Culture: documentation of statistics

Cultural statistics describe production, supply, finances, public support, labour force, education, interest and consumption regarding various fields of arts and culture. The data are used to produce the cultural table service and its statistical reviews and the basic publication concerning cultural employment and StatFin tables containing data on cultural occupations, education,  as well as regional data.
The contents extend to the topics of language and cultural minority groups, cultural heritage and tourism, different fields of arts, employment in arts and culture, cultural education, cultural events, cultural centres, participation in culture and finances and accessibility of culture. International comparison data are also included.

The data derive from Statistics Finland, institutions and associations in the field of culture as well as numerous other sources. The internal data sources of Statistics Finland include the Leisure Survey, the Time Use Survey, National Accounts, statistics on education, the Household Budget Survey, statistics on the finances of municipalities and joint municipal authorities, employment statistics, the Labour Force Survey, statistics on population structure and the Business Register. External sources of data and statistics include the Ministry of Education and Culture, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Theatre Info Finland, Finnish Heritage Agency, Finnish Publishers Association, National Library of Finland, Finnish Film Foundation, Association of Finnish Symphony Orchestras, IFPI Finland, and Finland Festivals. A small proportion of the data, such as those on art and cultural fairs, cinema and photographic centres, cultural centres and cultural periodicals, are obtained with own collection. The sources are described in detail in connection with each table.

The population of enterprises in cultural statistics is formed of enterprises engaged in business activities in Finland, of which those enterprises classified in the Business Register as belonging to the published industries are included in the calculation.  
The population of students in the field of culture consists of the students in education statistics. Of these, those classified in the source statistics as belonging to the field of culture are included.

The statistical units of cultural statistics are kind-of-activity unit and occupational and educational category. Enterprise, establishment, person, field of education and study, municipality and region. The Register of Enterprises and Establishments, data produced from the register data of education statistics as well as register-based data from employment statistics are used.

In cultural statistics, the measurement units are the number of persons and enterprises (establishments),  students, EUR, EUR per staff-year, EUR per capita, %.

The base period for the data of the Consumer Price Index in Table 12.2 of the cultural statistics table service is 1995.
 

The reference period concerning cultural employment is one year for the Labour Force Survey, the last week of the year for employment statistics.

The reference period for the statistics on cultural education is the situation on 20 September of the statistical reference year concerning students in education leading to a qualification or degree. Completers of qualifications and degrees refer to completers of a vocational qualification, a university of applied sciences degree or a university degree during the statistical reference year from 1 January to 31 December. For business statistics the reference period is one year.

Of the cultural statistics data, basic publications and most of the data in the cultural table service and database tables are produced on the level of the whole country.
 
However, the database tables contain one entity containing data for one regional level and the table service contains six regional sets of statistics. Tables 12.5 and 12.6 of the cultural statistics table service contain imports and exports in the field of culture.
 
Section 14 of the cultural table service also contains international data.

The Standard Industrial Classification (TOL 2008) and the Classification of Occupations 2010 for cultural labour force, enterprises and establishments can be found on the home page of the statistics.

Cultural statistics have been published since the 1930s. The basic cultural statistics publication Cultural Employment in Finland covers the period starting from 2010.

The basic publication Cultural education covers the period starting from year 2010.

The periods covered by the cultural table services vary, as do those of the cultural statistics database table by region.

The basic publications concerning cultural employment and cultural education are published yearly. The statistical entity of the cultural statistics table service is updated quarterly gradually depending on the updating schedules of the source statistics. In connection with this, the statistical reviews of the figures in the table service related to the topics are updated to the cultural statistics table service.

Tables in the table service concerning the regional accessibility of culture are updated every two years in odd years.

The Labour Force Survey, which is a sample survey, is used as key source statistics of the basic publication Cultural employment. The Labour Force Survey contains bias caused by sampling. The Labour Force Survey is the only sample survey used to produce regular basic publications. In other respects, the data used regularly in Statistics Finland's cultural statistics are based on register data.

Other sample-based source data for the statistics are Use of information and communications technology by individuals, the Leisure Survey, as well as the Time Use Survey and the Household Budget Survey. Their reliability is indicated in the methodological releases of the source data.

The statistics are updated in stages four times per year. The update depends on the timetables of the source statistics. The database tables are updated annually.

Depends on the timetable of the source statistics. Updating of the table service every quarter and of the database tables every year.

Regional statistics are mutually comparable.

Comparability over time is mostly good. Breaks in time series are mainly due to changes in official classifications (Classification of Occupations, Standard Industrial Classification and classification of education).

See quality descriptions of the basic publications on Cultural employment and Cultural education.

As regards employment, the results of the Labour Force Survey and those of the employment statistics are not coherent because the definition of employed persons in the Labour Force Survey complies with the definition of the ILO and the EU while the employment statistics are based on a combination of several register data sets and describe the cross-section of the last week of the year from the whole register data. In the Business Register, employed persons have been estimated as full working years, as in Culture Satellite Accounts. Because of this, the level of employed is considerably lower than in the Labour Force Survey, because according to the ILO definition, those having worked for at least one hour during the survey week are regarded as employed that week. In other respects, the data are separate and there are no coherence problems between the sources.

Employment statistics, Labour Force Survey, Business Register, structure of earnings statistics, Culture Satellite Accounts, statistics on education, Consumer Price Index, Time Use Survey and Leisure Survey, Use of information and communications technology by individuals, Household Budget Survey, unemployment figures of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, population statistics, external source data, e.g. the Ministry of Education and Culture, Art Promotions Centre Finland, Tinfo, Finnish Film Foundation, Association of Finnish Symphony Orchestras, Finland Festivals, Finnish National Agency for Education, Finnish Heritage Agency, FRAME – Contemporary Art Finland, Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, the National Archives, Finnish Publishers Association, foundations, cultural trade unions.

Limited Internet, email or telephone inquiries from key unions, foundations, etc.

Mainly annually. Updating of tables quarterly, updating of accessibility examinations every two years.

The data are filtered from the source data with the definitions of cultural statistics. The tabulation follows the practices of cultural statistics.

As regards Statistics Finland's data, validation of the data is done in the source statistics. As regards the source data of external producers, the data are checked and their correctness is ensured in cooperation with the data suppliers.

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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.

Further information: Statistical legislation

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)

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

The data of the statistics are submitted to the Statistical Yearbook of Finland. The data of the statistics are submitted to Eurostat, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and for the statistics of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

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.

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 management requires comprehensive guidance of activities. The quality management framework of the field of statistics is the European Statistics Code of Practice (CoP). 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) 
 

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.