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.
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union
1.2. Contact organisation unit
E1: Agriculture and fisheries
1.3. Contact name
Restricted from publication
1.4. Contact person function
Restricted from publication
1.5. Contact mail address
Rue Alcide de Gasperi 2920 Luxembourg LUXEMBOURG
1.6. Contact email address
Restricted from publication
1.7. Contact phone number
Restricted from publication
1.8. Contact fax number
Restricted from publication
2.1. Metadata last certified
15 September 2019
2.2. Metadata last posted
15 September 2019
2.3. Metadata last update
15 September 2019
3.1. Data description
Eggs for consumption are a cheap animal protein source, either directly consumed or used by the agri-food industry. The sector is also a key user of feedstuff and cereals with a significant impact on their market. However, up to 2014, statistics on eggs for consumption were not available at EU level and no harmonised measurement of their production has been implemented at the Member State level. Additionally, a diversity of data sources and the non-comparability of production estimates published at the national level emphasise the importance of implementing a harmonised methodology. Therefore the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC) endorsed, in its 35th meeting, the ESS Agreement on statistics on eggs for consumption (see Annex). It was signed on 16 November 2017 by 16 Member States (BG, DK, IE, ES, FR, CY, LV, LT, HU, MT, PL, RO, SI, SK, SE and UK), while most of the other countries intended to provide data nevertheless.
The purpose of this ESS Agreement is to ensure that European Commission has at its disposal, harmonised high quality data on eggs for human consumption. In accordance with the ESS Agreement, one of the two following options on the method to estimate egg production has to be chosen by Member States:
Measured from egg producers (at the farm gate), or;
Derived from packing centre activity reports.
Regardless of the data source, the statistics to be established target eggs production at farm gate, therefore no particular option is proposed regarding the data drawn from models as they target farm gate production.
According to the information in the available metadata files, 18 of 21 Member States collected the required information on eggs produced for human consumption in 2018 from egg producers while 3 Member States (DK, FI and SE) obtained this information from packing centres reports. However, regarding those countries using the farm gate information, some countries collect the information on eggs produced for consumption directly via statistical survey (BG, CZ, DE, EE, IE, ES, HR, CY, LV, LT, HU, PL, RO, SI and SK), while others are using the other data sources, e.g. models (FR) or various administrative sources: LU estimates the production of eggs for consumption based on the information on the number of laying hens from IACS multiplied by specific technical coefficients; and in MT an administrative register is used for the extraction of the number of laying hens while the calculation of egg production is based on the information obtained from the FADN survey.
3.1.1. The main data source of the information
Eggs producers
3.2. Classification system
Classification of economic activities
For the compilation of statistics on eggs for human consumption, Eurostat's general classification of economic activities, NACE Rev. 2, is used. The list of activities which defines the relevant agricultural industry corresponds to division 01.47 of that classification, i.e. Raising of poultry.
Territorial classification
The statistics on eggs for consumption are drawn up for the customs territory of the Member States. They are not calculated on a regional level, thus the data on production of eggs for consumption is generally available only at a highest level of the NUTS classification. However, a few countries are compiling data at regional level (BG and HR at NUTS 2 level, PL at NUTS1 (7 makroregions), while in FR the reference area includes also overseas departments since 2019).
Other EU as well as national classifications relevant for the data set might be used by the Member States, e.g. Farm Structure classification, Combined Nomenclature, egg marketing classification (classes A and B), etc.
Farm size classification
The data are collected based on three size class limits:
Farms with at least 5,000 laying hens;
Farms with at least 350 laying hens (EU threshold for mandatory administrative registration);
National threshold (always smaller than 5,000 laying hens).
The main economic sector covered is the agriculture sector and more specifically, according to the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community - NACE rev2, it is sector code 01.47 Raising of poultry.
However in some cases the other sectors covered might be also non-agricultural, having included registered egg processors, packing centres and other not specified units.
For more detailed information see national metadata files on the top of the page.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
Definition of the indicators
For the information collected from egg producers
For the information derived from the packing centre reports
Eggs for consumption are fresh eggs of fowls of the species Gallus gallus intended for human consumption (i.e. not intended for incubation), in shell. They are fit for direct human consumption or for preparation of egg products (B class).
Eggs produced are eggs for consumption to be packed as fresh eggs leaving the laying place (building, rooms), including for storage or further processing. Those eggs which, by derogation, are directly delivered to non-food industry ("ungraded eggs"), are also included. The information on own-consumed eggs is considered only where the eggs for consumption are produced by eggs producer for economic purpose.
Production of eggs is the total quantity of eggs produced during the reference period, expressed as a number of eggs.
Eggs producer is an agricultural holding with laying hens producing eggs for consumption during the reference period for economic purpose.
Laying hens producing eggs for consumption (A5110OH) are domestic fowls of the domestic species Gallus gallus L., which have reached laying maturity and are kept for the production of eggs for human consumption.
Included are:
Growing pullets before point of lay if they have been stalled up as laying hens;
Cull hens if are still stalled as laying hens.
Excluded are:
Breeding cocks for laying hens;
Pullets not yet placed for laying;
Cull hens no longer placed for laying;
Fowls producing eggs intended for incubation.
The number of laying hens is the total number of laying hens in production on 31 December of the reference year. In the context of farm structure statistics, the definition of laying hens covers also those producing eggs for hatching, cull hens, cocks and some pullets. A different code is used to distinguish “laying hens” (A5110O) and “laying hens producing eggs for human consumption” (A5110OH). The reference to FSS / IFS in the ESS agreement enables to provide criteria for exemption based on a non-directly comparable, but anyway available, measurement.
The number of eggs for consumption (D8000H) produced is understood for the calendar year by the agricultural holdings in the Member State.
Information on the national thresholds
The national threshold implemented to establish the statistics on eggs for consumption is requested to interpret the figures (whether the national threshold is under 350 or at least 350 laying hens) and to publish EU statistics coherent with the national publications while the EU threshold is different.
A packing centre is an establishment where eggs are graded by quality and weight, with authorization of the competent authority.
Number of eggs
Eggs received by packing centres Two different numbers are required to display the difference:
o Eggs from egg producers in Member State; The number of eggs received by packing centres from egg producers in the same Member State reflects the normal delivery by egg producers to non-agricultural sector.
o Eggs from other sources e.g. from foreign egg producers.
Ungraded eggs sold by or used on agricultural holdings Ungraded eggs sold or used on agricultural holdings are all those eggs produced by the eggs producer and not delivered to any packing centre in the Member State. They may have been delivered directly to non-food industry (Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 589/2008) or to a foreign operator, directly sold to the consumer without packing, used otherwise on the agricultural holding or lost before delivery to the packing centre.
The total number of eggs produced by the agricultural holdings is the sum of “Eggs from egg producers in Member State” and “Ungraded eggs sold by or used on agricultural holdings”.
For collection of data on production of eggs for consumption the Member States follow the definitions and concepts as provided in the Handbook. However several exceptions have been reported (see chapter 15.1. Comparability - geographical).
3.4.1. Definition of eggs for consumption under EU methodology
Yes
3.4.2. If not, specify the definition used.
Not relevant.
3.4.3. Definition of egg producer under EU methodology
Yes
3.4.4. If not, specify the definition used
Not relevant.
3.4.5. Definition of laying hens under EU methodology
Yes
3.4.6. If not, please describe the differences
Not relevant.
3.4.7. Definition of ungraded eggs under EU methodology
Yes
3.4.8. If not, specify the definition used
Not relevant.
3.4.9. Ungraded Eggs provided separately
Not relevant
3.4.10. Additional comments on statistical concepts and definitions
Not relevant.
3.5. Statistical unit
The statistical units are the following:
For the information collected from egg producers
For the information derived from the packing centre reports
An agricultural holding
The original provider of information is an agricultural holding with laying hens and producing eggs for consumption during the reference period for economic purpose.
A packing centre
A packing centre is an establishment where eggs are graded by quality and weight with authorization of the competent authority.
Where a packing centre is part of an agricultural holding, it reports as a packing centre. The agricultural activity is considered only if a part of the eggs produced is not handled by this packing centre or by any other one.
Other statistical units
Other non-specified units, for example registered egg processors could also be included as purchasing non-marked eggs directly from the farms (Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 589/2008 [1]).
While the definition of the statistical unit (i.e. the unit of which activity is described) for the statistics on eggs production has been provided in the Handbook (Chapter 2.2.), the type of reporting unit, i.e. unit(s) from which the requested information is collected (an agricultural holding, an administrative register providing an individual record, the service dealing with tax declaration, etc.) depends on the Member State data collection methodology. Below the differences applied to the definition of statistical unit (supposed to be harmonised) as well as the various types of reporting unit as indicated by Member States are presented. The basic statistical unit(s) of statistical observation for which the information requested in the ESS Agreement might be considered is:
An agricultural holding with laying hens: BG, CZ, DE, EE, IE, HR, CY, LV, LT, LU, HU, MT, PL, RO, SI, SK.
A packing centre (DK, FI, SE) [2].
Other non-specified units (FR uses amodel that employs data from a survey conducted with specialized hatcheries with a minimum capacity of 1,000 hatching eggs).
____________________________________________________________________ (1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 589/2008 of 23 June 2008 laying down detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as regards marketing standards for eggs (OJ L 163, 24.6.2008, p. 6–23. (2) It should be noted that at least two Member States (DK and SE) deriving the information on eggs production from packing centre reports are obtaining at the same time the information from the egg producers to collect the requested information on the number of laying hens and number of ungraded eggs sold or used on agricultural holdings.
3.6. Statistical population
For the information collected from egg producers
For the information derived from the packing centre reports
Statistical population
The population covered should include all agricultural holdings with laying hens and producing eggs for consumption on the country territory. Those egg producers having started or ceased production of eggs for consumption during the reference period should also be covered.
All the packing centres in the country, but also those egg producers which produce some eggs not delivered to a packing centre on the national territory, should constitute a relevant statistical population.
3.6.1. Physical, economical or other threshold(s) applied to the data collection
The ESS Agreement establishes that in order to collect the required information on egg production from egg producers and packing centre reports the following thresholds apply:
For the information collected from egg producers
For the information derived from the packing centre reports
Physical, economical or other threshold(s) applied to the data collection
The Member States conducting annual sample surveys must ensure that all producers with at least 5,000 laying hens (the statistical frame) are covered. However where 75 % of the national laying hen population is not covered by these producers, producers with at least 350 laying hens and less than 5,000 laying hens should also be covered.
The number of laying hens from the latest Farm Structure Survey (FSS) may be used as a reference for the assessment of representativeness. Nevertheless, where more accurate information exists on the number of laying hens (registers, livestock surveys), its use should be favoured. Additionally, those countries conducting basis surveys must ensure that egg producers with at least 350 laying hens are covered.
A lower threshold may be used by a Member State to extend the frame. In such a case, the statistics provided by this Member State should distinguish egg producers in the common frame from those in the frame extension and the national threshold(s) applied should be also submitted to the Commission (Eurostat). The aim is to make explicit the differences between published national and EU statistics.
No EU threshold applies but the results must be representative of all the packing centres in the Member State (95 % of activity of the packing centres). Due to the fact that no extrapolation of the results based on the number of laying hens is possible, the frame should include all egg producers, whatever is the number of their laying hens.
The specific thresholds used by the Member States are the following:
BG - The legal threshold for a poultry farm is 50 laying hens. Nevertheless, due to the existence of other threshold criteria (land management, breeding of other animal species, etc.), many farms with a smaller number of hens also participate in the sample.
CZ - Agricultural holdings with more than 5,000 laying hens.
DE - Agricultural holdings with more than 3,000 places for laying hens.
EE - Agricultural holdings with more 500 laying hens surveyed exhaustively, production of eggs and number of laying hens on agricultural holdings with less than 500 laying hens estimated. Data on agricultural small units (i.e. units with less than 10 poultry heads) are not collected.
IE - All agricultural holdings with at least 50 laying hens are included.
FR - The threshold of the ESS Agreement is respected, since the model estimates the number of eggs produced by farms holding more than 5,000 laying hens. The hatchery survey, used as an input to the model, covers hatcheries with a hatching capacity over 1,000 eggs.
LV - Agricultural holdings with more than 70 laying hens.
LT - As the egg producers with at least 5,000 laying do not represent 75 % of the national number of laying hens, the egg producers with at least 350 laying hens are covered.
MT - Agricultural holdings with more than 350 laying hens.
PL - Agricultural holding with more than 100 head of poultry in total.
SK - Agricultural holdings with more than 350 laying hens.
DK, HR, CY, LU, HU, RO, SI, FI, SE - no threshold applies.
3.6.1.1. COVERAGE
In 2018, the sample includes 1358 farms with laying hens, accounting for 83.8% of all laying hens.
3.7. Reference area
The EU statistics on eggs for consumption are drawn up for the territory of the Member States. They are not collected on a regional level. The EU as a whole is drawn up for the aggregated territory of all Member States after they all deliver these statistics.
2018 data on egg production was submitted by the following EU Member States:
BE, BG, CZ, DK, DE, EE, FR, HR, CY, LV, LT, LU, HU, PL, RO, SI, SK, FI, SE, UK.
In addition, 2018 data were submitted also by RS and TR.
In line with the Handbook, data should be provided at the national level. However some Member States collect data on lower NUTS level, (e.g. NUTS 2 in BG and HR, NUTS1 in PL).
Additionally, until 2018 (included), in France the reference area was Metropolitan France. Since 2019, the reference area includes also the overseas departments, but the sample is the same, since there is no egg hatchery with over 1,000 places in theses departments.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Following the acknowledgement by the European Commission of the need for comparable statistics on production of eggs for consumption in the EU, actions were undertaken to develop a common methodology for the relevant data collection including the formal ESS Agreement that was signed by 16 Member States in November 2017.
Since then, Eurostat and the relevant national authorities have developed the egg production data within the framework of a common methodology. This has resulted in most Member States having produced data on eggs produced for consumption for the period 2014-2018, while meeting common methodological requirements. For more detailed information concerning the time coverage please see the table below.
Member State
Data availability as in September 2019
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
Comments
BE
-
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
BG
✓
-
✓
✓
✓
✓
CZ
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
DK
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
DE
-
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
EE
✓
✓
✓
-
-
✓
< 3 million laying hens
IE
✓
-
-
✓
-
-
< 3 million laying hens
EL
-
-
-
-
-
-
ES
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
-
FR
-
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
HR
-
✓
✓
✓
-
✓
< 3 million laying hens
IT
-
-
-
-
-
-
CY
-
-
✓
✓
-
-
< 3 million laying hens
LV
✓
-
-
-
✓
✓
< 3 million laying hens
LT
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
LU
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
< 3 million laying hens
HU
-
-
-
✓
✓
✓
MT
-
✓
-
✓
< 3 million laying hens
NL
-
-
-
-
-
-
AT
-
-
-
-
-
-
PL
-
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Complete farm size breakdown since 2016.
PT
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
-
RO
-
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
SI
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
< 3 million laying hens
SK
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
< 3 million laying hens
FI
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
SE
✓
✓
✓
✓
UK
-
-
-
-
-
✓
RS
-
-
-
-
-
✓
TR
-
-
-
✓
✓
✓
✓
Data available
-
No data available
3.8.1. The first survey/data collection
According to the ESS Agreement on collection of statistics on eggs produced for human consumption the first data collection that could be organised in line with the EU methodology is with the reference year 2014.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
3.10. Other comments
Not applicable.
4.1. Unit of measure in million
Yes
4.2. Other unit of measures used
Number of eggs produced for consumption
The quantity of eggs for consumption provided to Eurostat should be expressed as a number of eggs produced, in millions eggs. However in some cases the number of eggs produced for human consumption can be collected as weight (for example from eggs processors) or batches of a particular number of eggs. In such case the information provided to Eurostat has to be converted into million eggs based on relevant coefficients.
Number of laying hens
The number of laying hens provided to Eurostat is expressed in thousands of heads.
Exceptions:
DK - In addition to the million eggs, the production is measured also in million kilograms (thousand tonnes).
FI - Eggs produced for human consumption are collected in million kilos. This weight has been converted into million eggs based on 60-gram average egg.
5.1. Reference period in calendar year based
Yes
5.2. Reference date for number of laying hens
The reference date for number of laying hens should be 31 December of the reference year.
However, Member States can be granted, by way of exception, the right to use an average number of laying hens during the calendar year.
In accordance with the EU methodology the number of laying hens on 31 December can be estimated based on a number of hens at a different date, provided that the time lag between both dates does not exceed 60 days and that the estimate considers the measured number of chicks placed earlier in the year to correct the measured number of laying hens. Annex III of the Handbook provides more details on the method to be used.
5.3. Additional comments on the reference period/date used
Almost all reporting Member States use the same reference period as specified in the Handbook, with the following exceptions:
The reference period for egg production is the calendar year that unlike in the Handbook starts:
on 1st December N-1 and finishing on 30 November N for reference year N in HR;
on 30 November N-1 and finishing on 1st December N for the reference year N in SI.
The reference date for the number of laying hens is:
1st December in RO and SI;
31st December in HU, based on 1st December measurement for private holdings;
31 December in PL, based on 1st December measurement;
1st June 2016 (FSS reference date) in IE;
1st April in LU;
An average number of laying hens during calendar year is used in DE, FR and HR. The latter however uses a reference period starting on 1st December and finishing on 30 November.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
In order to ensure that the European Commission has at its disposal harmonised high-quality data on eggs for human consumption, the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC) endorsed in its 35th meeting on 16 November 2017 the ESS Agreement on statistics on eggs for consumption (ESSC 2017/35/8/EN – 16 November 2017). The Agreement was signed by 16 Member States (BG, DK, IE, ES, FR, CY, LV, LT, HU, MT, PL, RO, SI, SK, SE and UK) presented in the Annex I to this Agreement (ESS Agreement on statistics on eggs for consumption).
The national authorities of the Member States (National Statistical Offices and/or Ministries of Agriculture) are responsible for collecting statistics on the number of eggs produced for human consumption. All questions relating to statistics on eggs for human consumption are discussed by the Working Group on Animal Production Statistics. Matters of fundamental importance are also placed on the agenda of the Directors' Group for Agricultural Statistics (DGAS), which meets each year.
Currently no legislation exists relating exclusively to statistical data collection on eggs produced for human consumption in the Member States. However, in some cases these statistics are provided on a legal basis with a wider scope or amended following the request from Eurostat (for example on the basis of national statistical programmes).
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Not applicable.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
The Commission is to respect the confidentiality of the data transmitted in line with Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The necessary protection of confidentiality of data should be ensured, among other means, by limiting the use of the location parameters to spatial analysis of information and by appropriate aggregation when publishing statistics. For that reason a harmonised approach for the protection of confidentiality and quality aspects for data dissemination should be developed.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Data on eggs production is normally not confidential. However, if some confidentiality issues appear in course of data collection, the data is treated individually with the respective reporting countries. The data is then not disseminated and flagged with ‘c’ in Eurostat's database.
8.1. Release calendar
Not applicable.
8.2. Release calendar access
Not applicable.
8.3. Release policy - user access
In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice, Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.
Annual.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
Not applicable.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Not applicable.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
On line database (Eurobase): Please consult free data on-line (Internet address: Database - Eurostat).
The statistics on eggs produced for human consumption can be consulted in the data set apro_ec_egghen (Production of eggs for consumption and number of laying hens).
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Not applicable.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Not applicable.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
Based on the common methodology agreed by the CPSA at its meeting of April 2014 (Doc. CPSA/722) a proposal for the Handbook for the production of statistics on eggs for human consumption was presented at the meeting of the Directors' Group on Agricultural Statistics (DGAS) organised on 7 – 8 June 2017 (Doc DGAS/2017/1/09).
The latest version of the Handbook on statistics on eggs produced for human consumption was presented to the Working Group on animal production statistics on 2-3 April 2019 (DOC. AniProd/WG/2019/1/06). The current Handbook follows closely the content of the previous document. However, adjustments to the standard structure for handbooks, and a few developments and updates of the content have been performed.
The national methods used for the compilation of statistics on production of eggs for human consumption are available through the links provided on the top of this present file.
The first harmonised national metadata collection has been undertaken in June 2019 for the 2018 reference year. Member States committed to revise their metadata every five years, or earlier in case of significant change.
Where the national metadata guaranteeing the methods used to compile the statistics are not available, the data are provisionally disseminated as estimates (flag 'E').
10.7. Quality management - documentation
The requirements for quality reports for statistics on eggs for consumption are still provisional and will be updated following the first metadata collection organised in 2019. Information displayed under the present heading can be therefore subject to updates, especially depending on the agreements to be discussed within the ESS.
11.1. Quality assurance
The consistency of the data on eggs produced for human consumption submitted by the Member States are checked by routine and Member States are asked for clarifications if needed.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
No quality review has been conducted on the process yet.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Eggs for consumption are a cheap animal protein source, either directly consumed or used by the agri-food industry. The sector is also a key user of feedstuff and cereals with a significant impact on their market.
Within the European Institutions, the main institutional user of the data is DG Agriculture and Rural Development that uses the statistics on eggs for consumption for the good management and follow up of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and market monitoring, together with the statistics on chicks placing. The short-term model for now-casting monthly egg (and poultry meat) production needs to be updated regularly by annual statistics.
Other European Institutions might have an interest to use the collected data as well as national bodies dealing with agriculture, trade in agricultural products and food. Several Member States base their statistics on production models providing monthly figures, but which need, like the EU figures, to be regularly updated for the quality of their output. Actual measures of production of eggs for consumption are an opportunity for such updates. The diversity of the data sources and non-comparability of the production estimates published at the national level emphasise the importance of implementing a harmonised methodology.
12.1.1. Data collected for national purposes
Not applicable.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Not applicable.
12.3. Completeness
Completeness is limited by the number of Member States who agree and can provide the statistics on eggs produced for human consumption. However, each Member State that joined the ESS Agreement should provide for the defined frame the following statistics:
In case of data derived from information reported by egg producers
In case of data derived from information reported by packing centres
The number of eggs produced during the reference year, expressed in millions of eggs;
The number of laying hens as on 31 December of the reference year, expressed in thousand heads.
These variables are expected to be collected for the farms with at least 5,000 laying hens and, in particular cases, also for those with 350 to 4,999 laying hens.
The number of not yet graded eggs received directly or indirectly by the packing centres from the egg producers in the same Member State during the reference year (expressed in million eggs);
The number of ungraded eggs sold or used on agricultural holdings during the reference year (expressed in million eggs);
Voluntarily, Member States can also provide information on the number of all eggs received by the packing centres during the reference year, expressed also in million eggs. This information is collected for a better understanding of the definition of the above measurements.
For a detailed overview of data availability in the Member States, see Chapter 3.8. Coverage - Time
Note: For most of the Member States, having signed or not the ESS agreement, the data provided is complete, however some exceptions might occur in some countries or some years, for example FI indicated that their statistics don't include on-farm egg usage of the produced eggs, as this appeared after some years to be non-significant.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
In case of data derived from information reported by egg producers
In case of data derived from information reported by packing centres
The Member States conducting basis surveys must ensure that the egg producers with at least 350 laying hens are covered, while the Member States conducting annual sample surveys must ensure that egg producers with at least 5,000 laying hens are covered. In both cases, Member States must provide statistics where the relative sampling error of the number of laying hens does not exceed 1 % with a confidence interval of 68 %.
The Member States conducting basis surveys must ensure that all packing centres and egg producers with at least 350 laying hens are represented, while the Member States conducting annual sample surveys must ensure that packing centres are represented: the packing centres reports collected should represent at least 95 % of activity of the packing centres in the country, as measured by the number of eggs marked. In both cases, the Member States must provide statistics where the relative sampling error of the number of eggs does not exceed 1 % with a confidence interval of 68 %.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
The statistics on production of eggs for human consumption are submitted to the Commission (Eurostat) as follows:
by 30 June following the end of the reference year the annual data derived from information reported by egg producers or by packing centres are submitted by the Member States with at least 3 million laying hens. The data required are described in Annex III of the Handbook.
by 1st December of the year following the reference year the results of the basis survey derived from information reported by egg producers are submitted by the Member States for the same reference years as the Farm Structure Surveys. The data required are described in Annex III of the Handbook.
Annual data deliveries are voluntary for Member States below the threshold of 3 million laying hens. However the results of basis surveys should be transmitted by all Member States that signed the ESS Agreement.
14.2. Punctuality
Punctuality has not been measured yet, as the ESS agreement deadline apply since year 2018.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Geographical comparability is the main objective of the statistics on eggs produced for human consumption.
The common methodology, supported by a harmonised description of the national methodology, is a step towards a consensus amongst the Member States.
Based on the analysis of the information provided in national metadata files (see on the top of this page) the following observation can be made:
FI - ungraded eggs are not included in the production of eggs for consumption.
Some Member States are using a different reference date for laying hens, or even a reference period for the production of eggs. For detailed information concerning the reference period used by Member States see the Chapter 5 above.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Comparability over time is good for the EU harmonised frame (farms with at least 5,000 or 350 laying hens). The development of the EU methodology implemented since 2013 might have an impact on the comparability over time (see the national reports accessible on the top of this page).
For an overview of the national data availability see Chapter 3.8. Coverage - Time.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
The cross-domain coherence of data is ensured by using the common statistical units, definitions and classifications with the other agricultural statistics.
The most influential difference is that FSS includes data on all laying hens while statistics on eggs for consumption refer only to laying hens producing eggs for consumption. Furthermore the pullets, cull hens and cocks may be considered in a different way in FSS.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Internal coherence of the data set is guaranteed by a common set of validation rules and stable definitions of the variables/dimensions. The public description of the national methods contributes to improve coherence of the national statistics.
All reported errors (once validated) result in corrections of the disseminated data.
Reported errors are corrected in the disseminated data as soon as the correct data have been validated. Data may be published even if they are missing for certain countries or flagged as provisional or of low reliability. They are replaced with final data once transmitted and validated. Updates are conducted as soon as the data are received and validated, ensuring alignment with the latest reference period.
European aggregates are also updated for consistency with new countries data.
18.1. Source data
In accordance with the ESS Agreement the following data sources might be used to collect the requested information:
Surveys of agricultural holdings;
Packing centre reports;
Administrative data sources;
Models;
Other data sources;
A combination of two or more of the methods mentioned above.
Survey of agricultural holdings
The reference data source is a survey of agricultural holdings with at least 5,000 laying hens. In this case, the agricultural holding is contacted directly either through a separate survey, or relevant questions are integrated into the system of surveys which already exists (such as livestock survey or farm structure survey).
Packing centre reports
The reports collected should represent at least 95 % of activity of the packing centres in the country, as measured by the number of eggs marked.
Administrative sources
Administrative data sources can be used to obtain statistical information. In particular Regulation (EC) No 589/2008 Article 20 foresees that egg producers record information on (a) the date of placing and number of laying hens and (c) the daily egg production. This administrative information can be used to measure egg production and for the number of laying hens. Additionally, under the same Regulation, Article 22(1), it is foreseen that packing centres record information on the number of ungraded eggs they receive (a) from producers and (c) from other packing centres. This administrative information can also be used to measure the number of eggs handled by the packing centres.
ACCESS TO ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 Article 17a - Access, use and integration of administrative records.
In order to reduce the burden on respondents, the NSIs, other national authorities as referred to in Article 4, and the Commission (Eurostat) shall have the right to access and use, promptly and free of charge, all administrative records and to integrate those administrative records with statistics, to the extent necessary for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, which are determined in the European Statistical Programme in accordance with Article 1.
The NSIs and the Commission (Eurostat) shall be consulted on, and involved in, the initial design, subsequent development and discontinuation of administrative records built up and maintained by other bodies, thus facilitating the further use of those records for the purpose of producing European statistics. They shall be involved in the standardisation activities concerning administrative records that are relevant for the production of European statistics.
QUALITY OF REGISTER DATA
When using register data for statistical purpose, the following must be considered:
Statistics need to meet strict pre-defined quality criteria;
For register data the quality criteria may or may not be applied and often the metadata to judge the quality of the registers is not available;
The registers may not be kept up-to-date, especially if there is no quality assurance and checking mechanism in place;
Quality assessment tools are needed to analyse the quality of register data and to conclude if they are fit-for-purpose for statistics.
Models
Models can be used if the statistics meet the provisions of the present agreement. Regular quality control and updates of the parameters used must be conducted so that the results can be considered of at least equal quality to survey data.
Other data sources
Other data sources such as a survey of egg processors, scientific or professional sources can be used, as long as they enable the data collection to meet the quality requirements.
In some cases, Member States could combine two or more various data collection methods mentioned above.
Based on the analyses of the national metadata files the majority of Member States (BG, CZ, DE, EE, IE, HR, CY, LV, LT, HU, PL, RO, SI and SK) used a statistical survey to collect the required information on eggs produced for consumption in 2018. However this survey might be carried out by other institution(s) than that providing the required data to Eurostat. For example in IE the total number of eggs produced for human consumption comes from an annual census of egg producers with a capacity of 50 or more laying hens conducted by our ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. In CY the Department of Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment collects the required information on number of laying hens and number of eggs produced for human consumption and transmits the required statistical data to Cystat, and in SK the data comes from monthly statistical survey on production, sales and overall offer of slaughter poultry and eggs for consumption conducted by the Research Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics on behalf of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic.
Only 3 Member States (DK, FI and SE) used for 2018 data collection the reports obtained from packing centres, while the production of eggs on the farms which not are delivered to packing centres (sales to private consumers and domestic consumption) was not collected in FI, but was for example estimated in DK, or calculated based on the market share of a trade organization representing egg producers in SE. In relation to the organisation of data collection it should be mentioned that in DK, the data on weight of eggs from packing centres is not collected directly by Statistics Denmark, but it is taken from an administrative register on egg conversion in the parcels from The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration that is a part of the Ministry of Environment and Food.
A model to obtain the required information is run by France. It uses a combination a different data sources (hatchery data comes from statistical surveys, foreign trade data are administrative data from French custom authorities, technical data are updated with information collected by ITAVI professional surveys on producer organisations and independent breeders, and coefficients used to estimate the number of holdings of more than 5,000 layers are updated based on the FSS). The number of laying hens in production is estimated each month and it is multiplied by an average number of eggs laid per hen.
Administrative data sources were used in several Member States. In particular LU obtains the information on production of eggs for consumption based on the multiplication of the number of laying hens extracted from IACS by specific technical coefficients (300 eggs/conventional laying hen/year and 270 eggs/organic laying hen/year). In MT an administrative register that is kept updated by the Veterinary and Phytosanitary Regulation Division is used for the extraction of the number of laying hens while the calculation of egg production is based on the information obtained from the FADN survey.
Some MSs combine two or more various data collection methods. For example EE obtains the information on the number of laying hens and the number of their eggs from all agricultural holdings with at least 500 poultry heads through statistical survey, however for smaller holdings a model estimation has been used. Similarly, in SI while in holdings with more than 350 laying hens the production of eggs for consumption is collected via annual sample survey, in small reporting units the production of eggs is estimated. In IE and LV the production of eggs is collected via a statistical survey while the number of laying hens is coming from the FSS in IE and from the Animal Register of Agricultural Data Centre in LV. In SE the information on egg production is obtained from a trade organisation that represents among others the Swedish packing centres, the number of eggs not passing through packing centres is calculated using the market share of the before mentioned trade organisation, while the number of laying hens is collected via a sample survey.
For detailed information see the national metadata files on the top of this page.
18.1.1. Description of data collection process
Not relevant.
18.1.2. Model used as a breakdown based on individual information
Not relevant
18.1.3. Method used for the model
Not relevant.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
The collection of required information to compile statistics on eggs for consumption should be organised annually. However the Member States with fewer than 3 million laying hens are exempt from providing statistics on eggs for consumption every year and a basis exercise on egg producers can be organised for the same reference years as the Farm Structure Surveys. Such a data collection is mandatory for every Member State and it should provide the number of laying hens and the number of eggs produced for human consumption broken down into two categories: agricultural holdings with fewer than 5,000 laying hens and agricultural holdings with at least 5,000 laying hens. A Member State whose requirements would change due to a change in the number of laying hens, can implement the new requirements for the reference year following the first year when this change has been reported.
In the 2018 reference year, there were 3 Member States having less than 3 million laying hens (IE, CY and MT) that signed the ESS Agreement and could thus report on the IFS years only.
In the majority of the Member State the information on egg production is collected annually. However, a few Member States indicate in the metadata file a different data collection frequency, for example quarterly are data obtained in DK, LV and FI, PL collects the data every half year, while in DE, FR (for some estimates) and SK it is on a monthly basis.
18.3. Data collection
The Member States having joined the ESS Agreement have chosen one of the following options on the method to estimate the production of eggs for human consumption, i.e.:
measured from egg producers, broken down between those with fewer than 5,000 and those with 5,000 or more laying hens on 31 December;
drawn from models (statistics to be established target eggs production at farm gate);
established from packing centre activity reports, corrected by:
the number of eggs produced but not treated by the packing centre;
the number of eggs treated by the packing centre but not forming part of the national farm production.
All datasets should be transmitted to Eurostat via the Eurostat generic data transmission tool, EDAMIS4 Web-Form questionnaire.
The Web-Forms are structured per table, as indicated in Annex II to the Handbook.
The national methods used to collect the data vary in countries depending on national practices. For a short description of the method chosen by each data providing Member State please refer to the Chapter 18.1.
Detailed information for each country on the collection method used can be found in the national metadata files on the top of this page.
18.4. Data validation
Validation is a key task performed in all statistical domains. Efficient data validation is essential for high quality statistics. Guidelines for assigning validation responsibilities within the whole production chain, standard validation levels, a good selection of validation rules, standards for validation reports and error/warning messages and common documentation standards of the validation process are important elements of a good data validation policy.
In Eurostat, the data validation is implemented at several stages in the process:
During data entry by the data providers (use of EDAMIS webforms);
Before data loading in the Eurostat production database, manual validation supported by Excel worksheet formulas;
In the Eurostat production database (MDT);
Out of the data process, compliance of the national methodology is checked against the EU requirements.
Validation in statistics on eggs for consumption is limited due to the minimalist design of the data set, i.e. redundancy is really limited. Nevertheless coherence of the time series and comparison with the FSS results enable to identify errors in the incoming data.
18.5. Data compilation
18.5.1. Data compilation process - data weighting
Aggregation at EU level
To decrease the reporting burden of the countries, it is foreseen that for most of the countries the data on number eggs for consumption will be required only from the egg producers with more than 5,000 laying hens (hereinafter large producers). This rule should apply for the MS, where the share of eggs production of producers with more than 5,000 laying hens is estimated to exceed 75 %. For other MS the reporting population will be extended to producers with at least 350 laying hens. In order to improve the representativeness of the reported data above the above stated threshold(s), there is a need for the extrapolation procedure, which would enable more accurate estimates of the EU production.
Eurostat proposes how the EU totals could be calculated, after considering limited coverage of the EU frame (i.e. farms with at least 5,000 / 350 laying hens) and partial coverage of the EU Member States for some years (with less than 3 million laying hens).
Imputation
Where the total number of laying hens is not available, the Member State can estimate it based on the last FSS results, possibly processed with different weighting and after possible correction. If the figures used are different from those published as FSS results, the Member States shall include in the quality report the related explanations. The Member States should flag such data so that it is published by Eurostat.
Calculation of national aggregates
In a first approach, the results are interpreted based on a simple assumption of proportionality and the extrapolated production results from growing the production of the requested frame.
Based on the value of the national thresholds transmitted with the data, the size classes used for transmission of information on egg producers are interpreted. The value for the common frame is calculated on that basis.
Eggs for consumption are a cheap animal protein source, either directly consumed or used by the agri-food industry. The sector is also a key user of feedstuff and cereals with a significant impact on their market. However, up to 2014, statistics on eggs for consumption were not available at EU level and no harmonised measurement of their production has been implemented at the Member State level. Additionally, a diversity of data sources and the non-comparability of production estimates published at the national level emphasise the importance of implementing a harmonised methodology. Therefore the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC) endorsed, in its 35th meeting, the ESS Agreement on statistics on eggs for consumption (see Annex). It was signed on 16 November 2017 by 16 Member States (BG, DK, IE, ES, FR, CY, LV, LT, HU, MT, PL, RO, SI, SK, SE and UK), while most of the other countries intended to provide data nevertheless.
The purpose of this ESS Agreement is to ensure that European Commission has at its disposal, harmonised high quality data on eggs for human consumption. In accordance with the ESS Agreement, one of the two following options on the method to estimate egg production has to be chosen by Member States:
Measured from egg producers (at the farm gate), or;
Derived from packing centre activity reports.
Regardless of the data source, the statistics to be established target eggs production at farm gate, therefore no particular option is proposed regarding the data drawn from models as they target farm gate production.
According to the information in the available metadata files, 18 of 21 Member States collected the required information on eggs produced for human consumption in 2018 from egg producers while 3 Member States (DK, FI and SE) obtained this information from packing centres reports. However, regarding those countries using the farm gate information, some countries collect the information on eggs produced for consumption directly via statistical survey (BG, CZ, DE, EE, IE, ES, HR, CY, LV, LT, HU, PL, RO, SI and SK), while others are using the other data sources, e.g. models (FR) or various administrative sources: LU estimates the production of eggs for consumption based on the information on the number of laying hens from IACS multiplied by specific technical coefficients; and in MT an administrative register is used for the extraction of the number of laying hens while the calculation of egg production is based on the information obtained from the FADN survey.
15 September 2019
Definition of the indicators
For the information collected from egg producers
For the information derived from the packing centre reports
Eggs for consumption are fresh eggs of fowls of the species Gallus gallus intended for human consumption (i.e. not intended for incubation), in shell. They are fit for direct human consumption or for preparation of egg products (B class).
Eggs produced are eggs for consumption to be packed as fresh eggs leaving the laying place (building, rooms), including for storage or further processing. Those eggs which, by derogation, are directly delivered to non-food industry ("ungraded eggs"), are also included. The information on own-consumed eggs is considered only where the eggs for consumption are produced by eggs producer for economic purpose.
Production of eggs is the total quantity of eggs produced during the reference period, expressed as a number of eggs.
Eggs producer is an agricultural holding with laying hens producing eggs for consumption during the reference period for economic purpose.
Laying hens producing eggs for consumption (A5110OH) are domestic fowls of the domestic species Gallus gallus L., which have reached laying maturity and are kept for the production of eggs for human consumption.
Included are:
Growing pullets before point of lay if they have been stalled up as laying hens;
Cull hens if are still stalled as laying hens.
Excluded are:
Breeding cocks for laying hens;
Pullets not yet placed for laying;
Cull hens no longer placed for laying;
Fowls producing eggs intended for incubation.
The number of laying hens is the total number of laying hens in production on 31 December of the reference year. In the context of farm structure statistics, the definition of laying hens covers also those producing eggs for hatching, cull hens, cocks and some pullets. A different code is used to distinguish “laying hens” (A5110O) and “laying hens producing eggs for human consumption” (A5110OH). The reference to FSS / IFS in the ESS agreement enables to provide criteria for exemption based on a non-directly comparable, but anyway available, measurement.
The number of eggs for consumption (D8000H) produced is understood for the calendar year by the agricultural holdings in the Member State.
Information on the national thresholds
The national threshold implemented to establish the statistics on eggs for consumption is requested to interpret the figures (whether the national threshold is under 350 or at least 350 laying hens) and to publish EU statistics coherent with the national publications while the EU threshold is different.
A packing centre is an establishment where eggs are graded by quality and weight, with authorization of the competent authority.
Number of eggs
Eggs received by packing centres Two different numbers are required to display the difference:
o Eggs from egg producers in Member State; The number of eggs received by packing centres from egg producers in the same Member State reflects the normal delivery by egg producers to non-agricultural sector.
o Eggs from other sources e.g. from foreign egg producers.
Ungraded eggs sold by or used on agricultural holdings Ungraded eggs sold or used on agricultural holdings are all those eggs produced by the eggs producer and not delivered to any packing centre in the Member State. They may have been delivered directly to non-food industry (Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 589/2008) or to a foreign operator, directly sold to the consumer without packing, used otherwise on the agricultural holding or lost before delivery to the packing centre.
The total number of eggs produced by the agricultural holdings is the sum of “Eggs from egg producers in Member State” and “Ungraded eggs sold by or used on agricultural holdings”.
For collection of data on production of eggs for consumption the Member States follow the definitions and concepts as provided in the Handbook. However several exceptions have been reported (see chapter 15.1. Comparability - geographical).
The statistical units are the following:
For the information collected from egg producers
For the information derived from the packing centre reports
An agricultural holding
The original provider of information is an agricultural holding with laying hens and producing eggs for consumption during the reference period for economic purpose.
A packing centre
A packing centre is an establishment where eggs are graded by quality and weight with authorization of the competent authority.
Where a packing centre is part of an agricultural holding, it reports as a packing centre. The agricultural activity is considered only if a part of the eggs produced is not handled by this packing centre or by any other one.
Other statistical units
Other non-specified units, for example registered egg processors could also be included as purchasing non-marked eggs directly from the farms (Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 589/2008 [1]).
While the definition of the statistical unit (i.e. the unit of which activity is described) for the statistics on eggs production has been provided in the Handbook (Chapter 2.2.), the type of reporting unit, i.e. unit(s) from which the requested information is collected (an agricultural holding, an administrative register providing an individual record, the service dealing with tax declaration, etc.) depends on the Member State data collection methodology. Below the differences applied to the definition of statistical unit (supposed to be harmonised) as well as the various types of reporting unit as indicated by Member States are presented. The basic statistical unit(s) of statistical observation for which the information requested in the ESS Agreement might be considered is:
An agricultural holding with laying hens: BG, CZ, DE, EE, IE, HR, CY, LV, LT, LU, HU, MT, PL, RO, SI, SK.
A packing centre (DK, FI, SE) [2].
Other non-specified units (FR uses amodel that employs data from a survey conducted with specialized hatcheries with a minimum capacity of 1,000 hatching eggs).
____________________________________________________________________ (1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 589/2008 of 23 June 2008 laying down detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as regards marketing standards for eggs (OJ L 163, 24.6.2008, p. 6–23. (2) It should be noted that at least two Member States (DK and SE) deriving the information on eggs production from packing centre reports are obtaining at the same time the information from the egg producers to collect the requested information on the number of laying hens and number of ungraded eggs sold or used on agricultural holdings.
For the information collected from egg producers
For the information derived from the packing centre reports
Statistical population
The population covered should include all agricultural holdings with laying hens and producing eggs for consumption on the country territory. Those egg producers having started or ceased production of eggs for consumption during the reference period should also be covered.
All the packing centres in the country, but also those egg producers which produce some eggs not delivered to a packing centre on the national territory, should constitute a relevant statistical population.
The EU statistics on eggs for consumption are drawn up for the territory of the Member States. They are not collected on a regional level. The EU as a whole is drawn up for the aggregated territory of all Member States after they all deliver these statistics.
2018 data on egg production was submitted by the following EU Member States:
BE, BG, CZ, DK, DE, EE, FR, HR, CY, LV, LT, LU, HU, PL, RO, SI, SK, FI, SE, UK.
In addition, 2018 data were submitted also by RS and TR.
In line with the Handbook, data should be provided at the national level. However some Member States collect data on lower NUTS level, (e.g. NUTS 2 in BG and HR, NUTS1 in PL).
Additionally, until 2018 (included), in France the reference area was Metropolitan France. Since 2019, the reference area includes also the overseas departments, but the sample is the same, since there is no egg hatchery with over 1,000 places in theses departments.
In case of data derived from information reported by egg producers
In case of data derived from information reported by packing centres
The Member States conducting basis surveys must ensure that the egg producers with at least 350 laying hens are covered, while the Member States conducting annual sample surveys must ensure that egg producers with at least 5,000 laying hens are covered. In both cases, Member States must provide statistics where the relative sampling error of the number of laying hens does not exceed 1 % with a confidence interval of 68 %.
The Member States conducting basis surveys must ensure that all packing centres and egg producers with at least 350 laying hens are represented, while the Member States conducting annual sample surveys must ensure that packing centres are represented: the packing centres reports collected should represent at least 95 % of activity of the packing centres in the country, as measured by the number of eggs marked. In both cases, the Member States must provide statistics where the relative sampling error of the number of eggs does not exceed 1 % with a confidence interval of 68 %.
In accordance with the ESS Agreement the following data sources might be used to collect the requested information:
Surveys of agricultural holdings;
Packing centre reports;
Administrative data sources;
Models;
Other data sources;
A combination of two or more of the methods mentioned above.
Survey of agricultural holdings
The reference data source is a survey of agricultural holdings with at least 5,000 laying hens. In this case, the agricultural holding is contacted directly either through a separate survey, or relevant questions are integrated into the system of surveys which already exists (such as livestock survey or farm structure survey).
Packing centre reports
The reports collected should represent at least 95 % of activity of the packing centres in the country, as measured by the number of eggs marked.
Administrative sources
Administrative data sources can be used to obtain statistical information. In particular Regulation (EC) No 589/2008 Article 20 foresees that egg producers record information on (a) the date of placing and number of laying hens and (c) the daily egg production. This administrative information can be used to measure egg production and for the number of laying hens. Additionally, under the same Regulation, Article 22(1), it is foreseen that packing centres record information on the number of ungraded eggs they receive (a) from producers and (c) from other packing centres. This administrative information can also be used to measure the number of eggs handled by the packing centres.
ACCESS TO ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 Article 17a - Access, use and integration of administrative records.
In order to reduce the burden on respondents, the NSIs, other national authorities as referred to in Article 4, and the Commission (Eurostat) shall have the right to access and use, promptly and free of charge, all administrative records and to integrate those administrative records with statistics, to the extent necessary for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, which are determined in the European Statistical Programme in accordance with Article 1.
The NSIs and the Commission (Eurostat) shall be consulted on, and involved in, the initial design, subsequent development and discontinuation of administrative records built up and maintained by other bodies, thus facilitating the further use of those records for the purpose of producing European statistics. They shall be involved in the standardisation activities concerning administrative records that are relevant for the production of European statistics.
QUALITY OF REGISTER DATA
When using register data for statistical purpose, the following must be considered:
Statistics need to meet strict pre-defined quality criteria;
For register data the quality criteria may or may not be applied and often the metadata to judge the quality of the registers is not available;
The registers may not be kept up-to-date, especially if there is no quality assurance and checking mechanism in place;
Quality assessment tools are needed to analyse the quality of register data and to conclude if they are fit-for-purpose for statistics.
Models
Models can be used if the statistics meet the provisions of the present agreement. Regular quality control and updates of the parameters used must be conducted so that the results can be considered of at least equal quality to survey data.
Other data sources
Other data sources such as a survey of egg processors, scientific or professional sources can be used, as long as they enable the data collection to meet the quality requirements.
In some cases, Member States could combine two or more various data collection methods mentioned above.
Based on the analyses of the national metadata files the majority of Member States (BG, CZ, DE, EE, IE, HR, CY, LV, LT, HU, PL, RO, SI and SK) used a statistical survey to collect the required information on eggs produced for consumption in 2018. However this survey might be carried out by other institution(s) than that providing the required data to Eurostat. For example in IE the total number of eggs produced for human consumption comes from an annual census of egg producers with a capacity of 50 or more laying hens conducted by our ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. In CY the Department of Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment collects the required information on number of laying hens and number of eggs produced for human consumption and transmits the required statistical data to Cystat, and in SK the data comes from monthly statistical survey on production, sales and overall offer of slaughter poultry and eggs for consumption conducted by the Research Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics on behalf of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic.
Only 3 Member States (DK, FI and SE) used for 2018 data collection the reports obtained from packing centres, while the production of eggs on the farms which not are delivered to packing centres (sales to private consumers and domestic consumption) was not collected in FI, but was for example estimated in DK, or calculated based on the market share of a trade organization representing egg producers in SE. In relation to the organisation of data collection it should be mentioned that in DK, the data on weight of eggs from packing centres is not collected directly by Statistics Denmark, but it is taken from an administrative register on egg conversion in the parcels from The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration that is a part of the Ministry of Environment and Food.
A model to obtain the required information is run by France. It uses a combination a different data sources (hatchery data comes from statistical surveys, foreign trade data are administrative data from French custom authorities, technical data are updated with information collected by ITAVI professional surveys on producer organisations and independent breeders, and coefficients used to estimate the number of holdings of more than 5,000 layers are updated based on the FSS). The number of laying hens in production is estimated each month and it is multiplied by an average number of eggs laid per hen.
Administrative data sources were used in several Member States. In particular LU obtains the information on production of eggs for consumption based on the multiplication of the number of laying hens extracted from IACS by specific technical coefficients (300 eggs/conventional laying hen/year and 270 eggs/organic laying hen/year). In MT an administrative register that is kept updated by the Veterinary and Phytosanitary Regulation Division is used for the extraction of the number of laying hens while the calculation of egg production is based on the information obtained from the FADN survey.
Some MSs combine two or more various data collection methods. For example EE obtains the information on the number of laying hens and the number of their eggs from all agricultural holdings with at least 500 poultry heads through statistical survey, however for smaller holdings a model estimation has been used. Similarly, in SI while in holdings with more than 350 laying hens the production of eggs for consumption is collected via annual sample survey, in small reporting units the production of eggs is estimated. In IE and LV the production of eggs is collected via a statistical survey while the number of laying hens is coming from the FSS in IE and from the Animal Register of Agricultural Data Centre in LV. In SE the information on egg production is obtained from a trade organisation that represents among others the Swedish packing centres, the number of eggs not passing through packing centres is calculated using the market share of the before mentioned trade organisation, while the number of laying hens is collected via a sample survey.
For detailed information see the national metadata files on the top of this page.
Annual.
The statistics on production of eggs for human consumption are submitted to the Commission (Eurostat) as follows:
by 30 June following the end of the reference year the annual data derived from information reported by egg producers or by packing centres are submitted by the Member States with at least 3 million laying hens. The data required are described in Annex III of the Handbook.
by 1st December of the year following the reference year the results of the basis survey derived from information reported by egg producers are submitted by the Member States for the same reference years as the Farm Structure Surveys. The data required are described in Annex III of the Handbook.
Annual data deliveries are voluntary for Member States below the threshold of 3 million laying hens. However the results of basis surveys should be transmitted by all Member States that signed the ESS Agreement.
Geographical comparability is the main objective of the statistics on eggs produced for human consumption.
The common methodology, supported by a harmonised description of the national methodology, is a step towards a consensus amongst the Member States.
Based on the analysis of the information provided in national metadata files (see on the top of this page) the following observation can be made:
FI - ungraded eggs are not included in the production of eggs for consumption.
Some Member States are using a different reference date for laying hens, or even a reference period for the production of eggs. For detailed information concerning the reference period used by Member States see the Chapter 5 above.
Comparability over time is good for the EU harmonised frame (farms with at least 5,000 or 350 laying hens). The development of the EU methodology implemented since 2013 might have an impact on the comparability over time (see the national reports accessible on the top of this page).
For an overview of the national data availability see Chapter 3.8. Coverage - Time.
