Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
The Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic (SO SR)
1.2. Contact organisation unit
Dissemination and Communication Directorate
Product Portfolio and Communication Department
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
Lamačská cesta 3/C
840 05 Bratislava 45
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
28 September 2021
2.2. Metadata last posted
28 September 2021
2.3. Metadata last update
28 September 2021
3.1. Data description
The main aim is the collection of comparable quantitative data on the quality of life in European cities providing information on the dynamics within the cities and with their surroundings.
The list of variables is defined for the project. Indicators are derived from variables. Data has been collected on four spatial levels:
City (C), the basic level
Functional Urban Area (FUA), consists of the city and its commuting zone (formerly known as Larger Urban Zone - LUZ)
Greater City (K), the case, the urban centre stretches far beyond its boundaries (formerly known as Kernel)
Sub-City District (SCD), a subdivision of the city according to population criteria
3.2. Classification system
Specific classification and coding systems have been developed for the spatial units and for the variables and indicators.
Classification system for the spatial units
The city code consists of:
CC 2-digit country code
CCxxx 3-digit city code
CCxxxC for City
CCxxxK for Greater City
CCxxxL for Functional Urban Area
CCxxxDzz for Sub-city district level 1
CCxxxDzzyyy for Sub-city district level 2
Each Sub-City district has the city code plus a unique number afterwards to identify the individual Sub-City District within the city. Some cities have 2 sub-city levels. For this reason, 5 extra positions are used for sub-cities. The total length of the sub-city code is 11 characters.
Classification for the spatial units in Slovakia - example
Spatial unit
Code
Name
Country
SK
Slovakia
FUA
SK001L1
Bratislavský kraj
City
SK001C1
Bratislava
SCD1
SK001D01
Bratislava I
SCD2
SK001D01001
Staré mesto 1
Classification system for the UA variables
Variables are the raw data collected by the national statistical offices .
Example:
DE1040V Population on the 1st January,0-4 years, total
Domain code DE
Number of variable DE1040
V (for variable) DE1040V
Classification system for the UA indicators
The variable data serves as the raw data for the calculation of the indicators. Indicators are labelled in a similar way to variables, except that the names end with an I to identify them as indicators.
Example:
DE1040I Proportion of population aged 0-4 years
Domain code DE
Number of variable DE1040
I (for indicator) DE1040I
3.3. Coverage - sector
Indicators and variables cover several aspects of quality of life, as follows demographic statistics, social conditions, economic aspects, education and training statistics qualifications, environmental statistics, transport and travel patterns, and culture and recreation, tourism statistics.
Selected variables are collected centrally by Eurostat.
The complete list of indicators and variables is available online, in the City Statistics Manual.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
Detailed information on concepts and definitions used in the project are available in the City Statistics Manual.
Information on deviating concepts and definitions used for some variables, see Part 18 Statistical processing.
3.5. Statistical unit
Cities represent the basic level of data collection.
Criteria for the selection of cities:
cities in each country should represent about 20% of the population in that country
geographical distribution within the country (peripheral, central)
coverage should include cities with more than 50.000 inhabitants
data comparability
data availability
3.6. Statistical population
For Slovakia, in total 8 regional capitals are included in the project. Four cities (Bratislava, Košice, Banská Bystrica, Nitra) are involved in the project since 2003. Other four cities (Prešov, Žilina, Trnava, Trenčín) were added in the list of cities in 2006.
3.7. Reference area
All eight cities are regional capitals of NUTS 3 regions.
FUA of the capital Bratislava copies the boundaries of the NUTS 3 region, FUAs for other seven cities are defined at the district level (LAU 1 level). Districts are maintained as statistical units, the data availability is higher.
Spatial units of Slovak cities in the project
City
City code
FUA code
SCD
level 1
level 2
Bratislava
SK001C1
SK001L1
5
20
Košice
SK002C1
SK002L1
4
11
Banská Bystrica
SK003C1
SK003L1
-
3
Nitra
SK004C1
SK004L1
-
5
Prešov
SK005C1
SK005L1
-
6
Žilina
SK006C1
SK006L1
-
5
Trnava
SK007C1
SK007L1
-
5
Trenčín
SK008C1
SK008L1
-
4
Total
8
8
9
59
3.8. Coverage - Time
Data are available since 2001 to 2019 (by reference years of collection rounds).
For some variables, historical data were provided for reference years 1991 and 1996.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
The unit of measurement is included in the label.
Reference years for the main data collections: 2001, 2004, 2008, 2011
Reference years for the "historical" data collection: 1991, 1996
Selected variables have been collected on annual bases for the period 2005-2012.
Since 2012 data are collected on annual basis.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
All data supply of city statistics is based on a voluntary agreement, as there is no Community legislation yet on this topic http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Not applicable.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.
Act on State statistics No. 540/2001 as amended – the national act regulating conditions for collecting statistical data and statistical information necessary for the assessment of the socio-economic development, position and competencies of the bodies gathering State statistics, the tasks of the public authorities in the field of State statistics, the rights and duties of reporting units, the protection of confidential statistical data against misuse, the provision and disclosure of statistical data, the ensuring of the comparability of statistical information and the fulfilment of commitments arising from international treaties in the field of State statistics binding for the Slovak Republic.
Detailed information on concepts and definitions used in the project are available in the City Statistics Manual.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
Not available.
11.1. Quality assurance
Detailed information on concepts and definitions used in the project are available in the City Statistics Manual.
Information on deviating concepts and definitions used for some variables in Slovakia see item 18 Statistical processing.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Quality is assessed on a regular basis. The assessment is summarized in final reports.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The collection of quantitative data on the quality of life in European cities.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Not available.
12.3. Completeness
Availability of data differs among domains.
Most variables are available at city level. Selected variables were compiled only for two cities, the capital Bratislava and Košice. Due to special administrative breakdown two biggest Slovak cities have higher data availability compared to other 6 smaller regional cities.
In some domains data only for selected variables were available: Housing, Education qualification, Travel patterns.
Domains with data not available
Household structure, Labour market, Income disparities and Poverty
Data for these domains are available from sample surveys, not designed for the municipal level. For surveys, the NUTS 3 level is the lowest available regional level.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Not applicable.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
Depends on the domain and individual variables. As a general rule, timeliness is about 24 months.
14.2. Punctuality
Timetable is planned for every collection round. In some cases a time lag between the actual delivery of the data and the target date when it should have been delivered can occur.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
The main aim is to achieve as highest data comparability as possible.
There were no changes in the spatial units for Slovak cities since the beginning of the project, the spatial comparability of city data is ensured.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Most data are comparable over time. Where the comparability is not ensured, flags and notes are added in the data file.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Data collected at the sub-national level are coherent with the data collected at the national level.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Internal coherence (e.g. between spatial levels, between indicators such as total, male, female population) is ensured through the application of validation controls.
The data collection is mostly based on data available in the statistical surveys of the SO SR. A small amount of data is requested from ministries and administrative sources, mainly citiy authorities and other organizations.
17.1. Data revision - policy
Preliminary data is published in some domains: health data (deaths by diseases), registers data. Definitive data are stored in the database, once they are available.
17.2. Data revision - practice
Data revision is made in case of availability of definitive data for domains with preliminary data. In case of detected errors, data is validated and transmitted to the database.
In case of data revisions due to better data sources or methodology, data are sent to database with the information about the revision.
18.1. Source data
Data collected by the SO SR statistical surveys are the main datasource. Some variables are collected only from the censuses; some of them were obtained from sample surveys. Some variables are estimated.
Other data sources:
Ministry of Interior, Presidium of the Police Force (data on crime, private cars)
Ministry of Culture of the SR, National Culture Centre (data on culture)
Ministry of Health of the SR, National Health Information Centre (data on causes of deaths)
Slovak National Association of Real Estate Agencies (housing prices until 2018)
Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Authority of the Slovak Republic (housing prices since 2019)
Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the SR, Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information (data on education)
Water Management Research Institute, regional water-supply system companies (data on water)
regional public health authorities (data on swimming pools)
city transport companies (data on transport)
city authorities
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Data is collected annually, but selected variables are available only in census years.
18.3. Data collection
Variables are compiled from the statistical surveys of the SO SR, ministries, city authorities and administrative sources. Some data has been estimated.
The collection process starts with the review of definitions and methodology, defining all deviated definitions compared to the City Statistics Manual.
18.4. Data validation
All data are checked internally.
18.5. Data compilation
The overview of compiled data by domains, including deviating definitions:
Demography and nationality
Subdomains fully covered with available data at all required levels, data provided from demographic statistics.
Until 2010, population data is on 31 December.
The 2011 data are from the population census (on 21 May).
Since 2012 population on 1 January (data on 31 December stored as 1 January data the following year).
In line with population data the variable median age and nationality variables are also provided on 1 January.
Household structure
Data are collected from the census. The recommended data source, labour force sample survey, is not used because of the low reliability sample at the city level.
Housing
Subdomain partly covered with available data.
Housing prices until the year 2018 were provided from the Slovak price map compiled by the Slovak National Association of Real Estate Agencies. Only data on all FUAs and for two cities Bratislava and Košice were provided. There was definition deviation - average price for buying a house or apartment per m2. Data coverage was not exhaustive, not all transactions are included, only transactions realized by entities associated in the Slovak National Association of Real Estate Agencies, that is the reason of volatility of data.
In 2021, the SO SR launched to use a new data source, the database of the Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Authority of the Slovak Republic in the calculation of price indices. The database contains real estate prices from all transactions in the given quarter. Realization price indices of residential real estate are calculated on a quarterly basis, broken down into new and existing real estate. Data since 2019 are available for all cities.
Number of conventional dwellings - 2011 data are from the population census (on 21 May 2011). The census data is the basis and is balanced yearly by the statistical data from the reporting of building authorities on decreases and increases of the number of dwellings for the reference year.
Health
Subdomain fully covered, data provided from the demographic statistics.
Crime
Subdomain fully covered, data provided from the regional directorates of the Presidium of the Police Force.
Labour Market
Data not available at the city level. The lowest level is NUTS 3 level. The LFS survey is not used because of the low reliability sample at the city level. LFS data available only for FUA of the capital Bratislava and the national level.
Economic Activity
Subdomains fully covered with available data at all required levels for selected years. In 2011 economic activity variables were compiled from the census. Since 2016 a business register was used for estimation of all variables in the subdomain. Definitive data from the register are with a yearly delay, due to that provisional data are used (flagged in the database).
Income disparities and Poverty
Data not available at the city level. The lowest level is NUTS 3 level. The EU SILC survey data is available only for FUA of capital Bratislava and national level.
Education and Training Provision
Subdomain partly covered with available data.
Early leavers are provided from the LFS survey, available in the database since 2012 at the national level and for the FUA of the capital Bratislava.
Children aged 0-4 in day care, data provided from the Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information.
Definition deviation - data provided include all children only in those day care institutions (public, church or private) under the administration of the Ministry of Education of the SR. Data is surveyed at the beginning of the given school year, not as an average of the whole school year.
Educational qualification
Data on educational structure of the population is surveyed only from the census.
Water and waste management
Subdomain fully covered with available data at all required levels. Data on total use of water is provided from the Water Management Research Institute and the average prices from the regional water-supply system companies.
Municipal waste data is provided from the statistical surveys of the SO SR.
Travel and Transport
Subdomain partly covered. Data on registered private cars are provided by the Presidium of the Police Force of the SR. Data up to 2004 is reported as of 31 December, since 2006 data is on 1 January of the reference year. National data up to 2010 included all passenger cars (marked with flag “D”), since 2011 indicator includes only registered private cars.
Deaths in road accidents, data provided from the Presidium of the Police Force. There is the definitiondeviation - persons who died in the place of accident or when being transported to hospital, or within the 24 hours after the accident. All other persons are registered as seriously injured persons. Police data is not complemented by the hospital data.
Cost of taxi ride – data is provided form the statistics of consumption prices of the SO SR.
Culture and Recreation
Subdomain fully covered, provided by the Ministry of Culture. Data on the number of seats in cinemas exclude the seats of summer/open air cinemas.
Data on the number of museum visitors up to 2014 represented visitors of all expositions in the city, including those who visited city exposition operated abroad. Due to methodological change data since 2015 are in line with the definition in the manual.
Tourism
Subdomain fully covered, data provided form the statistical surveys of the SO SR. City data up to 2011 were provided without campsites, at national level up to 2012. Since 2012 data is harmonized by the manual definitions.
18.6. Adjustment
Not available.
Not applicable.
The main aim is the collection of comparable quantitative data on the quality of life in European cities providing information on the dynamics within the cities and with their surroundings.
The list of variables is defined for the project. Indicators are derived from variables. Data has been collected on four spatial levels:
City (C), the basic level
Functional Urban Area (FUA), consists of the city and its commuting zone (formerly known as Larger Urban Zone - LUZ)
Greater City (K), the case, the urban centre stretches far beyond its boundaries (formerly known as Kernel)
Sub-City District (SCD), a subdivision of the city according to population criteria
28 September 2021
Detailed information on concepts and definitions used in the project are available in the City Statistics Manual.
Information on deviating concepts and definitions used for some variables, see Part 18 Statistical processing.
Cities represent the basic level of data collection.
Criteria for the selection of cities:
cities in each country should represent about 20% of the population in that country
geographical distribution within the country (peripheral, central)
coverage should include cities with more than 50.000 inhabitants
data comparability
data availability
For Slovakia, in total 8 regional capitals are included in the project. Four cities (Bratislava, Košice, Banská Bystrica, Nitra) are involved in the project since 2003. Other four cities (Prešov, Žilina, Trnava, Trenčín) were added in the list of cities in 2006.
All eight cities are regional capitals of NUTS 3 regions.
FUA of the capital Bratislava copies the boundaries of the NUTS 3 region, FUAs for other seven cities are defined at the district level (LAU 1 level). Districts are maintained as statistical units, the data availability is higher.
Spatial units of Slovak cities in the project
City
City code
FUA code
SCD
level 1
level 2
Bratislava
SK001C1
SK001L1
5
20
Košice
SK002C1
SK002L1
4
11
Banská Bystrica
SK003C1
SK003L1
-
3
Nitra
SK004C1
SK004L1
-
5
Prešov
SK005C1
SK005L1
-
6
Žilina
SK006C1
SK006L1
-
5
Trnava
SK007C1
SK007L1
-
5
Trenčín
SK008C1
SK008L1
-
4
Total
8
8
9
59
Reference years for the main data collections: 2001, 2004, 2008, 2011
Reference years for the "historical" data collection: 1991, 1996
Selected variables have been collected on annual bases for the period 2005-2012.
Since 2012 data are collected on annual basis.
Not applicable.
The unit of measurement is included in the label.
The overview of compiled data by domains, including deviating definitions:
Demography and nationality
Subdomains fully covered with available data at all required levels, data provided from demographic statistics.
Until 2010, population data is on 31 December.
The 2011 data are from the population census (on 21 May).
Since 2012 population on 1 January (data on 31 December stored as 1 January data the following year).
In line with population data the variable median age and nationality variables are also provided on 1 January.
Household structure
Data are collected from the census. The recommended data source, labour force sample survey, is not used because of the low reliability sample at the city level.
Housing
Subdomain partly covered with available data.
Housing prices until the year 2018 were provided from the Slovak price map compiled by the Slovak National Association of Real Estate Agencies. Only data on all FUAs and for two cities Bratislava and Košice were provided. There was definition deviation - average price for buying a house or apartment per m2. Data coverage was not exhaustive, not all transactions are included, only transactions realized by entities associated in the Slovak National Association of Real Estate Agencies, that is the reason of volatility of data.
In 2021, the SO SR launched to use a new data source, the database of the Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Authority of the Slovak Republic in the calculation of price indices. The database contains real estate prices from all transactions in the given quarter. Realization price indices of residential real estate are calculated on a quarterly basis, broken down into new and existing real estate. Data since 2019 are available for all cities.
Number of conventional dwellings - 2011 data are from the population census (on 21 May 2011). The census data is the basis and is balanced yearly by the statistical data from the reporting of building authorities on decreases and increases of the number of dwellings for the reference year.
Health
Subdomain fully covered, data provided from the demographic statistics.
Crime
Subdomain fully covered, data provided from the regional directorates of the Presidium of the Police Force.
Labour Market
Data not available at the city level. The lowest level is NUTS 3 level. The LFS survey is not used because of the low reliability sample at the city level. LFS data available only for FUA of the capital Bratislava and the national level.
Economic Activity
Subdomains fully covered with available data at all required levels for selected years. In 2011 economic activity variables were compiled from the census. Since 2016 a business register was used for estimation of all variables in the subdomain. Definitive data from the register are with a yearly delay, due to that provisional data are used (flagged in the database).
Income disparities and Poverty
Data not available at the city level. The lowest level is NUTS 3 level. The EU SILC survey data is available only for FUA of capital Bratislava and national level.
Education and Training Provision
Subdomain partly covered with available data.
Early leavers are provided from the LFS survey, available in the database since 2012 at the national level and for the FUA of the capital Bratislava.
Children aged 0-4 in day care, data provided from the Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information.
Definition deviation - data provided include all children only in those day care institutions (public, church or private) under the administration of the Ministry of Education of the SR. Data is surveyed at the beginning of the given school year, not as an average of the whole school year.
Educational qualification
Data on educational structure of the population is surveyed only from the census.
Water and waste management
Subdomain fully covered with available data at all required levels. Data on total use of water is provided from the Water Management Research Institute and the average prices from the regional water-supply system companies.
Municipal waste data is provided from the statistical surveys of the SO SR.
Travel and Transport
Subdomain partly covered. Data on registered private cars are provided by the Presidium of the Police Force of the SR. Data up to 2004 is reported as of 31 December, since 2006 data is on 1 January of the reference year. National data up to 2010 included all passenger cars (marked with flag “D”), since 2011 indicator includes only registered private cars.
Deaths in road accidents, data provided from the Presidium of the Police Force. There is the definitiondeviation - persons who died in the place of accident or when being transported to hospital, or within the 24 hours after the accident. All other persons are registered as seriously injured persons. Police data is not complemented by the hospital data.
Cost of taxi ride – data is provided form the statistics of consumption prices of the SO SR.
Culture and Recreation
Subdomain fully covered, provided by the Ministry of Culture. Data on the number of seats in cinemas exclude the seats of summer/open air cinemas.
Data on the number of museum visitors up to 2014 represented visitors of all expositions in the city, including those who visited city exposition operated abroad. Due to methodological change data since 2015 are in line with the definition in the manual.
Tourism
Subdomain fully covered, data provided form the statistical surveys of the SO SR. City data up to 2011 were provided without campsites, at national level up to 2012. Since 2012 data is harmonized by the manual definitions.
Data collected by the SO SR statistical surveys are the main datasource. Some variables are collected only from the censuses; some of them were obtained from sample surveys. Some variables are estimated.
Other data sources:
Ministry of Interior, Presidium of the Police Force (data on crime, private cars)
Ministry of Culture of the SR, National Culture Centre (data on culture)
Ministry of Health of the SR, National Health Information Centre (data on causes of deaths)
Slovak National Association of Real Estate Agencies (housing prices until 2018)
Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Authority of the Slovak Republic (housing prices since 2019)
Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the SR, Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information (data on education)
Water Management Research Institute, regional water-supply system companies (data on water)
regional public health authorities (data on swimming pools)
city transport companies (data on transport)
city authorities
Since 2012, the periodicity of data collection is on the yearly basis.
The database is updated continually the first day of every month, depending on the data availability of new and revised data.
Depends on the domain and individual variables. As a general rule, timeliness is about 24 months.
The main aim is to achieve as highest data comparability as possible.
There were no changes in the spatial units for Slovak cities since the beginning of the project, the spatial comparability of city data is ensured.
Most data are comparable over time. Where the comparability is not ensured, flags and notes are added in the data file.
