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.
For more information, you can consult the Eurostat glossary page on the standard output.
3.2. Classification system
Data collected include information on the number of harvests, value, quantity and unit price corresponding to the standard output coefficients of a list of products, broken down by FADN region for each country (reference area). Such values are expressed in euro (and in national currency for countries out of euro area).
The list of products is based on the classifications of crop and livestock variables available in Annex III of Regulation (EU) 2018/1091.
The FADN regions refer to the Farm Accountancy Data Network divisions that are territories of a Member State, or any part thereof, delimited with a view to the selection of returning holdings. See Council Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009 for more information.
The standard output coefficients are used to calculate the standard output of agricultural holdings and to classify agricultural holdings by type of farming and by economic size.The farm type is determined by the relative contribution of the different productions to the total standard output of the holding.
Norway has followed the concepts given in typology Handbook RI/CC 1500 rev. 5 (July 2020).
The standard output coefficient of an agricultural product (crop or livestock), abbreviated as SOC, is the average monetary value of the agricultural output at farm-gate price, in euro per hectare or per head of livestock.
Other concepts and definitions are presented in the Typology handbook (RI/CC 1500 rev 5) prepared by the Committee for the Farm Accountancy Data Network.
All holdings included in IFS 2023 will be allocated total SO of the holding and type of farming.
3.7. Reference area
Standard Output Coefficients (SOC) are collected under the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN), by FADN regions in each country. FADN regions are mapped with NUTS regions. For more information on NUTS regions, see the NUTS classification.
3.8. Coverage - Time
The SO 2004 was calculated using the average of 2003, 2004 and 2005 prices. It is applied in 2007 Farm structure survey data and has been applied to 2005 Farm structure survey to allow comparability over the time periods.
The SO 2007 was calculated using the average of 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 prices. It is applied in the 2010 Farm structure survey data.
The SO 2010 was calculated using the average of 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 prices. It is applied in the 2013 Farm structure survey data.
The SO 2013 was calculated using the average of 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 prices. It is applied in the 2016 Farm structure survey data.
The SO 2017 was calculated using the average of 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 prices. It is applied in the 2020 Farm structure survey data.
The SO 2020 was calculated using the average of 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 prices. It is applied in the 2023 Farm structure survey data.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable
Units of measure utilised in the SOC data set are listed in the data transmission file to Eurostat by product. In general terms the used ones are EUR/100HEAD, EUR/100M2, EUR/HA, EUR/HEAD, EUR/HIVE.
Article 4 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1198/2014 states on the reference period for the standard output: “For the purposes of calculating standard outputs for the Union farm structure survey for year N, as referred to in Article 5b(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009, the reference period consists of the five successive years from year N-5 to year N-1. The standard outputs shall be determined using average basic data calculated over the reference period laid down in the first paragraph and commonly referred to as ‘N-3 standard outputs’. These N-3 standard outputs shall be updated to take account of economic trends at least each time a Union farm structure survey is carried out.”
For IFS 2023 this means that the Standard Output Coefficients required will be those calculated on the period of 5 years that spans from 2018 to 2022 (SOC2020)
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
There are no separate mandate or legal acts concerning IFS 2023 or SOC_2020. Survey and SOC_2020 are carried out according to the Statistics Act of 21 June 2019, no 32.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Not requested for this reference year.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
SOC_2020 is based on statistics prepared by Statistics Norway, the Norwegian Institute of Bio-economy Research, the Budget Committee for Agriculture and some minor sources.
Disseminating SOC_2020 for agricultural variables will not result in confidentiality problems.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
The SOC for agricultural variables is not considered confidential.
When linking SOC information (total SO and type of farming) to agricultural holdings, ordinary confidentiality problems may occur. Due to fall in number of agricultural holdings and increased specialization at holding level, confidentiality is an increasing problem when disseminating agricultural statistics. Procedures applied are; less detailed statistics, suppression of table cells based on less than 3 observations, suppression of cells if one dominant unit could be identified.
8.1. Release calendar
No
8.2. Release calendar access
Not requested for this reference year.
8.3. Release policy - user access
Not available.
SOC data are published on Eurobase under the “Additional data - Eurostat (europa.eu)” page on Agriculture statistics. The publication of the data normally takes place within N+1 year after the deadline for the data transmission. Nevertheless updates of the data can occur, triggered by DG Agri and Eurostat revision and post-validation checks.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
At present SOC_2020 is not accessible to public.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Not requested for this reference year.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
Not requested for this reference year.
10.3.1. Data tables - consultations
Not requested for this reference year.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Not requested for this reference year.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Not requested for this reference year.
10.5.1. Metadata - consultations
Not requested for this reference year.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
Not available.
10.6.1. Metadata completeness - rate
Not requested for this reference year.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
Not requested for this reference year.
11.1. Quality assurance
The quality is assessed to be good for common variables. For infrequent variables, the quality is varying. E.g. SOCs for oil-seeds and field beans were difficult because of unreliable production data. This case was solved by looking into Swedish statistics and test data from the Norwegian Institute of Bio-economy Research.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Not requested for this reference year.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Type of farming is frequently used in agricultural statistics disseminated by Statistics Norway. Up to now statistics on holdings total SO have not been disseminated.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
No information available.
12.3. Completeness
SOC_2020 for all crop and livestock variables relevant in Norway are available.
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
Assessed to be 100 %.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Assessed to be satisfactory.
13.2. Sampling error
Not requested for this reference year.
13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
Not requested for this reference year.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not requested for this reference year.
13.3.1. Coverage error
Not requested for this reference year.
13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate
Not requested for this reference year.
13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion
Not requested for this reference year.
13.3.2. Measurement error
Not requested for this reference year.
13.3.3. Non response error
Not requested for this reference year.
13.3.3.1. Unit non-response - rate
Not requested for this reference year.
13.3.3.2. Item non-response - rate
Not requested for this reference year.
13.3.4. Processing error
Not requested for this reference year.
13.3.5. Model assumption error
Not requested for this reference year.
14.1. Timeliness
The deadline 31 December 2023 set by Eurostat was not fulfilled. SOC_2020 was not implemented in the preliminary results of the IFS 2023.
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
Not requested for this reference year.
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
Not requested for this reference year.
14.2. Punctuality
Not satisfactory.
14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
Not requested for this reference year.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
A major revision of the county and regional division came into force as from 2020. The number of counties was reduced from 19 to 11 and the number of regions from 7 to 6. SOC is calculated at regional level. 3 out of 6 new regions are comparable with former regions.
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
Not requested for this reference year.
15.2. Comparability - over time
SOC_2007, SOC_2010, SOC_2013, SOC_2017 and SOC_2020 are comparable at country level for all variables. Furthermore, SOC_2007, SOC_2010 and SOC_2013 are comparable for all regions. Three of the old regions are virtually equal to three new regions as from 2020, of which two have not changed name: NO02 Hedmark og Oppland ≈ NO02 Innlandet (9102), NO06 Trøndelag ≈ NO06 Trøndelag (9105) and NO07 Nord-Norge ≈ NO07 Nord-Norge (9106). SOC_2017 and SOC_2020 are comparable for all regions.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
SOC_2007, SOC_2010 and SOC_2013 are comparable for all regions, and SOC_2017 and SOC_2020 are comparable for all regions.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Not requested for this reference year.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not requested for this reference year.
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
Not requested for this reference year.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Not requested for this reference year.
SOC_2020 for crop variables have been calculated by Statistics Norway, while the Norwegian Institute of Bio-economy has been responsible for the calculation of SOC_2020 for livestock variables.
No data have been collected from agricultural holdings particularly for SOC_2020.
17.1. Data revision - policy
No, except for regions.
17.2. Data revision - practice
No revision has been done.
17.2.1. Data revision - average size
Not requested for this reference year.
18.1. Source data
Various statistics carried out by Statistics Norway: Cereals, areas and yields / Holdings, agricultural area and livestock / Vegetables, fruit and berry production / Production of potatoes and forage crops / Livestock husbandry / Meat production.
Various yearly data collected and collocated by the Budget Committee for agriculture.
Data from the yearly Account Results in Agriculture (Norwegian FADN).
18.2. Frequency of data collection
SOC data transmission occurs every 3 years
18.3. Data collection
SOC_2020 for crop variables have been calculated by Statistics Norway, while the Norwegian Institute of Bio-economy has been responsible for the calculation of SOC_2020 for livestock variables.
18.4. Data validation
SOC_2020 for all crop and livestock variables at country level have been compared with the same variables in previous SOC calculations (2007, 2010, 2013 and 2017). Furthermore, some SOC_2020s at regional level have been compared with previous SOC calculations.
For more information, you can consult the Eurostat glossary page on the standard output.
17 September 2024
Norway has followed the concepts given in typology Handbook RI/CC 1500 rev. 5 (July 2020).
The standard output coefficient of an agricultural product (crop or livestock), abbreviated as SOC, is the average monetary value of the agricultural output at farm-gate price, in euro per hectare or per head of livestock.
Other concepts and definitions are presented in the Typology handbook (RI/CC 1500 rev 5) prepared by the Committee for the Farm Accountancy Data Network.
All holdings included in IFS 2023 will be allocated total SO of the holding and type of farming.
Standard Output Coefficients (SOC) are collected under the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN), by FADN regions in each country. FADN regions are mapped with NUTS regions. For more information on NUTS regions, see the NUTS classification.
Article 4 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1198/2014 states on the reference period for the standard output: “For the purposes of calculating standard outputs for the Union farm structure survey for year N, as referred to in Article 5b(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009, the reference period consists of the five successive years from year N-5 to year N-1. The standard outputs shall be determined using average basic data calculated over the reference period laid down in the first paragraph and commonly referred to as ‘N-3 standard outputs’. These N-3 standard outputs shall be updated to take account of economic trends at least each time a Union farm structure survey is carried out.”
For IFS 2023 this means that the Standard Output Coefficients required will be those calculated on the period of 5 years that spans from 2018 to 2022 (SOC2020)
Assessed to be satisfactory.
Units of measure utilised in the SOC data set are listed in the data transmission file to Eurostat by product. In general terms the used ones are EUR/100HEAD, EUR/100M2, EUR/HA, EUR/HEAD, EUR/HIVE.
Not relevant.
Various statistics carried out by Statistics Norway: Cereals, areas and yields / Holdings, agricultural area and livestock / Vegetables, fruit and berry production / Production of potatoes and forage crops / Livestock husbandry / Meat production.
Various yearly data collected and collocated by the Budget Committee for agriculture.
Data from the yearly Account Results in Agriculture (Norwegian FADN).
SOC data are published on Eurobase under the “Additional data - Eurostat (europa.eu)” page on Agriculture statistics. The publication of the data normally takes place within N+1 year after the deadline for the data transmission. Nevertheless updates of the data can occur, triggered by DG Agri and Eurostat revision and post-validation checks.
The deadline 31 December 2023 set by Eurostat was not fulfilled. SOC_2020 was not implemented in the preliminary results of the IFS 2023.
A major revision of the county and regional division came into force as from 2020. The number of counties was reduced from 19 to 11 and the number of regions from 7 to 6. SOC is calculated at regional level. 3 out of 6 new regions are comparable with former regions.
SOC_2007, SOC_2010, SOC_2013, SOC_2017 and SOC_2020 are comparable at country level for all variables. Furthermore, SOC_2007, SOC_2010 and SOC_2013 are comparable for all regions. Three of the old regions are virtually equal to three new regions as from 2020, of which two have not changed name: NO02 Hedmark og Oppland ≈ NO02 Innlandet (9102), NO06 Trøndelag ≈ NO06 Trøndelag (9105) and NO07 Nord-Norge ≈ NO07 Nord-Norge (9106). SOC_2017 and SOC_2020 are comparable for all regions.
