Enterprise openings and closures: documentation of statistics
Basic data of the statistics
Data description
Statistical population
In addition to enterprise openings and closures, registrations of new enterprises are published. These cover all enterprises producing goods or services for the market which have received a Business ID from the Finnish Patent and Registration Office during the reference period.
Statistical unit
According to the definition of Statistics Finland, an enterprise is a unit with decision-making autonomy that produces goods and/or services to be sold on the market. An enterprise is the same as a legal unit (Business ID) if the legal unit is not part of an enterprise group. Otherwise the enterprise is a group or part of it. An enterprise may thus comprise one or more legal units (Business ID).
A legal unit is an entity or an organisation registered for practising business activity. A legal unit is identified with a Business ID. Legal units are such as limited companies, private entrepreneurs, cooperatives, enterprises owned by central or local governments and foundations.
Unit of measure
Base period
Reference period
Reference area
Registrations of new enterprises describe new enterprises registered in Finland which produce goods or services for the market. The following legal forms are included in the statistics:
• Public mutual insurance company,
• Mutual insurance company,
• Limited partnership,
• Cooperative society,
• Cooperative bank,
• Limited company.
• Public limited company,
• Savings bank, public insurance company,
• Joint-stock insurance company,
• Private practitioner of trade,
• General partnership,
• Trade association,
• European mutual insurance company
• European company
Sector coverage
Registrations include all new Business IDs granted, in which the enterprise form is a public mutual insurance company, mutual insurance company, limited partnership, cooperative, cooperative bank, limited company, public limited company, savings bank, public insurance company, joint-stock insurance company, private practitioner of trade, general partnership, trade association, European mutual insurance company or European company. These enterprise forms have been selected for the statistics because they can be thought to aim to produce products or services for the market.
Time coverage
The StatFin archive database contains data according to the Standard Industrial Classification TOL2008 for the years 2005 to 2013 and data according to the Standard Industrial Classification TOL2002 for the years 2001 to 2009. In addition, the archive database contains a time series on enterprise openings and closures by legal form for the years 1995 to 2013. These tables in the archive database are not revised.
The registration data are from the 2019 statistical year onwards.
Frequency of dissemination
Concepts
Bankrupt's estate
Co-operative society
Corporation subject to taxation
Decedent's estate
Economic association
General partnership
Home municipality
Legal form
Statistics Finland's classification of legal forms is based on this system and on the Tax Administration's coding of legal forms. Some of the Tax Administration's categories have been combined in Statistics Finland's classification.
Limited company
Limited partnership
Mutual indemnity insurance association
Mutual insurance company
Mutual interest bodies
Natural person
This group includes own-account workers, sole proprietors, most agricultural and forestry entrepreneurs, as well as practitioners of trade.
Other legal form
Principal activity
In the Business Register, the principal activity of an enterprise is defined according to the value added created at its establishments engaged in different economic activities. Value added corresponds closely to value of secondary processing. The value added for the economic activities of an enterprise is obtained by multiplying the number of employees in each establishment by the average value added it creates in its activity and by proportioning the obtained figure to the duration of its activity in the accounting period within the statistical year. Principal activity is defined in stages from the section level to the most detailed level of the standard industrial classification. The principal activity of an enterprise is usually determined by the industry of the establishment that generates most value added during an accounting period.
The principal activity of an enterprise can change, for example, as a consequence of incorporation, when a significant part of the enterprise becomes independent from the point of total value added.
Savings bank
Shipping company under joint ownership
Stock of enterprises
Accuracy, reliability and timeliness
Overall accuracy
Timeliness
Registrations are published approximately 50 days from the end of the reference period.
Punctuality
Comparability
Comparability - geographical
Comparability - over time
The numbers of enterprise closures and the size data of the enterprise stock were not published for the last three quarters of 2017. The reason for this was the revisions in the source data, as a result of which unusually large fluctuations occurred in these quarters as regards closures.
The time series of the statistics on enterprise openings and closures were also broken as Statistics Finland's business statistics system was renewed. The new system was introduced starting from the statistical reference year 2013. In connection with the renewal, the formation of data on enterprise closures was revised, for example. The renewals also have an effect on classifying data, such as legal form, municipality of domicile and industry.
The basis for the statistics on enterprise openings and closures has changed starting from the 05/2007 release. Previously, the data of the statistics were derived based on the opening and closing data entered in the Business Register. In the new method, the data are produced based on the Tax Administration's registration data concerning enterprises. In addition, the target population of the statistics has expanded. Previously, the target group included enterprises that were employers or liable to pay value added tax on business activity. The new target group also includes enterprises liable to pay value added tax on the transfer of usufruct of immovable property. The extension of the target group is most clearly visible in the industry category “L. Real estate activities”.
The time series of enterprise openings and closures according to the previously published statistics ends for enterprise openings in the second quarter of 2006 and for enterprise closures in the first quarter of 2006. The time series according to the Standard Industrial Classification TOL2008 start from 2005. These old time series are also still available on the home page of the statistics.
Coherence - cross domain
In the statistics on enterprise openings and closures, the “enterprise stock” is the number of enterprises operating at the time derived from the Tax Administration’s registration data concerning enterprises that cover enterprises liable to pay value added tax on business activities or on the transfer of usufruct of immovable property, as well as enterprises acting as employers. The “number of enterprises” in the structural business and financial statement statistics is the number of enterprises as the annual average data. It covers all types of enterprises, that is, also other than those liable to pay value added tax or employer's enterprises, and it includes enterprises whose operating time in the statistical reference year and turnover or number of employees exceed certain lower limits. The practices of structural business and financial statement statistics are described in more detail on the home page of the statistics https://stat.fi/en/statistics/yrti.
Source data and data collections
Source data
Principles and outlines
Contact organisation
Contact organisation unit
Economic Statistics
Legal acts and other agreements
The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. The Statistics Act contains provisions on collection of data, processing of data and the obligation to provide data. Besides the Statistics Act, the Data Protection Act and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities are applied to processing of data when producing statistics.
Statistics Finland compiles statistics in line with the EU’s regulations applicable to statistics, which steer the statistical agencies of all EU Member States.
Registerations comply with the following regulations:
- Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197
Further information: Statistical legislation
Confidentiality - policy
The data protection of data collected for statistical purposes is guaranteed in accordance with the requirements of the Statistics Act (280/2004), the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the Data Protection Act (1050/2018). The data materials are protected at all stages of processing with the necessary physical and technical solutions. Statistics Finland has compiled detailed directions and instructions for confidential processing of the data. Employees have access only to the data essential for their duties. The premises where unit-level data are processed are not accessible to outsiders. Members of the personnel have signed a pledge of secrecy upon entering the service. Violation of data protection is punishable.
Further information: Data protection | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)
Confidentiality - data treatment
Release policy
Statistics Finland publishes new statistical data at 8 am on weekdays in its web service. The release times of statistics are given in advance in the release calendar available in the web service. The data are public after they have been updated in the web service.
Further information: Publication principles for statistics at Statistics Finland
Data sharing
Other
For more information about the service, see http://www.stat.fi/tup/yritysrekisteri/yhteystiedot_en.html.
Accessibility and clarity
Statistical data are published as database tables in the StatFin database. The database is the primary publishing site of data, and new data are updated first there. When releasing statistical data, existing database tables can be updated with new data or completely new database tables can be published.
In addition to statistical data published in the StatFin database, a release on the key data is usually published in the web service. If the release contains data concerning several reference periods (e.g. monthly and annual data), a review bringing together these data is published in the web service. Database tables updated at the time of publication are listed both in the release and in the review. In some cases, statistical data can also be published as mere database releases in the StatFin database. No release or review is published in connection with these database releases.
Releases and database tables are published in three languages, in Finnish, Swedish and English. The language versions of releases may have more limited content than in Finnish.
Information about changes in the publication schedules of releases and database tables and about corrections are given as change releases in the web service.
Data revision - policy
Revisions – i.e. improvements in the accuracy of statistical data already published – are a normal feature of statistical production and result in improved quality of statistics. The principle is that statistical data are based on the best available data and information concerning the statistical phenomenon. On the other hand, the revisions are communicated as transparently as possible in advance. Advance communication ensures that the users can prepare for the data revisions.
The reason why data in statistical releases become revised is often caused by the data becoming supplemented. Then the new, revised statistical figure is based on a wider information basis and describes the phenomenon more accurately than before.
Revisions of statistical data may also be caused by the calculation method used, such as annual benchmarking or updating of weight structures. Changes of base years and used classifications may also cause revisions to data.
Quality assessment
Quality assurance
Quality management requires comprehensive guidance of activities. The quality management framework of the field of statistics is the European Statistics Code of Practice (CoP). The frameworks complement each other. The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are also compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice.
Further information: Quality management | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)
User access
Data are released to all users at the same time. Statistical data may only be handled at Statistics Finland and information on them may be given before release only by persons involved in the production of the statistics concerned or who need the data of the statistics concerned in their own work before the data are published.
Further information: Publication principles for statistics
Unless otherwise separately stated in connection with the product, data or service concerned, Statistics Finland is the producer of the data and the owner of the copyright. The terms of use for statistical data.