Structural business statistics for water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities, 2009, final figures

Preliminary figures are published on national level.

Final figures are published on national level. Figures on the number on local KAU/establishments and persons employed can be found on minicipality level in the StatBank.

Annual

Preliminary figures are published 10 months after the end of the reference year.
Final figures are published within 18 months after the end of the reference year.

The statistics are reported to Eurostat

Microdata and information on sample units and population are stored temporarily in the programming language SAS, and permanently as text files.

The structural statistics for water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities are part of the statistics on industry, and provide detailed information on the activity in the sector based on accounting data and questionnaires.

Previously, only structural statistics for sewerage, waste management and remediation activities were published. These were published for the first time in 1995, and finally for the reference year 2007. As from 2008, water supply and materials recovery have also been included.

The annual structural business statistics are based on the data needs of the National Accounts (NR) and are in accordance with the EU regulation on structural business statistics. In addition, ministries, various trade organisations and industry are among those requesting statistical data.

No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on ssb.no at 08 am. Prior to this, a minimum of three months' advance notice is given in the Statistics Release Calendar. This is one of Statistics Norway’s key principles for ensuring that all users are treated equally.

The structural statistics on water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities are a part of Statistics Norway's industrial statistics covering most industries. Short-term turnover statistics are also published in addition to the structural statistics.

Statistical Act §§2-2, 2-3 and 3-2.

Regulation 295/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning structural business statistics amended by Regulation 251/2009, 517/2013 and 446/2014. In addition, Norway undertakes, through the EEA agreement, to adhere to EU Council regulation (EF) no. 1893/2006 of 20 December 2006 on NACE Rev. 2.

The structural statistics for water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities are classified according to the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC2007); a nomenclature for the classification of companies and enterprises in different industries.

These statistics cover the following divisions:

• 36 - Water collection, treatment and supply
• 37 - Sewerage
• 38 - Waste collection, treatment and disposal activities, materials recovery
• 39 - Remediation activities and other waste management services

Enterprises within these industries are included in the statistics if they are registered with activity in Norway in the relevant reference year.

The exception is enterprises within the public administration, social security administration, county authorities and local authorities. Such units are not included in the structural business statistics even though they may have operations in the aforementioned industries. These units operate at the non-profit principle.

These enterprises must not be confused with enterprises within the central government's business operations, government-owned enterprises, state enterprises, municipal businesses and independent municipal enterprises, which are included in the statistics. These units operate in a free market for profit.

For a sample of the enterprises in the population, the statistics are based on Standard Industry Form (NO) and a supplementary questionnaire. The Standard Industry forms are either attached to the questionnaires or submitted electronically via the Tax Inspectorate. Information about the units that are not included in the sample is taken from the following sources:

• Electronically delivered Standard Industry forms to the Tax Directorate
• The Register of Company Accounts at Brønnøysund
• The VAT Register
• The Register of Employees and Employers

The Register of Establishments and Enterprises at Statistics Norway is used to obtain necessary information about the population. The VAT Register, the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities, information from trade organisations and direct input from the enterprises are used to update the Register of Establishments and Enterprises.

The population consists of all enterprises in the relevant industry divisions with registered activity in the reference year. The population is divided into subpopulations, called strata, according to criteria such as industrial classification and number of employees. In some of the strata, all enterprises are included in the sample. A representative selection of enterprises is drawn from the remaining strata. All enterprises in this sample are asked to report a full set of the Standard Industry Forms and to complete a questionnaire.

This detailed survey of accounting data is combined with the additional information from the various registers and the structural survey of Statistics Norway to form a basis for estimating the financial structures of the different industries.

A complete set of statements (NO with supplementary forms) is obtained from a sample of enterprises.

The supplementary forms are collected electronic via the Internet. The questionnaires are sent out in about 6 months after the end of the reference year, with a response deadline of four to five weeks. Enterprises failing to respond to the initial inquiry are sent written follow-up letters for up to six months from the first deadline. Enterprises that do not respond are fined.

For the other enterprises, turnover figures and other essential accounting data are obtained from the Standard Industry Forms (NO) submitted electronically via the Tax Directorate or from annual accounts in the Register of Company Reports in Brønnøysund. Turnover figures are also obtained from enterprises in the VAT Register.

In this way we obtain information on all enterprises in the population.

Checks and corrections of the Standard Industry Forms (NO) and supplementary forms for the enterprises included in the sample are undertaken. The data material is edited according to checks against previous years, preliminary figures, the Register of Establishments and Enterprises, the Register of Company Accounts at Brønnøysund, other available sources and in consultation with the respondent where necessary.

When the preliminary figures are published, the data will not be as thoroughly edited as they will be by the time the final figures are published.

For the enterprises where a complete NO with supplementary form exists, no variables are estimated. The information in the forms is used for these enterprises.

For enterprises with a complete NO but no supplementary form, only the information in the forms is estimated.

Turnover and employment are considered as known variables for all enterprises and are therefore used as a basis for computing missing variables. Previously an industry mean based on sample units was used to estimate missing data for non-sample units (ratio estimates). As of the statistical year 2011 the method is based on finding a sample unit similar to the non-sample unit to be estimated, based on a set of criteria, and using the sample-unit to estimate the missing values (nearest neighbour estimation). The nearest neighbour criterion is industry combined with the turnover/employment ratio, in that order.

Limited companies outside the sample
For limited companies not included in the sample, defined accounting data is taken from the Register of Company Accounts for limited companies. A number of items in the Register of Company Accounts are identical to the data in NO and can therefore be extracted directly.

The remaining items are estimated according to the division in the sample (organised by industry subclass and same size groups with respect to turnover, operating expenditure or other relevant distribution keys).

Enterprises with sales according to the VAT Register
The NO items and items in the supplementary form are estimated with turnover as a distribution key for enterprises outside the sample where turnover is obtained from the VAT Register.

Employment figures

The Structural Business Statistics are from 2015 based on a new data basis for wage earners. The main source in the period to 2014 was NAV Employee Register (State Register). In 2015 the reporting to this registry coordinated with the reporting of payroll and personnel data to the Tax Administration Authority and Statistics Norway. The common reporting system is called “A-ordning”. “A-ordning” generally provides data with higher quality and accuracy at the individual level, and it covers more wage earner conditions than the State Register. In the State Register, employees who work less than four hours per week on average were not included.

Employment figures for the enterprises are either obtained from the "A-ordning" or estimated on the basis of the enterprises' wage costs or turnover. The employment figures are edited, based on information from other sources, manually or by machine before being published.

Not relevant

If less than three units are represented in the content in a table cell, the figures are not published. The reason is the risk that the units can be identified. This also apply for groups if the biggest unit have more than 90% of the value - or the sum of the two biggest units is over 95% in the group. This is resolved by suppressing these figures in the table.

Preliminary figures are published while data are still under editing, and may therefore deviate from the final figures that are published within 18 months of the end of the reference year. Preliminary data for the enterprises in the sample that have not yet responded at the time of publishing are estimated by using other sources.

When making comparisons with previously published figures it must be kept in mind that older data may have been corrected during later editing. Updating of industry codes in the Register of Establishments and Enterprises may also have entailed editing for some of the industries. These changes are not back dated. Changes in accounting legislation, classification practice, samples, details of the terms etc. can also be responsible for comparability being limited.