Statistics Estonia

Enterprise and Agricultural Statistics Department

51 Tatari Str, 10134 Tallinn, Estonia

European statistics on natural gas prices for household and final non-household customers.

Internal Eurostat classification system based on annual natural gas consumption bands and tax levels.

Household sector and final non-household sector (industry, services, offices, agriculture, etc).

The prices are collected in national currencies per GJ and according to different bands of consumption.

For the households sector, these bands are:

• D1: Customers consuming less than 20 GJ.
• D2: Customers consuming 20 GJ or more but less than 200 GJ.
• D3: Customers consuming 200 GJ or more.

For the final non-households sector, the bands are:

• I1: Customers consuming less than 1000 GJ.
• I2: Customers consuming 1000 GJ or more but less than 10000 GJ.
• I3: Customers consuming 10000 GJ or more but less than 100000 GJ.
• I4: Customers consuming 100000 GJ or more but less than 1000000 GJ.
• I5: Customers consuming 1000000 GJ or more but less than 4000000 GJ.
• I6: Customers consuming 4000000 GJ or more.

There exist 2 different levels of disagregation for semestrial and annual prices:

1- Semestrial prices:

These prices are reported twice a year and are divided in 3 levels:

• Level 1 prices: Prices excluding taxes and levies.
• Level 2 prices: Prices excluding VAT and other recoverable taxes and levies.
• Level 3 prices: Prices including all taxes and levies.

2- Annual prices:

These prices are reported once a year together with the data for the second semester and are divided into the following components and taxes:

• Energy and supply: commodity price for natural gas paid by the supplier or the price of natural gas at the point of entry into the transmission system, including, if applicable, the following end-user costs: storage costs plus costs relating to the sale of natural gas to final customers.
• Network cost: transmission and distribution tariffs, transmission and distribution losses, network costs, after-sale service costs, system service costs and meter rental and metering costs.
• Value added taxes (VAT): as defined in Council Directive 2006/112/EC.
• Renewable taxes: taxes, fees, levies or charges relating to the promotion of renewable energy sources, energy efficiency and CHP generation.
• Capacity taxes: taxes, fees, levies or charges relating to strategic stockpiles, capacity payments and energy security; taxes on natural gas distribution; stranded costs and levies on financing energy regulatory authorities or market and system operators.
• Environmental taxes: taxes, fees, levies or charges relating to air quality and for other environmental purposes; taxes on emissions of CO₂ or other greenhouse gases. This component includes the excise duties.
• All other taxes: taxes, fees, levies or charges not covered by any of the previous four categories: support for district heating; local or regional fiscal charges; island compensation; concession fees relating to licences and fees for the occupation of land and public or private property by networks or other devices.

In addition to these elements, the network cost is split into the respective shares of transmission and distribution. The relative share of consumption in the different consumption bands is reported by the countries and used to calculated the single national natural gas prices (weighted averages for consumer bands DI-D3 and I1-I6) but not published because it could be used to re-calculate some confidential values.

 Some of the taxes are refundable. Here is a description of them:

In December 2021 all gas consumers are reimbursed 100% of the gas network service fee - this is automatically reflected in the gas bills as a lower cost towards the network service.

Compensation period: December 2021

Household and final non-household consumers divided into consumption bands.

Household customers: Data coming from 20 suppliers out of 30 and representing 100% of the household customers. (in 2021)

Final non-household customers: Data coming from 29 suppliers out of 30 and representing 100% of the final non-household customers. (in 2021)

The whole country.

Data on Estonian natural gas prices are available since 2007.

Not applicable.

Prices are reported in national currency per GJ. However, Eurostat also calculates and publishes the prices in EURO and PPS (purchasing power parity) and do the conversion to kWh.
Relative shares of sub-component of the network component and consumption volumes are reported in percentages.

For semestrial prices, the reference periods are from January to June for semester 1 and from July to December for semester 2.

For annual prices, the reference period is the whole calendar year (from January to December).

At EU level:

Regulation (EU) 2016/1952 is the legal basis for the collection and reporting of natural gas and electricity price statistics for household and non-household customers.

• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2169 of 21 November 2017 concerning the format and arrangements for the transmission of European Statistics on natural gas and electricity prices
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/803 of 17 May 2019 concerning the technical requirements regarding the content of quality reports on European statistics on natural gas and electricity prices

At EU level:

• Eurostat does not share the data collected with other organisation appart from its usual dissemination chanel (Eurostat's database, statistic explained articles and press or news release) .

At national level:

• Data is sent to Eurostat.

At EU level:

• Regulation (EC) No 223/2009  of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 11 March 2009, on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities.

At national level:

• The dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in § 32, § 34, § 35, § 38 of the Official Statistics Act https://www.riigiteataja.ee/en/eli/ee/506012015002/consolide/current.

Published data should not allow identification of single consumers.

The treatment of confidential data is regulated by the Procedure for Protection of Data Collected and Processed by Statistics Estonia: https://www.stat.ee/en/statistics-estonia/about-statistics-estonia/legal-acts

The data are published and transmitted without characteristics that permit identification of the respondents, and classified into groups of at least three persons, whereas the share of data relating to each person in aggregate data shall not exceed 90%. The data that permit identification of the respondents are subject to publication and transmission only pursuant to subsection 2.

Data collected by Statistics Estonia that permit identification of the respondents shall be published and transmitted with the written consent of the respondent, unless otherwise stated by law.

Microdata are aggregated to the level necessary for analysis. This includes summation of data according to the classification and calculating various statistical measures, e.g. average, median, dispersion, etc.

Notifications about the dissemination of statistics are published in the release calendar, which is available on the website. Every year on 1 October, the release times of the statistical database, news releases, main indicators by IMF SDDS and publications for the following year are announced in the release calendar (in the case of publications – the release month).

https://www.stat.ee/en/calendar

All users have been granted equal access to official statistics: dissemination dates of official statistics are announced in advance and no user category (incl. Eurostat, state authorities and mass media) is provided access to official statistics before other users. Official statistics are first published in the statistical database. If there is also a news release, it is published simultaneously with data in the statistical database. Official statistics are available on the website at 8:00 a.m. on the date announced in the release calendar.

Natural gas prices in Estonia are published on a semestrial basis on Eurostat's website.

Data are published on a semestrial basis on website Statistics Estonia https://www.stat.ee/en.

Not published.

Not published.

Data are published under the subject area “Economy / Energy” in the statistical database at https://andmed.stat.ee/en/stat

Not available.

The dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in § 33, § 34, § 35, § 36, § 38 of the Official Statistics Act. Access to microdata and anonymisation of microdata are regulated by Statistics Estonia’s procedure for dissemination of confidential data for scientific purposes: https://www.stat.ee/en/find-statistics/request-statistics/use-confidential-data-scientific-purposes.

A legal person or agency in need of confidential data for scientific purposes shall submit to Statistics Estonia a written application. The processing of applications for the dissemination of confidential data for scientific purposes and the counselling of applicants are organised by the Marketing and Dissemination Department of Statistics Estonia pursuant to the stipulated processing procedure. The Confidentiality Council shall consider the substance of the application and make a decision whether the confidential data can be used for scientific purposes within ten working days from the receipt of all documents necessary for the review of the application.

Data serve as input for statistical activity “National accounts (annual)” and  “Consumer price index”.

Not available.

 National metadata can be found here:

https://www.stat.ee/en/find-statistics/methodology-and-quality/esms-metadata/20409

Instructions on the questionnaire variables (in PDF format) and questionnaire for printing (in PDF format): 

https://www.stat.ee/en/questionnaires?combine=1388

100%

Quality reports have not been published.

To assure the quality of processes and products, Statistics Estonia applies the EFQM Excellence Model, the European Statistics Code of Practice and the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (ESS QAF). Statistics Estonia is also guided by the requirements in § 7. “Principles and quality criteria of producing official statistics” of the Official Statistics Act.

Statistics Estonia performs all statistical activities according to an international model (Generic Statistical Business Process Model – GSBPM). According to the GSBPM, the final phase of statistical activities is overall evaluation using information gathered in each phase or sub-process; this information can take many forms, including feedback from users, process metadata, system metrics and suggestions from employees. This information is used to prepare the evaluation report which outlines all the quality problems related to the specific statistical activity and serves as input for improvement actions.

Users’ suggestions and information about taking these into account are available on the website of Statistics Estonia at https://www.stat.ee/en/find-statistics/methodology-and-quality.

Since 1996, Statistics Estonia has conducted reputation and user satisfaction surveys.

All results are available on the website at https://www.stat.ee/en/statistics-estonia/about-us/user-surveys.

In compliance with the rules (regulations)

100%

The type of survey and the data collection methods ensure sufficient coverage and timeliness.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Information is included in the sub-concepts S.13.3.1-S.13.3.5.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

100%

Data are collected and the submission of questionnaires is monitored through eSTAT (the web channel for electronic data submission). The questionnaires have been designed for independent completion in eSTAT and include instructions and controls. The questionnaires and information about data submission are available on Statistics Estonia’s website at https://www.stat.ee/en/submit-data/about-data-submission.

Data are collected with the half-yearly statistical questionnaires “Natural gas prices”.

In case of missing or unreliable data, missing values are imputed according to set rules. Variables and statistical units which were not collected but which are necessary for producing output are calculated. New variables are calculated by applying arithmetic conversion to already existing variables. This may be done repeatedly; the derived variable may, in turn, be based on previously derived variables.

Microdata are aggregated to the level necessary for analysis. This includes summation of data according to the classification and calculating various statistical measures.

The collected data are converted into statistical output. This includes calculating additional variables. The basis of calculating average price is the weighted average price of the previous six months by consumer groups, which end-users have paid in the previous six months for natural gas. The amount of used natural gas is used as weights.

In case of missing or unreliable data, missing values are imputed according to set rules. Variables and statistical units which were not collected but which are necessary for producing output are calculated. New variables are calculated by applying arithmetic conversion to already existing variables. This may be done repeatedly; the derived variable may, in turn, be based on previously derived variables.

30 out of 30 suppliers, representing 100% of the target population, responded to the survey.

30 out of 30 suppliers, provided data by all bands– the item non response rate is 0%.

First editing and validation process takes place at micro data level. The data editing program is applied to all entered date. All errors are marked and if it is necessary the data are improved together the data producers of enterprises.
Second editing and validation process takes place after the aggregations. If unreal estimations or very big changes in comparison with last year are discovered the micro data in certain variable are checked once more to find out the source of error.
The coherency of results with previous periods' results is checked. 

Not Applicable.

Natural gas providers that participate in the national data collection are requested to provide the natural gas price data within 1 month after the reference period. After arrival, the statistical office checks the micro-data for correctness, consistency and completeness and national averages are calculated and reported to Eurostat during the third month after the reference period.

The first version of the natural gas price questionnaire for households for the 1st semester of 2019 was sent 85 days after the reference period.

The first version of the natural gas price questionnaire for households for the 2nd semester of 2019 was sent 88 days after the reference period.

The first version of the natural gas price questionnaire for households for the 1st semester of 2020 was sent 90 days after the reference period.

The first version of the natural gas price questionnaire for households for the 2nd semester of 2020 was sent 90 days after the reference period.

The first version of the natural gas price questionnaire for households for the 1st semester of 2021 was sent 89 days after the reference period.

The first version of the natural gas price questionnaire for households for the 2nd semester of 2021 was sent 90 days after the reference period.

The first version of the natural gas price questionnaire for non-households for the 1st semester of 2019 was sent 85 days after the reference period.

The first version of the natural gas price questionnaire for non-households for the 2nd semester of 2019 was sent 88 days after the reference period.

The first version of the natural gas price questionnaire for non-households for the 1st semester of 2020 was sent 90days after the reference period.

The first version of the natural gas price questionnaire for non-households for the 2nd semester of 2020 was sent 90 days after the reference period.

The first version of the natural gas price questionnaire for non-households for the 1st semester of 2021 was sent 89 days after the reference period.

The first version of the natural gas price questionnaire for non-households for the 2nd semester of 2021 was sent 90 days after the reference period.

There was not time lag.

The legal deadline for submitting the questionnaires is the third month after the reference period.

Percentage of questionnaires delivered on time is 100%.

The legal deadline for submitting the questionnaires is the third month after the reference period.

Percentage of questionnaires delivered on time is 100%.

The data are internationally comparable.

Not applicable

The data are comparable over time.

The data is comparable since 2007.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Annual prices are coherent with the semestrial prices.

The data revision policy and notification of corrections are described in the dissemination policy of Statistics Estonia at https://www.stat.ee/en/statistics-estonia/about-us/strategy/principles-dissemination-official-statistics.

The published data may be revised if the methodology is modified, errors are discovered, new or better data become available.

The published data may be revised if the methodology is modified, errors are discovered, new or better data become available.

Households gas prices collection: 0.014085844

Non-households gas prices collection: 0.028199372

Data on gas prices are collected from all enterprises which have the licence for the sale natural gas according to the Register of Economic Activities of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.

Prices are collected twice a year, at the beginning of each six-month period (January and July). Prices are calculated on the basis of the weighted average prices of previous six months paid by end-users for natural gas over the previous six months. Gas consumption is used for weights.

Half-yearly.

Data on gas prices are collected from all enterprises which have the licence for the sale of natural gas and network services according to the Register of Economic Activities of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.

Prices are collected twice a year, at the beginning of each six-month period (January and July). Prices are calculated on the basis of weighted average prices paid by end-users for gas over the previous six months. Gas consumption is used for weights.

Total population is 30 objects. All objects have been observed. Adminisrative data are not used.

Data are collected and the submission of questionnaires is monitored through eSTAT (the web channel for electronic data submission). The questionnaires have been designed for independent completion in eSTAT and include instructions and controls. The questionnaires and information about data submission are available on Statistics Estonia’s website at  https://www.stat.ee/en/submit-data/about-data-submission

Data are collected with the half-yearly statistical questionnaires "Price of natural gas" (“Maagaasi hind”).

https://www.stat.ee/en/questionnaires?combine=1388

Arithmetic and qualitative controls are used in the validation process, including comparison with other data. Before data dissemination, internal coherence of the data is checked.

In case of missing or unreliable data, missing values are imputed according to set rules. Variables and statistical units which were not collected but which are necessary for producing output are calculated. New variables are calculated by applying arithmetic conversion to already existing variables. This may be done repeatedly; the derived variable may, in turn, be based on previously derived variables.

The collected data are converted into statistical output. This includes calculating additional variables. The basis of calculating average price is the weighted average price of the previous six months by consumer groups, which end-users have paid in the previous six months for natural gas. The amount of used  natural gas is used as weights.

No data imputed.

Not applied.

Seasonable adjustments are not carried out.