Statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories: documentation of statistics
16.11.2024 valid documentation
Basic data of the statistics
Data description
The statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories are sample statistics with which the development of the value of current assets of Finnish enterprises is recorded quarterly. The statistics describe the development of the current assets of enterprises in mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity production and trade. The sample of the statistics comprises approximately 730 enterprises quarterly.
Statistical population
The population of the statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories comprises such Finnish enterprises that have five or more employees and the main activity of which is mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity production or trade.
Statistical unit
The statistical unit of the statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories is an enterprise or a kind-of-activity unit.
Unit of measure
The data on the statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories are published as index point figures. Change percentages are also calculated based on the indices.
Base period
The base year of the time series is 2013 (2013=100).
Reference period
The reference period of the statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories is a quarter. The statistics are published at a lag of 50 days from the end of the statistical reference quarter.
Reference area
The statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories are published on the level of the whole country.
Sector coverage
The statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories cover the Standard Industrial Classification TOL 2008 sections B Mining and quarrying, C Manufacturing, D Electricity, gas steam and air conditioning supply and G Trade.
Time coverage
Data for the quarterly inventory inquiry have been collected continuously since 2005.
Frequency of dissemination
The data of the statistics are published quarterly on Statistics Finland's website.
Concepts
Finished goods
Goods that have been produced by an enterprise and are ready to be sold as such.
Goods for resale
All materials, goods and supplies an enterprise has bought for the purpose of selling them on as they are.
Inventories
Current assets refer to commodities intended for assignment or consumption as such or after further processing. Current assets are divided into materials and supplies, work in progress, finished goods, other current assets and advance payments.
Materials and supplies refer to the commodities which have been acquired for the purpose of manufacturing current assets by a party obliged to keep books and engaged in manufacturing or service provision. These commodities include the raw materials and materials and auxiliary substances used in the production of goods or services.
Work in progress refers to commodities intended for sale or for use in service production, whose manufacturing process is not finished at the time of the closing of the accounts (semi-finished goods).
Finished goods refer to self manufactured commodities that can be assigned, sold or used in service production. Goods refer to commodities from external suppliers that are intended for sale or for use in service production as they are.
Other current assets refer to commodities bought or manufactured for the purpose of selling them as such or after further processing which are not included in the above mentioned current assets items. Other current assets may include, among others, lots or other property intended for sale which have been transferred from fixed assets to current assets.
Advance payments refer to purchase prices or parts thereof paid to the supplier of current assets commodities before receiving the commodities.
Materials and supplies refer to the commodities which have been acquired for the purpose of manufacturing current assets by a party obliged to keep books and engaged in manufacturing or service provision. These commodities include the raw materials and materials and auxiliary substances used in the production of goods or services.
Work in progress refers to commodities intended for sale or for use in service production, whose manufacturing process is not finished at the time of the closing of the accounts (semi-finished goods).
Finished goods refer to self manufactured commodities that can be assigned, sold or used in service production. Goods refer to commodities from external suppliers that are intended for sale or for use in service production as they are.
Other current assets refer to commodities bought or manufactured for the purpose of selling them as such or after further processing which are not included in the above mentioned current assets items. Other current assets may include, among others, lots or other property intended for sale which have been transferred from fixed assets to current assets.
Advance payments refer to purchase prices or parts thereof paid to the supplier of current assets commodities before receiving the commodities.
Materials and supplies
Raw materials, semi-finished products, parts and other commodities intended for use in own production. This group also comprises packaging materials and materials and auxiliary substances, such as grinding stones, drill bits and explosives that are used in own production but not transferred as such into final products. In addition, fuels and lubricants used in own production or consumption also come under this group.
Statistics on manufacturing inventories
Describe the value of inventories of enterprises in the industry of manufacturing (TOL D) at the end of a quarter. Inventories are divided into four groups: materials and supplies, fuels and lubricants, work in progress, finished goods and goods for resale. When the statistics are published, materials and supplies and fuels and lubricants are combined.
Value of inventories
Value of inventories includes all goods that according to a company's book-keeping form its current assets. According to Section 4 of the Book-keeping Act (1336/1997), current assets refer to commodities intended for assignment or consumption as such or after further processing.
Inventories also include purchases of goods abroad and binding purchase agreements where they represent the company's current assets. Inventories arising from commissioned work are reported by the commissioning company.
Inventories also include purchases of goods abroad and binding purchase agreements where they represent the company's current assets. Inventories arising from commissioned work are reported by the commissioning company.
Work in progress
All goods on which work is still going on. Included are also semi-finished goods which the enterprise intends to process further, as well as unfinished goods intended for sales.
Accuracy, reliability and timeliness
Overall accuracy
The data on the statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories become revised in later releases. The main reasons data revisions are supplementation or retrospective correction of the data and updating of the weight structure.
Timeliness
The data of the statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories are released at a lag of 50 days from the end of the statistical reference quarter.
Punctuality
There is no delay in releasing data on the statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories. The data are published on the days indicated in the release calendar.
Comparability
Comparability - over time
The data for the quarterly inventory inquiry have been collected continuously since 2005. Starting from the data for the first quarter of 2014, a time series is published on the industries of manufacturing and trade as well as on the industries of mining and quarrying and electricity production. The time series is in index format instead of the previously published level data in euros.
Due to the changes made in the statistics, the figures released before and after 2013 are not fully comparable. Changes in comparability are caused by changes in the calculation method, differences in sample selection and changes made in instructions concerning reporting work in progress. In its present form, data concerning work in progress are calculated in the statistics on inventories in a similar way as in accounting regardless of whether the enterprise applies partial debiting in its accounting. Previous guidelines did not take a stand on the processing of partially debited projects.
Due to the changes made in the statistics, the figures released before and after 2013 are not fully comparable. Changes in comparability are caused by changes in the calculation method, differences in sample selection and changes made in instructions concerning reporting work in progress. In its present form, data concerning work in progress are calculated in the statistics on inventories in a similar way as in accounting regardless of whether the enterprise applies partial debiting in its accounting. Previous guidelines did not take a stand on the processing of partially debited projects.
Coherence - cross domain
Business statistics produced by Statistics Finland can be divided into structural statistics and business trend statistics. The differences in the statistics are caused by their length of the description period, publication delay and the extent of the data content so that the description period and release delay of business trend statistics are shorter and their data content more limited than in the structural statistics. Structural business statistics include structural business and financial statement statistics that describe the structure and activities of enterprises on the annual level. Business trend statistics include monthly trend indicators. Annual statistics are cross-sectional data on business activities in the year in question. By contrast, business trend data have been made temporally comparable as concerns enterprise reorganisations and industry transfers so that the indicators describe changes in each industry.
The inventory concept used in the statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories differs from the inventory concept of quarterly national accounts in that in quarterly national accounts long-term projects accumulate inventories until the projects are delivered regardless of which income recognition method is applied in the enterprise.
The inventory concept used in the statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories differs from the inventory concept of quarterly national accounts in that in quarterly national accounts long-term projects accumulate inventories until the projects are delivered regardless of which income recognition method is applied in the enterprise.
Coherence - internal
The data of the statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories are internally uniform.
Source data and data collections
Source data
The data of the statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories are inquired quarterly from the enterprises included in the sample with Statistics Finland’s data collection. The sample of the statistics on inventories has been drawn by stratified random sampling from Statistics Finland’s financial statement statistics data based on the Tax Administration’s business taxation data and Statistics Finland’s inquiry to enterprises. The strata are based on the main industry of the enterprises and their size measured by the number of persons employed by them. Enterprises with 5 to 49 employees are considered small enterprises, those with 50 to 149 employees are medium-sized enterprises and those with 150 or more employees large enterprises.
Data collection
Data for Statistics Finland's own data collection are gathered with a web questionnaire. The web questionnaire of the statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories has been tested in connection with its introduction and when changes have been made to it. In addition, the non-response rate of the inquiry is monitored quarterly.
Frequency of data collection
The data for the statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories are collected quarterly.
Methods
Data compilation
The calculation of the statistics starts with the calculation of the annual change in the stratum, where the responses given by the enterprises included in the stratum in the calculation quarter are summed and the received sum is compared with the response sum of the corresponding quarter of the same enterprise group one year earlier. The index point figure of the stratum is obtained for the quarter by multiplying the index point figure of the stratum one year ago with the annual change calculated in this way. The indices for the main industries are obtained by calculating from the stratum indices an average weighted by the current asset weights of the population. The base year of the index is 2013, that is, the average of the index point figures for 2013 has been scaled to 100 in both main and sub-industries. Thus, the index point figure can easily be compared with the average level in 2013.
The results from the sample are weighted to correspond to all enterprises with over five employees whose main activity is mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity production or trade. Data on the target variable, or current assets, of the statistics derived from Statistics Finland’s financial statement statistics data based on the Tax Administration’s business taxation data and Statistics Finland’s inquiry on enterprises are used for weighting. The indices of the main industries and published industries are averages weighted with the sum of current assets calculated from the frame population of the stratum indices.
The figures of the statistics on inventories are estimates. An estimate is an estimation of a quality of the population derived by applying a mathematical procedure (estimation) to sample observations. Change in current assets in a given quarter is an estimate of enterprises in the target industries of Finland obtained with such a procedure.
Because a comparable time series is short, working day adjusted or seasonally adjusted figures are not published from the statistics. The annual change describes the change in the value of inventories in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The change from the previous quarter describes the change in current assets compared to the current asset value at the end of the previous quarter. The change between quarters also includes seasonal variation, that is, variation within the year that is more or less regular.
The results from the sample are weighted to correspond to all enterprises with over five employees whose main activity is mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity production or trade. Data on the target variable, or current assets, of the statistics derived from Statistics Finland’s financial statement statistics data based on the Tax Administration’s business taxation data and Statistics Finland’s inquiry on enterprises are used for weighting. The indices of the main industries and published industries are averages weighted with the sum of current assets calculated from the frame population of the stratum indices.
The figures of the statistics on inventories are estimates. An estimate is an estimation of a quality of the population derived by applying a mathematical procedure (estimation) to sample observations. Change in current assets in a given quarter is an estimate of enterprises in the target industries of Finland obtained with such a procedure.
Because a comparable time series is short, working day adjusted or seasonally adjusted figures are not published from the statistics. The annual change describes the change in the value of inventories in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The change from the previous quarter describes the change in current assets compared to the current asset value at the end of the previous quarter. The change between quarters also includes seasonal variation, that is, variation within the year that is more or less regular.
Data validation
The data of the collection of data for the statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories are checked in every calculation round on the unit level by going through the most significant changes and deviating observations. In the calculation stage of the indices, observations that prove to be erroneous are corrected or removed. The data are checked in each calculation round at the enterprise level against information about the most significant business reorganisations and enterprise openings and closures. The special characteristics of different industries are also taken into account when the data are validated.
Principles and outlines
Contact organisation
Statistics Finland
Legal acts and other agreements
The compilation of statistics is guided by the general act of the national statistical service, the Statistics Act (280/2004, amend. 361/2013). Only the necessary data that are not available from administrative data sources are collected from data suppliers. Index series are published so that no individual enterprise's data or development can be deduced from them. The results are not released to users before the official date of publication of the statistics.
Confidentiality - policy
The data protection of data collected for statistical purposes is absolutely guaranteed in accordance with the Statistics Act (280/2004), the Personal Data Act (532/1999) and the Act on the Openness of Government activities (621/1999), as well as the requirements of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679). 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. Wilful breaching of data protection is punishable. The results are not given to users before the official date of publication of the statistics.
Confidentiality - data treatment
The publication of the statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories does not include unit-level data.
Release policy
Statistics Finland's release calendar lists in advance all the statistical data and publications to be released over the year. Statistical releases can be found under statistics-specific releases. Statistical data are released on the Internet at 8 am, unless otherwise indicated. The calendar is updated on weekdays. Statistics Finland's release calendar for the coming year is published every year in December.
Data sharing
The data of the statistics are supplied quarterly for the use of national accounts.
Accessibility and clarity
The statistical release is published quarterly on the home page of the statistics http://stat.fi/til/tva/index_en.html.
Micro-data access
Unit-level data of the statistics are used only for producing the statistics and others than producers of statistics do not have access to them.
User needs
The data of the statistics are used at Eurostat, the European Central Bank (ECB) and in international organisations (e.g. OECD and UN) and in Finnish public administration to monitor and analyse the development of business services. Business and research institutes use the data to assess the development of markets and competitors. The data of the volume index of industrial output are also used as source data in the compilation of national accounts.
Quality assessment
The quality of the statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories is evaluated in several different stages of the statistical process. Revisions to the unit-level data of the statistics are examined quarterly and coherence analyses are made with other statistics on economic trends.
Quality assurance
When compiling statistics, Statistics Finland observes the European Statistics Code of Practice (CoP) and the Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) based on them. The Code of Practice concerns the independence and accountability of statistical authorities and the quality of processes and data to be published. The principles are in line with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics approved by the United Nations Statistics Division and are supplementary to them. The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are also compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice. The principles are also compatible with those of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM).
More information about this is available on Statistics Finland's quality management pages.
Every year Statistics Finland conducts statistical auditing that helps to ensure the quality of statistics.
The statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories are official statistics. The Official Statistics of Finland (OSF) are a comprehensive collection of statistics describing the development and state of society. They comprise nearly 300 sets of statistics on 26 different topics. The producers of Official Statistics of Finland have approved a common quality assurance in which they commit to common quality criteria and quality assurance measures. The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice. The good practices followed in the statistics are presented in Statistics Finland's Quality Guidelines for Official Statistics handbook.
More information about this is available on Statistics Finland's quality management pages.
Every year Statistics Finland conducts statistical auditing that helps to ensure the quality of statistics.
The statistics on manufacturing and trade inventories are official statistics. The Official Statistics of Finland (OSF) are a comprehensive collection of statistics describing the development and state of society. They comprise nearly 300 sets of statistics on 26 different topics. The producers of Official Statistics of Finland have approved a common quality assurance in which they commit to common quality criteria and quality assurance measures. The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice. The good practices followed in the statistics are presented in Statistics Finland's Quality Guidelines for Official Statistics handbook.
User access
The data are released to all parties simultaneously on the home page of the statistics http://stat.fi/til/tva/index_en.html. No one has access to the data of the release before the official date of publication.