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
1.2. Contact organisation unit
Eurostat, C1, National accounts methodology. Indicators
1.3. Contact name
Restricted from publication
1.4. Contact person function
Restricted from publication
1.5. Contact mail address
Office address: Joseph Bech building 5, Rue Alphonse Weicker 2721 Luxembourg
Functional mail box:ESTAT-MIP@ec.europa.eu
1.6. Contact email address
Restricted from publication
1.7. Contact phone number
Restricted from publication
1.8. Contact fax number
Restricted from publication
2.1. Metadata last certified
21 January 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
21 January 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
21 January 2025
3.1. Data description
The MIP scoreboard indicator is Labour force participation rate - % of total population aged 15-64 (3 year change in pp).
The indicator Labour force participation rate is based on the quarterly EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) results. The survey covers the resident population in private households.
3.2. Classification system
The EU-LFS indicators are produced in accordance with the relevant international classification systems. The main classifications used are ISCED 1997 and ISCED 2011 (from 2014) for educational attainment.
The MIP scoreboard indicator is the 3 year change expressed in percentage points of the Labour force participation rate (% of total population aged 15-64). The indicative threshold is -0.2 pp.
The labour force participation rate is the percentage of economically active population aged 15-64 years in the total population of the same age group. According to the definitions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for the labour market statistics purposes persons are classified as employed, unemployed and economically inactive. The economically active population (also called labour force) is the sum of employed and unemployed persons. Inactive persons are those who, during the reference week, were neither employed nor unemployed. Definitions and other survey characteristics follow the definitions and recommendations of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), they are further specified in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1897/2000.
EU-LFS results cover the total population usually residing in Member States, except for persons living in collective or institutional households. While demographic data are gathered for all age groups, questions relating to labour market status are restricted to persons in the age group of 15 years or older. For more details and exceptions, please consult theEU Labour Force Survey (Statistics Explained) - Methodology.
3.7. Reference area
The MIP scoreboard presents data for each EU Member State, as well as euro area (EA) and the European Union as a whole.
Data for Cyprus refer only to the areas of Cyprus controlled by the Government of the Republic of Cyprus. Data for France include the overseas departments and regions (DROMs).
3.8. Coverage - Time
The lengths of series vary according to country, details on data availability are accessible under this link: tipslm60.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Labour force participation rates are expressed in percentage and 3 year percentage point change. The MIP headline indicator is the Labour force participation rate – 3 year percentage point change.
The EU-LFS is designed as a continuous quarterly survey with interviews spread uniformly over all weeks of a quarter. The reference week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday. From 2004, in all countries providing quarterly data, the quarterly sample is spread uniformly over all weeks of the quarter.
The reference quarter is the calendar quarter except for Ireland and the United Kingdom (until 2006), which use the seasonal quarter (Dec-Feb, Mar-May, Jun-Aug, Sep-Nov).
Annual results are calculated averaging quarterly data.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Regulation 2015/759 of 29 April 2015, amending Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics of 11 March 2009 [recital 24 and article 20(4)], stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and access to those data.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
EU-LFS microdata as received by Eurostat from the national statistical institutes do not contain any administrative information such as names or addresses that would allow direct identification. Access to this microdata is nevertheless strictly controlled and limited to specified Eurostat staff. After data treatment, records are aggregated for all further use.
8.1. Release calendar
EU-LFS main indicators data are released according to a quarterly release calendar, the precise release date is disseminated in the EU LFS dedicated web section. Annual results are released at the same time as the fourth quarter results.
8.2. Release calendar access
A release calendar for MIP scoreboard indicators is not available. The precise release date for the source LFS data is available in the EU LFS dedicated web section.
8.3. Release policy - user access
The MIP Regulation stipulates that “the Commission shall make the set of indicators and the thresholds in the scoreboard public” (Art. 4, para. 6, Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 of 16 November 2011 on the prevention and correction of macroeconomic imbalances) and that “the Commission shall update the values for the indicators on the scoreboard at least on an annual basis” (Art. 4, para. 8).
In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see §10 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.
The MIP related indicators are updated and released in accordance to the dissemination of the underlying statistics.
The indicators are part of the MIP Scoreboard used to identify emerging or persistent macroeconomic imbalances in EU countries. The Scoreboard is part of an annual exercise, where the first step is the compilation of an Alert Mechanism Report (AMR).
Eurostat's mission is to provide the European Union with a high-quality statistical information service - see Eurostat quality framework. Additional publications on the methodology and quality reports of the EU-LFS are published on Eurostat website.
Moreover, the statistics underlying the Scoreboard indicators are subject to a specific quality assurance framework developed within the MIP context.
11.1. Quality assurance
The quality of the EU-LFS is of major importance to achieve comparable EU results. An important element assuring the quality of the EU-LFS are the regulations on the organisation of the EU-LFS in the European Community. They stipulate the rules and guidelines to assure the comparability of the results by regulating the survey designs, the survey characteristics, methods and the decision making processes of the EU-LFS. Major milestones for the comparability and quality of the EU-LFS were the adoption of Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 of 9 March 1998 on the organisation of a continuous, quarterly sample survey in the Community; the adoption of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1897/2000 of 7 September 2000 concerning the operational definition of unemployment and the 12 principles for formulating questions on labour status; the adoption of Regulation (EC) No 1991/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 October 2002 making the continuous survey mandatory from 2003 onwards; the adoption of Regulation (EC) No 2257/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2003 extending the survey characteristics and introducing the distinction between structural and quarterly variables.
The EU-LFS is based on European legislation since 1973. The principal legal act is the Council Regulation (EC) No. 577/98. The implementation rules are specified in the successive Commission regulations.
EU-LFS statistics have overall high quality. National LFS surveys are considered as reliable sources applying high standards with regard to the methodology. However, the EU-LFS, like any survey, is based upon a sample of the population. The results are therefore subject to the usual types of errors associated with random sampling. Based on the sample size and design in the various Member States, Eurostat implements basic guidelines intended to avoid publication of figures that are unreliable or to give warning of the unreliability of the figures.
For a detailed description of the methods and concepts used, as well as for other documents related to the EU-LFS, please consult the EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) webpage.
The quality assurance framework for the Macroeconomic imbalance procedure (MIP) follows a three-level structure:
The first level assesses the reliability and comparability of MIP underlying statistics and addresses relevant quality issues; it also enhances the communication on quality assurance of MIP statistics towards the European Parliament and Council, policy makers and the public at large. This level draws on the information gathered in levels two and three (see below).
The second level consists of domain-specific quality reports produced by Eurostat and the ECB summarising the main findings for the euro area or the EU Member States. Reports assess the underlying compilation process and its robustness, describe its legal basis and evaluate whether the statistics are in line with international statistical standards.
The third level consists of national quality reports (self-assessments) produced by the institution compiling the national statistics. Most of these reports are voluntarily published by Members States on the CMFB’s website and their availability depends upon the statistical domain.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The indicator Labour force participation rate is one of the headline indicators of the MIP Scoreboard. The MIP Scoreboard is used as an early warning system in the context of macroeconomic surveillance of the EU Member states. The MIP Scoreboard consists of a set of thirteen indicators, covering the major sources of macroeconomic imbalances. The aim of the scoreboard is to trigger in-depth studies, which will do analyses to determine whether the potential imbalances identified in the early-warning system are benign or problematic.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Not applicable.
12.3. Completeness
The lengths of the time series vary from country to country, and are related to the date of implementation of EU-LFS rules (a national LFS not compliant with EU-LFS rules may have existed previously, e.g. previous to EU accession). However, the time series are complete from the moment they start.
The Introduction part of the Statistical Annex of each Alert mechanism report provides detailed information on data completeness.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
The overall accuracy is considered as high. The LFS covers persons living in private households to ensure a comparable coverage for all countries. Sampling designs in the LFS are chosen on a country by country basis. Most National Statistical Institutes employ multi-staged stratified random sample design, especially when central population registers are not available.
Regardless of the sampling method or which age groups are interviewed, data records at Eurostat are representative for the population aged 15-64 (16-74 in Italy and Spain).
As results are based on a population sample, they are subject to the usual types of errors associated with sampling techniques and interviews. Sampling errors, non-sampling errors, measurement errors, processing errors and non-response are calculated for each country and documented in the Quality Report of the European Union Labour Force Survey (see section 10.6). Subject to Eurostat's quality screening, figures on employment fulfill Eurostat's requirements concerning reliability.
13.2. Sampling error
Participating countries provide Eurostat with an estimate of the relative standard error of the following characteristics: rate of unemployment and youth unemployment rate. These relative standard errors can also be expressed as confidence limits, i.e. the range of values that 95% of times would capture the true value in the population. It is also relatively straightforward to provide similar statistics on the aggregate level. Estimates and confidence limits are calculated for each country and documented in the Quality Report of the EU-LFS.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Coverage errors Non-existent or uninhabited houses or population no longer living in the country are main causes of over-coverage, especially for countries that use a Census list. Under-coverage problems are caused by the time lag in registering new residents or newly constructed dwellings. Field work problems during the survey may also occur with multiple households that are recorded as one household in the framing list or the opposite. Coverage errors (under-coverage, over-coverage, misclassification) are documented for each country in the Quality Report of the EU-LFS. Measurement errors No estimates of measurement errors are available. However, the number of proxy interviews, the average number of interviews per interviewer and statistics on last updates of the questionnaire, are all related to the error sources listed above. Processing errors Between data collection and the beginning of statistical analysis for the production of statistics, data must undergo a certain processing: coding, data entry, data editing, imputation, etc. There are no estimates available on the rate of processing errors in the EU-LFS. Non-response errors
Most of countries calculate non-response on the basis of the household unit, except Denmark, Estonia, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, which compute non-response at the level of individuals. For more details please consult Quality reports on LFS.
14.1. Timeliness
A common Council regulation ((EC) No 577/98) establishes timeliness of data transmissions from National Statistical Institutes to Eurostat. This timeliness is 12 weeks after the end of the reference period, and it determines the release of data to users.
14.2. Punctuality
Not available.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Comparability across countries is considered to be high. This is achieved through various regulations ensuring the harmonisation of concepts, definitions and methodologies for all EU Member States. However, perfect comparability among countries is difficult to achieve, even by using a single direct survey, i.e. a survey carried out at the same time, using the same questionnaire and a single method of recording.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Although improvements in time have brought some time series breaks, the comparability of the main indicators is high.
Information on data, breaks in series, flags, are provided in the footnotes published under each data table.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Integration of EU-LFS results with other data sources improves coherence across domains.
Labour Force Survey (LFS) Labour force participation rate indicators and National Accounts (NA) Employment indicators
LFS and NA are the two main sources of employment data, both with their own aims and measurement approaches, which may lead to different results.
The LFS is a sample survey of individuals and households, whereas National Accounts is a conceptual framework (specified in the European System of Accounts - ESA2010) comprising definitions, classifications, variables and presentational arrangements. National Accounts are compiled by comparing and combining all the relevant data sources available in the country. This is a key feature of National Accounts: it allows taking the best from each source, increasing coherence and obtaining a more comprehensive result. For the variable employment, this means more robust estimates and improved consistency with other key national accounts variables like salaries and output. The National Accounts integration is however done at macro level, meaning that the results are produced for the whole economy plus industry breakdowns. Certain breakdowns like gender and age, which are available for the LFS are not available from National Accounts. Likewise, key concepts used in National Accounts, such as domestic employment (employment in resident production units), have no correspondence in the EU-LFS, which uses instead number of persons employed based on residency within the national border (national employment). There are also differences in coverage, where the EU-LFS employment covers the age groups 15 and older in private households only, while the national accounts employment covers all persons regardless of age or residence.
All in all, National Accounts is judged more suitable to measure employment levels, employment growth and industry breakdowns. LFS is more adequate to measure participation in the labour market (i.e. employment rates, labour force participation rates, flows between employment and unemployment, etc.), demographic or social breakdowns (e.g. by age, gender or educational level) and it is more suitable for socio-demographic studies. A comparison between EU-LFS and national accounts data on employment growth shows that both sources are broadly comparable with relation to the direction of the employment growth.
15.4. Coherence - internal
'LFS main indicators' estimates have full internal coherence, as they are all based on the same corpus of microdata and they are calculated using the same estimation methods. Arithmetic and accounting identities in the production of LFS datasets are observed.
Annual results are calculated as average of quarterly results, and they are hence fully consistent.
Not applicable.
17.1. Data revision - policy
All data disseminated consist of data already disseminated in Eurobase by the following domains:
The revision policy is therefore effectively the revision policy of those domains.
17.2. Data revision - practice
The revision practice effectively corresponds to the revision practice of the domains listed under sub‑concept 17.1 (data revision – policy).
18.1. Source data
The quarterly EU Labour Force Survey is the main source of the data. In case of missing quarterly data, annual results and EU aggregates are estimated by using adjusted quarterly national labour force survey data or interpolations of EU Labour Force Survey data with reference to the available quarter(s).
The EU-LFS is a random sample survey of persons in private households. The sampling units are dwellings, households or individuals depending on the sampling frame. Different schemes are used to sample the units, ranging from the simple random sampling method to complex stratified multi-stage sampling methods of clusters. Most countries use a variant of the two-stage stratified random sampling of household units.
Participation in the survey is compulsory in Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, Austria, Portugal, Slovakia.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Quarterly.
18.3. Data collection
The EU-LFS data collection is carried out through mainly four modes: personal visits, telephone interviews, web interviews and self-administered questionnaires. About half of the participating countries conduct the first interview always or mainly via CAPI while in subsequent waves the interviews are performed by CATI, if a telephone contact is available.
Most countries conduct the interview only with computerized questionnaires. Seven use both computerized and paper questionnaires and three countries rely solely on paper questionnaires.
Prior to the dissemination of national data, LFS results are validated by Member States.
18.5. Data compilation
Rates/Ratios are subsequently calculated from the data expressed in absolute values (i.e. number of persons). For data expressed in absolute values for each quarter (i.e. number of persons) no weighting is used; aggregate figures are calculated by adding up all national data series.
18.6. Adjustment
Since early 2000's, the survey has a quarterly periodicity, previously it was an annual survey run in spring. Since the survey became quarterly, it includes both quarterly variables and annual variables (i.e. collected only once a year).
Annual results are derived from the populations obtained at the annual level. Annual averages of the quarterly data are produced as simple averages of the quarterly populations.
For the period when the survey was run annually in spring, annual averages were calculated as follows: first, the spring quarter was used in combination with a simple regression model to estimate the missing quarters; then the annual averages were calculated from these quarterly estimates.
Interpolations for quarterly missing country data are flagged accordingly and published, and used for the compilation of annual averages. Seasonal adjustment is performed indirectly, i.e. on the lowest available breakdown, and higher aggregates are derived from these series. Models are estimated once a year, while parameters are re-estimated with the inclusion of each quarterly data point.
The EU-LFS, like all surveys, is based upon a sample of the population. Results are therefore subject to the usual types of errors associated with random sampling. Based on sample size and design in the various Member States, Eurostat implements basic guidelines intended to avoid publication of figures that are too small to be reliable or to give warning of the unreliability of the figures.
employ_esms - Employment and unemployment (Labour force survey)
lfsq_esms - LFS series - detailed quarterly survey results (from 1998 onwards)
The MIP scoreboard indicator is Labour force participation rate - % of total population aged 15-64 (3 year change in pp).
The indicator Labour force participation rate is based on the quarterly EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) results. The survey covers the resident population in private households.
21 January 2025
The MIP scoreboard indicator is the 3 year change expressed in percentage points of the Labour force participation rate (% of total population aged 15-64). The indicative threshold is -0.2 pp.
The labour force participation rate is the percentage of economically active population aged 15-64 years in the total population of the same age group. According to the definitions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for the labour market statistics purposes persons are classified as employed, unemployed and economically inactive. The economically active population (also called labour force) is the sum of employed and unemployed persons. Inactive persons are those who, during the reference week, were neither employed nor unemployed. Definitions and other survey characteristics follow the definitions and recommendations of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), they are further specified in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1897/2000.
EU-LFS results cover the total population usually residing in Member States, except for persons living in collective or institutional households. While demographic data are gathered for all age groups, questions relating to labour market status are restricted to persons in the age group of 15 years or older. For more details and exceptions, please consult theEU Labour Force Survey (Statistics Explained) - Methodology.
The MIP scoreboard presents data for each EU Member State, as well as euro area (EA) and the European Union as a whole.
Data for Cyprus refer only to the areas of Cyprus controlled by the Government of the Republic of Cyprus. Data for France include the overseas departments and regions (DROMs).
The EU-LFS is designed as a continuous quarterly survey with interviews spread uniformly over all weeks of a quarter. The reference week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday. From 2004, in all countries providing quarterly data, the quarterly sample is spread uniformly over all weeks of the quarter.
The reference quarter is the calendar quarter except for Ireland and the United Kingdom (until 2006), which use the seasonal quarter (Dec-Feb, Mar-May, Jun-Aug, Sep-Nov).
Annual results are calculated averaging quarterly data.
The overall accuracy is considered as high. The LFS covers persons living in private households to ensure a comparable coverage for all countries. Sampling designs in the LFS are chosen on a country by country basis. Most National Statistical Institutes employ multi-staged stratified random sample design, especially when central population registers are not available.
Regardless of the sampling method or which age groups are interviewed, data records at Eurostat are representative for the population aged 15-64 (16-74 in Italy and Spain).
As results are based on a population sample, they are subject to the usual types of errors associated with sampling techniques and interviews. Sampling errors, non-sampling errors, measurement errors, processing errors and non-response are calculated for each country and documented in the Quality Report of the European Union Labour Force Survey (see section 10.6). Subject to Eurostat's quality screening, figures on employment fulfill Eurostat's requirements concerning reliability.
Labour force participation rates are expressed in percentage and 3 year percentage point change. The MIP headline indicator is the Labour force participation rate – 3 year percentage point change.
Rates/Ratios are subsequently calculated from the data expressed in absolute values (i.e. number of persons). For data expressed in absolute values for each quarter (i.e. number of persons) no weighting is used; aggregate figures are calculated by adding up all national data series.
The quarterly EU Labour Force Survey is the main source of the data. In case of missing quarterly data, annual results and EU aggregates are estimated by using adjusted quarterly national labour force survey data or interpolations of EU Labour Force Survey data with reference to the available quarter(s).
The EU-LFS is a random sample survey of persons in private households. The sampling units are dwellings, households or individuals depending on the sampling frame. Different schemes are used to sample the units, ranging from the simple random sampling method to complex stratified multi-stage sampling methods of clusters. Most countries use a variant of the two-stage stratified random sampling of household units.
Participation in the survey is compulsory in Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, Austria, Portugal, Slovakia.
The MIP related indicators are updated and released in accordance to the dissemination of the underlying statistics.
A common Council regulation ((EC) No 577/98) establishes timeliness of data transmissions from National Statistical Institutes to Eurostat. This timeliness is 12 weeks after the end of the reference period, and it determines the release of data to users.
Comparability across countries is considered to be high. This is achieved through various regulations ensuring the harmonisation of concepts, definitions and methodologies for all EU Member States. However, perfect comparability among countries is difficult to achieve, even by using a single direct survey, i.e. a survey carried out at the same time, using the same questionnaire and a single method of recording.
Although improvements in time have brought some time series breaks, the comparability of the main indicators is high.
Information on data, breaks in series, flags, are provided in the footnotes published under each data table.
