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.
[4D1_G4] Eurostat - Trade in services; Globalisation
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
European Commission, Eurostat L-2920 Luxembourg
1.6. Contact email address
ESTAT-MDL@ec.europa.eu
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
30 November 2026
2.2. Metadata last posted
30 November 2026
2.3. Metadata last update
30 November 2026
3.1. Data description
Statistics in the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets present enterprise characteristics by combining information from established statistical domains by applying microdata linking (MDL) techniques. Depending on the dataset, MDL integrates information from International Trade in Goods Statistics (ITGS), Structural Business Statistics (SBS), the EuroGroups Register (EGR) and National Statistical Business Registers (NSBRs).
The objective of this MDL exercise is to provide new insights into the characteristics and economic performance of enterprises engaged in international trade in goods, with particular emphasis on import dependencies and the role of enterprises in international trade. By linking information from different statistical sources at enterprise level, MDL enables the analysis of enterprises engaged in international trade in relation to their size, economic activity (NACE Rev. 2), economic performance and enterprise group characteristics.
The statistical population for the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets follows the SBS coverage of market producers, with the statistical enterprise as the central unit of analysis. The ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets comprise six dataflows and fifteen statistical tables, covering the following topics:
Enterprises importing critical raw materials (CRM);
Enterprises importing net-zero industry goods (NZIG);
Enterprises importing goods from selected partner countries and areas;
Enterprises classified by import and export intensity;
Enterprises classified by trader type;
Enterprises classified by enterprise group status, size class and economic activity.
The statistics include the number of active enterprises, number of employees and self-employed persons, and selected economic characteristics derived from SBS, such as net turnover, value added, gross operating surplus, wages and salaries, and total purchases of goods and services. Trade-related variables derived from ITGS include the statistical value and quantity of traded goods.
Depending on the dataset, these characteristics are broken down by enterprise size class, economic activity according to NACE Rev. 2, enterprise group status, trading partner, product category, trade intensity or trader type.
Available datasets
The following fifteen statistical tables are available, organised by thematic dataflow.
Enterprises importing critical raw materials (CRM)
Enterprises importing critical raw materials (CRM) by partner and size class: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and the value and quantity of imports, broken down by imported product category, partner area and enterprise size class.
Enterprises importing critical raw materials (CRM) by partner and enterprise group status: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and the value and quantity of imports, broken down by imported product category, partner area and enterprise group status.
Enterprises importing critical raw materials (CRM) by partner and NACE Rev. 2 activity: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and the value and quantity of imports, broken down by imported product category, partner area and economic activity according to NACE Rev. 2.
Enterprises importing net-zero industry goods (NZIG)
Enterprises importing net-zero industry goods (NZIG) by partner and size class: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and the value and quantity of imports, broken down by imported product category, partner area and enterprise size class.
Enterprises importing net-zero industry goods (NZIG) by partner and enterprise group status: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and the value and quantity of imports, broken down by imported product category, partner area and enterprise group status.
Enterprises importing net-zero industry goods (NZIG) by partner and NACE Rev. 2 activity: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and the value and quantity of imports, broken down by imported product category, partner area and economic activity according to NACE Rev. 2.
Enterprises importing goods from selected partner countries and areas
Enterprises importing goods from certain partner countries and areas by size class and enterprise group status: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and the value and quantity of imports, broken down by partner country or area, enterprise size class and enterprise group status.
Enterprises importing goods from certain partner countries and areas by NACE Rev. 2 activity: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and the value and quantity of imports, broken down by partner country or area and economic activity according to NACE Rev. 2.
Enterprises by import and export intensity
Enterprises by their import and export intensity, partner and size class: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and trade values and quantities, broken down by trade intensity class, partner area and enterprise size class.
Enterprises by their import and export intensity, partner and enterprise group status: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and trade values and quantities, broken down by trade intensity class, partner area and enterprise group status.
Enterprises by their import and export intensity, partner and NACE Rev. 2 activity: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and trade values and quantities, broken down by trade intensity class, partner area and economic activity according to NACE Rev. 2.
Enterprises by trader type
Enterprises by trader type and size class: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and trade values and quantities, broken down by trader type, partner area and enterprise size class.
Enterprises by trader type and enterprise group status: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and trade values and quantities, broken down by trader type, partner area and enterprise group status.
Enterprises by trader type and NACE Rev. 2 activity: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and trade values and quantities, broken down by trader type, partner area and economic activity according to NACE Rev. 2.
Enterprises by enterprise group status, size class and economic activity
Enterprises by their enterprise group status, size class and NACE Rev. 2 activity: Number of enterprises and persons employed and selected economic characteristics, broken down by enterprise group status, enterprise size class and economic activity according to NACE Rev. 2.
Additional methodological information
These statistics are based on the successful linking of microdata from the underlying statistical domains, performed by national statistical institutes following common MDL table specifications and syntax that provide a harmonised structure. Differences in statistical coverage, statistical units and linking outcomes may result in differences between the statistics in the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets and the corresponding published statistics from SBS, ITGS or Trade by Enterprise Characteristics (TEC).
3.2. Classification system
The MDL uses several classification systems and code lists defined in the technical specifications.
Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE Rev. 2);
Product classifications in the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets are project-specific code lists for critical raw materials and net-zero industry goods, defined through corresponding CN codes
3.3. Coverage - sector
The sectoral coverage ofthe ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets follows Structural Business Statistics (SBS), specifically the activity aggregate BTSXO_S94, covering market producers. The economic activities included in this aggregate are defined according to NACE Rev. 2. Although International Trade in Goods Statistics (ITGS) cover a broader range of economic activities, the population of the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets is restricted to the economic activities covered by the SBS reference population.
Actual coverage may be further affected by the availability and successful linkage of the underlying national data.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
The 'Globalised enterprises’ datasets use enterprise characteristics and trade variables originating from SBS and ITGS, combined within a linked microdata framework. Main variables include:
The 'Globalised enterprises’ datasets also use specific analytical concepts:
Critical raw materials (CRM), represented by 34 product groups and related CN codes,
Net-zero industry goods (NZIG), represented by 19 product groups and related CN/PRODCOM codes,
Enterprise group status, including independent national enterprises, national enterprise groups, multinational enterprise groups, and breakdowns by domestic/foreign control and EU/non-EU control,
Import and export intensity, based on percentage classes;The import/exports intensity refers to the share of imports/exports of turnover (ratio between imports/exports and turnover),
Type of trader, distinguishing one-way and two-way traders.
The concepts of trade value, partner country, economic activity, type of trader and type of ownership are consistent with the corresponding concepts described in ITGS metadata, while SBS variables follow SBS definitions under the EBS framework. For further information on statistical concepts, definitions and variables, please refer to the reference metadata of the underlying statistical domains: Structural Business Statistics (SBS), International Trade in Goods Statistics (ITGS) and the EuroGroups Register (EGR).
3.5. Statistical unit
The statistical unit of the 'Globalised enterprises’ datasets is the enterprise, in line with SBS and the intended approach of linked enterprise statistics. The technical specifications and table descriptions consistently refer to enterprise characteristics.
However, practical implementation may differ across countries because not all countries have fully implemented the enterprise concept in all source domains. ITGS metadata note that the statistical unit should be the enterprise, but in some countries the legal unit is still used as an approximation. Country feedback for the MDL also confirms methodological variation: Austria transformed legal unit based ITGS raw data into enterprises using SBS correspondence tables, while Finland explicitly stated that Legal units (LEU) were used in the MDL project, and Malta described consolidation of legal units according to the statistical enterprise structure used for SBS. Therefore, cross-country comparability may be affected by national implementation of the statistical unit.
3.6. Statistical population
The statistical population in the 'Globalised enterprises’ datasets is based on the SBS population of market producers in NACE Rev. 2 Sections B to N, P to R and S95-S96. Depending on the statistical table, this population is either restricted to enterprises successfully linked to ITGS trade information or includes the broader SBS enterprise population, allowing a distinction between trading and non-trading enterprises. Where relevant, additional information on enterprise group characteristics is obtained from EGR and NSBR.
In practice, specifically for the datasets "Enterprises classified by import and export intensity" and "Enterprises classified by trader type", the population excludes some parts of trade covered in macro trade statistics or ITGS where no micro-level allocation to enterprises is possible, especially estimated trade for small intra-EU traders below reporting thresholds. Several countries identified this as a source of lower enterprise counts in the 'Globalised enterprises’ datasets compared with ITGS. Trade by non-residents and private individuals is out of scope.
3.7. Reference area
Geographical coverage of the available data differs by topic.
The following countries reported data for all six topics:
Austria
Croatia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Latvia
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Lithuania reported data for the following three topics only:
Import dependencies on certain third countries
Performance indicators for traders vs non-traders
Enterprise performance by group status and size class
Bulgaria, Estonia, Spain, Sweden, Iceland and Norway reported data only for:
Enterprise performance by group status and size class
Geographical coverage should be checked at dataset and reference-year level.
Only national data are published by Eurostat. EU aggregates are not compiled, as the number of countries providing data differs across topics and is currently too limited to support the production of sufficiently complete and comparable EU-level aggregates.
3.8. Coverage - Time
The ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets cover the reference years 2021, 2022 and 2023.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
The units of measure used in the MDL datasets are:
pure number (PN)
kilograms (KG)
unit multipliers of units, thousands and millions, depending on the variable
Monetary data are expressed in millions of €. For annual average exchange rates vis-à-vis the euro please refer to the following tables:
The reference period for the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets is thecalendar year,with annual frequency.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
The ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets are produced through microdata linking, which integrates microdata from established statistical domains governed by the European business statistics Framework to produce new statistical outputs. The resulting statistics complement the existing statistical products by providing new analytical perspectives on enterprise characteristics, economic performance and international trade.
General statistical legislation
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European statistics
International trade in goods statistics legislation
As of 1 January 2022, ITGS are based on the following regulations:
EU Regulation 2019/2152 on European business statistics
EU Implementing Regulation 2020/1197 on technical specifications and arrangements for European business statistics
EU Implementing Regulation 2021/1225 on arrangements for the data exchanges
EU Delegated Regulation 2021/1704 on the statistical information to be provided by tax and customs authorities
Statistical Business Registers legislation
As from 1 January 2021, Business registers are governed by the following regulations:
EU Regulation 2019/2152 on European business statistics, establishing the European framework for statistical business registers
EU Implementing Regulation 2020/1197 on technical specifications and arrangements for European business statistics
All regulations relevant for European statistics on international trade in goods can be consulted from the ‘Legislation’ page of the ‘International trade in goods’ section on Eurostat website. All legal texts are also accessible online on Eur-Lex.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Eurostat makes available all non-confidential and sufficiently reliable data on its dissemination website.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
The 'Globalised enterprises’ datasets follow the general confidentiality principles laid down in Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics, as cited in both ITGS and SBS metadata.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
If data are of truly confidential nature according to the above mentioned regulation, they have to be flagged as confidential, and they will not be published by Eurostat.
Eurostat disseminates all non-confidential data on its website.
In line with Eurostat dissemination principles, outputs should be made available in an objective, professional and transparent manner, consistent with the general Eurostat release policy described for other statistical domains. This follows the model used in ITGS and SBS metadata.
The ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets are structured as annual statistics.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
No news release.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Statistics Explained is an official Eurostat website presenting all statistical topics in an easily understandable way. Together, the articles make up an encyclopaedia of European statistics, completed by a statistical glossary clarifying all terms used and numerous links to further information and the very latest data and metadata.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
The ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets can be consulted in the Eurostat data browser on-line.
10.3.1. Data tables - consultations
Not applicable.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Not applicable.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Not applicable.
10.5.1. Metadata - consultations
Not applicable.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
Manual to the MDL Work Program 2025-2027 – 1st edition 2026
The ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets are compiled using established statistical sources that are already part of regular statistical production. Their quality therefore depends on the quality of the underlying source statistics, as well as on the methods used to link and integrate information across statistical domains.
Although the use of harmonised technical specifications supports consistency, differences in national implementation of statistical units, data coverage, linking procedures and treatment of estimated trade may affect the resulting statistics. These factors should be taken into account when interpreting MDL results and comparing them across countries or with statistics published by the underlying domains.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
The main quality challenges in the the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets stem from:
differences in statistical unit implementation (enterprise versus legal unit),
incomplete or imperfect linkage between trade data and business registers,
differences in scope between SBS and ITGS,
exclusion of below-threshold intra-EU traders when no micro allocation is possible,
and national methodological choices or coding issues.
Country feedback gives concrete examples, as reflected in the MDL syntax manual. Several countries reported missing sections in the SBS-based MDL database and uncertainty for some sectors (mainly section K but also in some cases sections P, Q and R). Austria, Portugal and Finland explained that ITGS includes additional estimates for below-threshold traders that cannot be allocated at micro level in MDL. Malta pointed to methodological differences in constructing the statistical enterprise.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The project responds to policy and analytical needs for new evidence on enterprise performance, import dependencies, strategic goods and enterprise characteristics by combining trade and business statistics.
The 'Globalised enterprises’ datasets specifications explicitly define expected outcomes related to:
imports of critical raw materials,
imports of important intermediate goods,
imports from certain third countries,
import intensity,
export intensity,
traders versus non-traders,
and enterprise performance by group status and size class.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Not available.
12.3. Completeness
The technical specifications define a complete set of six dataflows and fifteen tables with harmonised dimensions and code lists. However, country feedback indicates that not all requested combinations may be fully available in practice due to coverage limitations, missing sections, unit issues or national data constraints.
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
The technical specifications define a complete set of six dataflows and fifteen tables with harmonised dimensions and code lists. However, country feedback indicates that not all requested combinations may be fully available in practice due to coverage limitations, missing sections, unit issues or national data constraints.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
The statistics in the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets are produced by linking already existing statistical domains in production, notably international trade in goods statistics (ITGS), structural business statistics (SBS), and, where relevant, business register and enterprise group information. Consequently, the overall accuracy is not determined by a single source, but by the combined quality of the underlying source domains and by the quality of the national microdata linkage process used to integrate them.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
The main non-sampling errors in the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets relate to:
invalid or missing identifiers for linking,
estimated trade not allocable to traders,
business demography changes,
complex enterprise structures,
incomplete implementation of the enterprise concept,
scope differences between ITGS, SBS and EGR/NSBR,
and possible national coding or processing errors.
13.3.1. Coverage error
Coverage limitations arise because the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets use the SBS population and linked ITGS microdata. This excludes some trade covered in ITGS, especially estimated intra-EU trade for enterprises below reporting thresholds that cannot be linked at micro level.
13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate
Not specified.
13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion
Not specified.
13.3.2. Measurement error
Not specified.
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
Country feedback confirms that processing errors can occur, as an example a coding error in the main MDL script.
13.3.5. Model assumption error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
The ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets rely on annual source statistics. Since they are built from SBS and ITGS, MDL timeliness depends on the availability of those underlying domains and on the time needed for microdata linking and validation.
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
Not applicable.
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
Not applicable.
14.2. Punctuality
Not applicable.
14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
Not applicable.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
The common specifications and syntax for the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets provide a harmonised structure. However, geographical comparability is limited by differences in national implementation of the statistical unit enterprise (ENT), SBS coverage and treatment of estimated trade. ITGS metadata already identify the statistical unit as one of the main cross-country comparability issues. Country feedback for the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets confirms further differences, for example in the treatment of below-threshold traders, missing sectors, and LEU-to-ENT transformation.
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
Not applicable.
15.2. Comparability - over time
The ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets cover reference years 2021, 2022 and 2023. Comparability over time may be affected by changes in coding, methodological implementation, treatment of estimated trade, implementation of the enterprise concept, and national revisions. Coding corrections, revisions of codes and data may occur.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
The ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets cover reference years 2021, 2022 and 2023. The comparability may vary by country and dataset, depending on methodological changes, revisions and the consistency of the underlying source data. The ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets will follow an annual periodicity. The next publication is planned for Q1 2027.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
The ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets are a cross-domain statistical product combining information from established statistical domains, primarily SBS and ITGS, and, depending on the statistical table, EGR and NSBR.
The MDL statistical population follows the SBS coverage of market producers, with the statistical enterprise as the central unit of analysis. The integration of information from different domains enables additional statistical analyses that are not directly available from the individual source statistics.
Although MDL is based on established statistical sources, differences in statistical coverage, statistical units, national methodological implementation and microdata linking may result in differences between MDL results and the corresponding published statistics. In particular, trade estimates that cannot be allocated to individual enterprises may be excluded from trade-related MDL tables.
Consequently, the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets should be interpreted alongside SBS, ITGS and Trade by Enterprise Characteristics (TEC) statistics, but are not expected to reproduce their published totals.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
Not provided.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Internal coherence of the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets is ensured through validation checks on aggregates, breakdowns and logical relationships between variables, carried out by Member States and Eurostat.
The ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets reuse existing administrative and statistical sources from SBS, ITGS, EGR and NSBR. No separate direct data collection from enterprises is implemented for producing the Eurobase outputs; therefore, there is no additional response burden. The main cost relates to the compilation, processing and validation by the National Statistical Authorities and Eurostat.
17.1. Data revision - policy
The ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets disseminated by Eurostat follow the general revision policy for European Business Statistics. Revisions may occur if significant errors are identified or if substantial updates to underlying data are made available.
17.2. Data revision - practice
Not specified.
17.2.1. Data revision - average size
Not specified.
18.1. Source data
The ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets are based on linked microdata from:
International trade in goods statistics (ITGS),
Structural business statistics (SBS),
European Group Register (EGR), and
National Statistical Business Registers (NSBR).
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Annual outputs are compiled to produce the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets.
18.3. Data collection
No data collection is organised to produce the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets. The project uses data already collected under ITGS, SBS and register systems and then links them for analytical output tables.
18.4. Data validation
The technical specifications provide the harmonised structure needed for validation: mandatory and optional dimensions, flags, code lists, table identifiers and record counts. A number of logical checks between different variables, consistency checks on totals and subtotals, identification and review of apparent outlying results and consistency of data over time are checked as well.
18.5. Data compilation
MThe ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets are compiled by linking enterprise-level business information from SBS and NSBR, EGR with trade in goods information from ITGS, then aggregating results according to the required table structures, breakdowns and code lists. Depending on the table, additional grouping is done by partner country, product, size class, enterprise group status, NACE activity, intensity class or trader type.
18.5.1. Imputation - rate
Not specified. However, country feedback indicates that imputation and estimation issues may affect the underlying national data, especially where certain sections are missing or where source data quality is limited.
Statistics in the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets present enterprise characteristics by combining information from established statistical domains by applying microdata linking (MDL) techniques. Depending on the dataset, MDL integrates information from International Trade in Goods Statistics (ITGS), Structural Business Statistics (SBS), the EuroGroups Register (EGR) and National Statistical Business Registers (NSBRs).
The objective of this MDL exercise is to provide new insights into the characteristics and economic performance of enterprises engaged in international trade in goods, with particular emphasis on import dependencies and the role of enterprises in international trade. By linking information from different statistical sources at enterprise level, MDL enables the analysis of enterprises engaged in international trade in relation to their size, economic activity (NACE Rev. 2), economic performance and enterprise group characteristics.
The statistical population for the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets follows the SBS coverage of market producers, with the statistical enterprise as the central unit of analysis. The ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets comprise six dataflows and fifteen statistical tables, covering the following topics:
Enterprises importing critical raw materials (CRM);
Enterprises importing net-zero industry goods (NZIG);
Enterprises importing goods from selected partner countries and areas;
Enterprises classified by import and export intensity;
Enterprises classified by trader type;
Enterprises classified by enterprise group status, size class and economic activity.
The statistics include the number of active enterprises, number of employees and self-employed persons, and selected economic characteristics derived from SBS, such as net turnover, value added, gross operating surplus, wages and salaries, and total purchases of goods and services. Trade-related variables derived from ITGS include the statistical value and quantity of traded goods.
Depending on the dataset, these characteristics are broken down by enterprise size class, economic activity according to NACE Rev. 2, enterprise group status, trading partner, product category, trade intensity or trader type.
Available datasets
The following fifteen statistical tables are available, organised by thematic dataflow.
Enterprises importing critical raw materials (CRM)
Enterprises importing critical raw materials (CRM) by partner and size class: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and the value and quantity of imports, broken down by imported product category, partner area and enterprise size class.
Enterprises importing critical raw materials (CRM) by partner and enterprise group status: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and the value and quantity of imports, broken down by imported product category, partner area and enterprise group status.
Enterprises importing critical raw materials (CRM) by partner and NACE Rev. 2 activity: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and the value and quantity of imports, broken down by imported product category, partner area and economic activity according to NACE Rev. 2.
Enterprises importing net-zero industry goods (NZIG)
Enterprises importing net-zero industry goods (NZIG) by partner and size class: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and the value and quantity of imports, broken down by imported product category, partner area and enterprise size class.
Enterprises importing net-zero industry goods (NZIG) by partner and enterprise group status: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and the value and quantity of imports, broken down by imported product category, partner area and enterprise group status.
Enterprises importing net-zero industry goods (NZIG) by partner and NACE Rev. 2 activity: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and the value and quantity of imports, broken down by imported product category, partner area and economic activity according to NACE Rev. 2.
Enterprises importing goods from selected partner countries and areas
Enterprises importing goods from certain partner countries and areas by size class and enterprise group status: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and the value and quantity of imports, broken down by partner country or area, enterprise size class and enterprise group status.
Enterprises importing goods from certain partner countries and areas by NACE Rev. 2 activity: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and the value and quantity of imports, broken down by partner country or area and economic activity according to NACE Rev. 2.
Enterprises by import and export intensity
Enterprises by their import and export intensity, partner and size class: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and trade values and quantities, broken down by trade intensity class, partner area and enterprise size class.
Enterprises by their import and export intensity, partner and enterprise group status: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and trade values and quantities, broken down by trade intensity class, partner area and enterprise group status.
Enterprises by their import and export intensity, partner and NACE Rev. 2 activity: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and trade values and quantities, broken down by trade intensity class, partner area and economic activity according to NACE Rev. 2.
Enterprises by trader type
Enterprises by trader type and size class: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and trade values and quantities, broken down by trader type, partner area and enterprise size class.
Enterprises by trader type and enterprise group status: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and trade values and quantities, broken down by trader type, partner area and enterprise group status.
Enterprises by trader type and NACE Rev. 2 activity: Number of enterprises and persons employed, selected economic characteristics, and trade values and quantities, broken down by trader type, partner area and economic activity according to NACE Rev. 2.
Enterprises by enterprise group status, size class and economic activity
Enterprises by their enterprise group status, size class and NACE Rev. 2 activity: Number of enterprises and persons employed and selected economic characteristics, broken down by enterprise group status, enterprise size class and economic activity according to NACE Rev. 2.
Additional methodological information
These statistics are based on the successful linking of microdata from the underlying statistical domains, performed by national statistical institutes following common MDL table specifications and syntax that provide a harmonised structure. Differences in statistical coverage, statistical units and linking outcomes may result in differences between the statistics in the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets and the corresponding published statistics from SBS, ITGS or Trade by Enterprise Characteristics (TEC).
30 November 2026
The 'Globalised enterprises’ datasets use enterprise characteristics and trade variables originating from SBS and ITGS, combined within a linked microdata framework. Main variables include:
The 'Globalised enterprises’ datasets also use specific analytical concepts:
Critical raw materials (CRM), represented by 34 product groups and related CN codes,
Net-zero industry goods (NZIG), represented by 19 product groups and related CN/PRODCOM codes,
Enterprise group status, including independent national enterprises, national enterprise groups, multinational enterprise groups, and breakdowns by domestic/foreign control and EU/non-EU control,
Import and export intensity, based on percentage classes;The import/exports intensity refers to the share of imports/exports of turnover (ratio between imports/exports and turnover),
Type of trader, distinguishing one-way and two-way traders.
The concepts of trade value, partner country, economic activity, type of trader and type of ownership are consistent with the corresponding concepts described in ITGS metadata, while SBS variables follow SBS definitions under the EBS framework. For further information on statistical concepts, definitions and variables, please refer to the reference metadata of the underlying statistical domains: Structural Business Statistics (SBS), International Trade in Goods Statistics (ITGS) and the EuroGroups Register (EGR).
The statistical unit of the 'Globalised enterprises’ datasets is the enterprise, in line with SBS and the intended approach of linked enterprise statistics. The technical specifications and table descriptions consistently refer to enterprise characteristics.
However, practical implementation may differ across countries because not all countries have fully implemented the enterprise concept in all source domains. ITGS metadata note that the statistical unit should be the enterprise, but in some countries the legal unit is still used as an approximation. Country feedback for the MDL also confirms methodological variation: Austria transformed legal unit based ITGS raw data into enterprises using SBS correspondence tables, while Finland explicitly stated that Legal units (LEU) were used in the MDL project, and Malta described consolidation of legal units according to the statistical enterprise structure used for SBS. Therefore, cross-country comparability may be affected by national implementation of the statistical unit.
The statistical population in the 'Globalised enterprises’ datasets is based on the SBS population of market producers in NACE Rev. 2 Sections B to N, P to R and S95-S96. Depending on the statistical table, this population is either restricted to enterprises successfully linked to ITGS trade information or includes the broader SBS enterprise population, allowing a distinction between trading and non-trading enterprises. Where relevant, additional information on enterprise group characteristics is obtained from EGR and NSBR.
In practice, specifically for the datasets "Enterprises classified by import and export intensity" and "Enterprises classified by trader type", the population excludes some parts of trade covered in macro trade statistics or ITGS where no micro-level allocation to enterprises is possible, especially estimated trade for small intra-EU traders below reporting thresholds. Several countries identified this as a source of lower enterprise counts in the 'Globalised enterprises’ datasets compared with ITGS. Trade by non-residents and private individuals is out of scope.
Geographical coverage of the available data differs by topic.
The following countries reported data for all six topics:
Austria
Croatia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Latvia
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Lithuania reported data for the following three topics only:
Import dependencies on certain third countries
Performance indicators for traders vs non-traders
Enterprise performance by group status and size class
Bulgaria, Estonia, Spain, Sweden, Iceland and Norway reported data only for:
Enterprise performance by group status and size class
Geographical coverage should be checked at dataset and reference-year level.
Only national data are published by Eurostat. EU aggregates are not compiled, as the number of countries providing data differs across topics and is currently too limited to support the production of sufficiently complete and comparable EU-level aggregates.
The reference period for the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets is thecalendar year,with annual frequency.
The statistics in the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets are produced by linking already existing statistical domains in production, notably international trade in goods statistics (ITGS), structural business statistics (SBS), and, where relevant, business register and enterprise group information. Consequently, the overall accuracy is not determined by a single source, but by the combined quality of the underlying source domains and by the quality of the national microdata linkage process used to integrate them.
The units of measure used in the MDL datasets are:
pure number (PN)
kilograms (KG)
unit multipliers of units, thousands and millions, depending on the variable
Monetary data are expressed in millions of €. For annual average exchange rates vis-à-vis the euro please refer to the following tables:
MThe ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets are compiled by linking enterprise-level business information from SBS and NSBR, EGR with trade in goods information from ITGS, then aggregating results according to the required table structures, breakdowns and code lists. Depending on the table, additional grouping is done by partner country, product, size class, enterprise group status, NACE activity, intensity class or trader type.
The ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets are based on linked microdata from:
International trade in goods statistics (ITGS),
Structural business statistics (SBS),
European Group Register (EGR), and
National Statistical Business Registers (NSBR).
The ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets are structured as annual statistics.
The ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets rely on annual source statistics. Since they are built from SBS and ITGS, MDL timeliness depends on the availability of those underlying domains and on the time needed for microdata linking and validation.
The common specifications and syntax for the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets provide a harmonised structure. However, geographical comparability is limited by differences in national implementation of the statistical unit enterprise (ENT), SBS coverage and treatment of estimated trade. ITGS metadata already identify the statistical unit as one of the main cross-country comparability issues. Country feedback for the ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets confirms further differences, for example in the treatment of below-threshold traders, missing sectors, and LEU-to-ENT transformation.
The ‘Globalised enterprises’ datasets cover reference years 2021, 2022 and 2023. Comparability over time may be affected by changes in coding, methodological implementation, treatment of estimated trade, implementation of the enterprise concept, and national revisions. Coding corrections, revisions of codes and data may occur.
