Turnover index for service activities

Turnover comprises total revenue from market sales of goods or services supplied to third parties. Turnover includes all duties and taxes on goods or services with the exception of the VAT invoiced by the unit vis-à-vis its customers and other similar deductible taxes directly linked to turnover. Turnover also includes all other charges (for example transport and packaging) passed on to the customer, even if these charges are listed separately in the invoice. Reduction in process, rebates and discounts as well as the value of returned packing must be deducted. Price reductions, rebates and bonuses conceded later to clients, for example at the end of the year, are not taken into account. Income classified as other operating income, financial income and extraordinary income in company accounts is excluded from turnover. Subsidies received from public authorities or the institutions of the European Union are also excluded.

Standard Industrial Classification (SIC2007).

Name: Turnover index for service activities

Topic: Transport, tourism, ICT, service activities, wholesale and retail trade

Division for Structural Business Statistics

National level only

Frequency: Quarterly

Timeliness: The reference period is one quarter (i.e., 3 months). The index is published within 60 days after the end of the quarter. Figures should for a time be considered preliminary.

The index is reported to Eurostat immediately after release in Norway.

Primary data and compiled statistics are stored electronically in SAS files.

The aim of the statistics is to measure change in turnover among establishments in the service industries according to EU regulations no. 1165/98 of May 19th 1998 and no. 1158/2005 of July  6th 2005. Eurostat compiles similar statistics from other EEC-countries and publishes EEC-wide statistics.

Data for the industry sections M and N have been collected since first quarter of 1996 and the index was published for the first time in 1997.

Data for the industry sections H, I and J have been collected since the first quarter of 2002 and the index was published for the first time in June 2003. 

Primary users of the statistics are public sector agencies (Central Bank of Norway, Departments, etc.), private sector agencies and organisations within the industries. The statistic is used to analyse and monitor the development of the economy. At Statistics Norway the statistic is used by the Division for National accounts and other research and analysis activity.

No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on ssb.no at 8 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.

Statistics Norway produces structural business statistics for the industries included in the turnover index for service activities.

The index is used for the compilation of national accounts statistics.

The Statistics Act, Section 10.

The index is published according to EU regulations no. 1165/1998 and no. 1158/2005.

The population includes all establishments in Sections H, I, J, M and N in the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC2007) except establishments in industry no. 72. 

Establishments in the public sector (sector codes 6100 and 6500) are not included.

Data are collected from the Directorate of Taxes' VAT-register. These data are bimonthly, with six periods per year. The bimonthly data are converted into quarterly figures based on industry-specific information (for example number of working days, passengers or guest nights) in different months of the year.

Because of the deadline for reporting we will at every publishing be lacking data for the whole reference period. For instance, when the 1st quarter get published we have only received data for the first term (January and February), and we have to estimate the month of March. This estimation is based on the development from the 1st to the 2nd term previous year. When we are publishing the 2nd quarter we are also able to publish the complete data basis for the 1st quarter.

Data for some industries are collected from other sources. Data for SIC2007 49.1 Passenger rail transport, interurban, 49.2 Freight rail transport and 53.1 Postal activities under universal service obligation are collected directly from the establishments each quarter. For SIC2007 49.5 Transport via pipelines we use data released quarterly by the Divsion of National accounts.

The base year for the index is 2015 (2015=100).

The population is stratified by industry, turnover, type (if the enterprise consists of one or multiple businesses) and age of the business.

No sampling. All units are included.

For the VAT-bound industries we collect data from the VAT register.

Statistics Norway receives data from the Directorate of Taxes two times for every two-month period.

Controls are made on both macro and micro levels.

At the macro level, the turnover data for each industry are compared with the turnover data for the same period the year before.

At the micro level, data from the Directorate of Taxes are checked for possible scanning errors. Subsequently, the establishments within each industry that contribute the most (in per cent) to the change in turnover are inspected. Establishments that have changed industries since the corresponding period the previous year are also checked. If necessary, establishments are contacted directly.

Due to the imposed deadline, the index is released before figures for the entire period has been collected. For instance, when figures for the first quarter are published, we only have data for the months of January and February and must therefore estimate the month of March. This estimation is carried out with the use of historical growth. Complete data for the first quarter is available upon publication of the second quarter.

For the VAT free businesses we use instalment estimation. As inflation factor for identical businesses in a stratum we use the relationship between the population's and the sample's turnover within this stratum. The turnover of the population is gathered from the last yearly file from structural statistics for real estate, renting and business activities.

Monthly and quarterly time series are often characterised by considerable seasonal variations, which might complicate their interpretation. Such time series are therefore subjected to a process of seasonal adjustment in order to remove the effects of these seasonal fluctuations. Once data have been adjusted for seasonal effects, a clearer picture of the time series emerges.

For more information on seasonal adjustment: metadata on methods: seasonal adjustment

The turnover index is subjected to seasonal adjustments with the use of X12-Arima. The series are adjusted due to seasonal trends. For example in the accommodation and travel industries where turnover often is higher in the holiday months of June, July and August. The seasonal adjustments makes it more convenient to analyze the underlying development in turnover.

Additionaly, figures are calender adjusted for variations in the number of monthly working days and for moving holidays.

New business start-ups, bankruptcies and changes in industry classification may act to reduce comparability over time. The implementation of the new industry classification (SIC2007) may also have compromised comparability over time for some industries.

The total turnover reported by the VAT units might include revenue from transactions excluded from the definition of turnover, for instance sales of fixed assets or subsidies from public authorities.

Some enterprises are registered under the same VAT number in the VAT register (i.e., VAT units that submit turnover for multiple enterprises), which can be a problem for the statistics when the enterprises are registered in different industries or when they are located in different geographical areas. Another possible error is that the distribution of turnover among establishments belonging to one VAT unit is based on information that may be outdated.

In the event of non-responses from large enterprises, the tax office in the county municipality of the enterprise is contacted. Otherwise, turnover for non-responses is initially estimated based on the overall growth of the industry in question. If turnover is still missing upon final transmission of data from the Directorate of Taxes, non-responses are given a value of 0.

Data are collected from the VAT register. Reporting to the the Directorate of Taxes may be subject to delays. As a result, figures for the most recent quarters might be revised in subsequent releases.

A challenge for the index is that small businesses with turnover of less than NOK 1 million per year may apply to submit VAT returns annually (annual year-end returns). These VAT returns are submitted at the end of the year and subsequently distributed equally over the 6 periods. Annual returns in 2007 made up less than 1 per cent of the total turnover in the population and are thus unlikely to represent a a significant source of error.

The Central Register of Establishments and Enterprises is used both to define the population and to gather vital information about the units. Errors in this administrative register (delays in registration, incorrect unit characteristics etc.) may therefore contribute to uncertainty. The magnitude of this problem is difficult to estimate, but errors in administrative registers are unlikely to represent a significant source of statistical uncertainty or bias.