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.
Annual Enterprise Statistics Sector, Directorate of Economic Statistics
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
St. Vllazën Huta, Building 35, Entrance 1, Tirana, ZIP Code 1017
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
31 August 2026
2.2. Metadata last posted
31 August 2026
2.3. Metadata last update
31 August 2026
3.1. Data description
The PRODCOM survey provides information on industrial goods and services PRODuction of the European COMmunity in compliance with Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of 27 November 2019 on European business statistics.
PRODCOM data are collected via an annual survey called Industrial Production Survey.
The PRODCOM list is divided into “Classes” corresponding to the classes of NACE rev 2.1. Within the individual classes, the headings of the list are set out in ascending order of their PRODCOM codes. PRODCOM uses an eight-digit product code of the form XX.XX.XX.YY. The first four digits of the code correspond to the 4-digit classes of NACE Rev. 2.1. The first six digits are the Community Classification of Products by Activity (CPA) codes. The CPA provides a detailed listing of the characteristic products for each 4-digit NACE Rev. 2.1 economic activity. The last two digits provide a more detailed breakdown of the CPA classes into PRODCOM product headings. There is a direct link between the PRODCOM classification and the EU foreign trade Combined Nomenclature (CN). Each PRODCOM 8-digit heading covers one or more CN 8-digit headings.
3.3. Coverage - sector
PRODCOM survey covers all active enterprises in Albania which operate in Mining and quarrying, Manufacturing and Materials recovery, sections B, C and E of the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Union (NACE Rev. 2.1).
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
The purpose of the statistics is to report, for each product in the PRODCOM List, how much industrial products and services has been produced in the reporting country during the reference period. This means that PRODCOM statistics relate to products (not to activities) and are therefore not strictly comparable with activity-based statistics such as Structural Business Statistics. The NACE codes on which PRODCOM codes are based on, serve to identify the enterprises that should be surveyed in order to determine the amount of production of the product.
The products: the PRODCOM List defines the products to be included in the survey. There are approximately 4.000 headings representing manufactured products and some industrial services.
The value and the volume of production: the value is expressed in national currency (ALL). The volume is expressed in a unit specified for each product.
The volume/quantity unit: the measurement unit, such as kilograms, square metres etc. used to indicate the volume of goods produced.
Variables:
Actual production represents all production that was produced by the enterprise during the reference period, regardless of whether it was sold, stored in stocks, used for further processing or it was production under sub-contracted operations. Actual production is presented as quantity.
Total production sold is the production that was sold (invoiced) by the enterprise during the reference period. It does not matter whether this production was actually produced during the reference period (it could have been, for example, the sale of stock). It includes the production of own industrial products, industrial services, as well as production under sub-contracted operations. Production sold is presented as quantity and value.
Production sold includes production on own account and production of industrial services. Own production represents "traditional" industrial production. The enterprise is the owner of the input material, really produces the final product and sells it to the customer. Industrial service is an industrial production that does not create a new finished product defined in PRODCOM. These are only services leading to complete final products and ensuring its function: repairs and maintenance, installation and assembly, modifications and others. Production sold is presented as quantity and value.
Production under sub-contracted operations is a specific supplier-customer relationship, where the production company (processor) is not the owner of the input material or the completed finished product, but really produces it with its own employees and its own means of production. Value of the this production is equal to service provided, fee paid for the service, not to the value of the finished product. It is presented as quantity and value (= fee paid).
Sales Value refers to the invoiced amount from the sale of industrial products during the reference year, excluding value added tax.
3.5. Statistical unit
All enterprises that are engaged in the production of industrial products within the territory of Albania, as identified by national statistical business register.
3.6. Statistical population
The survey covers all industrial units that are engaged in the production of industrial products and services. Enterprises with less than 20 employed are surveyed by selecting a representative sample, while enterprises with 20 or more employed are all surveyed.
3.7. Reference area
PRODCOM survey comprises all territory of Albania
3.8. Coverage - Time
The observed period is 1 calendar year. PRODCOM data have been collected since 2018. Since 2022 reference year data were transmitted to Eurostat.
3.9. Base period
Not Applicable.
Volumes: units of measure are specific for each product in PRODCOM List.
Values: data are collected and stored in thousands of Albanian Lek, excluding VAT
The data refers to the calendar year 2025.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
This survey is carried out in compliance with following regulations:
At national level: National Statistics Low No.17/2018 on Official Statistics; Official Statistics National Program for the period 2022-2026;
At EU level:
Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) No. 2019/2152 on European business statistics (the EBS Regulation);
EU Implementing regulation 2026/665 of 4 March 2026 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2552 as regards the technical specifications of data requirements for the detailed topic industrial production statistics establishing the industrial products classification breakdown. (PRODCOM List 2025)
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
PRODCOM Statistics have started to be transmitted to EUROSTAT and produced on national publication since reference year 2022.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
The data collected are considered strictly confidential and used only for statistical purposes and scientific research in accordance with the national Statistical Law No.17/2018 “On Official Statistics”, date 10.March.2018 and Law no. 9887, dated 10.March.2008 "Personal Data Protection", Article 31 of the Law on Official Statistics clearly define that all statistical information collected by INSTAT is confidential and may only be used or published in such summary tables that do not identify the information of the unit. Direct identification is called when a statistical unit is directly identified by its name, address, or any officially recognized identification number. When data processing is performed in such a way as to enable the data subject to be identified, the data must be coded immediately so that the entities are no longer recognized.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Albanian Institute of Statistics protects and does not disseminate data it has obtained or it has access to, which enables the direct or indirect identification of the statistical units. Albania Institute of Statistics takes all appropriate preventive measures so as to render impossible the identification of individual statistical units by technical or other means that might reasonably be used by a third party. Statistical data that could potentially enable the identification of the statistical unit is disseminated by the Albanian Institute of Statistics if and only if: a) these data have been treated, as it is specifically set out in the Regulation, in such a way that their dissemination does not prejudice statistical confidentiality or b) the statistical unit has given its consent, without any reservations, for the disclosure of data. The confidential data that are transmitted to the Albanian Institute of Statistics are used exclusively for statistical purposes and the only persons who have the right to have access to these data are the personnel engaged in this task. Issues referring to the observance of statistical confidentiality are examined by the staff working at the Albanian Institute of Statistics. The responsibilities of this staff are to recommend on: which detailed level the statistical data can be disseminated, so as the identification, either directly or indirectly, of the surveyed statistical unit is not possible; the anonymization criteria for the microdata provided to users; the access granting to researchers on confidential data for scientific purposes.
8.1. Release calendar
Announcements about the dissemination of statistics are published in the release calendar, which is available on the website. The announcements and delays are pre-announced in this calendar. In the case of delays, the date of the next publication and the explanation of the reasons for the delays are specified.
In line with the article 34 of Law No.17/2018 “On Official Statistics” as amended, the INSTAT disseminates statistics on INSTAT website and other media for simultaneous access, respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The following dissemination channels are used to release the results:
A short explanation related to the definitions of the main concepts and methodological explanations are provided to users in the end of press releases and publications. Additional support information is given to internal users when needed or required. Also the methodological notes are published at INSTATs website as following: Industrial Production Survey (PRODCOM)
10.7. Quality management - documentation
The unit responsible for PRODCOM statistics has documented the work process and procedure for internal purposes.
11.1. Quality assurance
INSTAT is committed to ensure the highest quality with respect to the compilation of statistical information. In accordance with the Statistics Law, INSTAT use statistical methods and processes in compliance with internationally recognized scientific principles and standards conduct ongoing analyses of the statistics with a view to quality improvements and ensure that statistics are as up-to-date. In performing its tasks it follows the general principles of quality management from the European Statistics Code of Practice. INSTAT declares that it takes into account the following principles: impartiality, quality of processes and products, user orientation, employee orientation, effectiveness of statistical processes, reducing the workload for respondents.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
PRODCOM data is compared with previous year's data and checked for any large changes in the data, especially due to large deviations in the main variables concerned. When available the data is checked with an administrative source or other surveys for confirmation.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
PRODCOM data till 2023 have been used for internal use only. The first PRODCOM release was published on 28th of September 2023 for 2022 reference year data.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
INSTAT conducts the User Satisfaction Survey every year. The most recent survey results show that the overall quality of the Industrial Products Survey statistics was rated at 3.81 (76.2%) on a scale from 1 (very poor) to 5 (very good).
12.3. Completeness
The completeness of the PRODCOM Statistics data for 2025 is judged by comparing the quality and quantity of indicators covered in INSTAT with those of the Official Statistics National Program 2022-2026. The degree of completeness of the data for PRODCOM Statistics is 100% for 2025.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Overall, the data is checked with previous years to identify any significant changes in the data. Such queries are confirmed with financial statements or with an administrative source when available. When these are not available, INSTAT corrects or confirms the data using emails or by calling the respondents. Measures taken by INSTAT each year, to increase response rates or to reduce the impact of nonresponse by imputing them are as follow:
The data are collected directly from the enterprise;
The information is gathered through face-to-face interviews conducted by interviewers, based on the guidelines prepared for this purpose;
The interview staff are trained on how to behave ethically in cases where respondents refuse to participate;
Due to the lack of an address system, it is often difficult for interviewers to locate the enterprise. For this reason, INSTAT staff contact the responsible person for completing the survey via email or telephone to obtain further information about the location as well as the date and time of the appointment;
Priority is given to large enterprises. When such enterprises refuse to respond to interviewers, an official request is sent to the company’s president, signed by the Director General of INSTAT;
An official request is also sent to other enterprises that agree to respond only if they are formally asked for the information;
Enterprises are invited to contact the central offices of INSTAT in case of questions, and a qualified staff member is always available to answer inquiries addressed by enterprises.
13.2. Sampling error
The error due to probability sampling is estimated for more important indicators. All indicator values are weighted to represent the population.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Unit non-response takes in consideration enterprises that are unable or unwilling to give the answers, when interviewers are unable to find the enterprises address, when other barriers exist to complete the interview, or when it is not possible to obtain information from other administrative sources about the enterprise.
The unit non-response rate for PRODCOM 2025 is 17.2%.
Item non-response indicator is irrelevant for the Prodcom questionary; the statistical questionary is designed so that the case of item non-response is classified as unit non response.
Imputation rate for PRODCOM 2025 is 10.9%.
14.1. Timeliness
PRODCOM data for 2025 reference year are transmitted to Eurostat in June.
The results of Industrial Products Statistics are published on the INSTAT website, 269 days after the end of the reference period
Industrial Products Statistics for 2025 reference will be published on our website on 28th of September 2026.
14.2. Punctuality
The statistics are transmitted without delay in relation to the scheduled date.
Reference period: 31 December 2025
Date of announcement: 28 September 2026
Date of publication: 28 September 2026
Time lag 0
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Not applicable.
15.2. Comparability - over time
The information is comparable over the years.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Cross-checks are made between SBS and external trade at micro level. The cases with spotted differences are further analysed and, if necessary, corrected as well.
15.4. Coherence - internal
The internal consistency of the data is checked before it is finalised.
Persons working for PRODCOM are:
Total staff in Central Office: 2 employees.
Supported by : Regional staff for data collection, IT staff responsible for application development, methodological staff for sample design and weighting procedure.
17.1. Data revision - policy
Revision policy of PRODCOM is done in accordance with general revision policy and errors treatment policy introduced by INSTAT.
The accuracy of the published data may increase as a result of the changes made possible by the provision of more complete and qualitative new data, which contribute to the improvement of the results, published according to the deadlines set in the publication calendar.
17.2. Data revision - practice
PRODCOM does general revisions on the data due to:
Changes in methodology
Revision of weights (new and/or improved data sources, corrections of errors)
PRODCOM tries to follow the standard guidelines and principles in the revisions done in collaboration with technical assistance. All the revisions are made transparent to the users and are part of each publication.
The revision plan: T+9, T+12, T+18, T+24
18.1. Source data
Survey is the only source of data collection. The basis of the selection is the updated register of enterprises, which were active during the reference year and operate in Mining and quarrying, Manufacturing and Materials recovery, sections B, C and E of the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Union (NACE Rev. 2.1). The enterprises with less than 20 employed are surveyed by selecting a representative sample while those with 20 or more employed are all surveyed.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
The data are collected on an annual basis.
18.3. Data collection
PRODCOM has been collected by face to face interview by printed questionnaires for 2018-2021 reference years. The necessary software and procedures for manual entry were prepared already when preparing for data collection. All data are integrated in a single database after data entry and controls done. For 2022 reference year and ongoing PRODCOM is collected by face to face interview by PAPI method. After the data collection the IT staff made the dataset available to the unit in Excel format.
18.4. Data validation
The data validation contains:
Validity of each attribute collected within the questionnaire;
Logical checks between indicators inside the questionnaire;
Comparison over time (previous year);
Cross-survey checks (SBS, International Trade);
Comparison between enterprises belonging to the same category;
Comparison with administrative sources such as the Income Tax and VAT database.
18.5. Data compilation
For the data compilation there are three basic procedures:
1. Quality of data.There are applied some rules for analysing quality of data:
Mathematic control of the questionnaire;
Logic control of the questionnaire;
Comparison with previous year data
Comparison of data with balance sheet file
Analyse of huge deviations from average.
2. Estimates for non-response
Not responding units are imputed. Estimation for non-response is based on the results of the unit responded in previous period(s) or related enterprises. The estimate is based on SBS data or Income Tax database.
3. Re-weighting procedure. For the untreated part, the re-weighing method is used. Programs in SAS Software, Macro Clan are used for re-weighing and data estimation. The estimation is done according to the traditional HorvitzThompson method (also known as the π evaluator), which is applied from the design stage of SRS.
18.6. Adjustment
Not applicable. No seasonal adjustments are made to the PRODCOM data
No comments
The PRODCOM survey provides information on industrial goods and services PRODuction of the European COMmunity in compliance with Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of 27 November 2019 on European business statistics.
PRODCOM data are collected via an annual survey called Industrial Production Survey.
31 August 2026
The purpose of the statistics is to report, for each product in the PRODCOM List, how much industrial products and services has been produced in the reporting country during the reference period. This means that PRODCOM statistics relate to products (not to activities) and are therefore not strictly comparable with activity-based statistics such as Structural Business Statistics. The NACE codes on which PRODCOM codes are based on, serve to identify the enterprises that should be surveyed in order to determine the amount of production of the product.
The products: the PRODCOM List defines the products to be included in the survey. There are approximately 4.000 headings representing manufactured products and some industrial services.
The value and the volume of production: the value is expressed in national currency (ALL). The volume is expressed in a unit specified for each product.
The volume/quantity unit: the measurement unit, such as kilograms, square metres etc. used to indicate the volume of goods produced.
Variables:
Actual production represents all production that was produced by the enterprise during the reference period, regardless of whether it was sold, stored in stocks, used for further processing or it was production under sub-contracted operations. Actual production is presented as quantity.
Total production sold is the production that was sold (invoiced) by the enterprise during the reference period. It does not matter whether this production was actually produced during the reference period (it could have been, for example, the sale of stock). It includes the production of own industrial products, industrial services, as well as production under sub-contracted operations. Production sold is presented as quantity and value.
Production sold includes production on own account and production of industrial services. Own production represents "traditional" industrial production. The enterprise is the owner of the input material, really produces the final product and sells it to the customer. Industrial service is an industrial production that does not create a new finished product defined in PRODCOM. These are only services leading to complete final products and ensuring its function: repairs and maintenance, installation and assembly, modifications and others. Production sold is presented as quantity and value.
Production under sub-contracted operations is a specific supplier-customer relationship, where the production company (processor) is not the owner of the input material or the completed finished product, but really produces it with its own employees and its own means of production. Value of the this production is equal to service provided, fee paid for the service, not to the value of the finished product. It is presented as quantity and value (= fee paid).
Sales Value refers to the invoiced amount from the sale of industrial products during the reference year, excluding value added tax.
All enterprises that are engaged in the production of industrial products within the territory of Albania, as identified by national statistical business register.
The survey covers all industrial units that are engaged in the production of industrial products and services. Enterprises with less than 20 employed are surveyed by selecting a representative sample, while enterprises with 20 or more employed are all surveyed.
PRODCOM survey comprises all territory of Albania
The data refers to the calendar year 2025.
Overall, the data is checked with previous years to identify any significant changes in the data. Such queries are confirmed with financial statements or with an administrative source when available. When these are not available, INSTAT corrects or confirms the data using emails or by calling the respondents. Measures taken by INSTAT each year, to increase response rates or to reduce the impact of nonresponse by imputing them are as follow:
The data are collected directly from the enterprise;
The information is gathered through face-to-face interviews conducted by interviewers, based on the guidelines prepared for this purpose;
The interview staff are trained on how to behave ethically in cases where respondents refuse to participate;
Due to the lack of an address system, it is often difficult for interviewers to locate the enterprise. For this reason, INSTAT staff contact the responsible person for completing the survey via email or telephone to obtain further information about the location as well as the date and time of the appointment;
Priority is given to large enterprises. When such enterprises refuse to respond to interviewers, an official request is sent to the company’s president, signed by the Director General of INSTAT;
An official request is also sent to other enterprises that agree to respond only if they are formally asked for the information;
Enterprises are invited to contact the central offices of INSTAT in case of questions, and a qualified staff member is always available to answer inquiries addressed by enterprises.
Volumes: units of measure are specific for each product in PRODCOM List.
Values: data are collected and stored in thousands of Albanian Lek, excluding VAT
For the data compilation there are three basic procedures:
1. Quality of data.There are applied some rules for analysing quality of data:
Mathematic control of the questionnaire;
Logic control of the questionnaire;
Comparison with previous year data
Comparison of data with balance sheet file
Analyse of huge deviations from average.
2. Estimates for non-response
Not responding units are imputed. Estimation for non-response is based on the results of the unit responded in previous period(s) or related enterprises. The estimate is based on SBS data or Income Tax database.
3. Re-weighting procedure. For the untreated part, the re-weighing method is used. Programs in SAS Software, Macro Clan are used for re-weighing and data estimation. The estimation is done according to the traditional HorvitzThompson method (also known as the π evaluator), which is applied from the design stage of SRS.
Survey is the only source of data collection. The basis of the selection is the updated register of enterprises, which were active during the reference year and operate in Mining and quarrying, Manufacturing and Materials recovery, sections B, C and E of the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Union (NACE Rev. 2.1). The enterprises with less than 20 employed are surveyed by selecting a representative sample while those with 20 or more employed are all surveyed.
The dissemination of PRODCOM data are done on annual basis, starting from 28th of September 2023.
PRODCOM data for 2025 reference year are transmitted to Eurostat in June.
The results of Industrial Products Statistics are published on the INSTAT website, 269 days after the end of the reference period
Industrial Products Statistics for 2025 reference will be published on our website on 28th of September 2026.
