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.
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.
3.2. Classification system
Data are reported cross-classified by type of environmental protection or resource management activity and by economic activity
Environmental protection activities are classified by environmental domain as set out in the Classification of Environmental Protection Activities (CEPA 2000). Resource management activities are classified as set out in the Classification of Resource Management Activities (CReMA). Together, sixteen categories and various sub-categories are differentiated (* are mandatory):
CEPA 1 - Protection of ambient air and climate (*)
CEPA 1.1.2 and 1.2.2 Protection of climate and ozone layer
CEPA 2 - Wastewater management (*)
CEPA 3 - Waste management (*)
CEPA 4 - Protection and remediation of soil, groundwater and surface water (*)
CEPA 5 - Noise and vibration abatement (*)
CEPA 6 - Protection of biodiversity and landscapes (*)
CEPA 7+8+9 - Protection against radiation; Research and development (R&D) and Other (*)
CEPA 7 - Protection against radiation
CEPA 8 - Environmental research and development, of which:
CEPA 8.1.2 - Environmental research and development for the protection of climate and ozone layer
CEPA 9 - Other environmental protection activities
CReMA 10 - Management of water (*)
CReMA 11 - Management of forest resources, of which: (*)
CReMA 11A - Management of forest areas
CReMA 11B - Minimisation of the intake of forest resources
CReMA 12 - Management of wild flora and fauna
CReMA 13 - Management of energy resources, of which: (*)
CReMA 13A - Production of energy from renewable resources
CReMA 13B - Heat/energy saving and management
CReMA 13C - Minimisation of the use of fossil energy as raw materials
CReMA 14 - Management of minerals (*)
CReMA 12+15+16 - Management of wild flora and fauna; Research and development (R&D) and Other (*)
CReMA 15 - Research and development activities for resource management
The CEPA and CReMA classification system was revised by the Task Force in 2020 with minor modifications of some of the headings above - see the revised CEPA and CReMA explanatory notes. The current CEPA and CReMA classification systems are being further revised by Eurostat to enhance the accuracy and relevance of environmental economic statistics in alignment with emerging EU environmental and policy priorities.
The suppliers of environmental goods and services are classified by the economic activity scattered over many NACE sections, divisions, and groups. EGSS values are reported according to the following NACE sectors and divisions (* are mandatory):
Total for all NACE (*)
A - Agriculture, forestry and fishing (*)
B - Mining and quarrying (*)
C - Manufacturing (*)
C10 - C12 - Manufacture of food products, beverages and tobacco products
C13 - C15 Manufacture of textiles, wearing apparel, leather and related products
C16 - C18 Manufacture of wood and paper products, and printing
C19 - Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products
C20 - Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products
C21 - Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations
C22 - C23 Manufacture of rubber and plastic products, and other non-metallic mineral products
C24 - C25 Manufacture of basic metals and fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment
C26 - Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products
C27 - Manufacture of electrical equipment
C28 - Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c.
C29 - C30 Manufacture of transport equipment
C31 - C33 Manufacture of furniture; other manufacturing; repair and installation of machinery and equipment
D - Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (*)
E - Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (*)
E36 - Water collection, treatment and supply
E37 - Sewerage
E38 - Waste collection, treatment and disposal activities; materials recovery
E39 - Remediation activities and other waste management services
F Construction (*)
G - Wholesale and retail trade
G + H + I + K + L + N + Q + R + S + T + U -Services (except information and communication, professional, scientific and technical activities, public administration and defence; compulsory social security and education) (*)
H - Transportation and storage
I - Accommodation and food service activities
J - Information and communication (*)
K - Financial and insurance activities
L - Real estate activities
M - Professional, scientific and technical activities (*)
M69-M70 - Legal and accounting activities; Activities of head offices; management consultancy activities
M71 - Architectural and engineering activities; technical testing and analysis
M72 - Scientific research and development
M73-M75 - Advertising and market research; Other professional, scientific and technical activities; Veterinary activities
N - Administrative and support service activities
O - Administration and defence, compulsory social security (*)
P - Education (*)
Q - Human health and social work activities
R - Arts, entertainment and recreation
S - Other service activities
T - Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use,
U - Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies
3.3. Coverage - sector
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').
The exact definition for what consitutes an CEPA or CReMA activity is somewhat obtuse in the regulation and compilation instructions, and users may easily consider activities an environmental protection activity that falls outside of the definition used compiling the account. Instructions from Eurostat, however, define the following activities as being connected with either CEPA or CReMA:
Organic agricultural (plant and livestock) activities
Supporting services to organic agriculture
Other wood production when complying with sustainability measures
Fuel wood
Organic aquaculture activities
Supporting services to organic aquaculture
Rehabilitation of mining sites
Collection of waste resulting from the extraction of raw materials
Capturing drainage water to prevent groundwater contamination
Manufacture of electric and more resource efficient transport equipment
Manufacture of exhaust pipes and their parts (also particles filters)
Manufacture of instruments, machinery and apparatus for analysis of pollutants
Manufacture of instruments, machinery and apparatus for filtering or purifying gases and liquid
Manufacture of septic tanks
Manufacture of perforated buckets and similar articles used to filter water at the entrance to drains
Manufacture of pumps for use in wastewater treatment
Manufacture of vehicles for wastewater treatment, vehicles for sewer cleaning, trucks for waste collection
Manufacture of activated carbon for water filtering purposes
Manufacture of tubes and pipes for wastewater treatment plants as well as for water management
Manufacture of sacks and bags for replacing plastic bags; Manufacture of bio-plastic sacks and bags ; Manufacture of bins, boxes, containers and other receptables for storing and transporting waste
Manufacture of boards, blocks and similar articles of vegetable fibre, straw or wood waste, agglomerated with mineral binders
Manufacture of incinerators and machinery for waste treatment (e.g. used at landfilling sites)
Manufacture of lead containers for radioactive waste
Maintenance and repair services for reducing water losses
Manufacture of specific equipment for the production of energy from renewable sources: storage systems for biogas made from high tech textiles
Manufacture of wood fired boilers and other appliances
Manufacture of specific equipment for the production of energy from renewable sources: solar panels and photovoltaic cells
Manufacture of specific equipment for the production of energy from renewable sources: hydraulic turbines and water wheels
Manufacture of specific equipment for the production of energy from renewable sources: wind turbines
Manufacture of biofuels
Manufacture of charcoal complying with sustainability measures
Manufacture of goods for thermal and noise insulation mainly in buildings: cork products
Manufacture of goods for thermal and noise insulation mainly in buildings: windows with three insulation layers
Manufactures of goods for thermal and noise insulation mainly in buildings: insulation materials for facades, roofs, and other elements of buildings such as materials made of glass fibre, rock wool, cellulose, polymers and polyurethane and others (e.g.autoclave cellular concrete)
Reconditioning of wooden containers
Manufacture of specific equipment produced for environmental protection and resource management products: thermostats for heating and cooling regulation
Manufacture of specific equipment produced for environmental protection and resource management products: thermostatic valves
Manufacture of specific equipment produced for environmental protection and resource management products: heat pumps
Manufacture of specific equipment produced for environmental protection and resource management products: condensing boilers
Manufacture of specific equipment produced for environmental protection and resource management products: solar water heaters
Manufacture of specific equipment produced for environmental protection and resource management products: other
Manufacture of discharge lamps as low pressure lamps (e.g. compact fluorescent lamps) and most efficient domestic appliances
Manufacture of reclaimed rubber in primary forms or in plates, sheets or strip
Machinery for metal recovery
Maintenance, repair and installation activities for environmental products
Production of electricity, gas and heat from renewable sources
Desalination of water and collection of rainwater; maintenance of water mains for reducing water losses
Provision of sewerage services: e.g. collecting, transporting and treating wastewater; operation, maintenance and cleaning of sewer systems
Provision of collection, treatment and disposal services for non-hazardous and hazardous waste
Provision of nuclear waste treatment and disposal services
Provision of materials recovery services; production of secondary raw materials
Provision of remediation and clean-up services for soil, groundwater and surface water
Provision of remediation and clean-up services for air
Provision of other remediation and specialised pollution and control services
Construction low energy consumption and passive buildings and energetic refurbishment of existing buildings
Maintenance and repair of water networks
Construction work for wastewater treatment plants and sewage systems
Construction work for waste treatment plants
Construction work for renewable energy power plants
Installation of photovoltaic panels
Noise insulation works
Engineering and architectural servcies for low energy consumption and passive buildings and energetic refurbishment of existing buildings
Engineering and architectural services for renewable energy projects
Engineering and architectural services for water, wastewater and waste management projects
Technical inspection services of road transport vehicles regarding air emissions
R&D services for environmental or resource management
Public litter and collection of garbage from the street
Administration services for environmental protection and resource management purposes
Training services in environmental protection and resource management
Environmental services furnished by membership organisations
Nature reserve services including wildlife preservation
Furthermore,
an activity can only be considered if the primary purpose of said activity was one of the above, and not when the results are ancillary. Thus, the cost of closing a mining sites according to mandatory requirement is not cosidered under item 7, whereas rehabilitation of closed mining sites to prevent drainage into aquafir can be considered under item 7
an activity should only be considered to be a CEPA or CReMA activity as long as the practice is not considered "the norm" or "only available alternative". The application of this rule is somewhat unclear as this may leave the consideration of the norm up to the discression of the compilers or become non-standard across the EU/EFTA. Several items, such as 57-59, 65 and 69 are alwasys included in the EGSS activities, even when these activities are clearly "normal" within the economy
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
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:
TOT_EGSS - Total EGSS product and services (*)
ANC - Ancilary activities (a sub-value of TOT_EGSS)
NMKT - Non-market output (a sub-value of TOT_EGSS)
OWN_USE - Activities for own final use (a sub-value of TOT_EGSS)
MKT - Market output (a sub-sector of TOT_EGSS) (*)
ES_CS - Environmental specific services (a sub-value of MKT)
C_REP - cleaner and resource efficient products (as sub-value of MKT)
The EGSS reports four main findings: Output of EGSS products and services, Gross Value Added (GVA) of the products and services, employment (EMP) engaged in the manufacture or services and export of EGSS products and services.
The EGSS output consists of products that become available for use outside of the producer unit (NMKT + MKT), any goods and services produced for own final use (OWN_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 (ANC), comprising output intended for use within an enterprise. The ANC, NMKT and OWN_USE values are reported on voluntary basis, which means that TOT_EGSS may vary from MKT value depending on data availability. The monitary values for the variables are calculated as follows:
Market output (NKT) 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 (OWN_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 (NMKT) is to be estimated by the total costs of production.
Ancillary output (ANC) 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 (GVA): 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.
3.5. Statistical unit
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).
3.6. Statistical population
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 (see also sections 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4 above).
3.7. Reference area
The reference area is the economic territory as defined in SEEA CF 2012 and the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010). A unit is said to be a resident unit of a country when it has its centre of economic interest in the economic territory of that country, that is, when it engages for an extended period (1 year or more) in economic activities in that territory.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Under Regulation 691/2011, EU Member States reported data for the period 2014-onwards. Data for Iceland are available for this period.
Mandatory data reporting at the end of year n covers the reference period n-2 to n-4.
Voluntary data reporting covers early estimates for reference year n-1 and the period before 2014.
3.9. Base period
Not requested for this metadata collection.
Output, gross value added, and exports are measured in millions of Icelandic Krónur (iskr) for each year. Employment is measured in full time equivalents (i.e., full time equivalent jobs).
The reference period for EGSS data is the calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
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).
Institutional mandate for Hagstofa Íslands is defined regulation IS-163/2007 and IS-1089/2019
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
No data sharing arrangements are in place.
Completed and submitted data is published on the data repository of Statistics Iceland and are eventually included in the Eurostat data repository
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Confidentiality mandates of Statistics Iceland for microdata are specified in section 10 of regulation IS-163/2007.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Due to the size of the Icelandic economy, the rule of not reporting data when number of key contributors fall below 5 has been waived for environmental accounts. This means that in some cases fluctuations in the data may appear when one company changes operation or moves between sectors.
8.1. Release calendar
Data from the EGSS accounts are published on the data repository of Statistics Iceland upon submission of the accounts to Eurostat with data delay of 2-4 months with a notice that the data is preliminary. Once the data is published on the Eurostat data repository the data is updated on the Statistics Iceland data repository and the preliminary note removed.
8.2. Release calendar access
The publication is not on the publication calendar of Statistics Iceland
8.3. Release policy - user access
Submitted accounts and metadata are available to users on the data repository of Statistics Icalend and on the metadata site of Statistics Iceland.
Users can request tailored statistics from the data, including a more detailed breakdown by economic sectors or economic activities. Tailored statistics are subjects to the stricter rules regarding that number of major contributing companies within an aggregate can not be less than 5.
EGSS data are published at least once a year, after data for a new reference year have become available.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
There are no regular news releases on EGSS data
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Notices and press releases are released when data is updated or posted to the data repository.
Publications in Icelandic and English are available on the publication site of Statistics Iceland: News archive.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
The data repository for environmental statistics at Statistics Iceland is available online.
10.3.1. Data tables - consultations
Not requested for this metadata collection.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
The compilation stack used in the production of EGSS is not available to external users. Detailed compilation summary (in Icelandic), which includes data quality, modeling and error estimates is available upon request.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
No other dissemination is made from the data
10.5.1. Metadata - consultations
Not requested for this metadata collection.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
Compilation of EGSS follows guidance given in the manuals and practical guides
Concepts and recording rules for EGSS accounts follow internationally agreed definitions set out in the SEEA CF 2012 and present information in a way that is compatible with National Accounts (European System of Accounts, ESA 2010).
10.6.1. Metadata completeness - rate
Not requested for this metadata collection.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
Annual EGSS accounts are produced in an R process pipeline. The pipeline processes survey data and collects registry data from internal and external databases. The process performs imputation and modelling where needed. This data collection is then used to populate the EGSS questionnaire with aggregated data as well as produce a lengthy process and data quality summary of the microdata.
The process summary document (which is in Icelandic), and the resulting questionnaire is reviewed by the working group. The process summary is used to populate the obligatory quality report per regulation 691/2011. This report is published by Eurostat onCIRCABC.
11.1. Quality assurance
The methodological guidance and operational rules provided by the 2016 EGSS handbook and the 2016 EGSS practical gives comparably between economies. The subsequent harmonized quality report ensures that compilers follow the same perimeters for the EGS sector and ensure the completeness of the data.
On a national level, the EGSS data is compared with gross output value and the employment and labor productivity from the National Accounts in order to check if there are significant or systematic disagreements between the two accounts. The EGSS does not use the published National Accounts in the compilation pipeline, although many of the original datasources are shared.
Apart from that, Eurostat has put in place an extensive procedure to validate the data received from countries. The validation tools examine the following aspects:
completeness and formatting of data and footnotes;
internal consistency of data tables (totals matching the sum of individual NACE domains and environmental protection/resource management categories);
plausibility of data revisions;
consistency of time series and parameter ratios of the reported data;
consistency of data with related statistics, mainly National Accounts and environmental protection expenditure accounts (EPEA).
11.2. Quality management - assessment
The EGSS had not been published in Iceland by 2024, although compilation of the accounts had been done twice. In both compilations, a single expert worked on data collection and development of the compilation pipeline. The year-on-year validation process is therefore not fully formalized and the sensitivity of the processing to occational errors in data sources is not known.
A working group on monetary environmental statistics and accounts has been established that will continue to work on developing and improving the accounts. It is therefore likely that new data sources and methodologies for compilations will be found in the next years, and more documentation of the process will become available.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Not known
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Not known
12.3. Completeness
Compilation in 2024 produced data for 2014 to 2022. 2023 was deemed to have too many imputed or "challenged" values to be reliable. This year will be submited in 2025.
The was done for the following CEPA and CReMA categories:
CEPA 1 - Protection of ambient air and climate
CEPA 2 - Wastewater management
CEPA 3 - Waste management
CEPA 4 - Protection and remediation of soil, groundwater and surface water
CEPA 5 - Noise and vibration abatement
CEPA 6 - Protection of biodiversity and landscapes
CEPA 7 - Protection against radiation
CEPA 8 - Environmental research and development
CEPA 9 - Other environmental protection activities
CReMA 10 - Management of water
CReMA 11A - Management of forest areas
CReMA 11B - Minimisation of the intake of forest resources
CReMA 12 - Management of wild flora and fauna
CReMA 13A - Production of energy from renewable resources
CReMA 13B - Heat/energy saving and management
CReMA 13C - Minimisation of the use of fossil energy as raw materials
CReMA 14 - Management of minerals
CReMA 15 - Research and development activities for resource management
CReMA 16 - Other resource management activities
NACE sectors reported in this compilation were:
A - Agriculture, forestry and fishing
B - Mining and quarrying
C10 - C12 - Manufacture of food products, beverages and tobacco products
C13 - C15 Manufacture of textiles, wearing apparel, leather and related products
C16 - C18 Manufacture of wood and paper products, and printing
C19 - Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products
C20 - Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products
C21 - Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations
C22 - C23 Manufacture of rubber and plastic products, and other non-metallic mineral products
C24 - C25 Manufacture of basic metals and fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment
C26 - Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products
C27 - Manufacture of electrical equipment
C28 - Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c.
C29 - C30 Manufacture of transport equipment
C31 - C33 Manufacture of furniture; other manufacturing; repair and installation of machinery and equipment
D - Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply
E36 - Water collection, treatment and supply
E37 - Sewerage
E38 - Waste collection, treatment and disposal activities; materials recovery
E39 - Remediation activities and other waste management services
F Construction
G - Wholesale and retail trade
H - Transportation and storage
I - Accommodation and food service activities
J - Information and communication
K - Financial and insurance activities
L - Real estate activities
M69-M70 - Legal and accounting activities; Activities of head offices; management consultancy activities
M71 - Architectural and engineering activities; technical testing and analysis
M72 - Scientific research and development
M73-M75 - Advertising and market research; Other professional, scientific and technical activities; Veterinary activities
N - Administrative and support service activities
O - Administration and defence, compulsory social security
P - Education
Q - Human health and social work activities
R - Arts, entertainment and recreation
S - Other service activities
T - Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use,
U - Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies
Measures reported were
Non-Market ouptput (NMKT)
Market output (MKT)
This allows calculation of all mandatory data and some non-mandatory data.
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
Not requested for this metadata collection.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
The primary estimation of accuracy was done by comparing the total EGSS output value with the reported total output of the sector reported at this website.
Outside waste management (CEPA-2), wastewater management (CEPA-3) and generation of heat and electricity from renewable sources (CReMA-13B), EG services are only a fraction of the total output by industries. EG services play a minor role in the national exports (are non-zero) whereas imports of architectural and other specialized services is important.
Allegorically, issues requiring envrionmental services have been growing in the recent years with increased focus on material recycling, technologies that reduce material use, maintenance of flora, fauna and green spaces, as well as concerns about air and sound quality.
This sets up an expected boundary of how the data should be shaped on a timeline and allows a simple plausibility check on the collected values.
13.2. Sampling error
The EGSS account is primarily compiled using registry data, such as tax documents, annual reports, production statistics (agriculture, fishing and manufacturing). Surveys are used here to build up an EG-share matrix that is used in some cases to calculate the proportion of EG output from total revenue.
A new EG-share matrix is built every three year. In this survey, top 300 companie, all municipalities and public services are asked about their purchasing (including vendor) and production of EG services and related products for the past year. In addition, a survey is sent to 550 companies (with 10 or more employees) selected by random from the remaining pool. This data collection is a part of the EPEA compilation pipeline.
The survey knowingly ignores the contribution of startups and individual consultants, but since the survey includes purchases, the contribution of smaller companies is detected indirectly.
13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
Not requested for this metadata collection.
13.3. Non-sampling error
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.
13.3.1. Coverage error
Not requested for this metadata collection.
13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate
Not requested for this metadata collection.
13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion
Not requested for this metadata collection.
13.3.2. Measurement error
Not requested for this metadata collection.
13.3.3. Non response error
Not requested for this metadata collection.
13.3.3.1. Unit non-response - rate
Not requested for this metadata collection.
13.3.3.2. Item non-response - rate
Not requested for this metadata collection.
13.3.4. Processing error
Not requested for this metadata collection.
13.3.5. Model assumption error
Not requested for this metadata collection.
14.1. Timeliness
Deadline for the reporting of EGSS data and quality reports is 31 October each year. Eurostat disseminates the data with a delay of 3 months, after their validation.
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
Registry data needed for compiling the EGSS account for the previous year should be available at the end of the first quarter of the following year. The previous year's data from the Business Register (a major data source for the EGSS) is commonly revised or estimtated by Statistics Iceland until a verified value has been obtained. This means that the quality of the EGSS is inherently lower for the preceeding year (Y-1) than for the year Y-2.
Therefore, given that the EGSS is of unknown importance, it was decided to produce the account for up to Y-2, rather than to have to produce and re-publish new data when underlying data is revised.
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
The EGSS compilation and data collection is in development, which may mean that time-series need to be revised if a significant error is found. Posted data is the best current knowledge at all times.
14.2. Punctuality
The reporting deadline for EGSS to Eurostat is 31 October.
14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
Data for 2014-2022 were delivered to Eurostat on October 15th 2024
Ammended datafiles were delivered on November 5th 2024
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Comparability of EGSS accounts compiled by EU Member States, EFTA countries, candidate countries, and the UK is ensured by a common conceptual framework and through Implementing Regulation 2174/2015 that provides an indicative compendium of environmental goods and services and thus determines the perimeter of the EGSS sector.
Iceland is a member of EFTA and follows the ESA 2010 standard in producing its National Accounts. Iceland is not included in the EU-27 aggregates
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
15.1.3. Comparability - geographical - products not present in Indicative compendium - included
15.2. Comparability - over time
The EGSS comiplation pipeline along with database structural integrity of the processing database ensures that consistent imputation and estimation methods are used for different years. Fluctuations in output value between years commonly arise from changes in a few companies given the small size of the Icelandic Economy. Designation of companies between economic sectors may also affect the apparent comparability over time of the data.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
Data regarding EG production value are availablem from 2010. Due to structural changes in the Icelandic tax code in 2016 and additional reporting obligations in annual reports for major companies, the data tends to contain less useful breakdown for the EGSS processing prior to this year
15.2.2. Comparability - over time detailed
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
EGSS accounts have the same system boundaries as National Accounts (European System of Accounts, ESA 2010).
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
Compilation of the output in EGSS is done without directly using the National Accounts, although the base registry data is the same. A key validation of the EGSS is done by ensuring that the outcome is coherent with the industry output reported in the National Accounts.
EGSS uses information from the National Accounts to calculate Gross Value Ouptut and the Employment (FTE) values.
No coherence validation is done at this stage against the EPEA data. Due to the isolation of Iceland, both in economic and territorial terms, there should be a consistent method to compare the EGSS and EPEA accounts.
15.3.4. Coherence - other statistics
Not as of yet
15.4. Coherence - internal
The data reported in the EGSS questionnaire are internally coherent (totals are consistent with the sum of the breakdowns) with a few exceptions. Case where totals exceed the sum of their breakdowns may occur and can be explained by unavailable voluntary reporting items.
A few items and subtotals may cause confusion
Items reported in CEPA-1.1.2 are included in CEPA-1
Items reported in CEPA-8.1.2 are included in CEPA-8
The value reported in TOT_EGSS - Total output/GVA/Employment includes market output (MKT) and non-market value (NMKT). In some cases, the value for the ouptut is small and the subsequently calculated GVA/Employment figures fall below reasonable detection level and are reported as zero. This means that TOT_EGSS may have different contributions to it.
The account is compiled as a part of the operation of Statistics Iceland
16.1. Cost and Burden - other accounts
The environmental economy monitary accounts (EGSS, EPEA, ENVTAX) and the environmental economy material flow accounts (AEA, EW-MFA, PEFA) are all compiled by the same team within Statistic Iceland. Datasources, man-power and computation stacks are shared across all accounts.
17.1. Data revision - policy
The policy within Statistics Iceland is that the published data should be the highest quality production of the statistics given the most current and reliable datasources and methods.
Changes in data availability, assumptions and computation methods that significantly affect the outcome may lead to re-compilation of all previous years, provided that the data quality is meaningfully improved.
17.2. Data revision - practice
All reported errors (once validated) result in corrections of the disseminated data.
Reported errors that are deemed to be significant are corrected in the disseminated data as soon as the correct data have been validated. Data are only published once they are deemed to be sufficiently complete for all data providers contributing to the aggregate.
Significant corrections are reported in a news-release if the changes are expected to affect other published statistics. Minor corrections and changes are noted in the published data in footnotes for two years.
17.2.1. Data revision - average size
None so far
17.2.2. Status of data
In the compilation for reference year 2023 (in 2024), the working group went through and re-evaluated the EP/ReM shares and methodologies used to convert revenue to EP/ReM output. This resulted in a significant change in the data from the previous submission. The main changes were
In some cases companies were either added or dropped from the consideration of being consumers of EP/ReM services. Furtermore, more NACE sectors were included in the EGSS than in previous reporting
The GG-NPISH contributors were reviewed to see if the entities were actually contributing, or if their roles were more administrative.
There was some disagreement in the role of the forest service here (NACE-O), which has administrative and guidance role, but does not manage forests or do re-growing of wilderness. This provider was therefore dropped, but is under revisement
A new method was found to identify the construction cost for CEPA-2 and CEPA-3 infrastructure. Rather than requesting the information directly from the companies, which gave us usually the total construction cost, we used the annual reports of the companies, where they transfer the current status of the construction to their books. In this reporting we could also identify how much was architectural and design cost and how much was site management cost.
This meant revisions to coefficients that convert revenue/production to EG/ReM contributions.
In NACE-O the contribution from the coastguard was also reduced.
Originally the assumption was that the coastguard would be in charge of monitoriing and measuring emissions from the fishing and shipping fleet in Iceland, but upon later investigation we found no evidence of this.
A government institute, Fiskistofa, was originally included in the EGSS account. The outfit is primarily engaged in monitoring the fishing grounds, and allocating catch quotas to the fleet. This is, however, not for the purpose of protecting the natural diversity of the fish, but rather for the benefit of the fishing companies and Fiskistofa is therefore technically closer to mining surveyors rather than environmental protection agency.
The education sector was also revised after review of the curriculum in engineering, environmental sciences and other environment and energy related disciplines.
18.1. Source data
A few datasources act as primaries for the EGSS compilations:
The Business Register: Contains identities of all registered companies in Iceland, the company revenue, property holdings, dept, income that has value-added-taxes, registered employee headcount, persons employed and FTE for each year. The database also identifies the sector and NACE category of the company,
Tax returns database: Contains all mandatory operation information that companies file in their annual report. This includes property holdings and write-offs, income by activity, employee compensation by activity, grants received and grants awarded, taxes encurred by activity. Activity here is a non-harmonized text-field chosen by companies, but this information can be mined to identify environmental and non-environmental activities.
SBS database: Contains all information and processing data used to produce the Structured Business Statistics data. This, in addition to income and expenses, includes information on property and construction projects, improvement to properties, training cost of employees and other microdata that can be used to augment the Business Register information. This data is first and foremost a processed output of the tax returns database.
Trade database: Contains transactions for physical imports and exports as well as service exports and imports
18.1.1. Source data - detailed - environmental accounts
In order to isolate EG activities a few data sources unique to environmental statistics are used. These are
Environmental reports database: Contains data from sustainability reports from companies and data collected from certified environmental reports. The database contains data quality/"truthiness" information
Environmental statistics database: Contains all processing pipeline data from the environmental accounts such as the AEA (contains vehicle registry and environmental improvements), EW-MFA (contains cosntruction projects information), Waste statistics, PEFA (contains installation of charging stations and consumption of heat), EPEA and ESST.
18.1.2. Source data - detailed - other statistics
Validation and quality measures are used to identify if a given data is within the expectation range. These datasources include
Vehicle registry database
Electricity and heat database
Housing and construction database
18.1.3. Source data - survey
Survey data is collected in connection with the production of EPEA, which is further used in the EGSS and ESST. The purpose of the survey is to get a split-parameter that divides revenue for companies that produce EG services or products into the portion from EG services and non-EG services. The survey is conducted every three years.
The split parameter is applied to individual companies based on similarity scores that factors in the company size (number of employees), NACE sector, operational region and customer mapping (supply-use connection).
18.1.4. Source data - detailed - other macro economic data (trade, VAT etc.)
Macro economic data is collected from the statistics Iceland PX-data repository. This includes:
Survey data is scheduled to be collected every three years.
Data from registry data is collected on the fly during processing.
18.3. Data collection
The survey here is joint data collection for EGSS, EPEA and ESST. The survey therefore covers production of CEPA and CReMA related activities as well as import, export and consumption of said activities. Activities here are strictly those specified in section 3.3 above.
Survey data is collected via online data collection interface. Companies can alternatively submit data directly from their bookkeeping software using a query script provided by Statistics Iceland that is available for the main software providers on the market (DK, Regla.is, Konto, Payday, Uniconta, Navision, InExchange). The received data is stored on an internal database.
Participants in this survey are as follows:
300 largest companies in Iceland (by revenue)
All municipalities
All government operators that are engaged in production or consumption of environmental protection actvitivies or resource management operations, such as power utitities, road construction companies, universities and research facilities
A broad survey of these actors is then used to identify all individuals and companies that have provided CEPA or CReMA related products to the above entities. Out of those companies and individuals up to 500 entities are selected at random (provided they have more than 10 employees and non-zero revenue) and their participation in the data survey requested.
The data is by default only available to the Environmental Statistics team, but teams within Statistics Iceland can apply to get access to the data by providing description of the proposed queries and processing of the data.
18.4. Data validation
Validation of the data for individual companies uses both simple and complex rules using the R-Validate package. A set of rules for both micro-data and for aggregates is collected in the processing database. These rules check for non-zero values where values are expected (participation roster) and other
Non-zero revenue should mean non-zero number of employees
If a company showed CEPA/CReMA participation in the preceding year it should have non-zero participation the next year, provided that revenue is non-zero
Reported revenue in the tax records should be on par with reported revenue in the Business Register
Ratio of total revenue for waste services/weight of waste collected should be a similar year-to-year ratio, allowing for inflation similar to national level inflation.
Ratio of total revenue for electricity and heat delivered / energy delivered should be a similar year-to-year ratio, allowing for inflation similar to national level inflation
Increase in infrastructure value of energy producers, wastewater utilities and waste management companies should coincide with revenue increase by construction companies (with up to 18 month lag-time)
Increase in production of noise remediation services should coincide with revenue increase in road construciton in the capital region
Revenue from recycling activities / weight of waste recycled should be as similar year-to-year ratio.
Supply (production) within a CEPA/CReMA category should be on the same order of size as consumption (EPEA) of the same category
18.5. Data compilation
The EGSS data for all available years is compiled using an R-script that sources multiple sub-processes (here called pipeline). Any adjustments to the data and changes in methodologies (break in series) is coded into this pipeline, meaning that the entire process is run each time (takes approximately 5 minutes). The compilation stack does not do the statistical processing for the EG-share survey (this is done separately), but consumes the data stored in the survey database.
The process collates, aggregates and summarizes the data in accordance with the structure of the EGSS questionnaire and then copies the aggregated into a Eurostat questionnaire, or a document with identical cell structure. Following this the Eruostat built check-macros are run and the data reviewed and revised as needed. Footnotes and comments are inserted at this time.
After the questionnaire is completed the datafiles and footnotes are inserted back into the environmental division database as a submitted data. If the pipeline is re-run for the same reference year, the new compilation is automatically compared to this submitted data and the footnotes transferred if the data is unchanged.
18.5.1. Imputation - rate
Not requested for this metadata collection.
18.5.2. Data compilation - by variable and type of output
The key output in the processing (true data collection) is regarding the market and non-market output of CEPA/CReMA product and services. This is done on per-company level (using the national identity) across all companies, government instututes, schools and other business entitites in Iceland. The microdata contains
The identification of the company/government entity
The ESA sector assigned to the company
The NACE reported for the company'
Alternative NACE value for EGS purposes (primarily for financial companies that may be primary holding company for manufacturers)
Revenue
Number of employees
Number of persons employed
Fraction assumed for the revenue that contributes to environmental protection (EP) or resource management (ReM) activities (see section 3.3 above) and the subsequent CEPA/CReMA designated output
Net addtion to nonfinancial assets for the company
Fraction assumed to the non-financial asset assumed to within the EG activity (see section 3.3 above) and the subsequent CEPA/CReMA designated output
Assumed construction sector responsible for the addition to assets
Fraction of the EG services assumed to be within non-market sector. The distinction between market and non-market output was determined by
The economic sector of the entity (institutional sectors S.13 and S.15)
If the company receives government funds that are close to or exceed the reported revenue. This is the a common case for some rural and small comunity waste management companies that have exclusive contracts for waste removal from households. This service needs to provided with price covering less than 50% of the production cost. Other activities of the same outfits may include snow removal (not EG services) and waste removal from demolition, construction and mining (EG services that are market-output). The non-market output is here valued as the amount of government funding (assumed to be cost of production). The funding amount may fluctuate somewhat between years, if the government contract is a multi-year activity which is paid with an initial baloon payment.
Assumed/statistically derived fraction of own-use of EP/ReM activity
Assumed/statisticsally dervied fraction of ancillary use of EG activity (from EPEA)
Recorded export of EG product or services
Recorded import of EG product or services
Recorded reception of grants and other subsidies
Recorded award of grants and subsidies
Each industry may have one or more lines in the microdata depending on mow many CEPA/CReMA sectors each company interfaces
The final output is then an aggregate value by NACE sector, CEPA/CReMA and variables using the definition of Market and Non-Market contribution (subtraction of VAT taxes where appropriate, addition of grants received etc.).
The aggregated OUTPUT value for the NACE sector is then used to estimate GVA and FTE values using ratios of GVA/OUTPUT and EMPLOYMENT/OUTPUT calculated from published values in the National Accounts for the same industrial sectors. This method was chosen since assuming proper cost of intermediate consumpition and government fraction of the output included extensive assumption on the products and production methods that was unknown. The current method is in line with method discussed in Environmental goods and services sector accounts — Practical guide, 2016 edition.
18.5.3. Data compilation - by NACE
The microdata contains the identity of individual company and the NACE sector is therefore known. In some cases manufacturers are owned by banks, insurance companies or other financial only institutions. In these cases the NACE sector does not fit the activity.
Some of the major companies in Iceland engaged in aquaculture are registered in the C10-C12 NACE division, or they may be properly registered in the A sector. Here assignent/shift of major-fishing and major-fish processing companies employed in the National Accounts was used.
In these situations an alternative NACE sector was assigned in the microdata and used as the de-facto NACE sector in the final compilation.
18.5.4. Data compilation – CReMA 13B memo item
CReMA is not a memo-item in the EGSS
18.6. Adjustment
No seasonal or other types of adjustments were used on the EGSS data
18.6.1. Seasonal adjustment
Not requested for this metadata collection.
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.
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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:
TOT_EGSS - Total EGSS product and services (*)
ANC - Ancilary activities (a sub-value of TOT_EGSS)
NMKT - Non-market output (a sub-value of TOT_EGSS)
OWN_USE - Activities for own final use (a sub-value of TOT_EGSS)
MKT - Market output (a sub-sector of TOT_EGSS) (*)
ES_CS - Environmental specific services (a sub-value of MKT)
C_REP - cleaner and resource efficient products (as sub-value of MKT)
The EGSS reports four main findings: Output of EGSS products and services, Gross Value Added (GVA) of the products and services, employment (EMP) engaged in the manufacture or services and export of EGSS products and services.
The EGSS output consists of products that become available for use outside of the producer unit (NMKT + MKT), any goods and services produced for own final use (OWN_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 (ANC), comprising output intended for use within an enterprise. The ANC, NMKT and OWN_USE values are reported on voluntary basis, which means that TOT_EGSS may vary from MKT value depending on data availability. The monitary values for the variables are calculated as follows:
Market output (NKT) 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 (OWN_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 (NMKT) is to be estimated by the total costs of production.
Ancillary output (ANC) 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 (GVA): 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 (see also sections 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4 above).
The reference area is the economic territory as defined in SEEA CF 2012 and the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010). A unit is said to be a resident unit of a country when it has its centre of economic interest in the economic territory of that country, that is, when it engages for an extended period (1 year or more) in economic activities in that territory.
The reference period for EGSS data is the calendar year.
The primary estimation of accuracy was done by comparing the total EGSS output value with the reported total output of the sector reported at this website.
Outside waste management (CEPA-2), wastewater management (CEPA-3) and generation of heat and electricity from renewable sources (CReMA-13B), EG services are only a fraction of the total output by industries. EG services play a minor role in the national exports (are non-zero) whereas imports of architectural and other specialized services is important.
Allegorically, issues requiring envrionmental services have been growing in the recent years with increased focus on material recycling, technologies that reduce material use, maintenance of flora, fauna and green spaces, as well as concerns about air and sound quality.
This sets up an expected boundary of how the data should be shaped on a timeline and allows a simple plausibility check on the collected values.
Output, gross value added, and exports are measured in millions of Icelandic Krónur (iskr) for each year. Employment is measured in full time equivalents (i.e., full time equivalent jobs).
The EGSS data for all available years is compiled using an R-script that sources multiple sub-processes (here called pipeline). Any adjustments to the data and changes in methodologies (break in series) is coded into this pipeline, meaning that the entire process is run each time (takes approximately 5 minutes). The compilation stack does not do the statistical processing for the EG-share survey (this is done separately), but consumes the data stored in the survey database.
The process collates, aggregates and summarizes the data in accordance with the structure of the EGSS questionnaire and then copies the aggregated into a Eurostat questionnaire, or a document with identical cell structure. Following this the Eruostat built check-macros are run and the data reviewed and revised as needed. Footnotes and comments are inserted at this time.
After the questionnaire is completed the datafiles and footnotes are inserted back into the environmental division database as a submitted data. If the pipeline is re-run for the same reference year, the new compilation is automatically compared to this submitted data and the footnotes transferred if the data is unchanged.
A few datasources act as primaries for the EGSS compilations:
The Business Register: Contains identities of all registered companies in Iceland, the company revenue, property holdings, dept, income that has value-added-taxes, registered employee headcount, persons employed and FTE for each year. The database also identifies the sector and NACE category of the company,
Tax returns database: Contains all mandatory operation information that companies file in their annual report. This includes property holdings and write-offs, income by activity, employee compensation by activity, grants received and grants awarded, taxes encurred by activity. Activity here is a non-harmonized text-field chosen by companies, but this information can be mined to identify environmental and non-environmental activities.
SBS database: Contains all information and processing data used to produce the Structured Business Statistics data. This, in addition to income and expenses, includes information on property and construction projects, improvement to properties, training cost of employees and other microdata that can be used to augment the Business Register information. This data is first and foremost a processed output of the tax returns database.
Trade database: Contains transactions for physical imports and exports as well as service exports and imports
EGSS data are published at least once a year, after data for a new reference year have become available.
Deadline for the reporting of EGSS data and quality reports is 31 October each year. Eurostat disseminates the data with a delay of 3 months, after their validation.
Comparability of EGSS accounts compiled by EU Member States, EFTA countries, candidate countries, and the UK is ensured by a common conceptual framework and through Implementing Regulation 2174/2015 that provides an indicative compendium of environmental goods and services and thus determines the perimeter of the EGSS sector.
Iceland is a member of EFTA and follows the ESA 2010 standard in producing its National Accounts. Iceland is not included in the EU-27 aggregates
The EGSS comiplation pipeline along with database structural integrity of the processing database ensures that consistent imputation and estimation methods are used for different years. Fluctuations in output value between years commonly arise from changes in a few companies given the small size of the Icelandic Economy. Designation of companies between economic sectors may also affect the apparent comparability over time of the data.
