Data items and their definitions
Workshop for African countries on the Implementation of International
Recommendations for Distributive Trade Statistics
27-30 May 2008, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
UNITED NATIONS STATISTICS DIVISION
Trade Statistics Branch
Distributive Trade Statistics Section
Data items (1)
Integrated list of data items
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Prepared by UNSD
Intended for use in the development of any
industry-specific lists
Ensures coherence of concepts and
definitions across activities, class sizes,
geographical areas and ownership
arrangements
List of data items for DTS
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Based on the Integrated list of data items
Harmonized with the list of data items for
Industrial statistics
Data items (2)
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IRDTS 2008 provides summary definitions of data
items for DTS recommended for compilation and
dissemination, together with additional items of data
derived from the basic system
List of data items aims at providing countries with a
tool which can be used in building up their economic
statistics programmes, including the development of
statistical questionnaires and other data collection
instruments
Countries are encouraged to use the list of data
items as reference in order to develop a list of data
items in accordance with their own statistical
circumstances, respondent load and available
resources and having determined that should
consistently use the definitions presented
Data items (3)
Links between business accounting and basic
economic statistics
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Terms used in the questionnaires must be familiar
to business accountants
Understanding of business accounting is essential
for conversion of data collected from businesses’
records into economic data that can be used in
basic economic statistics
Differences in terminology
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Shipments, sales, turnover
Operating expense
Differences in business accounting rules
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Valuation of assets
List of data items
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Demography
Employment
Compensation of employees
Other expenditures
Turnover
Inventories
Taxes and subsidies
Output
Intermediate consumption
Value added
Gross fixed capital formation
Demography
Characteristics of statistical units
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Statistical survey aims at collecting detailed
information associated with the statistical unit itself
and asks for its location, period of operation, type of
ownership and economic organization, kind of
activity, type of operation, size, etc.
Depending on the operational design of statistical
surveys may be collected at the enterprise or
establishment level
Number of statistical units
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Count of number of active units, even if they may
have no paid employees
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Number of enterprises (multi-establishment and singleestablishment enterprises)
Number of establishments
Employment
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Number of persons employed
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By categories
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Employees engaged in R&D, software &
databases, own account GFCF
Persons employed in informal sector
By gender
By occupation (ISCO)
Average number of persons employed
Hours worked
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New ICLS Resolution on Working time
management
Compensation of employees
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Wages and salaries
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Employee stock options (income in kind)
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Employer gives employees an option to buy stocks
(shares) at some future data at a given price
(strike/exercise price) subject to certain conditions
Employee may not exercise the option
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The “grant date” is when the option is provided, the
“vesting date” is the earliest date when the option can be
exercised
Valuation of the stock option
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Share price is now lower than his option price
No longer employed in the company
Difference between the market price and the strike price at
vesting date
Stock option pricing model
Social insurance contributions
Other expenditures
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Purchases of goods and services
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Cost of raw materials and supplies
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Cost of gas, fuel and electricity purchased
Cost of water and sewerage services
Purchases of services, except rental
Purchases of goods and services for resale
in the same conditions as received (by
type)
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Separate data items presenting the relations
between different establishments of one
enterprise and with third party
Valuation - subject to country practice they
should be adjusted for changes in inventories
Rental payments
Turnover, sales, shipments, receipts…
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In IRDTS 2008 the item is referred to by its
short name “Turnover”
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Turnover of goods and services produced
Turnover of goods and services purchased for
resale in the same conditions as received
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Gift cards
Commissions and fees from selling goods and
services on account of others
Other revenues
Value of own-account fixed assets
E-commerce
Value of turnover by product category
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Other breakdowns – kind of activity, size classes,
type of costumer, etc.
Inventories
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Stocks at the beginning and end of the
period
Change (plus or minus)
Types of inventories
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Materials and supplies
Work-in-progress
Finished goods
Goods purchased for resale in the same
conditions as received
Valuation
Methods of recording
Taxes and subsidies
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Taxes
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Taxes on products
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Other taxes on production
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In most cases not recorded in business accounts
Turnover should exclud VAT and other similar deductible
taxes directly linked to sales
Represent production costs (taxes on ownership or use
of land, buildings, motor road vehicle taxes, duties and
registration fees, business licenses, etc.)
Tax data may be better collected at enterprise level
Subsidies
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Subsidies on products
Other subsidies on production (subsidies on
payroll, or to reduce pollution)
Derived data items
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Gross output
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Valuation – basic price (recommended),
factor cost, producers’ prices
Gross margin
+ Value of turnover of all goods and services purchased
for resale in the same condition as received
- Purchases of goods and services for resale in the same
condition as received
+ Change in inventories of goods purchased for resale in
the same condition as received
- The value of recurrent losses due to normal rates of
wastage
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Intermediate consumption
Value added
Gross fixed capital formation
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Gross value of fixed assets (at the beginning and at the
end of the period, acquisitions, disposals)
Classification and terminology of assets - aligned with
1993 SNA, Rev.1
Types of fixed assets
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Dwellings
Other buildings and structures
Machinery and equipment
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Intellectual property products
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Transport equipment
ICT equipment
Other machinery and equipment
Research and development
Mineral exploration and evaluation
Computer software and databases
Entertainment, literary and artistic originals
Other
Depreciation
Thank You