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.
International Trade and Foreign Investment Statistics Division
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
29 Gedimino Ave., LT-01500 Vilnius, Lithuania
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
20 August 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
20 August 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
20 August 2025
3.1. Data description
Services Trade by Enterprise Characteristics (STEC) statistics provide information on the types of enterprises engaged in international trade in services and show how enterprises in different industries supply services and how this relates to their primary activity. STEC disclose additional insights into trade statistics, by allowing the profiling of the enterprises according to selected characteristics such as number of employees, type of ownership and economic activity.
A+B - Agriculture, forestry, and fishing; mining and quarrying,
D+E - Electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply; water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities,
I+L+O+P+Q+R+S+T+U - Accommodation and food service activities; real estate activities; public administration, defence; compulsory social security; education; human health and social work activities; other services.
· NACE Sections:
C - Manufacturing,
F - Construction,
G - Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles,
H - Transportation and storage,
J - Information and communication,
K - Financial and insurance activities,
M - Professional, scientific, and technical activities,
N - Administrative and support service activities.
1. Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others
2. Maintenance and repair services n.i.e.
3. Transport
4. Travel
5. Construction
6. Insurance and pension services
7. Financial services
8. Charges for the use of intellectual property n.i.e.
9. Telecommunications, computer, and information services
10. Other business services
10.1. Research and development services
10.2. Professional and management consulting services
10.3. Technical, trade-related, and other business services
11. Personal, cultural and recreational services
12. Government goods and services, n.i.e.
3.5. Statistical unit
Enterprise.
3.6. Statistical population
The activity breakdown covers NACE sections from A to U.
The product breakdown covers EBOPS 2010 main items.
3.7. Reference area
Republic of Lithuania
3.8. Coverage - Time
From 2022 as reference year
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
The data are presented in thousands of Euro.
Calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 on European business statistics sets the data requirements in the field of services trade by enterprise characteristics for the EU Member States and EFTA countries. The exact technical specifications are listed in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197, table 17 "Country-level business statistics on trade in services by enterprise characteristics (STEC) – annual data".
The variable must be reported annually with first reference year 2022.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
In accordance with EU legal acts, data is provided to the statistical office of European Union (Eurostat).
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
In the process of statistical data collection, processing and analysis and dissemination of statistical information, State Data Agency fully guarantees confidentiality of the data submitted by respondents (households, enterprises, institutions, organisations and other statistical units), as defined in the Confidentiality policy guidelines of the State Data Agency.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
The confidentiality rule applied is based on the number of observations: if a single data cell comprises information from less than three enterprises, then it is considered confidential. Secondary confidentiality is also applied, and additional data cells are suppressed to eliminate indirect disclosure.
8.1. Release calendar
STEC data disseminated at national level
Statistical information is published on the Official Statistics Portal according to the Official Statistics Calendar.
Statistical information is prepared and disseminated under the principle of impartiality and objectivity, i.e. in a systematic, reliable and unbiased manner, following professional and ethical standards (the European Statistics Code of Practice), and the policies and practices followed are transparent to users and survey respondents.
All users have equal access to statistical information. All statistical information is published at the same time – at 9 a.m. on the day of publication of statistical information as indicated in the calendar on the Official Statistics Portal. Relevant statistical information is sent automatically to news subscribers.
Statistical information is published following the Official Statistics Dissemination Policy Guidelines and Statistical Information Dissemination and Communication Rules of Statistics Lithuania approved by Order No DĮ-176 of 2 July 2021 of the Director General of Statistics Lithuania.
Annual.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
News releases are not prepared.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Statistical information is not published in publications.
The page of Database of Indicators is for viewing and analyzing statistical information. For more information on the Database of Indicators, see the Database of Indicators User Guide.
In 2007, a quality management system, conforming to the requirements of the international quality management system standard ISO 9001, was introduced at Statistics Lithuania. Main trends in activity of Statistics Lithuania aimed at quality management and continuous development in the institution are established in the Quality Policy.
Monitoring of the quality indicators of statistical processes and their results and self-evaluation of statistical survey managers is regularly carried out in order to identify areas which need improvement and to promptly eliminate shortcomings.
More information on assurance of quality of statistical information and its preparation is published in the Quality Management section on the State Data Agency website.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Data quality is in line with the principles of accuracy and reliability, timeliness and punctuality, coherence and compatibility. Results are compared with results for the previous year; outliers are searched for and analysed.
Eurostat assessed the completeness and accessibility of the 2023 dataset by evaluating the proportion of mandatory cells reported and the extent of confidentiality.
All mandatory cells across all tables were fully reported (100%), while approximately 13% of the dataset was flagged as confidential.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The main users of statistical information are State and municipal authorities and agencies, international organisations, the media, research and business communities. Statistical information is used to analyze which enterprises export or import services (for example, by type of economic activity, number of employees, type of ownership). This information shows which enterprises dominate international trade in services, which industries export and import various services. By determining the type of ownership of enterprises participating in trade, the role of multinational enterprises in trade is shown. All this information is essential for understanding international trade in services and globalization processes.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Since 2005, user opinion surveys have been conducted on a regular basis. The Official Statistics Portal traffic is monitored, website visitor opinion polls, general opinion poll on the products and services of State Data Agency, target user group opinion polls and other surveys are conducted.
In 2007, the compilation of a user satisfaction index was launched. The said surveys are aimed at the assessment of the overall demand for and necessity of statistical information in general and specific statistical indicators in particular.
More information on user opinion surveys and results thereof are published in the User Surveys section on the State Data Agency website.
12.3. Completeness
All main variables are published.
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
100 per cent
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Accuracy of ITSS data and of Statistical Register of Economic Entities data may impact STEC statistics.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
STEC statistics may be impacted by the problems related to collection and compilation of ITSS statistics and inaccuracies in Statistical Register of Economic Entities.
13.3.1. Coverage error
Not applicable.
13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion
Not applicable.
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
Not applicable.
13.3.5. Model assumption error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
Statistical information is provided to Eurostat no later than 18 months after the end of the reference year.
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
Not applicable.
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
Not applicable.
14.2. Punctuality
Statistical information is provided on time.
14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
Not applicable.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
STEC data are compiled in accordance with the methodology set out in Regulation (EU) 2019/2152, ensuring a high degree of geographical comparability across reporting countries.
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
Not applicable.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Statistical information is comparable across the EU since 2022.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
Since 2022
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
The indicators of STEC statistics are coherent with the corresponding indicators of ITSS statistics.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable.
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
Not applicable.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Statistical indicators are coherent.
STEC data are compiled by linking ITSS and Statistical Register of Economic Entities data, and no additional data collection is performed. Therefore, there is no additional administrative burden on enterprises.
The revision of statistical indicators on international trade in services by enterprise characteristics is carried out according to the approved calendar of the planned revisions of statistical indicators of the current year. The statistical information is revised to ensure its consistency with the statistical information on international trade in services.
17.2.1. Data revision - average size
Not applicable.
18.1. Source data
ITSS data, obtained from Bank of Lithuania;
Business Register (Statistical Register of Economic Entities);
Structural business statistics (SBS).
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Annual.
18.3. Data collection
STEC statistics are compiled by linking ITSS and Statistical Register of Economic Entities data, and no additional data collection is performed.
18.4. Data validation
To ensure statistical data quality, data checking and validation is performed. The results are compared with the results of the previous years, outliers are identified and analyzed. If inaccuracies are identified, the statistical data are corrected and the validity of the data is confirmed.
18.5. Data compilation
ITSS data are linked with the information from the Statistical Register of Economic Entities using a single identification code. The database formed is subsequently used for the production of aggregated statistical information. Statistical indicators are calculated by grouping and summing data by kind of economic activity, number of employees, type of service, etc. The analysis of the reliability and compatibility of the statistical information produced is performed.
18.5.1. Imputation - rate
Not applied.
18.6. Adjustment
No seasonal or other adjustments are made.
18.6.1. Seasonal adjustment
Not applicable.
Services Trade by Enterprise Characteristics (STEC) statistics provide information on the types of enterprises engaged in international trade in services and show how enterprises in different industries supply services and how this relates to their primary activity. STEC disclose additional insights into trade statistics, by allowing the profiling of the enterprises according to selected characteristics such as number of employees, type of ownership and economic activity.
A+B - Agriculture, forestry, and fishing; mining and quarrying,
D+E - Electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply; water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities,
I+L+O+P+Q+R+S+T+U - Accommodation and food service activities; real estate activities; public administration, defence; compulsory social security; education; human health and social work activities; other services.
· NACE Sections:
C - Manufacturing,
F - Construction,
G - Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles,
H - Transportation and storage,
J - Information and communication,
K - Financial and insurance activities,
M - Professional, scientific, and technical activities,
N - Administrative and support service activities.
1. Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others
2. Maintenance and repair services n.i.e.
3. Transport
4. Travel
5. Construction
6. Insurance and pension services
7. Financial services
8. Charges for the use of intellectual property n.i.e.
9. Telecommunications, computer, and information services
10. Other business services
10.1. Research and development services
10.2. Professional and management consulting services
10.3. Technical, trade-related, and other business services
11. Personal, cultural and recreational services
12. Government goods and services, n.i.e.
Enterprise.
The activity breakdown covers NACE sections from A to U.
The product breakdown covers EBOPS 2010 main items.
Republic of Lithuania
Calendar year.
Accuracy of ITSS data and of Statistical Register of Economic Entities data may impact STEC statistics.
The data are presented in thousands of Euro.
ITSS data are linked with the information from the Statistical Register of Economic Entities using a single identification code. The database formed is subsequently used for the production of aggregated statistical information. Statistical indicators are calculated by grouping and summing data by kind of economic activity, number of employees, type of service, etc. The analysis of the reliability and compatibility of the statistical information produced is performed.
ITSS data, obtained from Bank of Lithuania;
Business Register (Statistical Register of Economic Entities);
Structural business statistics (SBS).
Annual.
Statistical information is provided to Eurostat no later than 18 months after the end of the reference year.
STEC data are compiled in accordance with the methodology set out in Regulation (EU) 2019/2152, ensuring a high degree of geographical comparability across reporting countries.
Statistical information is comparable across the EU since 2022.
