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.
Division « Infrastructure et répertoires statistiques » / "Statistical Infrastructure and Business Registers" unit
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
INSEE
DSE / DRISS/ Division IRS
Timbre E220
88 avenue Verdier - CS 70058
92541 Montrouge cedex
FRANCE
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
7 April 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
7 April 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
7 April 2025
3.1. Data description
The annual Business demography data collection covers variables which explain the characteristics and demography of the business population. The methodology allows for the production of data on enterprise births (and deaths), that is, enterprise creations (cessations) that amount to the creation (dissolution) of a combination of production factors and where no other enterprises are involved (enterprises created or closed solely as a result of e.g. restructuring, merger or break-up are not considered).
A summary of the available indicators is listed below. The data is available at country and regional level, with breakdowns for type of activity, legal form and size class.
For the population of active enterprises:
Number of active enterprises.
Number of enterprise births.
Number of enterprise survivals up to five years.
Number of enterprise deaths.
Related variables on employment: 'employees' and 'persons employed' (employees and self-employed persons).
For the population of active employer enterprises:
Number of enterprises having at least one employee.
Number of enterprises having the first employee.
Number of enterprises having no employees anymore.
Number of enterprise survivals up to five years.
Related variables on employment: 'employees' and 'persons employed' (employees and self-employed persons).
For high-growth enterprises, the following indicators are available at and country level:
Number of high-growth enterprises .
Number of employees of high-growth enterprises.
Number of young high-growth enterprises (up to five years old high-growth enterprises).
Number of employees of young high-growth enterprise.
For high-growth micro enterprises, the following indicators are available at and country level:
Number of high-growth micro enterprises.
Number of employees of high-growth micro enterprises.
3.2. Classification system
From 2008 onwards NACE Rev.2 classification (Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community) is used for all indicators.
Starting with reference year 2021, BD data cover the economic activities of market producers within the NACE Rev. 2 Sections B to N, P to R and Divisions S95 and S96. The total economy is presented as Industry, construction and services (code BTSXO_S94).
For the reference years 2008-2020, data for the Sections P, Q, R and S were provided on a voluntary basis and K64.2 was not covered.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
BD constitutes an important and integrated part of the EU Regulation 2019/2152 on European Business Statistics (EBS Regulation).
An active enterprise is an enterprise which has a positive turnover or employment performs or is the owner of another legal entity during the reference year.
In practice, the “economically active” nature of units is established on the basis of the following criteria, known from administrative sources: positive turnover, number of employees during the year, existence of a tax return relating to the reference year.
Enterprise births are enterprises which are active in the reference year and were not during the two previous years, with the restriction that no event (such as merger, break-up, split-off, take-over...) involving another enterprise happened during the reference year and the previous one.
Enterprises deaths are enterprises which are active in the reference year and are not during the next two years, with the restriction that no event (such as merger, break-up, split-off, take-over...) involving another enterprise happens during the reference year and the next one.
Enterprise survivals are enterprises which were born before the reference year and which were active every year from birth to the reference year. Survivals by take-over are taken into account in the calculation.
A high-growth enterprise is an enterprise which had at least 10 employees three years before the reference year (reference year - 3), with average annual growth for the number of employees greater than 10 % per annum, over a three year period (reference year - 3 to reference year).
A micro high-growth enterprise is an enterprise which had between 1 and 9 employees three years before the reference year (reference year - 3), with average annual growth for the number of employees greater than 3.31 over a three year period (reference year - 3 to reference year).
3.5. Statistical unit
Since the reference year 2021, the French business demography statistics are almost fully produced in enterprise. However, some data for class 64.11, 64.19 and division 65 are in legal units; in addition, enterprise births and enterprise survivals are calculated in 'legal unit'. Prior to reference year 2021, the statistical unit was the legal unit, except for the 100 largest French compagnies, which were treated as 'enterprises'.
3.6. Statistical population
The statistical population covered includes all companies, natural persons or legal entities, which are market producers, i.e. businesses selling goods or services at an economically significant price and producing goods or services.
3.7. Reference area
The statistics on active enterprises cover the French national territory, including Corsica and overseas departments (Guadeloupe, French Guyana, Martinique, Mayotte and La Réunion). Ultra-peripheral territories are excluded except Saint-Martin, which is grouped with Guadeloupe.
3.8. Coverage - Time
French business demography statistics start from the reference year 2008; see 15.2 Comparability over time.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
The numbers of active, birth, death and survival enterprises, as well as high-growth enterprises and high-growth micro enterprises are expressed in units.
The number of employees is counted head counts and is expressed in units.
The number of persons employed is the sum of number of employees and self-employed persons.
The number of self-employed persons is the average number of persons who were at some time during the reference period the sole owners or joint owners of the statistical unit in which they work, measured in annual average headcounts, expressed in units.
Derived indicators are expressed in units or percentages.
2022.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Starting with reference year 2021, two new regulations form the legal basis of BD statistics:
Before reference year 2021, EU Regulation 2008/295 on structural business statistics, Annex IX, was providing a legal basis for the BD data collection. The Commission implementing EU Regulation 2014/439 ensured data collection on employer enterprises (with at least one employee), high-growth enterprises (more than 10% annual growth over three years) and their employment.
Up to reference year 2006 data have been collected under gentlemen's agreement within the context of the development of Structural Business Statistics.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Not applicable.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Statistical confidentiality derives from the obligations defined, on the one hand, in national law, by Act No. 51-711 of 7 June 1951 on the obligation, coordination and confidentiality of statistics, and, on the other hand, in European law, by the General Data Protection Regulation and by Regulation 223 on European Statistics. Statistical confidentiality excludes the dissemination of any statistical result that would allow the re-identification of the persons concerned, whether natural persons or legal entities. This obligation limits the detail of the information available for dissemination. For businesses, in the general case, no result is published if it concerns less than three enterprises, or if a single enterprise represents 85% or more of its value. Secondary confidential cells are also protected. More information on statistical confidentiality can be found on Insee’s website.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Statistical confidentiality has been applied to business demography data since reference year 2021. For tables providing aggregated data on businesses, the rule is as follows:
No cell in the table should refer to fewer than three units;
No cell in the table should contain data of which over 85% of the total relates to a single company. For Business demography, this rule is applied mainly to the number of employees and self-employed persons and to the number of employees.
Methods of primary and secondary data confidentiality are applied by automatic procedures, using TauArgus software.
7.2.1. Confidentiality rules (primary and secondary)
Data treatment
Remarks
Confidentiality rules applied
yes
Threshold of number of enterprises (Number)
3
Number of enterprises non confidential, if number of employments is confidential
no
Dominance criteria applied
yes
If dominance criteria is applied, specify the threshold (in %) and the method of applying the dominance rules
85
Secondary confidentiality applied
yes
If secondary confidentiality is applied, explain the rules and the methods used
the TauArgus software is used with the Modular algorithm. If it's possible, it avoids to mask the most agregate levels
7.2.2. Measures taken to reduce the number of confidential cells
Remarks
Measures taken to reduce the number of confidential cells
yes
If measures have been taken, describe them briefly
The Modular solver optimisation algorithm proposed by the TauArgus software is applied to minimise the number of observations that are masked.
Impact of these measures
satisfactory
8.1. Release calendar
Structural business demography data for the reference year 2022 have been available on INSEE's website since April 2025.
8.2. Release calendar access
Not applicable.
8.3. Release policy - user access
Aggregated data on business demography are released each year on INSEE's website. Microdata is made available to internal users, as well as to a limited set of registered users including authorised academic researchers.
Annual.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
There are no specific press releases directly linked to structural business demography data.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
New sets of summary tables were realesed for the first time in March 2024, based on the reference year 2021. For reference year 2022, They have been realesed on April 2025 in greater detail along with a short publication explaining the variations in the numbers of active units over time.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
Since 2024, a new application (called Melodi) offers statistical public datasets in open formats on the INSEE website.
10.3.1. Data tables - consultations
Not requested.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Non-anomnymized microdata are available on restricted access to researchers only, after examination by the French Statistical Confidentiality Committee, which vouches for the respect by the researchers of the statistical confidentiality.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Data are sent to Eurostat to be disseminated in European aggregates. Data are also released as national level, with some additional characteristics such as changes in stocks.
10.5.1. Metadata - consultations
Not requested.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
Methodological documentation accompanies the data published on the INSEE website. This documentation is supplemented by a working paper published in 2024.
10.6.1. Metadata completeness - rate
Not requested.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
Documentation on the quality management of the Official Statistical Service (SSP), which includes INSEE, can be found on the INSEE website.
11.1. Quality assurance
A general framework on quality in the Official Statistical Service (SSP) is set up in order to promote the implementation of quality.
Rules, methods and means for the development, production and dissemination of statistics meet the quality standards of the European Statistics Code of Practice.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
INSEE's business demography statistics are compiled using various reference sources that are widely used within the Institute: tax data, VAT returns, employment data and data on self-employed workers, all of which are mainly derived from administrative data. This guarantees the quality and exhaustiveness of the data used by the French business demography system.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The many users of business demography statistics include:
Internal users: various departments or regional directorates of INSEE use business demography data for national or regional studies;
External users: Banque de France; other statistical services involved in the fields of transport, construction, ...; industry federations; institutional actors in charge of promoting business development or business creation, such as the Directorate General for Enterprise (Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty) or Bpifrance (French Public Investment Bank); media; researchers.
The data disseminated at national level have mainly been stocks of active legal units and establishments, based on concepts very similar to those used to produce the business demography data required by the EBS regulation, plus demographic equations that decompose and explain the annual variations in stocks at different levels of detail. . These stocks have been recalculated for the period 2014-2022.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
No user satisfaction survey conducted on Business demography. However, frequent exchanges take place with users. An annual meeting on business demography statistics is co-organised each year with the unit responsible for surveys on new businesses.
12.3. Completeness
Business demography requirements according to the EU regulations are fulfilled.
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
All statistics required by the EBS regulation are calculated. Data are definitive, except enterprise deaths which are revised.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Not requested.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
The proportion of enterprises wrongly designated as active or non active is difficult to assess but supposed to be low. Some activity criteria set out in the European definition, like the production of outputs or performing investments, can be difficult to observe for all entreprises. Therefore, it was decided to use also a broader criterion of activity: the filing of a tax return during the year. As a consequence, it is possible that the number of active enterprises is somewhat overestimated.
13.3.1. Coverage error
Not requested.
13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate
Not requested.
13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion
Not requested.
13.3.2. Measurement error
Not applicable.
13.3.3. Non response error
Not applicable.
13.3.3.1. Unit non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.3.2. Item non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.4. Processing error
As the business demography system was overhauled in view of the entry into force of the EBS regulation, particular attention was paid to the quality and maintainability of the processes, especially the IT programmes.
However, process improvement is still a work in progress. Overall, the risk of process error is estimated to be rather low.
13.3.5. Model assumption error
Not requested.
14.1. Timeliness
The various administrative data used to produce business demography statistics (financial statements, employment data, ownership data, etc.) for reference year Y become available between April Y+1 and April Y+2, at the latest.
The first national dissemination of structural business demography data for year Y takes place during year Y+2.
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
Not requested.
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
Not requested.
14.2. Punctuality
All data relating to the 2022 reference year were transmitted to Eurostat before the deadlines.
14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
Not requested.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Not requested.
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
Not applicable.
15.2. Comparability - over time
French business demography statistics, provided under Regulation (EC) No 295/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council, are available from the 2008 reference year. From reference year 2021 onwards, business demography data are transmitted in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics.
Breaks in time series from 2008 to 2020:
Time series are comparable for the period 2008-2012.
As from reference year 2014, three changes were made:
a better definition of legal form;
decimal numbers were used for the bounds in employee size class;
the number of employees were calculated in full-time equivalent instead of head count;
100 biggest profiled enterprises were introduced in the active population instead of 3500 legal units.
This changes introduced a break in time series. As corrected data for reference year 2013 (except for point 4) were delivered in 2017 according to this new methodology, time series are comparable for the period 2013-2020.
Concerning the Regional Business Demography, the region classification NUTS changed for the French NUTS1 level from reference year 2016. New Regional Business Demography data were delivered for reference years 2014 and 2015 with the new NUTS classification for a better comparability over time.
From the reference year 2021 onwards:
From the reference year 2021, as the EBS regulation came into force, French business demography data has undergone a major overhaul.
The main changes implemented were the following :
With regard to the statistical unit: the statistical unit used is now the ‘enterprise’, whereas previously it was only used for the top 100 French entreprises, with smaller entreprises being assimilated to legal units.
With regard to the activity criteria: an enterprise is deemed active if there are actual signs of economic activity over the year (turnover, employees, etc.). Previously, entreprises were considered active on the basis of administrative criteria: mainly the registration in the Sirene administrative business register and the administrative cessation. This change led to a significant reduction in the number of active enterprises, and significantly reduced discrepancies with the number of enterprises provided by SBS.
With regard to employment data: as part of the work to ensure consistency with SBS, a common source and calculation method has been applied for employment data (number of employees and number of employees and self-employed persons).
These changes mean that the data submitted from reference year 2021 are generally not comparable with those submitted for the previous reference years:
Due to the new definition of an active enterprise, the number of active enterprises has been significantly revised downwards. Enterprises’ births, deaths and survivals have been also revised, as their calculation is closely linked to that of active enterprises.
The numbers of employees and the numbers of employees and self-employed persons transmitted from the reference year 2021 are also not comparable with those of the previous reference years, due to changes in the source and in the method of calculation of the numbers of employees and self-employed persons. They are calculated in head counts.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
French structural business demography data is comparable over the periods 2008-2012, 2013-2020 and 2021-2022
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Cross-domain comparisons are carried out on a regular basis between Business Demography statistics and SBS statistics, as well as with the Statistical Business Register. The gaps with the number of active enterprises in SBS have been greatly reduced for reference year 2021, in comparison with the previous years, thanks to the significant methodological changes made to calculate the number of active enterprises in business demography. Indeed, a new definition of 'active enterprises', more in line with European regulations, has been applied by business demography, thus reducing the number of active enterprises in business demography and bringing it closer to that of SBS. However, discrepancies between the numbers of active enterprises in SBS and business demography remain significant, at around 6% for the 2022 reference year for all sectors combined. In addition, the source data used by Business demography, SBS and the Statistical Business Register to determine the number of employees and self-employed persons and the number of employees have been fully aligned. Thus, consistency between domains has been significantly improved, without yet attaining perfect consistency, as methodological differences persist in determining which enterprises are active between SBS and BD.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable.
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
Not requested.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Not requested.
Not requested.
17.1. Data revision - policy
With the exception of company deaths for the reference year and the previous year, the data published is considered final. Any revision would require a new confidentiality treatment, which in theory should be consistent with the confidentiality of the previous version. In practive, this would be very difficult to implement.
17.2. Data revision - practice
Transmitted data is assumed definitive, except enterprise deaths for reference year Y which can only be estimated in year Y+2. Definitive enterprise deaths are calculated in Y+3, as data source becomes available to determine with greater certainty which enterprises were active in Y+1 and Y+2.
17.2.1. Data revision - average size
Due to the overhaul of the statistics implemented for reference year 2021, the average level of revisions cannot be currently assessed.
18.1. Source data
Type of data source: The statistical business register (called Sirus) is the main data source used by Business demography. It provides multiple information on enterprises: scope (market productive), activity from an administrative point of view, sector of activity, legal lorm, location, delineation of enterprises in legal units, and various economic data. The data from SBR comes from or is supplemented by turnover data (VAT), data on the workforce (Pay and salaried employment localized file) and on self-employed persons (self-employed database) provided by the employment department, as well as tax data/financial statements used by SBS (Esane).
Coverage of SBR (Statistical Business Register): The Statistical Business Register is supposed to cover all market productive enterprises falling within the sectoral scope of business demography (ie. within the NACE Rev. 2 Sections B to N, P to R and Divisions S95 and S96), whatever their legal form. No threshold of turnover is applied.
Matching, profiling or imputation: The profiling of groups into economic enterprises is performed by a dedicated unit. Data on 'enterprises' (as statistical units) are gathered by SBR, which makes them available to users, including business demography and SBS.
An 'enterprise' is assumed to be active if one of its legal units is active, within the meaning of the activity criteria applied by business demography (positive turnover, employees, filling a tax return). Besides, an enterprise is considered to be continued from year Y-1 to Y, if there is a set of legal units which belong to this 'enterprise' both in year Y-1 and Y and which represent more than 50% of the enterprise's total workforce in Y-1 and Y.
Due to data availability issues, profiling cannot be applied to companies that were created during the reference year. Thus, enterprise births are always, within the framework of the current business demography system, births of legal units. New legal units can only be gathered into 'enterprises' the year following their administrative creation.
For consistency, the calculation of survivals is also carried out in legal units.
No form matching is applied.
18.1.1. Concepts and sources
For reference year 2022, no imputation or estimation is performed by SBR or business demography to determine which enterprises are active. Estimations of enterprise deaths are done only by the business demography system.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Most of the data used is annual data, collected once a year. Data from the Sirene administrative business directory, on business registrations and closures for instance, are collected on a daily basis.
18.3. Data collection
Business demography does not have direct access to administrative data bases. Administrative data used by business demography is always processed upstream by other statistical systems, such as SBR, SBS for financial statements or the applications dedicated to employmernt statistics.
18.3.1. Data matching
a) Data matching process and tools:
No matching process is needed as business demography can rely on:
The Sirene administrative directory, which lists predecessors and successors involved for example in one-to-one take-overs.
The CITRUS application (Coordination of Information and Processing on the Restructuring of Statistical Units), which collects and supplies information on company restructuring (such as break-ups, split-offs or mergers...) to the public statistical authorities. This application also allows business demography to know the transferors and beneficiaries of these restructurings.
Thanks to these two devices, it is possible to eliminate creations (cessations) due to events other than real business births (respectively deaths).
b) Matching:
As indicated above, no form of matching is applied.
18.3.2. Manual checks
Some investigations were carried out on some large deaths, for reference year 2021 and 2022. However, no systematic checks are performed.
18.4. Data validation
Before sending business demography data to Eurostat, a number of checks are carried out. These checks are intended to be stepped up over the years. 1. Validation of format and file structure checks Checks on file structure and data format are carried out when csv files are converted to SDMX and uploaded on the Edamis portal. 2. Intra-dataset checks Most of the intra-dataset checks (checks at the level of one record or at the level of one cell) are performed though the pre-validation tool of Eurostat. Most of the data used for business demography is administrative data that has already been checked and verified by the departments responsible for it. 3. Inter-dataset checks The inter-dataset checks consist mainly of controls between close or comparable totals. For example: checks between the population of active enterprises (broken down by size class or legal form) and the population of enterprises having at least one employee. 4. Intra-domain, intra-source checks Once the business demography data has been produced and the checks described above have been carried out, a report is produced, presenting the main variables of business demography in the form of commented annual series: number of active enterprises, number of employees and self-employed persons, number of employees, broken down by legal form, size class and sector of activity. In the same way, the series of enterprise births, enterprise deaths, enterprise survivals or those relating to enterprises having at least one employee, etc. are presented and commented. For the reference year 2021, due to the overhaul of the business demography system, detailed comparisons have been made with the previous system. 5. Plausibility or consistency checks between two domains available in the same Institution The domains with which business demography data are compared are as follows:
SBS data, with regards to the numbers of active enterprises, the numbers of employees and self-employed persons, and the numbers of employees;
Employment statistics on the self-employed, with regards to the number of sole proprietorships and the number of self-employed persons;
Published data on salaried employment, with regards to the number of enterprises having at least one employee, and the number of employees.
6. Plausibility or consistency checks between the data available in the Institution and the data / information available outside the Institution. For now, no checks are carried out with other information available outside INSEE.
18.5. Data compilation
Estimation of preliminary deaths
Enterprise deaths in year Y cannot be known with certainty when estimating them in Y+2, because it is not possible, at this time, to determine for all enterprises which ones are active in Y+1 or in Y+2. The state of activity of some enterprises is nevertheless known in Y+1, thanks to infra-annual employment or turnover data, or to annual data on the turnover of some sole proprietorships. Administrative cessation declarations can also be used. The fact remains that, for a significant proportion of enterprises, no information on their activity is known for year Y+1, even more for year Y+2. Thus, a simple model for estimating the number of enterprise deaths is implemented, based on the application of death rates observed in the past.
Average number of employees
The average number of employees is calculated taking into account the duration of the contract of each employee during the year. This amounts to calculating the average number of employees by taking headcount of employee per day. This data is provided by the employment department at Insee.
Average number of self-employed persons
The numbers of self-employed persons used by business demography come exclusively from the Self-employed database established and maintained by the INSEE employment department, which lists almost exhaustively the people who were affiliated during the year to a social protection system for self-employed persons. Data are provided only referring to the end of the year, then the number of self-employed persons is considered at the end of the year and not as an annual average. The self-employed persons taken into account by business demography are those who were active at the end of the year and who carry out their self-employed activity as their main activity (if they have a salaried job elsewhere). Finally, it should be noted that certain individual entrepreneurs are not affiliated to a social protection scheme for self-employed persons; in this case, they are not taken into account in the numbers of self-employed persons provided by business demography. This number is calculated thank to self-employed database.
18.5.1. Imputation - rate
Not requested.
18.6. Adjustment
Not applicable.
18.6.1. Seasonal adjustment
Not applicable.
The annual Business demography data collection covers variables which explain the characteristics and demography of the business population. The methodology allows for the production of data on enterprise births (and deaths), that is, enterprise creations (cessations) that amount to the creation (dissolution) of a combination of production factors and where no other enterprises are involved (enterprises created or closed solely as a result of e.g. restructuring, merger or break-up are not considered).
A summary of the available indicators is listed below. The data is available at country and regional level, with breakdowns for type of activity, legal form and size class.
For the population of active enterprises:
Number of active enterprises.
Number of enterprise births.
Number of enterprise survivals up to five years.
Number of enterprise deaths.
Related variables on employment: 'employees' and 'persons employed' (employees and self-employed persons).
For the population of active employer enterprises:
Number of enterprises having at least one employee.
Number of enterprises having the first employee.
Number of enterprises having no employees anymore.
Number of enterprise survivals up to five years.
Related variables on employment: 'employees' and 'persons employed' (employees and self-employed persons).
For high-growth enterprises, the following indicators are available at and country level:
Number of high-growth enterprises .
Number of employees of high-growth enterprises.
Number of young high-growth enterprises (up to five years old high-growth enterprises).
Number of employees of young high-growth enterprise.
For high-growth micro enterprises, the following indicators are available at and country level:
Number of high-growth micro enterprises.
Number of employees of high-growth micro enterprises.
7 April 2025
BD constitutes an important and integrated part of the EU Regulation 2019/2152 on European Business Statistics (EBS Regulation).
An active enterprise is an enterprise which has a positive turnover or employment performs or is the owner of another legal entity during the reference year.
In practice, the “economically active” nature of units is established on the basis of the following criteria, known from administrative sources: positive turnover, number of employees during the year, existence of a tax return relating to the reference year.
Enterprise births are enterprises which are active in the reference year and were not during the two previous years, with the restriction that no event (such as merger, break-up, split-off, take-over...) involving another enterprise happened during the reference year and the previous one.
Enterprises deaths are enterprises which are active in the reference year and are not during the next two years, with the restriction that no event (such as merger, break-up, split-off, take-over...) involving another enterprise happens during the reference year and the next one.
Enterprise survivals are enterprises which were born before the reference year and which were active every year from birth to the reference year. Survivals by take-over are taken into account in the calculation.
A high-growth enterprise is an enterprise which had at least 10 employees three years before the reference year (reference year - 3), with average annual growth for the number of employees greater than 10 % per annum, over a three year period (reference year - 3 to reference year).
A micro high-growth enterprise is an enterprise which had between 1 and 9 employees three years before the reference year (reference year - 3), with average annual growth for the number of employees greater than 3.31 over a three year period (reference year - 3 to reference year).
Since the reference year 2021, the French business demography statistics are almost fully produced in enterprise. However, some data for class 64.11, 64.19 and division 65 are in legal units; in addition, enterprise births and enterprise survivals are calculated in 'legal unit'. Prior to reference year 2021, the statistical unit was the legal unit, except for the 100 largest French compagnies, which were treated as 'enterprises'.
The statistical population covered includes all companies, natural persons or legal entities, which are market producers, i.e. businesses selling goods or services at an economically significant price and producing goods or services.
The statistics on active enterprises cover the French national territory, including Corsica and overseas departments (Guadeloupe, French Guyana, Martinique, Mayotte and La Réunion). Ultra-peripheral territories are excluded except Saint-Martin, which is grouped with Guadeloupe.
2022.
Not requested.
The numbers of active, birth, death and survival enterprises, as well as high-growth enterprises and high-growth micro enterprises are expressed in units.
The number of employees is counted head counts and is expressed in units.
The number of persons employed is the sum of number of employees and self-employed persons.
The number of self-employed persons is the average number of persons who were at some time during the reference period the sole owners or joint owners of the statistical unit in which they work, measured in annual average headcounts, expressed in units.
Derived indicators are expressed in units or percentages.
Estimation of preliminary deaths
Enterprise deaths in year Y cannot be known with certainty when estimating them in Y+2, because it is not possible, at this time, to determine for all enterprises which ones are active in Y+1 or in Y+2. The state of activity of some enterprises is nevertheless known in Y+1, thanks to infra-annual employment or turnover data, or to annual data on the turnover of some sole proprietorships. Administrative cessation declarations can also be used. The fact remains that, for a significant proportion of enterprises, no information on their activity is known for year Y+1, even more for year Y+2. Thus, a simple model for estimating the number of enterprise deaths is implemented, based on the application of death rates observed in the past.
Average number of employees
The average number of employees is calculated taking into account the duration of the contract of each employee during the year. This amounts to calculating the average number of employees by taking headcount of employee per day. This data is provided by the employment department at Insee.
Average number of self-employed persons
The numbers of self-employed persons used by business demography come exclusively from the Self-employed database established and maintained by the INSEE employment department, which lists almost exhaustively the people who were affiliated during the year to a social protection system for self-employed persons. Data are provided only referring to the end of the year, then the number of self-employed persons is considered at the end of the year and not as an annual average. The self-employed persons taken into account by business demography are those who were active at the end of the year and who carry out their self-employed activity as their main activity (if they have a salaried job elsewhere). Finally, it should be noted that certain individual entrepreneurs are not affiliated to a social protection scheme for self-employed persons; in this case, they are not taken into account in the numbers of self-employed persons provided by business demography. This number is calculated thank to self-employed database.
Type of data source: The statistical business register (called Sirus) is the main data source used by Business demography. It provides multiple information on enterprises: scope (market productive), activity from an administrative point of view, sector of activity, legal lorm, location, delineation of enterprises in legal units, and various economic data. The data from SBR comes from or is supplemented by turnover data (VAT), data on the workforce (Pay and salaried employment localized file) and on self-employed persons (self-employed database) provided by the employment department, as well as tax data/financial statements used by SBS (Esane).
Coverage of SBR (Statistical Business Register): The Statistical Business Register is supposed to cover all market productive enterprises falling within the sectoral scope of business demography (ie. within the NACE Rev. 2 Sections B to N, P to R and Divisions S95 and S96), whatever their legal form. No threshold of turnover is applied.
Matching, profiling or imputation: The profiling of groups into economic enterprises is performed by a dedicated unit. Data on 'enterprises' (as statistical units) are gathered by SBR, which makes them available to users, including business demography and SBS.
An 'enterprise' is assumed to be active if one of its legal units is active, within the meaning of the activity criteria applied by business demography (positive turnover, employees, filling a tax return). Besides, an enterprise is considered to be continued from year Y-1 to Y, if there is a set of legal units which belong to this 'enterprise' both in year Y-1 and Y and which represent more than 50% of the enterprise's total workforce in Y-1 and Y.
Due to data availability issues, profiling cannot be applied to companies that were created during the reference year. Thus, enterprise births are always, within the framework of the current business demography system, births of legal units. New legal units can only be gathered into 'enterprises' the year following their administrative creation.
For consistency, the calculation of survivals is also carried out in legal units.
No form matching is applied.
Annual.
The various administrative data used to produce business demography statistics (financial statements, employment data, ownership data, etc.) for reference year Y become available between April Y+1 and April Y+2, at the latest.
The first national dissemination of structural business demography data for year Y takes place during year Y+2.
Not requested.
French business demography statistics, provided under Regulation (EC) No 295/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council, are available from the 2008 reference year. From reference year 2021 onwards, business demography data are transmitted in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics.
Breaks in time series from 2008 to 2020:
Time series are comparable for the period 2008-2012.
As from reference year 2014, three changes were made:
a better definition of legal form;
decimal numbers were used for the bounds in employee size class;
the number of employees were calculated in full-time equivalent instead of head count;
100 biggest profiled enterprises were introduced in the active population instead of 3500 legal units.
This changes introduced a break in time series. As corrected data for reference year 2013 (except for point 4) were delivered in 2017 according to this new methodology, time series are comparable for the period 2013-2020.
Concerning the Regional Business Demography, the region classification NUTS changed for the French NUTS1 level from reference year 2016. New Regional Business Demography data were delivered for reference years 2014 and 2015 with the new NUTS classification for a better comparability over time.
From the reference year 2021 onwards:
From the reference year 2021, as the EBS regulation came into force, French business demography data has undergone a major overhaul.
The main changes implemented were the following :
With regard to the statistical unit: the statistical unit used is now the ‘enterprise’, whereas previously it was only used for the top 100 French entreprises, with smaller entreprises being assimilated to legal units.
With regard to the activity criteria: an enterprise is deemed active if there are actual signs of economic activity over the year (turnover, employees, etc.). Previously, entreprises were considered active on the basis of administrative criteria: mainly the registration in the Sirene administrative business register and the administrative cessation. This change led to a significant reduction in the number of active enterprises, and significantly reduced discrepancies with the number of enterprises provided by SBS.
With regard to employment data: as part of the work to ensure consistency with SBS, a common source and calculation method has been applied for employment data (number of employees and number of employees and self-employed persons).
These changes mean that the data submitted from reference year 2021 are generally not comparable with those submitted for the previous reference years:
Due to the new definition of an active enterprise, the number of active enterprises has been significantly revised downwards. Enterprises’ births, deaths and survivals have been also revised, as their calculation is closely linked to that of active enterprises.
The numbers of employees and the numbers of employees and self-employed persons transmitted from the reference year 2021 are also not comparable with those of the previous reference years, due to changes in the source and in the method of calculation of the numbers of employees and self-employed persons. They are calculated in head counts.
