Indicators with growth by 20% or more (until 2007, NACE Rev. 1.1)
methods, notes and classification
DATA_DESCR The data category covers a group of variables which explain the characteristics and demography of the business population. The methodology allows for the production of data on enterprise births (and deaths), that is, enterprise creations (cessations) that amount to the creation (dissolution) of a combination of production factors and where no other enterprises are involved. In other words, enterprises created or closed solely as a result of e.g. restructuring, merger or break-up are not included in this data. Until 2010 reference year the harmonised data collection is carried out to satisfy the requirements for the Structural Indicators, used for monitoring progress of the Lisbon process, regarding business births, deaths and survival. It also provides key data for the joint OECD-Eurostat "Entrepreneurship Indicators Programme". In summary, the collected indicators are as follows: Population of active enterprises Number of enterprise births Number of enterprise survivals up to five years Number of enterprise deaths Related variables on employment Derived indicators such as birth rates, death rates, survival rates and employment shares An additional set of indicators on high-growth enterprises and 'gazelles' (high-growth enterprises that are up to five years old) The data are drawn from business registers, although some individual countries improve the availability or freshness of data on employment and turnover by integrating other sources. Geographically EU Member States and EFTA countries are covered. In practice not all Member States have participated in the first harmonised data collection exercises.
CLASS_SYSTEM The methodology followed (closely by most countries) is that laid down in the Eurostat-OECD Manual on Business Demography Statistics. Please consult the document on the classification plan and breakdowns for further details (see the link below in section 21.3).á
STAT_CONC_DEF The term business demography is used here to cover a group of variables which explain the characteristics and demography of the business population. The creation of new enterprises and the closure of unproductive businesses can be seen as an important contributor to business dynamism. In addition to studying the population of active enterprises, the counts and characteristics of enterprise births and deaths are examined. Special attention is paid to the impact of these demographic events on employment. In order to provide information on the impact of enterprise births, their development will be followed for five years in order to see how they survive and grow. Aámethodology has been developed for the production of data on enterprise births (and deaths), that is, enterprise creations (cessations) that amount to the creation (dissolution) of a combination of production factors and where no other enterprises are involved. In other words, enterprises created or closed solely as a result of e.g. restructuring, merger or break-up are not included in this data. The complete Eurostat-OECD Manual on Business Demography Statistics is available from the Eurostat website. The methodology and definitions are based on those of the Business Registers Recommendations Manual and Glossary, because the Business Registers serve as the sources for the Business Demography data. The harmonised data collection (started in 2002) aims to provide comparable data on business demography for European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members. In particular it aims to satisfy the anticipated requirements for the Structural Indicators, used for monitoring progress of the Lisbon process, regarding business births, deaths and survival. It also provides key data for the joint OECD-Eurostat "Entrepreneurship Indicators Programme". The definitions of the concepts of births, deaths, survivals and activity are as follows: Enterprise The enterprise is the smallest combination of legal units that is an organisational unit producing goods or services, which benefits from a certain degree of autonomy in decision-making, especially for the allocation of its current resources. An enterprise carries out one or more activities at one or more locations. An enterprise may be a sole legal unit. Enterprise Birth A birth amounts to the creation of a combination of production factors with the restriction that no other enterprises are involved in the event. Births do not include entries into the population due to mergers, break-ups, split-off or restructuring of a set of enterprises. It does not include entries into a sub-population resulting only from a change of activity. A birth occurs when an enterprise starts from scratch and actually starts activity. An enterprise creation can be considered an enterprise birth if new production factors, in particular new jobs, are created. If a dormant unit is reactivated within two years, this event is not considered a birth. Employer Enterprise Birth Birth of an enterprise with at least one employee. This population consists of enterprise births that have at least one employee in the birth year and of enterprises that existed before the year in consideration, but were below the threshold of one employee. In other words, "employer enterprise births" comprise all "enterprise births" of a given year minus the non-employer births of the same year plus former non-employer enterprises that have become employers in the given year. Therefore the dataset on "employer business demography" does not have any size class "0 employees" but usually has higher number of "employer births" particularly in size class "up to 4 employees". Enterprise Death A death amounts to the dissolution of a combination of production factors with the restriction that no other enterprises are involved in the event. Deaths do not include exits from the population due to mergers, take-overs, break-ups or restructuring of a set of enterprises. It does not include exits from a sub-population resulting only from a change of activity. An enterprise is included in the count of deaths only if it is not reactivated within two years. Equally, a reactivation within two years is not counted as a birth. Employer enterprise death An employer enterprise death occurs either as an enterprise death with at least one employee in the year of death or as an exit by decline, moving below the threshold of one employee. This is the opposite event to the employer enterprise birth. "Employer enterprise deaths" comprise all "enterprise deaths" of a given year minus the non-employer deaths of the same year plus former employer enterprises that have become non-employers in the given year. Therefore the dataset on "employer business demography" usually has higher number of "employer deaths" particularly in size class "up to 4 employees" than the complete dataset covering also non-employers in size class "0 employees". Survival In the Business Demography context, survival occurs if an enterprise is active in terms of employment and/or turnover in the year of birth and the following year(s). Two types of survival can be distinguished: 1. An enterprise born in year xx is considered to have survived in year xx+1 if it is active in terms of turnover and/or employment in any part of year xx+1 (= survival without changes). 2. An enterprise is also considered to have survived if the linked legal unit(s) have ceased to be active, but their activity has been taken over by a new legal unit set up specifically to take over the factors of production of that enterprise (= survival by take-over). Activity Within the Business Demography context, activity is defined as any turnover and/or employment in the period from 1st January to 31st December in a given year. This definition complements the concept of activity in the Business Registers glossary. In 'employer business demography' an enterprise is considered active as long as it has at least one employee. High-Growth Enterprises and Gazelles In addition, data are collected on high-growth enterprises and so-called 'gazelles', i.e. high-growth enterprises that are up to five years old.áThe concepts used in this data collection areáas follows: High-growth enterprises All enterprises with average annualised growth greater than 20% per annum, over a three year period should be considered as high-growth enterprises. Growth can be measured by the number of employees or by turnover. Medium growth enterprises are defined with the average annualised growth mentioned above between 10 and 20%. Gazelles All enterprises up to 5 years old with average annualised growth greater than 20% per annum, over a three year period, should be considered as gazelles.Those medium growth enterprises which are up to 5 years old are called young medium growth enterprises. Aáthreshold of 5 or 10 employees applies in this dataset, i.e. it covers only those enterprises that had at least 5 or 10 employees at the beginning of the three-year observation period. As the growth factor defining high growth does not depend on the size of the enterprise, a meaningful threshold has to be set. Otherwise, for instance, a small enterpriseágrowing from 1 to 2 employees over three years would already be considered as a 'high growth enterprise'. Alládefinitions of the concepts used in business demography are laid down in the Eurostat-OECD Manual on Business Demography Statistics.
STAT_UNIT The statistical unit is the enterprise. In practice, many countries report data on legal units, which in most cases coincide with the enterprise.
STAT_POP The target population is the private sector economy. The full business registers of the participating countries are used as data sources. The data sets from the business registers are processed to produce data on births, deaths and survivals, as well as to obtain related indicators on employment. In principle there is no size threshold although in practice many countries' business registers do have a low threshold due to the coverage criteria of sources used to establish and update the register. In the additional datasets on employer business demography, the threshold is set to one employee at any time of the reference period. As mentioned above, a 10 employee (up to the reference year 2006) / 5 employee (the reference year 2007 onwards) threshold applies to the dataset on high-growth enterprises and 'gazelles'.
REF_AREA In principle all EU Member States and EFTA countries. In practice not all Member States have participated in the first harmonised data collections, because thereáwere based on a gentlemen's agreement
BASE_PER Not applicable.
UNIT_MEASURE Units for number of enterprises and employment data (number of persons employed and number of employees).
Methods 
Explanatory Notes 
Variables