ISTAT - Istituto Nazionale di Statistica
Euro-SDMX Metadata Structure Definition (ESMS_MSD 3.0 ESTAT)
Turnover in industry
2013 - A0
1. Contact
1.1 Contact organisation

Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT)
Division for Short-term Economic Statistics

1.2 Contact organisation unit

Short-term statistics on Industry - Industrial turnover and new orders indicators

Unit SCI/A

1.3 Contact name
1.4 Contact person function
1.5 Contact mail address

Via Tuscolana, 1788

I-00173 Rome

1.6 Contact email address
1.7 Contact phone number
1.8 Contact fax number
2. Metadata update
2.1 Metadata last certified
21/11/2014
2.2 Metadata last posted
01/12/2014
2.3 Metadata last update
21/11/2014
3. Statistical presentation
3.1 Data description

Indice del fatturato dell’industria. (Industrial turnover index)

3.2 Classification system

NACE Rev. 2.

3.3 Coverage - sector
Activities covered NACE Rev. 2 Sections B and C. Indices for Groups 05.2, 07.1 and 09.9 are not compiled due to their economic irrelevance.
Size classes covered Enterprises with more than 20 employees are included.
3.4 Statistical concepts and definitions
List and definition of variables

Turnover includes the totals invoiced by the observation unit during the reference period,  this value corresponds to market sales of goods or services supplied to third parties. Turnover also includes all other charges (transport, packaging, etc.) applied to the customer, even if these charges are listed separately in the invoice.

Turnover excludes VAT and other similar deductible taxes directly linked to turnover as well as all duties and taxes on the goods or services invoiced by the unit.

Reduction in prices, 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. The data are collected for domestic, external markets and the Eurozone.
Planned changes in information collected None.
Accounting conventions The target variable is measured as a flow during the calendar month.
3.5 Statistical unit
Reporting unit Enterprise.
Observation unit(s) Enterprises and, in some special cases, kind-of-activity units.
3.6 Statistical population

Target population corresponds to enterprises with 20 or more employees in 2010 for sections covered by this survey.  

Total number is 30713 enterprises (section B:211; section C:30502).

3.7 Reference area

The area covered by the turnover index is the whole national territory.

3.8 Coverage - Time

1973. Series of indices with base 2010=100 start from January 2000.

3.9 Base period

Base year is 2010.

4. Unit of measure

Index

5. Reference Period

Month

6. Institutional Mandate
6.1 Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Legal basis This is one of the compulsory surveys fixed every year by a Decree of the President of the Republic (D.P.R.).
Obligation on units to provide data Surveys are mandatory. Penalties are foreseen for non-response only for large enterprises (150 employees and more)
Planned changes in legal basis, obligation to respond and frame used Threshold of 150 employees could be reduced.
6.2 Institutional Mandate - data sharing

Data are not sent to OECD, UN, IMF or other international organizations

7. Confidentiality
7.1 Confidentiality - policy

Confidentiality provisions are explicitely stated in the ISTAT President’s letter attached to data collection questionnaire along with references to different acts on statistics. Links to relevant acts on statistics are presented on the website of Sistan - National Statistical System - (http://www.sistan.it/index.php?id=203).

7.2 Confidentiality - data treatment

8 of 101 elementary series are confidential according to three digit NACE Rev. 2, for domestic, non-domestic and euro area turnover. Non confidential data are available at http://dati.istat.it/?lang=en

According to the article n. 9 of the Legislative Decree n. 322 of 6 September 1989 data collected by statistical offices within the statistical surveys included in the National Statistical Programme may not be disclosed other than in aggregated form such that no reference to identifiable people can be extracted. Furthermore, they may be used only for statistical purposes. Data may not be communicated or disseminated neither to any external subject, public or private, nor to any department of the public administration other than in aggregate form and using modalities which prevent the identification of the people involved. In any case, data cannot be used to identify again the people involved. The Code of Conduct annexed to the Legislative Decree no. 196 of 30 June 2003 (Personal Data Protection Code) provides special rules concerning the processing of personal data for statistical purposes within Sistan. In order to make statistical secrecy and protection of personal data effective, Istat is currently taking appropriate organisational, logistical, methodological and statistical measures in accordance with internationally established standards.

In accordance with the Legislative Decree no. 196 of 30 June 2003 (Personal Data Protection Code) and subsequent modifications and additions, respondents are informed of their rights and obligations with regard to the provision of information, and they are assured that the information they provide will be used for statistical purposes only.

All euro area/non euro area time series are regarded as confidential (but the confidentiality is planned to be removed).

8. Release policy
8.1 Release calendar

Every year in December ISTAT publishes a release calendar providing the precise release dates for the coming year. The calendar is distributed to the press and is available free of charge to interested parties.

8.2 Release calendar access
8.3 Release policy - user access
Simultaneous release to all interested parties Data are released simultaneously to all interested parties by issuing the press release "Indice del fatturato e degli ordinativi dell'industria" which is provided, under embargo, to the media at a press conference (using the “locked room” method) 30 minutes prior to general release. The press release (Italian version and a short English version) is later on posted on the ISTAT Internet website.
Identification of internal government access to data before release No pre-release access.
Transmission to Eurostat and further use of the statistics Turnover data are transmitted to Eurostat by teletransmission just after  the dissemination of the press release.
9. Frequency of dissemination

Monthly. In August data regarding June are provided only to Eurostat. Usual dissemination  is not carried out in August and data referring to June and July are pubblished together in September.

10. Accessibility and clarity
10.1 Dissemination format - News release

Current data is presented in the monthly press release Fatturato e ordinativi dell'industria. There, figures and tables are disseminated with the data to facilitate the analysis. Analysis of current-period developments is included with dissemination. Data are disseminated in unadjusted form, adjusted for working days and in a seasonally-adjusted form.The Italian version of the Industrial turnover and new orders press release includes also a data file, the weighting structure and a methodological note. 

Concerning data file, indices in unadjusted form are compiled down to 3-digit level.  Indices for the MIGS (Main Industrial Groupings) are published in seasonally-adjusted form and WDA form (total index, domestic and non domestic). WDA series are published also for sub-sections (sub classification in two letters of Nace Rev. 2) for total turnover.

Press releases: http://www.istat.it/en/archive/turnover

10.2 Dissemination format - Publications

Data are made available also through yearly publications: Annual Report and Annuario Statistico Italiano (Italian version)

Annual Report: http://www.istat.it/en/archive/annual+report

Annuario Statistico Italiano: http://www.istat.it/it/archivio/107568

10.3 Dissemination format - online database

Series are included in I.Stat, the Istat's datawarehouse (http://dati.istat.it/?lang=en). Access is open and free of charge.

10.4 Dissemination format - microdata access

Before data dissemination, validated microdata are stored in the repository of the Institute, ARMIDA.

The repository ARMIDA (Archive of validated microdata) was established with the main objective of preserving and documenting the data produced by Istat surveys, and has subsequently supported the objective of disseminating data. The data archived in ARMIDA supplies, in fact, the different channels for the dissemination of microdata (for internal use at the Institute through the "Memorandum of access to microdata of ARMIDA" internal users ", for authorities in Sistan, for research files, for standard files, etc.). The micro-data stored in ARMIDA are also used to respond to requests of external users submitted to the Adele laboratory http://www.istat.it/en/information/researchers/analysis-of-individual-data

10.5 Dissemination format - other

Data are  disseminated as national data in the Eurostat's database (Eurobase, theme Industry, trade and services, sub-theme Short-term business statistics).

10.6 Documentation on methodology

A short description of the methodology and characteristics of the survey is contained in the technical explanatory note attached to the monthly press release regularly updated. Concerning indices on base 2010=100, a summary of the main methodological items are available in the on-line edition of “Nota Informativa” released on 27th of March 2013 (http://www.istat.it/it/archivio/86302).
A description of methodology and sources used in preparing statistics is also contained in the Information System for Survey Documentation and Quality Control (Siqual); it is available on ISTAT's website http://siqual.istat.it/SIQual/lang.do?language=UK. This system manages qualitative information related to each single phase of a survey's production process (http://siqual.istat.it/SIQual/visualizza.do?id=5000157).

10.7 Quality management - documentation

The Information System for Survey Documentation and Quality Control (Siqual) contains a description of methodology and sources used in preparing statistics; it is available on ISTAT's website http://siqual.istat.it/SIQual/lang.do?language=UK.

More information about procedures applied for quality management and quality assessment are described in the document "Quality Guidelines For Statistical Processes" - December 2012

http://www.istat.it/en/files/2011/11/QualityGuidelines_EngVers_1.11.pdf

11. Quality management
11.1 Quality assurance

Essential points of Istat quality policy are: process quality, product quality, documentation, respect for respondents, strengthening of statistical literacy, users' orientation.

For more details: http://www.istat.it/en/tools/data-quality

11.2 Quality management - assessment

In 2011 this survey was submitted to an audit on quality in a testing phase http://www.istat.it/en/tools/data-quality/audit

As regards main issues of quality, index is compliant with a good standard. Eurostat's requirements in terms of time series are fulfilled, timeliness is respected, cross-domain checks are used for monitoring a good level of coherence.

12. Relevance
12.1 Relevance - User Needs

Main users of industrial production index are:

- Institutions: government departments, ECB, national central bank, international organisations, etc.
- Social actors: employers' organisations, trade unions, lobby groups, etc.
- Media
- Researchers & students
- Enterprises/businesses
- Internal users
- Eurostat

12.2 Relevance - User Satisfaction

Not available.

12.3 Completeness

Eurostat's requirements in terms of time series are fulfilled.

13. Accuracy
13.1 Accuracy - overall

The samples are designed with the cut-off method and therefore sampling errors cannot be measured. Non-sampling errors are reduced or eliminated in the collection phase both using an electronic questionnaire that helps debugging and aiming at an increase of the response rate of enterprises.

13.2 Sampling error

It is not possible to compute sampling errors because a non-probability sampling method (cut-off) is used.

13.3 Non-sampling error
Response rate When the first estimates were released, the response rate reaches 90% in terms of firms. This represents 95% of the turnover value.
Actions to speed up or increase the rate of response Reminders and intensive follow ups by phone are addressed to the MIB (Main Industrial Business) units.
14. Timeliness and punctuality
14.1 Timeliness
Timeliness Publication of the final index takes place about 50 days after the end of the reference month.
14.2 Punctuality

Releases on time, within 60 days as required by Eurostat.

15. Coherence and comparability
15.1 Comparability - geographical

European definitions are used and they apply in the whole national territory.

15.2 Comparability - over time

Consistent time series data are available for a long period of time (since January 2000). When changes in source data, methodology and statistical techniques are introduced, historical series are reconstructed as far back as possible. 

15.3 Coherence - cross domain

Comparisons are made with the evolution of Industrial Production indices. Results for these comparisons show good level of coherence for main aggregates.

15.4 Coherence - internal

Aggregates are always consistent with their sub-aggregates.

16. Cost and Burden

11 persons work full time for unit producing the industrial turnover index.

An estimation of time burden for one reporting enterprise is around 30 minutes each month.

17. Data revision
17.1 Data revision - policy

Generally, major changes in methodology, sources and statistical techniques are announced in ad hoc publications.

Advance notification of methodological changes is also provided through seminars and papers disseminated throughout the scientific community.

Once a year, in October or November, raw data are revised in order to take into account revisions coming from enterprises, late respondents and other sources.

When revisions are due to finding errors a note is showed to the public.

No vintage database is available.

17.2 Data revision - practice

A paragraph called 'La revisione degli indici' is included in the methodological annex once a year in November. It contains a methodological note on revision (revision policy, source, periodicity, etc.) and the results of the revision analysis for the current period presented. 

For the total turnover raw index the annual data percentage change of 2012 was revised from -4.5% to -4.3%

18. Statistical processing
18.1 Source data
Type of source Statistical survey.
Frame on which the source is based The enterprises surveyed are taken from the business register ASIA.
Sample or census Non probabilistic sample.
Criteria for stratification Not applicable.
Threshold values and percentages There are approximately 37,000 enterprises in the population of reference. Around 7,000 enterprises are surveyed each month.
Frequency of updating the sample Every year, usually in occasion of the revision (October or November)
18.2 Frequency of data collection

Data are collected monthly.

18.3 Data collection
Questionnaires used in the survey

Two questionnaires are used. One (ISTAT SCI/FO) is for enterprises surveyed for turnover and new orders and the other (ISTAT SCI/F) is for enterprises surveyed only for turnover.

Questionnaires are sent to enterprises at the beginning of the year,  one has to be returned each month.
The deadline for responses is fixed as the 15th day after the reference month.
However, because of some delays in the response process, data collection is closed around 46 days after the reference month.

Planned changes in national questionnaires None.
Data collection media Data are collected by web, fax and e-mail questionnaires.
Planned changes in data collection methodology None.
18.4 Data validation

Time series checks are used for plausibility of data validated. Integrity of files structure and used codes is ensured by extractions made from a database respecting integrity constraints.

18.5 Data compilation
Estimates for non-response Data for non-respondents are estimated using the year on year growth rate of the respondent enterprises.
Estimates for grossing-up to population levels None.
Type of index Laspeyres index with a fixed base.
Method of weighting and chaining The weighting system is based on the enterprises' turnover from Structural Business Statistics data and from Foreign Trade Statistics.
Planned changes in production methods Change of the base year in 2018.
18.6 Adjustment

Seasonally adjusted data will be sent to Eurostat in the first months of 2015.

File attached refers only to raw data (seasonally adjusted data are not yet sent to Eurostat). When SA data will be sent to Eurostat this document will be updated.

19. Comment

None