Statistics”.
3.5. Statistical unit
Enterprise
3.6. Statistical population
The population for BD covers NACE sections B to N and P to R and divisions S95 and S96. It contains market-oriented enterprises, and size classes are the ones specified in BD methodology.
3.7. Reference area
Geographic area is the territory of Romania, no regions are excluded.
BD population also includes branches of foreign enterprises which have annual financial statements in Romania.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Time series covers the period 1999-2021
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
• The number of active, birth, death and survival enterprises, as well as high-growth enterprises is expressed in units. • The number of employees is counted as head counts and is expressed in units. • The number of persons employed is the sum of number of employees and self-employed persons. • The number of self-employed persons is the average number of persons who were at some time during the reference period the sole owners or joint owners of the statistical unit in which they work, measured in annual average headcounts, expressed in units. • Derived indicators are expressed in units or percentages
Reference year is 2021.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
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
According to the national Law on the organization and functioning of official statistics
in Romania (Article 36), Business Demography variables are considered as not confidential.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Not applicable.
7.2.1. Confidentiality rules (primary and secondary)
Data treatment
Remarks
Confidentiality rules applied
No
Threshold of number of enterprises (Number)
Number of enterprises non confidential, if number of employments is confidential
Not applicable
Dominance criteria applied
No
If dominance criteria is applied, specify the threshold (in %) and the method of applying the dominance rules
Secondary confidentiality applied
No
If secondary confidentiality is applied, explain the rules and the methods used
7.2.2. Measures taken to reduce the number of confidential cells
Remarks
Measures taken to reduce the number of confidential cells
Not applicable
If measures have been taken, describe them briefly
Impact of these measures
Not applicable
8.1. Release calendar
Data are disseminated nationally but without a predefined release calendar.
Data published at national level cover NACE sections A to S, while data sent to Eurostat, only sections B to S, P to R and divisions S95 and S96.
8.2. Release calendar access
Not available.
8.3. Release policy - user access
BD data are disseminated on NIS website, and all users have free access, it is not necessary to create an account on the website.
Annual.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
Not available.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
There is an annual thematic publication available both on paper and in electronic format. It is published in Romanian.
Documentation is available in Romanian and English.
10.6.1. Metadata completeness - rate
Not requested.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
Not requested.
11.1. Quality assurance
Data quality is assured by following the indications specified in the Code of Practice for European Statistics.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Data are provided on time, respecting the methodology available in BD Manual.
There was a break in the time series in 2011, when we started providing data also for Sole proprietors.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Users of BD data are:
-Internal users: other departments in our institution, social actors, researchers and students. They request aggregated data, data at regional level and sometimes also micro-data.
-External users: Eurostat, international organisations.
Data published at national level cover NACE sections A to S, while data sent to Eurostat, only sections B to S, P to R and divisions S95 and S96.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
At the moment we don't have any user satisfaction survey. However, the unit has regular consultations with the Central Bank and internal users, in domains such as: Agriculture, fisheries and forestry, Business statistics, Globalisation, Macroeconomic accounts and other statistical domains.
12.3. Completeness
100%.
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
Data are complete.
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
No matching process is necessary. All administrations use the same ID.
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 are no processing errors in the data collection process.
13.3.5. Model assumption error
Not requested.
14.1. Timeliness
Data are released at national level 18 months after the end of the reference period. There are no time lags which could affect the data.
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
Not requested.
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
Not requested.
14.2. Punctuality
There were no delays regarding data transmission.
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
a) First reference year available (calendar year):
1999
b) Breaks in time series and reasons for the breaks:
In 2011 there was a break in time series, because we started transmitting data for sole proprietors.
c) Outliers in time series:
Not the case.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
The length of comparable time series is 10 years (2011-2021). This series contains also data for sole proprietors.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
We have established some correlations between BD and SBS data and we reduced the differences regarding number of active enterprises, number of employees and self-employed, number of employees in active enterprises.
Concerning the coherence with Business Register, data for BD 2021 is computed only for enterprises as quasi- companies and sole proprietors. BR inquiry contains also public and private administration, non-governmental organizations and inactive units.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
We have no revisions foreseen for reference year 2021.
17.2. Data revision - practice
The reason for the differences between the preliminary and final data for enterprise deaths is that we had reactivations for enterprises which restarted their activity within a 2 years period.
17.2.1. Data revision - average size
In 2023 we also sent revised data for high-growth enterprises, covering reference years from 2012 to 2021, because previously we had used an incomplete formula.
18.1. Source data
a) Type of data source: Business Register updated based on administrative (annual financial statements, Trade Register, Fiscal Register, VAT files) and statistical (SBS, labour cost survey, STS, etc.) data.
b) Coverage of SBR (Statistical Business Register): SBR covers all NACE for quasi-companies sector and the sole proprietors sector. It includes any enterprise (legal unit with turnover or employment at least one month in a fiscal year).The VAT threshold is 88 500 EURO, but it has no impact on the coverage of Business Register.
c) Matching, profiling or imputation:
All administrations use the fiscal code as identifier and we have information from administrative and statistical sources on demographic events.
We also implemented steps to check all the legal units, which are part of enterprises. Romania participated in the Profiling exercises, which help us to delineate the enterprises, which have more than one legal unit.
18.1.1. Concepts and sources
The sources are quite good. We add also information from statistical surveys. When there is missing data, we use estimations for number of employees and self-employed persons, only for sole proprietors, by using legal form.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Date are collected annually (annual financial statements), quarterly (Trade Register) or monthly (Fiscal Register, VAT files).
18.3. Data collection
For Fiscal Register, data are sent to us by email.
For Trade Register, data are transferred by FTP.
18.3.1. Data matching
a) Data matching process and tools:
No matching process is necessary. All administrations use the same ID.
b) Matching: Not the case.
18.3.2. Manual checks
Not the case.
18.4. Data validation
Statistical analysis of the national statistical business register is carried out to ensure the quality of data and frame populations provided to users.
Data validation procedures include:
Checks if the file has the appropriate fields and data types;
Checks if all the required information is included in the file;
Identifying units which have more than one ID;
Consistency checks between the variables in BR, i.e. if the type of unit does not match with the legal form for a legal unit, this incosistency will be rectified;
Comparing values of the same BR variable for different time periods;
Rectifying values if major differences are found in the time series;
Checks between administrative sources (Fiscal Register vs Trade Register) when a source does not provide complete data;
Checks between the BR data and the data provided by other surveys (i.e. SBS, FATS);
Checks between EGR and FATS (between BR and SBS data);
Checks with National Central Bank.
18.5. Data compilation
The procedures used to combine data from different sources:
We take all the attributes from the information provided by the Finance Ministry and after that we check with other sources for the records where we find inconsistencies
Missing number of self-employed persons is estimated only for sole proprietors.
We do not include enterprises with no employees and self-employed persons.
Annual average is calculated by taking headcount of employees or self-employed persons per month and dividing by total number of months (12). The same method is used if there are no employees, but only self-employed person working in enterprise.
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 for the production of 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
20 February 2024
BD constitutes an important and integrated part of the EU Regulation 2019/2152 on European Business Statistics (EBS Regulation).
Units which have employment or turnover in a given period are considered active.
There were no specific inclusions into, and exclusions from the population of active units, in terms of activity, legal form, location, quality etc.
We use the annual Balance Sheets to verify if a unit is active. As we know, the birth and death dates do not show us whether a unit is active or not.
We followed the methodology specified in the ”Eurostat-OECD Manual on Business Demography Statistics”.
Enterprise
The population for BD covers NACE sections B to N and P to R and divisions S95 and S96. It contains market-oriented enterprises, and size classes are the ones specified in BD methodology.
Geographic area is the territory of Romania, no regions are excluded.
BD population also includes branches of foreign enterprises which have annual financial statements in Romania.
Reference year is 2021.
Not requested.
• The number of active, birth, death and survival enterprises, as well as high-growth enterprises is expressed in units. • The number of employees is counted as head counts and is expressed in units. • The number of persons employed is the sum of number of employees and self-employed persons. • The number of self-employed persons is the average number of persons who were at some time during the reference period the sole owners or joint owners of the statistical unit in which they work, measured in annual average headcounts, expressed in units. • Derived indicators are expressed in units or percentages
The procedures used to combine data from different sources:
We take all the attributes from the information provided by the Finance Ministry and after that we check with other sources for the records where we find inconsistencies
Missing number of self-employed persons is estimated only for sole proprietors.
We do not include enterprises with no employees and self-employed persons.
Annual average is calculated by taking headcount of employees or self-employed persons per month and dividing by total number of months (12). The same method is used if there are no employees, but only self-employed person working in enterprise.
a) Type of data source: Business Register updated based on administrative (annual financial statements, Trade Register, Fiscal Register, VAT files) and statistical (SBS, labour cost survey, STS, etc.) data.
b) Coverage of SBR (Statistical Business Register): SBR covers all NACE for quasi-companies sector and the sole proprietors sector. It includes any enterprise (legal unit with turnover or employment at least one month in a fiscal year).The VAT threshold is 88 500 EURO, but it has no impact on the coverage of Business Register.
c) Matching, profiling or imputation:
All administrations use the fiscal code as identifier and we have information from administrative and statistical sources on demographic events.
We also implemented steps to check all the legal units, which are part of enterprises. Romania participated in the Profiling exercises, which help us to delineate the enterprises, which have more than one legal unit.
Annual.
Data are released at national level 18 months after the end of the reference period. There are no time lags which could affect the data.
Not requested.
a) First reference year available (calendar year):
1999
b) Breaks in time series and reasons for the breaks:
In 2011 there was a break in time series, because we started transmitting data for sole proprietors.
