Statistics Estonia

Economic and Environmental Staistics Department

The environmental goods and services sector (EGSS) accounts report on an economic sector that generates goods and services produced for environmental protection or the management of natural resources.

Products for environmental protection prevent, reduce and eliminate pollution or any other degradation of the environment. Examples are electric vehicles, catalysts and filters to decrease pollutant emissions, wastewater and waste treatment services, noise insulation works or restoration of degraded habitats.

Products for resource management safeguard the stock of natural resources against depletion. Examples are renewable energy production, energy-efficient and passive buildings, seawater desalinization or rainwater recovery, and materials recovery.

EGSS accounts provide data on output and export of environmental goods and services and on the value added of and employment in the environmental goods and services sector.

EGSS data are compiled following the statistical concepts and definitions set out in the UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting 2012 – Central Framework.

Data are reported cross-classified by 1) the type of environmental protection or resource management activity and 2) economic activity. Environmental protection activities are classified by environmental domain as set out in the Classification of Environmental Protection Activities - CEPA. Resource management activities are classified as set out in the Classification of Resource Management Activities - CReMA. see the revised CEPA and CReMA explanatory notes for detail. Economic activity is classified according to the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community, Rev. 2 (2008).

EGSS comprises a sector of the economy that produces goods and services aimed at environmental protection and resource management (see SEEA CF 2012 chapter 4). Environmental goods and services either reduce environmental pressures or help maintaining the stock of natural resources or they are designed to be cleaner and more resource efficient than conventional products. Environmental goods and services can be produced by corporations, households, governments and non-profit institutions. The list of environmental activities and products has been set out in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2174 ('the indicative compendium of environmental goods and services').

EGSS has the same system boundaries as the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010) and consists of all environmental products within this production boundary. ESA defines production as the activity carried out under the control and responsibility of an institutional unit that uses input of labour, capital, goods and services to produce output of goods and services.

Only goods and services produced for environmental purposes are included in the scope of the environmental goods and services sector.

'Environmental purpose' means that a good or service helps either 1) preventing, reducing and eliminating pollution and any other degradation of the environment or 2) preserving and maintaining the stock of natural resources and hence safeguarding against depletion.

The EGSS statistics aim at compiling data for the following economic variables:

Output: consists of products that become available for use outside of the producer unit, any goods and services produced for own final use and goods that remain in the inventories at the end of the period in which they are produced. Apart from market output, output for own final use and non-market output, EGSS statistics also include ancillary output, comprising output intended for use within an enterprise.

Market output is to be valued at basic prices, that is, the prices receivable by the producer from the purchaser minus taxes and plus subsidies on products.
Output for own final use is to be valued at basic prices of similar products sold on the market or by the total costs of production.
Non-market output is to be estimated by the total costs of production.
Ancillary output is measured as a total of recurrent production costs (such as intermediate consumption, compensation of employees and consumption of fixed capital) incurred by enterprises to: 1) reduce environmental pressures arising from their production process or 2) produce environmental goods or services not intended for use outside the enterprise, but instead supporting other (non-environmental) activities undertaken within the enterprise (e.g. waste management services carried out in-house). For market producers, a mark-up for net operating surplus is added to the value of the EGSS ancillary output.
Gross Value Added: represents the contribution made by the production of environmental goods and services to GDP. It is the difference between the value of the output and intermediate consumption.

Employment: is measured in full-time equivalent jobs engaged in the production of output of environmental goods and services. Full-time equivalent is defined as total hours worked divided by the average annual working hours in a full-time job.

Exports: consist of sales, barter, gifts, or grants, of environmental goods and services from residents to non-residents.

Council Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 of 15 March 1993 on the statistical units for the observation and analysis of the production system in the Community describes the different statistical units of the production system.

The recommended statistical unit for the collection and compilation of EGSS statistics (excluding general government) is the establishment. For general government, the recommendation is to use institutional units and groupings of units as defined in the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010).

The statistical population is the national economy as defined in SEEA CF 2012 and the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010). It includes all economic activities undertaken by resident units.

Estonia

EGSS is available for years 2014 - 2021

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Output, gross value added, and exports are measured in million units of national currency. Employment is measured in full time equivalents (i.e., full time equivalent jobs).

The reference period for EGSS data is the calendar year.

EGSS accounts are compiled and reported in accordance with Regulation (EU) No. 691/2011 on European environmental economic accounts (EEEA).

The EEEA follow internationally agreed concepts and definitions set out in the SEEA Central Framework (2012), the international statistical standard adopted by the UN Statistical Commission. They present data in a way that is compatible with National Accounts (ESA, 2010).

Data is considered confidential in Estonia if there are less than three producers under any given category or if one producer accounts for more than 90% of the production

Data is considered confidential in Estonia if there are less than three producers under any given category or if one producer accounts for more than 90% of the production. This applies both for micro and macrodata.

EGSS data is published in Statistics Estonia database (https://andmed.stat.ee/en/stat) once a year in October. The calendar is published in the beginning of year on Statistics Estonia website (https://www.stat.ee/en/calendar) and is publicly accessible.

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

The date when data is published is released in the beginning of year and is publicly accessible on Statistics Estonia website. 

Yearly

Press releases linked to EGSS has not been published over the past year.

EGSS data are disseminated nationally. There are no annual publications but there has been an article in the quarterly bulletin of Statistics Estonia on the methodology of EGSS (https://www.stat.ee/publication-2015_quarterly-bulletin-of-statistics-estonia-4-15). The publishing of blog articles and press releases are planned in the future.

EGSS data are published on Statistics Estonia website:

https://andmed.stat.ee/en/stat/keskkond__keskonna-arvepidamine__keskkonnakaupade-ja-teenuste-sektori-arvepidamine/KK38

https://andmed.stat.ee/et/stat/keskkond__keskonna-arvepidamine__keskkonnakaupade-ja-teenuste-sektori-arvepidamine/KK39

and in Eurostat database:

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_ac_egss1/default/table?lang=en

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_ac_egss2/default/table?lang=en

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_ac_egss3/default/table?lang=en

EGSS variables and publications are also covered on Statistics Estonia website under green economy theme:

https://www.stat.ee/en/find-statistics/statistics-theme/environment/green-economy

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Micro-data is accesible to researchers if used anonymization so that the data provider/enterprice is not detectable.

Legal persons and organisations can use for research confidential data held by Statistics Estonia. The data can be used on a workstation computer in the office of Statistics Estonia or remotely, depending on the nature of the data and contract conditions.

Information how to inquire data from Statistics Estonia can be seen here: https://www.stat.ee/en/find-statistics/request-statistics

Prices of contract work in 2023 are published on Statistics Estonia website - https://www.stat.ee/en/find-statistics/request-statistics

Not requested for this metadata collection.

The methodology is published in Statistics Estonia database at: https://www.stat.ee/en/find-statistics/statistics-theme/environment/green-economy and https://www.stat.ee/en/find-statistics/methodology-and-quality/esms-metadata/10106

Not requested for this metadata collection.

The database of EGSS enterprises and products has been reviewed by field experts in Estonia which should ensure that all relevant products in Estonia have been taken into account. A high level of accuracy is ensured by using a multitude of methodologies for different EGSS products. National account are used as a data source and as a means for validation - this should ensure compliance with the rules of national accounts. Our methods have been discussed with and approved by the experts of other NSI -s (Austria, Sweden and Netherlands).

We don't have national quality documentation. There are checks in place to make sure that the EGSS output in any NACE does not exceed the total output of national accounts in that NACE categories. An analogous rule is in place for exports, GVA and employment as well.

No

The main users are environmental institutions, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Rural Affairs. National indicator sets are being developed in collaboration with Ministry of environment. The Ministry of Rural Affairs uses the indicator: share of organic farming output in total agricultural output to assess organic farming policy targets. The same indicator is also a part of the sustainable development indicator set in Estonia.

User satisfaction has not been measured but regular meetings are held with the main data users to consider their needs and thoughts.

The reporting obligations have been filled, all obligatory data for EGSS are reported.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

The database of EGSS enterprises and products has been reviewed by field experts in Estonia which should ensure that all relevant products in Estonia have been taken into account. A high level of accuracy is ensured by using a multitude of methodologies for different EGSS products. National account are used as a data source and as a means for validation - this should ensure compliance with the rules of national accounts. Our methods have been discussed with and approved by the experts of other NSI -s (Austria, Sweden and Netherlands).

EGSS accounts are compiled using a range of primary statistical sources. The sampling and non-sampling errors are described in the metadata of the underlying statistical data.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

EGSS accounts are compiled using a range of primary statistical sources. The sampling and non-sampling errors are described in the metadata of the underlying statistical data.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Data is published T+22 annually. In 2021-2023 we worked on a grant project to develop methodologies to produce EGSS earlier and we managed to calculate first estimates T+15 but it has to be updated when National Accounts updates their data.

It takes 22 months from reference year to publish results at the moment but we had grant project in 2021-2023 to develop methodologies to compile EGSS earlier and we saw that it was possible to publish first results 15 months from reference period but it had initial results and had to be updated later when all necessary data sources were available. 

Final results can be compiled when National Accounts have compiled SUT table. SUT is available T+38 months.

The data were delivered to Eurostat on 30 October. The reporting deadline for EGSS to Eurostat is 31 October. 

1 day

The reporting obligations have been filled, all obligatory data for EGSS are reported and therefore data should be geographically comparable.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Methodology for output of energy efficient renovation for 2021 was improved in collaboration of experts from Tallinn University of Technology. Methodology developed for output of energy efficient renovation is still based on top-down approach, but the different methods were used for output estimations by the type of buildings (respectively small residential buildings, apartment buildings and non-residential buildings). For energy efficient renovation of apartment buildings, data on project’s total costs financed from European Union Structural Funds and data on state funding by KredEx were used to estimate the size of the output. Regarding small residential buildings and non-residential buildings, the approach was diferent: using renovated square meters data from building permits and multiplying this with unit cost of energy efficient renovation give an estimation for output. Revision in time series can be done after the contracts with the data holders are signed and their data of earlier years are transmitted to Statistics Estonia and calculations for output are made.

Other years and methodologies are comparable and does not have breaks in time series.

EGSS is available and comparable for years 2014-2021.

2021  output of energy efficient renovation is calculated using different methodology than in previous years

So far comparisons of EGSS results with business, energy, agricultural and foreign trade statistics have not been made. Business, energy and foreign trade statistics are used as data sources for EGSS. EGSS results are compared with national accounts and SUT data.

So far comparisons of EGSS results with business, energy, agricultural and foreign trade statistics have not been made. Business, energy and foreign trade statistics are used as data sources for EGSS. EGSS results are compared with national accounts and SUT data.

National accounts are one of the data sources for the compilation of EGSS. There are checks in place to make sure that the EGSS output in any NACE does not exceed the total output of national accounts in that NACE categories. An analogous rule is in place for exports, GVA and employment as well.

National accounts measurement rules are followed and adjustments are made based on these rules.

EGSS results should be coherent with EPEA data. as parts of both of these datasets are compiled using same data sources and methods.

National accounts are used as a data source in many cases and in the case of data from business register and SBS turnover is transformed to output using the same formulas as national accounts uses. Consistency with national accounts data is checked for output, GVA, exports and employment.

National accounts measurement rules are followed and adjustments are made based on these rules.

 0,6 full-time equivalents of work are required to compile the EGSS account.

The costs and burden to compile EGSS data is comparable to those of other accounts.

Data are revised when new national accounts data are available. Data are final when SUT data are available for a given year.

The data for 2019 has been revised according to finalised SUT tables for 2019. The data for 2020 has been revised according to updated national accounts tables. Some environmental shares of EGSS producers have been updated whch also causes some changes in the size of output etc.

Has not been measured but changes are rather small.

Year 2019 and previous years are final, 2020 and 2021 will be updated next year.

If possible then the output of energy efficient renovation will be updated for previous years also.

Annual data is used as input to compile EGSS

Dedicated survey is not used. An e-mail survey has been used in the past to specify environmental shares of secondary EGSS producers in case other information sources are not exhaustive. Administrative data are mainly used.

Yes, there are validation rules in place. There are checks in place to make sure that the EGSS output in any NACE does not exceed the total output of national accounts in that NACE categories. An analogous rule is in place for exports, GVA and employment as well. Another check that is performed is to make sure that exports do not exceed output in any given methodology block. The usual sums checks are also made automatically.

There is no dedicated regular  survey to enterprises regarding environmental goods and services.  Administrative data or data from other statistical surveys and activities are mostly used for EGSS compilation. The quality of these already collected data are not checked separately as it is assumed that the quality of these data is assured in other statistical departments or other institutions. We do compare SBS data with business register data. If the outputs from these two sources are different, SBS data is preferred. 

Output: There are over 30 different methodological blocks to calculate the data for EGSS output. These methods use different basic data. Some methods are top-down, some are bottom-up. Formulas from national accounts are used for output calculations - for example turnover from SBS data is turned to output based on national accounts formulas. There are validation checks in place to make sure the output of EGSS does not exceed NA output in any economic activity. The methodologies have been developed on the basis of the nature of the environmental activity (for example construction services, organic goods, waste management service etc.).For example energy saving construction services output is calculated with a top-down method using data on the area of reconstructed buildings and the average unit cost of energy efficient renovation. Some other services (consultation services etc.) were calculated by bottom-up method: enterprise output data from SBS or business register. The same applies for products. For example the output of organic farming products is calculated using FADN data on the output of an average organic farm multiplied by the number of organic farms in Estonia. For other cleaner goods SBS or business register data of specific enterprises were used. There is no clear difference in the calculation of output of environmental specific services, cleaner and resource efficient products and other (connected) products. In the cases where detailed enterprise information is available, it is possible to assign each enterprise to market and non-market activity based on information of the institutional sector of the enterprise. Usually enterprises belonging to S.11, S.12, S.14 are market producers and S.13, S. 15 are non-market producers. For top-down methodologies it is assumed based on the kind of activity whether the activity is market or non-market.The breakdown by NACE is reported mostly based on the NACE of the enterprise that produces EGSS goods and services. For top-down methodologies NACE is reported based on product classification and on expert information. For example, construction activities are reported under NACE F41-43 and M71, the allocation to M71 is based on expert opinion that 10% of construction activities are architectural services.

The scope of EGSS products and activities is determined based on the EGSS operational list from Eurostat and also consultations with national experts. The scope is not reviewed regularly. New products are added when there is information available on these products (for example information on the Internet and other media, information from specialised associations etc.). If it is not possible to determine the environmental share on the basis of business register yearly reports or information available on internet we used a telephone/e-mail survey. At first a telephone survey is preferred but an e-mail survey turned out to be more convenient for the respondents. The survey is conducted with EGSS enterprises and they were asked the shares of their environmental output and exports by environmental products. For example, if an enterprise produced both pipes for wastewater and water management they were asked the shares of these products separately for an easier split to CEPA/CREMA categories.

The environmental share is determined separately for the CEPA and CREMA output of an enterprise. A separate share is determined for exports. The share is enterprise-based so there is no separate share for NACEs. The share is fixed only for a certain period of time and is updated every 3-5 years using data from available data sources. 

Value added: The Eurostat formula for calculating gross value added presented in the EGSS practical guide is used to calculate GVA - using calculated EGSS output data and macroeconomic variables. GVA is calculated separately for market and non-market output.

Exports: The approach is enterprise-based. Enterprises producing environmental goods are matched to foreign trade statistics. As these enterprises also may produce other kinds of goods, it is necessary to determine which exported goods are environmental. The CN product classification is used to determine which products in foreign trade statistics to take into account in EGSS calculations. In some cases the CN product may be only partly environmental. For these cases a telephone/e-mail survey was conducted  with secondary EGSS producers to determine the share of EGSS export in the total exports.

Employment: For the calculation of employment of EGSS in general the assumption is made that for each economic activity the EGSS-related employment in total employment makes up the same share as the output of a specific EGSS product in the total output in national accounts by each economic activity. Coefficients for transforming employment data from the number of employees to full time equivalents were calculated. Coefficients are calculated as a ratio between full time equivalents and number of employees (FTE/PER). In national accounts employment data are available in full time equivalents only for A*21 activities level (the number of employees is available even on A*64 activities level). For that reason coefficients are calculated on A*21 activities level.

MEMO ITEM_CReMA 13B - energy efficiency related measures for NEARLY ZERO ENERGY BUILDINGS: The memo item covers construction of new buildings, specifically new more resource-efficient buildings. The share of resource-efficient buildings is estimated using 20% and share of new A-energy level buildings from all new buildings the method was suggested by expert on the field. 

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Methodology for output of energy efficient renovation was improved in collaboration of experts from Tallinn University of Technology. Methodology developed for output of energy efficient renovation is still based on top-down approach, but the different methods were used for output estimations by the type of buildings (respectively small residential buildings, apartment buildings and non-residential buildings). For energy efficient renovation of apartment buildings, data on project’s total costs financed from European Union Structural Funds and data on state funding by KredEx were used to estimate the size of the output. Regarding small residential buildings and non-residential buildings, the approach was diferent: using renovated square meters data from building permits and multiplying this with unit cost of energy efficient renovation give an estimation for output. Revision in time series can be done after the contracts with the data holders are signed and their data of earlier years are transmitted to Statistics Estonia and calculations for output are made. These methodology changes were done for year 2021.

 The memo item covers construction of new buildings, specifically new more resource-efficient buildings. The share of resource-efficient buildings is estimated using 20% and share of new A-energy level buildings from all new buildings the method was suggested by expert on the field. 

National accounts measurement rules are followed and adjustments are made based on these rules.

Not requested for this metadata collection.