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.
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union
National Statistical Institute (Spain)
1.2. Contact organisation unit
Social Statistic Department, Health Unit ( INE, Spain)
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
Avenida de Manoteras 50-52, Edificio Albor 28050 Madrid
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
10 March 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
10 March 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
10 March 2025
3.1. Data description
Statistics on healthcare non-expenditure provide information on healthcare human resources, healthcare facilities, and healthcare utilisation.
The people active in the healthcare sector (doctors, dentists, nurses, etc.) and their status (graduates, practising, migration of doctors and nurses, etc.);
The available healthcare technical resources and facilities (hospital beds, beds in residential care facilities, medical technology, etc.);
The health activities or patient contacts undertaken (hospital discharges, surgical procedures, ambulatory care data, etc.).
Annual national and regional data are provided in absolute numbers or as a rate of a relevant population.
Data are based mainly on administrative records (see section 18.1 ‘Source data’ for more information).
3.2. Classification system
For the collection of data on healthcare non- expenditure, the classifications used in the System of Health Accounts (SHA) and its related set of International Classification for the Health Accounts are applied.
For Health Employment, the Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005 on the recognition of professional qualifications apply.
Definitions of mandatory variables are laid down in Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/2294.
Where possible, the statistics are separated by sex (male/female), age group and NUTS2 region.
National deviations: see Annex at the bottom of the page.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Public health.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
The healthcare non-expenditure statistics describe the public health sector from a non-monetary perspective. The statistics explain the number or rate of different healthcare resources, facilities and utilisations. A wide range of indicators are collected from a multitude of sources and therefore, details pertaining to individual variables are given in the Annex.
Definitions of mandatory variables are laid down in Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/2294.
National changes of statistical concepts and national definitions deviating from Regulation (EU) 2022/2294: see Annex at the bottom of the page.
3.5. Statistical unit
Registered health professionals or health care facility categories.
3.6. Statistical population
All health care staff.
All available beds or equipment in hospitals or in nursing and residential care facilities.
All discharges or procedures performed in all hospitals.
3.7. Reference area
Complete national territory
3.8. Coverage - Time
There are a wide number of indicators and the time series varies from one to another.
Health employment:
Data on physicians is available since 1996 (1960 in the case of licensed to practise. Physicians by categories since 2005). Data on midwives and dentist is available since 2022 (1980 in the case of licensed to practise). Data on pharmacist and nurses is available since 1996 (1980 in the case of licensed to preactise).
Data on caring personnel is available since 1996. Data on physiotherapists is available since 2006. Data on hospital employment is available since 2000. Data on graduates is available since 1980 (1991 for dentists and 2009 for midwives).
Workforce Migration:
Data on annual inflow is available since 2000.
Physical Resources:
Data on hospitals and hospitals beds by sector is available since 1985. Data on hospital beds is available since 1985, by function since 1996. Data on intensive care is available since 2015. Data on nursing beds is available since 2002. Data on medical technology is available since 2010.
Healthcare Activities:
Data on consultations and teleconsultations is available since 2019. Data on immunisation is available since 2001. Data on screening is available since 2009 every three years. Data on hospital aggregates is available since 1984. Data on exams is available since 2010. Data on procedures is available since 2004.
Eurostat Module:
Data on physicians at NUTS2 level is available since 1996. Data on hospitals beds at NUTS2 level is available since 1993. Data on hospital technical resources is available since 2000 or 2010 (surgical, oncological, psychiatric and geriatric). Data on non-residents discharges is available since 2011.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable
The unit is number.
Calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Joint Questionnaire on Non-Monetary Health Care Statistics, which is carried by Eurostat, OECD and WHO-Europe.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Law 12/1989, of May 9, 1989, on the Public Statistical Function obliges INE not to disseminate personal data under any circumstances, regardless of their origin. It is understood that personal data are those referring to natural or legal persons that either allow the immediate identification of the interested parties, or lead, due to their structure, content or degree of disaggregation, to their indirect identification. On the other hand, Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics establishes the need to establish common principles and guidelines to ensure the confidentiality of the data used to produce European statistics and access to these confidential data, taking into account technical progress and the needs of users in a democratic society.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Provided data are aggregated data so there is no confidentiality problem.
8.1. Release calendar
National Statistics Institute and Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities: The advance publication of the calendar takes place in the last quarter of each year and shows the month of publication of structural statistics; subsequently, on the last Friday of each month (t), the exact day of publication of the structural statistics scheduled for the month (t+2) is announced.
Ministry of Health: Publication of official national statistics is displayed on the calendar of the Annual development Programme related to National Statistics Plan, which shows the month of publication of each statistic and is published yearly on the first quarter of the year in the Royal Decree approving the Annual Programe. Furthermore, a calendar showing the expected date of publication by quarters of data from the Health Information System of Spain is also published on every first quarter of the year.
Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Schedule 2030 -Imserso: The publication of the statistics is included in the calendar of the Annual Development Program related to the National Statistical Plan; in terms of monthly statistics it is carried out the month following the reference month, and in the case of the annual one during the month of December of the year following the reference year of the data.
Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Schedule 2030 - Imserso: Both calendars (Statistics of Benefits of the System for Autonomy and Dependency Care (SAAD) and Statistics of Social Services aimed at the Elderly in Spain) are published on the Imserso website in both methodologies.
8.3. Release policy - user access
National Statistics Institute: The data are disseminated simultaneously according to the publication schedule to all interested parties, in most cases accompanied by a press release. At the same time the data are published on the INE website. Tailor-made requests are also sent to registered users. Some users may receive information under embargo as specified in the European Statistics Code of Practice.
Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities: The data of the University Students’ Statistics is disseminated in the web of the ministry according to the calendar published in the INE website
Ministry of Health: Data are published on the Ministry of Health and website, and also disseminated to all interested parties. Tailor-made requests are also sent to registered users. Some users may receive information under embargo as specified in the European Statistics Code of Practice.
Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Schedule 2030 - Imserso: The data is published on the Imserso website.
Labour Force Survey (Encuesta de población Activa): quaterly.
Register of Professionals Council (Estadística de Profesionales Sanitarios Colegiados): yearly.
Hospital Morbidity Survey (Encuesta de Morbilidad Hospitalaria): yearly.
National Health Survey and European Health Interview Survey (Encuesta Nacional de Salud y Encuesta Europea de Salud): every three years.
University Students’ Statistics (Estadística de Estudiantes Universiatarios): yearly.
Primary Care Information System (Sistema de Información de Atención Primaria - SIAP): yearly.
Specialised Care Information System (Sistema de Información de Atención Especializada - SIAE): yearly.
Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (Registro de Actividad de Atención Sanitaria Especializada – RAE-CMBD): yearly.
Spanish Stem cell donation and transplantation activity. National Transplants Organisation (ONT): yearly.
Systematic Vaccination Statistics (Estadística de Vacunaciones Sistemáticas): semi-annual.
G. D. for Public Health and Health Equity (cancer screening programmes): yearly.
Imserso. Statistics on Benefits of the System for Autonomy and Dependency Care (SAAD): monthly.
Imserso. Statistics on Social Services for the Elderly in Spain: annual.
National Statistics Institute: Together with the main tables and the press release that are published in our website, the methodology and the questionnaires are available too.
University Students’ Statistics: Tables and methodology accessible through the national open data website.
Ministry of Health: main tables, reports, annual reports, interactive consult applications, infographics, and methodological documentation can be found in the website.
Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Schedule 2030 -Imserso: Along with the main tables, graphs and the methodology are also available on the Imserso website.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
The methodology and the metadata are available in the following links:
The methodology mentioned in previous points that is published together with the data is enough complete.
11.1. Quality assurance
National Statistics Institute: The quality assurance framework for INE statistics is based on the ESSCoP, the Eurostat European Statistics Code of Practice. The ESSCoP consists of 16 principles, grouped into three areas: Institutional Environment, Processes and Products. Each principle is associated with a series of indicators that allow its measurement. To assess quality, different tools provided by EUROSTAT are used: the aforementioned indicators, the Self-Assessment inspired by the DESAP model, the Peer Review, the User Satisfaction Surveys, and other assessment procedures.
Ministry of Sciences, Innovation and Universities (University Students’ Statistics): The data come from the administrative data of universities and the indicators are validated by the university, the region responsible and by the ministry.
Ministry of Health: Its quality assurance framework is also based on the ESSCoP, the Eurostat European Statistics Code of Practice. Each information system is responsible for ensuring quality through different assessment tools (indicators, self-assessment models, etc.).
Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Schedule 2030 -Imserso: Quality assurance framework is also based on the ESSCoP, the Eurostat European Statistics Code of Practice. In both cases, quality is ensured through different evaluation tools (indicators, self-assessment models, etc.).
11.2. Quality management - assessment
The quality assessment is continuous.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The main users in the country of all the statistics are: Ministry of Health, Regional Health Administrations, Researches, Universities, Students, Journalists and other users.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
National Statistics Institute: INE has conducted general user satisfaction surveys in 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019. Their purpose is to ascertain the perception that users of INE statistics have regarding the quality of the information they use, and the degree to which their needs are met. Other special surveys are also carried out to find out about certain aspects: dissemination of information, quality of certain publications, etc.
Ministry of Health: there are several suggestions and requests mailboxes, as well as other contact channels in order to guarantee users’ satisfaction.
12.3. Completeness
National Statistics Institute: all the statistics are in the National Statistical Plan, 100% of the requested information is collected.
Ministry of Health: almost all requested information is included in the National Statistical Plan and/or in the Official Statistics Inventory.
Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Schedule 2030 -Imserso: practically all the information requested is included in the National Statistical Plan and/or in the Official Statistical Inventory.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Labour Force Survey, National Health Survey and European Health Interview Survey: they are all household surveys and therefore have sampling errors and non-sampling errors.
Register of Professionals Council: accuracy is very high, as the source of information is directly the Colleges or General Councils themselves, and there is no lack of response.
Hospital Morbidity Survey: the accuracy is very high due to the near completeness of the survey. 98% of all hospital discharges (and 90% of all hospitals) are collected.
University Students’ Statistics: The data comes from administrative data and is not a sample. 100% of response.
Primary Care Information System (SIAP), Specialised Care Information System (SIAE), Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (RAE-CMBD), Spanish Stem cell donation and transplantation activity (ONT),Systematic Vaccination Statistics: accuracy is very high, as the sources of information are directly administrative registries from Autonomous Communities Health Councils and Hospitals, and there is no lack of response.
G.D. for Public Health and Health Equity (cancer screening programmes): the precision is quite high, since the sources of information are directly the administrative records from the Autonomous Communities, although there is a lack of response in certain statistical variables.
Imserso. Statistics on Benefits of the System for Autonomy and Dependency Care (SAAD): the precision is very high, since the sources of information are directly the administrative records of the Autonomous Communities and there is no lack of response.
Imserso. Statistics on Social Services for the Elderly in Spain: the precision is quite high, since the sources of information are directly the administrative records of the Autonomous Communities, although there is a lack of response in certain statistical variables.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
The timeliness of the different statistics are:
Labour Force Survey: between 23 and 30 days.
Register of Professionals Council: 6 months
Hospital Morbidity Survey: 15 months.
National Health Survey: 9 months.
European Health Interview Survey: 9 months.
University Students’ Statistics: The data collection starts in November and the dissemination is usually in April of the next year.
Primary Care Information System (SIAP): 6 months.
Specialised Care Information System (SIAE): Statistical data of one year collected during the following year, and published within 3 months from the end of collection.
Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (Registro de Actividad de Atención Sanitaria Especializada – RAE-CMBD) data upload: 3-6 months.
Imserso. Statistics on Benefits of the System for Autonomy and Dependency Care (SAAD): between 5 and 10 days.
Spanish Stem cell donation and transplantation activity (ONT): between 2 (provisional) and 4 months (final).
Systematic Vaccination Statistics: 6 months (provisional) and 11-12 months (final).
G.D. for Public Health and Health Equity (cancer screening programmes): 11-12 months.
Imserso. Statistics on Social Services for the Elderly in Spain: between 15 days and one month.
14.2. Punctuality
National Statistics Institute: the dissemination of the data is carried out in accordance with the calendar of availability of the statistics that the INE compiles and publishes for each year, with no delays in recent years.
Ministry of Sciences, Innovation and Universities (University Students’ Statistics): May be some delay in the last years (one month maximum) due to the lack of experts in the unit.
Ministry of Health: data publication is in accordance with the calendars explained in point 8 above.
Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Schedule 2030 -Imserso: for both data publications it is carried out according to the calendars explained in point 8.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Labour Force Survey, National Health Survey, European Health Interview Survey and Hospital Morbidity Survey: the same criteria in the definition of the variables and the use of the International Classifications makes them comparable with the rest of the countries of the European Union. A common process of collection, filtering, editing and elevation in the entire national geographical scope, guarantees the comparability of the results between the different Autonomous Communities and cities.
Register of Professionals Council: A common process of collection, filtering, editing and elevation in the entire national geographical scope, guarantees the comparability of the results between the different Autonomous Communities and cities.
University Students’ Statistics: The geographical break down is for Autonomous Communities and provinces.
Primary Care Information System (SIAP) A common process of collection, filtering, editing and elevation throughout the national geographic area, guarantees the comparability of the results between the different Autonomous Communities, provinces and health areas.
Specialised Care Information System (SIAE): the same criteria in the definition of the variables and the use of the International Classifications makes them comparable with the rest of the countries of the European Union. A common process of collection, filtering, editing and elevation in the entire national geographical scope, guarantees the comparability of the results between the different Autonomous Communities and cities.
Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (Registro de Actividad de Atención Sanitaria Especializada – RAE-CMBD): The variables collected are regulated by Royal Decree 69/2015. A common process of collection, filtering, editing and elevation throughout the national geographic area guarantees the comparability of the results between the different autonomous communities and cities. The diagnoses are collected according to the usual International Classifications (ICD10), so that they are comparable with the rest of the countries of the European Union.
Spanish Stem cell donation and transplantation activity (ONT): the same criteria in the definition of the variables and the use of the International Classifications makes them comparable with the rest of the countries of the European Union. A common process of collection, filtering, editing and elevation in the entire national geographical scope, guarantees the comparability of the results between the different Autonomous Communities and cities.
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Survey (ONT): A common process of collection, filtering, editing and elevation in the entire national geographical scope ensure comparability of data between different Stem cell Transplant Centres and Autonomous Communities. National data are compared with the European Bone Marrow Transplant Survey published by the European Blood and Marrow Transplant Society (EBMT).
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Donation Survey and Donor Registry activity (ONT): A common process of collection, filtering, editing and elevation in the entire national geographical scope ensure comparability of data between different Stem cell Transplant Centres and Autonomous Communities. Data are compared between Autonomous Communities and with European and worldwide Registries through the World Marrow Donor Association
Systematic Vaccination Statistics: Standardized application form for all Autonomous Communities, but they use different sources to get the requested data.
G.D. for Public Health and Health Equity (cancer screening programmes): Standardized application form for all Autonomous Communities, but each region uses its sources and methods and has its own criteria for who constitutes the eligible population.
Imserso. Statistics on Benefits of the System for Autonomy and Dependency Care (SAAD) and Statistics on Social Services aimed at the Elderly in Spain: common process of collection, filtering, editing and elevation throughout the national geographic area, guarantees the comparability of the results between the different Autonomous Communities and cities.
15.2. Comparability - over time
See Annex at the bottom of the page for potential breaks in time series for each variable.
Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (Registro de Actividad de Atención Sanitaria Especializada – RAE-CMBD): Potential breaks in time series are mainly due to changes in the coding of diseases (ICD10) or exceptional situations such as the pandemic caused by COVID19.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Labour Force Survey: follows the concepts and definitions established by the International Labour Organisation and the European Statistical Office (Eurostat). There are other sources of information on the labour market in Spain, such as the affiliation of workers to Social Security or the number of unemployed registered with the public employment services, from which alternative estimates of employment and unemployment, respectively, are offered. The results from these sources of administrative origin differ from those obtained by the LFS, as a result of their different nature and the methodology applied in each case. The use of different results provided by different statistical sources does not indicate a problem of coherence, but rather presents measurements of reality from different points of view.
National Health Survey and European Health Interview Survey are the national benchmark for the perception of health status and morbidity. The European Survey is also the international benchmark. Both surveys include the European minimum module on health status, which is also included in the Living Conditions Survey and from which key indicators of health status and disability-free life expectancy are obtained. The results are comparable and show the same trend.
Register of Professionals Council: as regards coherence with the figures for professionals who are active and employed in their professional healthcare field and which are obtained from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), it should be mentioned that the methodologies of both statistical operations differ, especially with regard to the concept of employment status. Nevertheless, the evolution of employed persons in the LFS in some of the professions with the data from the statistics show a similar profile.
Hospital Morbidity Survey: a certain relationship can be established with the statistics of the Ministry of Health: Specialised Care Information System and Registry of Specialised Care Activity.
Primary Care Information System (SIAP): The differences with other statistical sources does not indicate a problem of consistency, but of the data collection concept: for instance, only the number of personnel or real care positions (places) that perform direct care functions is counted. Substitute professionals and management personnel are excluded.
Specialised Care Information System (SIAE): Specialized care information system shares variables with the Hospital Morbidity Survey (National Statistics Institute), Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (RAE-CMBD, Ministry of Health), and Registry of Health Professionals (Ministry of Health).
Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (Registro de Actividad de Atención Sanitaria Especializada – RAE-CMBD): a certain relationship can be established with the statistics “Hospital Morbidity Survey” of the National Statistics Institute and the Specialised Care Information System (SIAE, Ministry of Health).
Stem Cell Transplantation Activity (ONT): the data are collected and analyzed by ONT and have to be similar than those reported by each autonomous community.
Stem Cell Donation and Donor Registration activity (ONT): the data are collected and analyzed by the National Donor Registry (REDMO) and reviewed and filtered by ONT
15.4. Coherence - internal
There are no inconsistencies.
Labour Force Survey: the average duration of household interviews is 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the type of interview (with only quarterly variables or with structural variables as well) and the interview method (CAPI or CATI).
National Health Survey and European Health Interview Survey: the use of the electronic questionnaire reduces the respondent burden in terms of interview time. The average time for the household questionnaire was 5 minutes and the average time for the adult questionnaire was 20 minutes (12 minutes for the children questionnaire in the National Survey). The reduction of respondent burden was also present in the Eurostat technical group. An effort was made to reduce the number of variables included in the Regulation and consequently to reduce the size of the questionnaire.
Register of Professionals Council: the use of a web questionnaire has facilitated the completion of the statistics by the reporting units.
Hospital Morbidity Survey: in most cases, hospital information is computerised through the Registry of Specialised Care Activity (RAE-CMBD), which does not entail excessive costs for the hospital to provide the information. If the RAE-CMBD is not available, several possible types of record layouts are provided for the hospital to provide the file.
Primary Care Information System (SIAP): Each Autonomous Community provides data annually in accordance with previously standardized common criteria. The reporting units of each Autonomous Community load its data file into the application. The procedure does not entail excessive additional burden and costs.
Specialised Care Information System (SIAE): Data submitted to the Ministry of Health is collected routinely by the specialised care centers for their own purposes. Therefore, it does not entail excessive additional burden and costs. Centers submit data to the Ministry of Health through at platform. This platform has been adapted to facilitate uploading files of different formats (such as XML), both for individual centres and for regional aggregates.
Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (Registro de Actividad de Atención Sanitaria Especializada – RAE-CMBD): Computerized hospital information is collected at the level of each autonomous community and transferred to the Ministry of Health on an annual basis through an application (Valgenfich).
Systematic Vaccination Statistics: depends on the Vaccination Information System of each Autonomous Community. which are very different.
G.D. for Public Health and Health Equity (cancer screening programmes): depends on the Information System of each Autonomous Community which are very different.
Imserso. Statistics on Benefits of the System for Autonomy and Dependency Care (SAAD) and Statistics on Social Services aimed at the Elderly in Spain: in both cases, the information is computerized through computer applications, which does not imply an excessive cost for the autonomous communities to provide the data.
17.1. Data revision - policy
National Statistics Institute: INE has a Policy that regulates the basic aspects of the revision of statistical data, guaranteeing the transparency of the processes and the quality of the products. This policy is described in the document approved by the Governing Board in the meeting held on 13 March 2015. The document is available in this link.
Ministry of Sciences, Innovation and Universities (University Students’ Statistics): the data tables are reviewed by technicians from the ministry.
Ministry of Health: as a national authority part of the National Statistical System, it assumes the ESSCoP and the general principles defined in it for this area.
Primary Care Information System (SIAP): the reporting units of each Autonomous Community check its own data.
Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (Registro de Actividad de Atención Sanitaria Especializada – RAE-CMBD): there is no document containing policy, but revision must be done according to legislation that regulates structure and content of the Registry.
Imserso: as a national authority that is part of the National Statistical System (both EOI and PEN), assumes the ESSCoP and the general principles defined in it for this matter.
17.2. Data revision - practice
National Statistics Institute: no data revision practice.
Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (Registro de Actividad de Atención Sanitaria Especializada – RAE-CMBD): revision by central registry staff according to legislation (RD 69/2015), and comparing data with previous years.
18.1. Source data
Source data for the different variables are given in the Annex at the bottom of the page.
Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (Registro de Actividad de Atención Sanitaria Especializada – RAE-CMBD): Hospitals Centers send their data about Hospital Discharge Records to Autonomous Communities’ registry and then, Communities to central registry service (Ministry of Health).
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Annual.
18.3. Data collection
Labour Force Survey:the collection method is CAPI and CATI for the first interview, and CATI and CAWI for the second and subsequent.
National Health Survey: the collection method is CAPI. There are three questionnaires, one for households, one for adults and one for children.
Register of Professionals Council: the collection method is CAWI.
Hospital Morbidity Survey: INE, through its Provincial Delegations, contacts the hospitals in each of the provinces. If the data is computerised, they directly send the files with the information requested and, subsequently, they are processed. If the data is not computerised, it is necessary to prepare a file with the data and load it into the corresponding application so that it may be processed with the rest of the information collected.
University Students’ Statistics: The data collection is carried out through a specific application that allows the universities to load the data and validate the indicators.
Primary Care Information System (SIAP): The reporting units of each Autonomous Community fill in the data files previously standardized with common criteria, and upload them into the application.
Specialised Care Information System (SIAE): the Ministry of Health in agreement with the Departments of Health of the Autonomous Communities (Regions) has elaborated a questionnaire for this statistics. This questionnaire is uploaded in different formats to the platform, as explained in point 16.
Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (Registro de Actividad de Atención Sanitaria Especializada – RAE-CMBD): Autonomous Communities send the file with the information requested and, subsequently, are processed at internal level’s Registry.
Systematic Vaccination Statistics: information is received from the Autonomous Communities twice a year through a standardized application form.
G.D. for Public Health and Health Equity (cancer screening programmes): information is received from the Autonomous Communities once a year through a standardized application form.
Imserso. Statistics on Benefits of the System for Autonomy and Dependency Care (SAAD) and Statistics on Social Services aimed at the Elderly in Spain: The Imserso contacts the autonomous communities, in charge of uploading the data with the information requested in the application so that they can be treated with the rest of the information collected.
18.4. Data validation
Labour Force Survey: a data entry debugging system is used to detect errors and inconsistencies. Then, a second filtering is applied in each collection centre, and finally, a centralised filtering is carried out, in which a manual correction of the errors detected in the main variables is carried out, and an automatic filtering of the rest of the variables is carried out.
National Health Survey and European Health Interview Survey: the information supervision process is carried out in two phases: during the interview (the electronic questionnaire allows the incorporation of validation rules for errors and inconsistencies that must be debugged at the time of the interview) and office work (once the data is received, a debugging application allows an exhaustive control of the data, analysing errors, serious inconsistencies, slight inconsistencies, extreme values, monitoring of marginal distributions, cross tables...)
Register of Professionals Council: the information supervision process is carried out in two phases: during the interview (the web application detects inconsistencies and collects some warnings that allow for an initial control of the quality of the information when the respondent unit completes it) and centralised data processing (as the information is received, the coherence of the data is checked and compared with the series from previous years; in the case of anomalous data, the unit is contacted directly to confirm the data.)
Hospital Morbidity Survey: prior to the validation of the microdata, a list is prepared of the hospitals from which the definitive information has been received, indicating the number of records that their associated file should theoretically have. When the information received from the hospitals is loaded, the programme initially validates that the records comply with the correct format, detecting invalid values. When the data is transferred, it is validated that the information is coherent, that the coding according to the Classification of Diseases does not use invalid values and that the data provided reaches the minimum quality level required. Sometimes, hospitals only submit the disease literals, which means that the INE must code all those records that are not complete. Subsequently, there are automatic and manual processes of filtering and imputation, which review incompatibilities and inconsistencies between the data.
University Students’ Statistics: The data collection is carried out through a specific application that allows the universities to load the data and validate the indicators.
Primary Care Information System (SIAP): The loading application allows the incorporation of data quality validation rules that prevent uploading data with errors once the information has been received. Consistency of the data is verified and compared with the series of previous years; in the event of anomalous data, the Autonomous Community involved is directly contacted.
Specialised Care Information System (SIAE): Information is sent individually by the information units (health centers) or by the departments of health of all the autonomous communities (regions). The platform has its own validation capacity, which guarantees internal coherence of the information provided in the questionnaire. In addition, the Ministry of Health and the Autonomous Communities validate de information and incidences as needed.
Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (Registro de Actividad de Atención Sanitaria Especializada – RAE-CMBD): When the information received from the Autonomous Communities is loaded, the programme initially validates that the records comply with the correct format, detecting invalid values. When the data is transferred, it is validated that the information is coherent according to the variable’s fields.
Systematic Vaccination Statistics: Once the information is collected. summary tables are sent to the autonomous communities for validation before publishing them.
G.D. for Public Health and Health Equity (cancer screening programmes): Once the information is collected, summary tables are sent to the autonomous communities for validation. In the event of anomalous data, the Autonomous Community involved is directly contacted.
Imserso. Statistics on Benefits of the System for Autonomy and Dependency Care (SAAD): the program initially uses a data entry purification system to detect errors and inconsistencies.
Statistics on Social Services for the Elderly in Spain: the application initially validates that the records comply with the correct format, detecting invalid values. Automatic and manual debugging processes are then applied to each of the records, after prior communication with the affected autonomous community.
18.5. Data compilation
Labour Force Survey: processes applied to the initial data up to the production of disseminable aggregated data include data include: 1/ Data cleaning, as described in 18.4. 2/ Adjustment for non-response and calibration. 3/ Calculation and revision of elevation factors.
National Health Survey and European Health Interview Survey: processes applied to the initial data up to the production of disseminable aggregated data include data include: 1/ Data cleaning, as described in 18.4. 2/ Periodic comparisons of the sample pyramid with the population pyramid, in order to control the representativeness of the sample with respect to the variables of age and sex representativeness of the sample with respect to the age and sex variables. 3/ Control of socio-economic variables. 4/ Adjustment for non-response and calibration. 5/ Calculation and revision of elevation factors.
Register of Professionals Council: once the initial data is received, it is cleaned, as described in the 18.4, and the tables are prepared for publication.
Hospital Morbidity Survey: once all the information submitted by the different hospitals has been grouped in a single file, the following checks are carried out: duplicates; warning about ICD and age; automatic data cleansing and imputation procedure is executed; calculation and revision of elevation factors.
University Students’ Statistics: The data collected goes through a ETL process that clean and process the data as convenient. Some of the important variables may have to be impute based on statistics results.
Primary Care Information System (SIAP) Once the information is received and validated (18.4), a report is sent with the results to each reporting unit for final validation, prior to the publication of the data and preparation of reports.
Specialised Care Information System (SIAE): Data are collected and validated as indicated above. Information is aggregated regionally and in the case of physical resources it can also be aggregated by provinces, municipalities and even by health centers.
Systematic Vaccination Statistics: Inconsistent or striking data are highlighted on the summary tables sent to the autonomous communities, and the regions involved are asked to review them.
G.D. for Public Health and Health Equity (cancer screening programmes): Inconsistent or striking data are highlighted on the summary tables sent to the Autonomous Communities, and the regions involved are asked to review them.
Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (Registro de Actividad de Atención Sanitaria Especializada – RAE-CMBD): once all the information submitted by the different Autonomous Communities has been grouped in a data repository, the following checks are carried out: duplicates; warnings about ICD and age; automatic data cleansing and imputation procedure is executed; calculation and revision of elevation factors.
Imserso. Statistics on Benefits of the System for Autonomy and Dependency Care (SAAD) and Statistics on Social Services for the Elderly in Spain: the processes applied to the initial data up to the production of aggregate data that can be disclosed include: data cleaning, adjustment for non-response and imputation of data.
18.6. Adjustment
Labour Force Survey: seasonal adjustments: They started to be applied from the first quarter of 2013 for the series of employed and unemployed persons.
National Health Survey, European Health Interview Survey, Register of Professionals Council, Hospital Morbidity Survey and University Students’ Statistics: there are no adjustment.
Primary Care Information System (SIAP): there are no adjustments.
Specialised Care Information System (SIAE): Data on expenses and costs are adjusted according to the inflation, so they are published as actual cost (current money) and adjusted cost (constant money) using the IPC (Consumer Prices Index).
Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (Registro de Actividad de Atención Sanitaria Especializada – RAE-CMBD): no adjustment.
Imserso. Statistics on Benefits of the System for Autonomy and Dependency Care (SAAD) and Statistics on Social Services for the Elderly in Spain: there is no adjustment
Statistics on healthcare non-expenditure provide information on healthcare human resources, healthcare facilities, and healthcare utilisation.
The people active in the healthcare sector (doctors, dentists, nurses, etc.) and their status (graduates, practising, migration of doctors and nurses, etc.);
The available healthcare technical resources and facilities (hospital beds, beds in residential care facilities, medical technology, etc.);
The health activities or patient contacts undertaken (hospital discharges, surgical procedures, ambulatory care data, etc.).
Annual national and regional data are provided in absolute numbers or as a rate of a relevant population.
Data are based mainly on administrative records (see section 18.1 ‘Source data’ for more information).
10 March 2025
The healthcare non-expenditure statistics describe the public health sector from a non-monetary perspective. The statistics explain the number or rate of different healthcare resources, facilities and utilisations. A wide range of indicators are collected from a multitude of sources and therefore, details pertaining to individual variables are given in the Annex.
Definitions of mandatory variables are laid down in Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/2294.
National changes of statistical concepts and national definitions deviating from Regulation (EU) 2022/2294: see Annex at the bottom of the page.
Registered health professionals or health care facility categories.
All health care staff.
All available beds or equipment in hospitals or in nursing and residential care facilities.
All discharges or procedures performed in all hospitals.
Complete national territory
Calendar year.
Labour Force Survey, National Health Survey and European Health Interview Survey: they are all household surveys and therefore have sampling errors and non-sampling errors.
Register of Professionals Council: accuracy is very high, as the source of information is directly the Colleges or General Councils themselves, and there is no lack of response.
Hospital Morbidity Survey: the accuracy is very high due to the near completeness of the survey. 98% of all hospital discharges (and 90% of all hospitals) are collected.
University Students’ Statistics: The data comes from administrative data and is not a sample. 100% of response.
Primary Care Information System (SIAP), Specialised Care Information System (SIAE), Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (RAE-CMBD), Spanish Stem cell donation and transplantation activity (ONT),Systematic Vaccination Statistics: accuracy is very high, as the sources of information are directly administrative registries from Autonomous Communities Health Councils and Hospitals, and there is no lack of response.
G.D. for Public Health and Health Equity (cancer screening programmes): the precision is quite high, since the sources of information are directly the administrative records from the Autonomous Communities, although there is a lack of response in certain statistical variables.
Imserso. Statistics on Benefits of the System for Autonomy and Dependency Care (SAAD): the precision is very high, since the sources of information are directly the administrative records of the Autonomous Communities and there is no lack of response.
Imserso. Statistics on Social Services for the Elderly in Spain: the precision is quite high, since the sources of information are directly the administrative records of the Autonomous Communities, although there is a lack of response in certain statistical variables.
The unit is number.
Labour Force Survey: processes applied to the initial data up to the production of disseminable aggregated data include data include: 1/ Data cleaning, as described in 18.4. 2/ Adjustment for non-response and calibration. 3/ Calculation and revision of elevation factors.
National Health Survey and European Health Interview Survey: processes applied to the initial data up to the production of disseminable aggregated data include data include: 1/ Data cleaning, as described in 18.4. 2/ Periodic comparisons of the sample pyramid with the population pyramid, in order to control the representativeness of the sample with respect to the variables of age and sex representativeness of the sample with respect to the age and sex variables. 3/ Control of socio-economic variables. 4/ Adjustment for non-response and calibration. 5/ Calculation and revision of elevation factors.
Register of Professionals Council: once the initial data is received, it is cleaned, as described in the 18.4, and the tables are prepared for publication.
Hospital Morbidity Survey: once all the information submitted by the different hospitals has been grouped in a single file, the following checks are carried out: duplicates; warning about ICD and age; automatic data cleansing and imputation procedure is executed; calculation and revision of elevation factors.
University Students’ Statistics: The data collected goes through a ETL process that clean and process the data as convenient. Some of the important variables may have to be impute based on statistics results.
Primary Care Information System (SIAP) Once the information is received and validated (18.4), a report is sent with the results to each reporting unit for final validation, prior to the publication of the data and preparation of reports.
Specialised Care Information System (SIAE): Data are collected and validated as indicated above. Information is aggregated regionally and in the case of physical resources it can also be aggregated by provinces, municipalities and even by health centers.
Systematic Vaccination Statistics: Inconsistent or striking data are highlighted on the summary tables sent to the autonomous communities, and the regions involved are asked to review them.
G.D. for Public Health and Health Equity (cancer screening programmes): Inconsistent or striking data are highlighted on the summary tables sent to the Autonomous Communities, and the regions involved are asked to review them.
Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (Registro de Actividad de Atención Sanitaria Especializada – RAE-CMBD): once all the information submitted by the different Autonomous Communities has been grouped in a data repository, the following checks are carried out: duplicates; warnings about ICD and age; automatic data cleansing and imputation procedure is executed; calculation and revision of elevation factors.
Imserso. Statistics on Benefits of the System for Autonomy and Dependency Care (SAAD) and Statistics on Social Services for the Elderly in Spain: the processes applied to the initial data up to the production of aggregate data that can be disclosed include: data cleaning, adjustment for non-response and imputation of data.
Source data for the different variables are given in the Annex at the bottom of the page.
Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (Registro de Actividad de Atención Sanitaria Especializada – RAE-CMBD): Hospitals Centers send their data about Hospital Discharge Records to Autonomous Communities’ registry and then, Communities to central registry service (Ministry of Health).
Labour Force Survey (Encuesta de población Activa): quaterly.
Register of Professionals Council (Estadística de Profesionales Sanitarios Colegiados): yearly.
Hospital Morbidity Survey (Encuesta de Morbilidad Hospitalaria): yearly.
National Health Survey and European Health Interview Survey (Encuesta Nacional de Salud y Encuesta Europea de Salud): every three years.
University Students’ Statistics (Estadística de Estudiantes Universiatarios): yearly.
Primary Care Information System (Sistema de Información de Atención Primaria - SIAP): yearly.
Specialised Care Information System (Sistema de Información de Atención Especializada - SIAE): yearly.
Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (Registro de Actividad de Atención Sanitaria Especializada – RAE-CMBD): yearly.
Spanish Stem cell donation and transplantation activity. National Transplants Organisation (ONT): yearly.
Systematic Vaccination Statistics (Estadística de Vacunaciones Sistemáticas): semi-annual.
G. D. for Public Health and Health Equity (cancer screening programmes): yearly.
Imserso. Statistics on Benefits of the System for Autonomy and Dependency Care (SAAD): monthly.
Imserso. Statistics on Social Services for the Elderly in Spain: annual.
The timeliness of the different statistics are:
Labour Force Survey: between 23 and 30 days.
Register of Professionals Council: 6 months
Hospital Morbidity Survey: 15 months.
National Health Survey: 9 months.
European Health Interview Survey: 9 months.
University Students’ Statistics: The data collection starts in November and the dissemination is usually in April of the next year.
Primary Care Information System (SIAP): 6 months.
Specialised Care Information System (SIAE): Statistical data of one year collected during the following year, and published within 3 months from the end of collection.
Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (Registro de Actividad de Atención Sanitaria Especializada – RAE-CMBD) data upload: 3-6 months.
Imserso. Statistics on Benefits of the System for Autonomy and Dependency Care (SAAD): between 5 and 10 days.
Spanish Stem cell donation and transplantation activity (ONT): between 2 (provisional) and 4 months (final).
Systematic Vaccination Statistics: 6 months (provisional) and 11-12 months (final).
G.D. for Public Health and Health Equity (cancer screening programmes): 11-12 months.
Imserso. Statistics on Social Services for the Elderly in Spain: between 15 days and one month.
Labour Force Survey, National Health Survey, European Health Interview Survey and Hospital Morbidity Survey: the same criteria in the definition of the variables and the use of the International Classifications makes them comparable with the rest of the countries of the European Union. A common process of collection, filtering, editing and elevation in the entire national geographical scope, guarantees the comparability of the results between the different Autonomous Communities and cities.
Register of Professionals Council: A common process of collection, filtering, editing and elevation in the entire national geographical scope, guarantees the comparability of the results between the different Autonomous Communities and cities.
University Students’ Statistics: The geographical break down is for Autonomous Communities and provinces.
Primary Care Information System (SIAP) A common process of collection, filtering, editing and elevation throughout the national geographic area, guarantees the comparability of the results between the different Autonomous Communities, provinces and health areas.
Specialised Care Information System (SIAE): the same criteria in the definition of the variables and the use of the International Classifications makes them comparable with the rest of the countries of the European Union. A common process of collection, filtering, editing and elevation in the entire national geographical scope, guarantees the comparability of the results between the different Autonomous Communities and cities.
Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (Registro de Actividad de Atención Sanitaria Especializada – RAE-CMBD): The variables collected are regulated by Royal Decree 69/2015. A common process of collection, filtering, editing and elevation throughout the national geographic area guarantees the comparability of the results between the different autonomous communities and cities. The diagnoses are collected according to the usual International Classifications (ICD10), so that they are comparable with the rest of the countries of the European Union.
Spanish Stem cell donation and transplantation activity (ONT): the same criteria in the definition of the variables and the use of the International Classifications makes them comparable with the rest of the countries of the European Union. A common process of collection, filtering, editing and elevation in the entire national geographical scope, guarantees the comparability of the results between the different Autonomous Communities and cities.
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Survey (ONT): A common process of collection, filtering, editing and elevation in the entire national geographical scope ensure comparability of data between different Stem cell Transplant Centres and Autonomous Communities. National data are compared with the European Bone Marrow Transplant Survey published by the European Blood and Marrow Transplant Society (EBMT).
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Donation Survey and Donor Registry activity (ONT): A common process of collection, filtering, editing and elevation in the entire national geographical scope ensure comparability of data between different Stem cell Transplant Centres and Autonomous Communities. Data are compared between Autonomous Communities and with European and worldwide Registries through the World Marrow Donor Association
Systematic Vaccination Statistics: Standardized application form for all Autonomous Communities, but they use different sources to get the requested data.
G.D. for Public Health and Health Equity (cancer screening programmes): Standardized application form for all Autonomous Communities, but each region uses its sources and methods and has its own criteria for who constitutes the eligible population.
Imserso. Statistics on Benefits of the System for Autonomy and Dependency Care (SAAD) and Statistics on Social Services aimed at the Elderly in Spain: common process of collection, filtering, editing and elevation throughout the national geographic area, guarantees the comparability of the results between the different Autonomous Communities and cities.
See Annex at the bottom of the page for potential breaks in time series for each variable.
Registry of Specialised Care Activity Minimum Basic Data Set (Registro de Actividad de Atención Sanitaria Especializada – RAE-CMBD): Potential breaks in time series are mainly due to changes in the coding of diseases (ICD10) or exceptional situations such as the pandemic caused by COVID19.
