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For any question on data and metadata, please contact: Eurostat user support |
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1.1. Contact organisation | Statistics Iceland |
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1.2. Contact organisation unit | Business Statistics |
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1.5. Contact mail address | Borgartún 21A, 105 Reykjavík Iceland |
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2.1. Metadata last certified | 02/12/2019 | ||
2.2. Metadata last posted | 16/01/2024 | ||
2.3. Metadata last update | 16/01/2024 |
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3.1. Data description | |||
Air emissions accounts (AEA) record flows of gaseous and particulate materials emitted into the atmosphere as a result of economic activity. AEA is a subset of environmental-economic accounts. They offer a detailed breakdown for 64 emitting economic activities (NACE), plus households, as defined in the national accounts of EU countries. They are aligned with economic statistics and GDP. These features make them suitable for integrated environmental-economic analyses and modeling – for example of 'carbon footprints' and climate-change modeling scenarios. National Statistical Institutes (NSI) submit AEA to Eurostat through a mandatory annual data collection. The data collection includes an electronic questionnaire and this quality report.
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3.2. Classification system | |||
The AEA dataset has the following dimensions: 1) Air pollutant: Emissions to air of the following gaseous and particulate substances are collected (greenhouse gases, air pollutants): Carbon dioxide without emissions from biomass (CO2), Carbon dioxide from biomass (Biomass CO2)*, Nitrous oxide (N2O), Methane (CH4), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs), Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) including nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), Nitrogen oxides (NOx), Non-methane volatile organic compounds, (NMVOC), Carbon monoxide (CO), Particulate matter < 10μm (PM10), Particulate matter < 2,5μm (PM2,5), Sulphur dioxide (SO2), Ammonia (NH3) 2) Geopolitical entity: EU Member States, EFTA Countries, Candidate Countries etc. 3) Economic activities: include 64 production activities (classified by NACE rev.2 A*64), and households’ consumption (3 sub-classes). 4) Time: reference year for which air emissions are reported 5) Unit: tonnes and thousand tonnes |
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3.3. Coverage - sector | |||
The data refer to national economies as defined in the system of national accounts. Greenhouse gases and air pollutants emitted by resident units representing the national economy are covered. |
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3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions | |||
Conceptually AEA belong to the international system of environmental economic accounting (SEEA-Central Framework). Furthermore, AEA is one of several physical modules of Eurostat's programme on European environmental economic accounts. It is covered by Regulation (EU) No.691/2011 on European environmental economic accounts. AEA are closely related to concepts and definitions of national accounts. Most notably, they follow the residence principle, i.e. they record emissions related to resident unit's activities, regardless where those occur geographically. Further methodological guidelines are provided in various publications by Eurostat (see Eurostat website > Environment > Methodology, heading: 'Air emissions accounts'). |
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3.5. Statistical unit | |||
Data refer to emissions by resident economic units in the sense of SEEA CF 2012 and National Accounts (ESA), including households. |
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3.6. Statistical population | |||
The national economy is as defined in SEEA CF 2012 and National Accounts (ESA), i.e. all economic activities undertaken by resident units. |
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3.7. Reference area | |||
The reference area is the economic territory as defined in SEEA CF 2012 and National Accounts (ESA). A unit is said to be a resident unit of a country when it has a centre of economic interest in the economic territory of that country, that is, when it engages for an extended period (1 year or more) in economic activities in that territory. By following this residence principle, the Air Emission Accounts record emissions from resident units' activities, regardless where they occur. This is the main conceptual difference to emission inventories for greenhouse gases (UNFCCC) and air pollutants (CLRTAP). |
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3.8. Coverage - Time | |||
Data is available for each year from 1995 until 2019. Data for 2020 is a preliminary reporting based on financial activity data |
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3.9. Base period | |||
Not applicable because AEA are not reported as indices. |
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The unit of measure is tonnes or thousand tonnes. F-gases (HFC, PFC, SF6 and NF3) are reported in tonnes of CO2 equivalents. SOX are reported in tonnes of SO2 equivalents, and NOX are reported in tonnes of NO2 equivalents. |
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The data refer to calendar years. |
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6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements | |||
Air emissions accounts (AEA) are legally covered by Regulation (EU) 691/2011on European Environmental Economic Accounts. |
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6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing | |||
Not applicable at national level. |
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The working group at Statistics Iceland has agreed that no data in the collection are to be subject to confidentiality |
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7.1. Confidentiality - policy | |||
The working group within Statistics Iceland reviewed the policy for the publication of data from economic sectors that have very few registered industries. It was concluded that the policy of "more than ten companies per sector" should not be followed in the environmental accounts, since doing so would be confusing to the Icelandic population. Underlying here is that the largest contributors to GHG emissions from Iceland (viz. metal industry and air transport) are few in numbers. |
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7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment | |||
Does not apply |
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Data from the AEA account should be disseminated to the public as close to the publication of other air emissions accounts, e.g. the NIR report. Emissions of greenhouse gasses should be published in its fullest detail as well as in a simplified view of the data to aid the public in drawing informed conclusions from the data. |
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8.1. Release calendar | |||
The NIR report is generally published in March.
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8.2. Release calendar access | |||
Does not apply |
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8.3. Release policy - user access | |||
Data regarding GHG emissions (CO2, CH4, N2O, HFC, PFC, and CO2-eq) are published in full NACE*64 detail, as well as in a summary view on a publicly available data repository. Publication of the data is announced in a press brief that should highlight key changes from the previous year. |
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Data is disseminated annually. |
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10.1. Dissemination format - News release | |||
News releases are online |
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10.2. Dissemination format - Publications | |||
No ad-hoc publications are done of the AEA |
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10.3. Dissemination format - online database | |||
The data is available on a px-web format |
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10.3.1. Data tables - consultations | |||
no data available |
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10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access | |||
Some of the microdata around the AEA are available, although the data is not immediately associated with the AEA. The microdata includes
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10.5. Dissemination format - other | |||
none that applies |
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10.5.1. Metadata - consultations | |||
none this year |
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10.6. Documentation on methodology | |||
Description of the methodology and compilation instruction is available in Icelandic. The documentation is a part of the R markdown package run in order to collect, clean and validate the data. Standard documentation according to the format requirements by Statistics Iceland is on the Statistics Iceland website Annexes: Metadata according to the standards of Statistics Iceland |
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10.6.1. Metadata completeness - rate | |||
The metadata is reviewed every year |
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10.7. Quality management - documentation | |||
Time series submitted each year are compared with the data submitted the previous year. The year-to-year change for each submitted value is monitored. These values can change due to:
Significant changes in the values are reviewed by the working group. |
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Sections of the AEA report was sent out for review and quality checking by industry affiliated focus group. In 2021 these groups were
The AEA report was presented to the Environment Agency of Iceland and the Icelandic Energy Authority, which are major data providers. |
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11.1. Quality assurance | |||
Data is reviewed in its entirety between years and any changes greater than 0,5% in any value from the previous year reviewed. Emission values from industry sectors are compared to financial profit/loss statements and employment statistics. The assumption is that indicators, such as emission per employee and emission per million kr turnover should be somewhat constant from year to year. Unlikely changes are reviewed further. |
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11.2. Quality management - assessment | |||
Energy authority data (Orkustofnun)
NIR/CLRTAP data from the Icelandic Environment Agency
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Results from the AEA are widely discussed in the public sphere. Industrial groups such as the Icelandic Fisheries republish results from the AEA in their annual reports and the tourism industry mentions any favorable trends in the results. Part of this results in the deliberate recruiting of an industry group to review and comment on the AEA data processing and conclusions prior to final reporting. Statistics Iceland prepared presentations of the AEA to ministries in order to educate users. Experimental statistics were developed in 2020 where emissions values are reported down to monthly timescale for the time period of 2016 to the current year. The lag-time in the reporting is 2-5 months (reported quarterly). This data received much interest during the Covid-19 shut-downs and the subsequent re-opening of the economy in 2021 |
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12.1. Relevance - User Needs | |||
Users are primarily concerned about the timeliness of the AEA data. Data from 2018 are largely irrelevant in 2020, but this timeliness is limited by the timeliness of the NIR report. Statistics Iceland decided therefore to extend the dataseries to 2019 using financial records and material flow data (MFA) and energy flow data (PEFA). Users are also interested in getting more detailed information for a per-quarter or per-month view of the data.
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12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction | |||
User satisfaction is in general high. Common confusions and criticism include:
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12.3. Completeness | |||
not applicable |
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12.3.1. Data completeness - rate | |||
Not applicable; To ensure comparability, this will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT in the European quality report using a standardised method. |
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No absolute value exists for the exact emission of greenhouse gasses from Iceland. Accuracy can therefore only be estimated from the complexity and number of approximations used in processing |
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13.1. Accuracy - overall | |||
See Annex 1 - 2021 Annexes: AEA - Annex 1 - 2021 |
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13.2. Sampling error | |||
Not applicable because data are not based on a sample survey. |
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13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators | |||
Not applicable because data are not based on a sample survey. |
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13.3. Non-sampling error | |||
Not applicable. |
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13.3.1. Coverage error | |||
Not applicable. |
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13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate | |||
Not applicable. |
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13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion | |||
Not applicable. |
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13.3.2. Measurement error | |||
Not applicable. |
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13.3.3. Non response error | |||
Not applicable. |
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13.3.3.1. Unit non-response - rate | |||
Not applicable. |
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13.3.3.2. Item non-response - rate | |||
Not applicable. |
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13.3.4. Processing error | |||
Not applicable. |
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13.3.5. Model assumption error | |||
Not applicable. |
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The compilation of the AEA data can be conducted immediately following the reception of the NIR data and IEA fuel distribution data. This event replaces estimated data that is pre-prepared. Data review and critique are then completed the following month.
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14.1. Timeliness | |||
Estimates of emission from the economy per NACE*64 sectors are done every month from economic activities, import/export reports, employment records, and industrial reporting. This monthly emission reporting uses reported annual emission values to train a model that predicts the correct annual value within 0,5% of the correct value. This model is then used to predict values where official AEA data is missing. It is understood that emission calculation based on imported goods has a built-in lag time and calculations based on exported goods have a built-in lead time. An attempt is made to correct or distribute the emission values if import/export or other financial transaction records are sparse. Computation of official AEA data happens immediately upon insertion of the source data (data from the NIR and IEA energy statistics) into the database. The lag time between completion of the data and the publication is therefore due to review procedures and correction filing. |
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14.1.1. Time lag - first result | |||
Not applicable. |
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14.1.2. Time lag - final result | |||
Not applicable. |
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14.2. Punctuality | |||
Thus far the data has been ready for publication well in advance of the desired publication date |
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14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication | |||
Thus far the data has been ready for publication well in advance of the desired publication date |
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2022 is the fifth year that Statistics Iceland publishes the AEA. Most of the effort in developing data structure has been spent on ensuring the coherence of the reported data, although the final product is primarily based on the NIR/IEA reported values. |
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15.1. Comparability - geographical | |||
AEA is compiled according to harmonized guidelines provided by Eurostat and hence comparable across European countries reporting AEA to Eurostat. |
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15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient | |||
Not applicable. |
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15.2. Comparability - over time | |||
See Annex 2. Annexes: Annex 2 |
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15.2.1. Length of comparable time series | |||
Not applicable; To ensure comparability, this will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT in the European quality report using a standardised method. |
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15.3. Coherence - cross domain | |||
none |
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15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics | |||
Not applicable, because AEA data are annual. |
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15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts | |||
none |
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15.4. Coherence - internal | |||
not explored |
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Estimated cost in manhours
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The data production stack is constantly under revision. Each revision is done on a development stack prior to being factored into the production stack. |
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17.1. Data revision - policy | |||
Data is revised if a substantial improvement can be achieved in the accuracy of reported emission values or NACE*64 distribution of emission values that reaches at least 10 years back. Accuracy is evaluated by reviewing three key emission indicators
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17.2. Data revision - practice | |||
A single industry or material segment is identified each year to be reviewed and revised.
In 2019 data from the national vehicle registration database, including make/model/driven distance by owner/operator was integrated into the data processing. This improved significantly the estimated emission from road transport per NACE*64. In 2020 a new model for energy consumed per kg of fish produced was factored into the processing. This should improve the consistency of the data regarding fuel consumption and emission of refrigerants from fishing and fish production In 2021 discrepancies between fluorine gas distribution and consumption were of concern. A program surveying the import and consumption pattern (and technological status) was launched in February, but the survey was unsatisfactory. Emissions from waste sites were also reviewed and some data revision was performed. In 2022 we successfully conducted a study with the main consumers and distributors of Fluorine-containing gasses. This study showed that our current approach to where emissions were originating from was incorrect and a new distribution model was built. A new data source was also introduced into this process. This has changed significantly the information on what NACE sector is responsible for the emissions from previous years' submissions. but the data is greatly improved by this effort. An example of reported emission values for HFC for the reference year 2018 is collected in an Annex document ("Annex - HFC_2018_reported_by_different_years.csv"). This document shows the submitted values by submission years where a major change appears in the submission 2022. Furthermore, the total adjusted emissions are identical to the reported CLRTAP emissions.
Annexes: Values for HFC emissions reported for 2018 by different submission years |
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17.2.1. Data revision - average size | |||
Not applicable; To ensure comparability, this will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT in the European quality report using a standardised method. |
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All microdata and source data is stored on a central database. Data processing is done using in steps using R-markdown workbooks, that return quality and success report for each step in the process. |
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18.1. Source data | |||
The three main data sources are
Data used to check consistency are:
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18.2. Frequency of data collection | |||
Data from the in-house database is updated using trigger functions that monitor the line-by-line change of data Data from external API endpoints are updated by PUSH notifications or by REST protocols External providers submit data through the Statistics Iceland web portal that ensures that data stays confidential (ISO 27001 certified). |
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18.3. Data collection | |||
A survey on the use of fluorinated gasses was done in February 2022. The result participation was satisfactory and a new statistical model could be constructed |
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18.4. Data validation | |||
Data processing returns a set of validation documents where time-series consistencies are checked and year-to-year changes are highlighted for each processed data entry. Consistency is primarily checked on values that are 1% or more of the national total emission. Suspect entries are flagged based on consistency criteria or based on alternative calculation routine methods where applicable. If suspect values can be reasoned they are manually passed. If inconsistent data has been provided the provider is asked to revise the data before a manual adjustment is entered. |
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18.5. Data compilation | |||
A number of single values reported in the NIR or IEA data need to be "combed" into different NACE*64 categories and can not be calculated ab-initio for the AEA. This means that a "comb" is developed based on financial transaction records, employment data, or other business statistics available. Such combs include:
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18.5.1. Imputation - rate | |||
Not applicable. |
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18.5.2. Method used to allocate emissions to economic activities | |||
Economic activity is measured by several key indicators
Each NACE number gets a scaling factor for each indicator in order to obtain a measure of the activity per year. the scale factors consider fuel purchases (by PEFA fuel type), key non-energy related material consumption (such as F-gases, lubricants, coals, wood etc.). This allows for a consistent dispersion of the values reported in the NIR. The dispersed values are then tested against "first principles" values obtained by direct surveys. |
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18.5.3. Method used to determine and distribute road transport emissions | |||
Emissions from road transport are calculated from data we obtain from the vehicle registry. This data contains:
The records take status points for two months of the year (February and August). Estimates are then produced for vehicles that have not come in for inspection during the year and for the energy needed for the vehicle. This information is used to estimate the total fuel consumed by road vehicles for the entire fleet in Iceland. The estimated fuel consumption is then compared with the reported volume sold (from fuel-tax records, and reported values from the Icelandic Energy Authority) and the model is iterated until the difference is within acceptable levels (3% of the true value). Thus, this information gives estimated fuel consumption per industrial sector (assuming that each vehicle only changes ownership max twice per year), as well as an estimate of the CO2, N2O, CH4 and NMVOC. The emission values are compared to values reported in the NIR, but we expect our information to be more complete than this reporting. Fuel consumption of heavy machinery and non-road-going vehicles is calculated from reported ownership of said equipment and the reported fuel distribution by the Icelandic Energy Authority. |
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18.5.4. Adjustments for residence principle | |||
Information on fuel import and export is collected by the Toll authority (tax authority) and used here. Purchases of foreign fishing vessels are reported as an export in this data source as well as the purchases of Icelandic operators abroad. Sales of Jet fuel is estimated from arrival and departure information collected by ISAVIA along with survey data of fuel purchase receipts from fuel distribution operator at Keflavík. Consumption by foreigners operating rental vehicles on the territory is estimated from credit card transaction records from car rental companies as well as purchases of fuel at gas pumps (using credit cards or other electronic payments). |
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18.6. Adjustment | |||
no specific method for seasonal adjustment is used in compiling the AEA data
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18.6.1. Seasonal adjustment | |||
Not applicable. |
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