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Structural business statistics (sbs)

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National Reference Metadata in SBS Euro-SDMX Metadata Structure (ESMS) - from reference year 2021 onwards (ESSBS21)

Compiling agency: Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia.

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Structural business statistics (SBS) describes the structure, conduct and performance of economic activities, down to the most detailed activity level (several hundred economic sectors). SBS covers all activities of the business economy with the exception of agricultural activities, public administration and (largely) non-market services such as education and health. Main characteristics (variables) of the SBS data category:

  • "Business demographic" variables (e.g. Number of active enterprises);
  • "Output related" variables (e.g. Net turnover, Value added);
  • "Input related" variables: labour input (e.g. Number of employees and self-employed persons, Hours worked by employees); goods and services input (e.g. Purchases of goods and services); capital input (e.g. Gross investments).

Business services statistics (BS) collection contains harmonised statistics on business services. From 2008 onwards BS become part of the regular mandatory annual data collection of SBS. The BS’s data requirement includes variable “Turnover” broken down by products and by type of residence of client. 

The annual regional statistics collection includes three characteristics due by NUTS-2 country region and detailed on NACE Rev 2division level (2-digits).

26 August 2025

SBS constitutes an important and integrated part of the new European Business Statistics Regulation N° 2019/2152.

Data requirements, simplifications and technical definitions are defined in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197.

Enterprise Unit.

The SBS data series for the reference year 2023 are fully compliant with the definition of a statistical unit defined in Council Regulation (EEC) No 696 / 93 and applied from reference year 2018.

SBS cover selected market activities; more specifically NACE Rev. 2 Sections B to N, P to R, S95 and S96. Coverage of target population includes branches of foreign enterprises which are registered in State Register of Enterprises, excluding Latvian enterprise branches which are doing business abroad in accordance with Tax Office information. 

SBS data covers the territory of the whole country (Latvia). 

2023.

SBS data refer to the calendar year, only in some cases the data refer to the fiscal year, however the differences are not essential.

Estimated coverage error and non-response error are assessed as medium.

Preliminary data does not contain information about companies that are legally authorized to submit data to State Revenue Service with the delay. It is the reason for non-response (non-response error). However, for preliminary data such enterprises are imputed from short term statistics or VAT data in order to reduce differences between preliminary and final data. For the final data these enterprises are updated from submitted questionnaire or administrative data.

Measurement, data processing and modelling errors are not measured and could not be assessed.

  • Number of enterprises and number of local units are expressed in units;
  • Monetary data are expressed in thousands of €;
  • Employment variables are expressed in units;
  • Per head values are expressed in thousands of € per head;
  • Ratios are expressed in percentages.

Imputation procedure relies on available administrative data, as well as information available from the short-term statistics surveys.

The characteristics for which a model-based estimate is used: 240101, 240102 (breakdown of expenditures in material costs, services costs and costs for the purchase of goods and services for resale), and all variables starting with 260xxx.

SBS characteristics which are not included in the data sources:

  • Variables 310101, 250201, 240103, 240104, 240105, 240106, 250110, 250113, all variables starting with 250102 to 250109 are compiled with statistical surveys (in some cases estimations are done if the sampling frame of particular survey, from which characteristic is taken, differs from the sampling frame of the annual enterprise survey;
  • Investment variables - estimation is done taking into account the values of fixed assets reported in balance sheets at the beginning and at the end of the year.

Unit non-response

Enterprises, which are included in “large enterprise group” and are surveyed exhaustively and, which did not respond with statistical survey as well as non-sampled enterprises, which are covered by mass imputation, are imputed using the data from administrative sources. Imputation of other statistical survey data, data of previous period (with correction) or donor data imputation is done if no administrative data have been found.

Item non-response

Item non-response has been detected and corrected during the data collection period.

Inference (grossing-up)

Remark:

  1. over-coverage errors are assumed as respondents because they represent the total over-coverage in the frame;
  2. In the exhaustive enumeration part of survey unit non-response is adjusted using imputation procedure.

In alignment with Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/1197, several simplifications are granted to smaller countries, including the implementation of the 1% rule. This rule pertains to specific variables outlined in Annex I of the regulation, exempting them from aggregation requirements. The SBS variables subject to the 1% rule include: 250201, 260106, 260108, 240104, 240105, 240106, 240201, 240203, 250112, 250113, 250102, 250103, 250104, 250105, 250106, 250107, 250108, 250109, 250110, 250111, 260102, 260103, 260104, and 260107.
This rule is uniformly applied across all NACE section levels, with the exception of sections B08, C16, E37, F42, J63, and L68.

Data source is statistical survey combined with administrative sources. 

The type of sample design - cut-off sample.

Selection schemes (sampling rates) - cut-off survey based on the threshold values of enterprises with amount of net turnover by the class of activity and by the number of employees.

Threshold values - the strata according to the size groups by employees are as follows: less than 19, more than 20. All enterprises with 20 or more persons employed and all enterprises with turnover that is higher than threshold defined for the corresponding NACE group are surveyed exhaustively.

Sample size - 7321.

Legal units exceeding the thresholds are exhaustive in the sample. All units below the thresholds are calculated with information from SBR, administrative sources and model-based estimation on micro level, so for each unit a complete micro dataset is available.

Several statistical questionnaires are used to compile SBS data, but different sample scopes are always adjusted to the sample of the main SBS surveys “Annual enterprise survey”, “Consolidated annual enterprise survey” using imputation methods to obtain the data on those enterprises, which were not surveyed with those additional questionnaires. Such questionnaires as "Quarterly questionnaire on labour force" and "Questionnaire on costs" are additionally used to compile SBS data.

Administrative data sources are provided by The State Revenue Service of Latvia. For the compiling of SBS data, the following sources are used:

  • annual financial statement of enterprises; balance sheet, profit and loss account;
  • declaration on income from economic activity;
  • different declarations on taxes paid (natural resources tax, lottery and gambling tax, customs tax and other governmental charges and payments);
  • employers' declaration on salary tax;
  • declaration on mandatory state social insurance contribution;
  • declaration on Value Added Tax (VAT);
  • declaration on micro-enterprise tax.

The characteristics which are directly available or with a good proxy in the administrative source - 250101, 240201, 240203, 240202, 220302, 220101.

The extent to which the administrative source is used:

  • data source for imputation in case of non-response;
  • data source for 'mass imputation' (imputation of units not selected in the sample).

Access to administrative data is at micro data level.

The frequency to which the used administrative data sources are updated is assessed as satisfactory.

The administrative data subject to several revisions are with (increasing) degree of completeness.

Reporting unit is enterprise.

Regarding the frame used for the SBS, turnover and employees' variables are used for identifying principal and secondary activity.

The method used for identifying activities is top-down.

Updating of the unit's principal activity is carried out in accordance with methodological guidelines and after careful economic indicators analysis (statistical surveys and Tax Office data). 

Business Register is updated on a monthly basis using the Tax Office data on the employees and tax contributions, as well as using State Register of Enterprises about information on established and liquidated companies.

Once a year information is updated about turnover and total balance sheet.

Frequency of data collection is annual.

Annual.

  • Data collection: 08/2024.
  • Post-collection phase: 10/2024 (preliminary data), 06/2025 (final data).
  • Dissemination nationally: 11/2024 (preliminary data), 07/2025 (final data).

Data are comparable. There are no difficulties concerning the geographical comparability.

2005 - 2017, 2018 (statistical unit enterprise) - 2020; 2021 (EBS) - 2023