Skip to content

Comparability

Contact info

Business Dynamics, Business Statistics
Asbjørn Hviid Mikkelsen
+45 39 17 37 32

ahm@dst.dk

Get as PDF

Business Demography

The national published Business Demography is a sub-population of the Danish published General enterprise statistics.

Covering private enterprises excluding agriculture, the Danish published Business demography can be compared to the Business Statistics published by Eurostat.

Comparability - geographical

The statistics can be compared with the Business Demography published annually by Eurostat.

There is a difference regarding coverage. While the Danish published Business Demography include all NACE codes and ownerships, the European published Business Demography only include NACE Rev. 2 B-N excluding K642, which is a coverage in sectors comparable to the coverage in the structural business statistics. On voluntary basis P-S excluding S94 are also published. Moreover, following legal forms are included: Sole proprietor, Limited liability company and Partnership and other legal forms.

Comparability over time

It is not possible to compare the Statistics on business demography with the earlier published Statistics on increase in new enterprises (published 1992-2001). Considerable changes has been made in the compilation method:

The business demography only include really active companies, the previous statistic included all companies with just the smallest activity. Businesses without activity are excluded in both statistics. Business demographics include previously registered companies that receive economic activity. The previous statistic included only newly registered units, however, measured at the time of registration as taxable. Business demographics include companies in all industries. The previous statistics included only companies in industries subject to VAT. Business demography includes companies in all sectors, where the previous statistic was limited to companies in the private sector. Business demography is based on information from the companies' accounts. In the previous statistics, revenue was calculated on the basis of the VAT declared revenue. It gives a difference, among other things. because the revenue from the accounts is calculated excl. taxes and duties, while the VAT declared revenue is incl. taxes. Business demography also includes an count of the continuing new companies for up to 5 years after the year of establishment, and a count of companies that cease to exist.

The statistics changed from Danish Industrial Classification 2003 to 2007 in 2009.

From the reference period 2009 the Business Demography started to utilise the electronic income register as a data source for the estimation of full-time equivalents. This implies a data break in the number of FTEs from 2008 to 2009. It is assed that this evolves to a fall of 2-3 pct. in full time equivalents.

For the reference year 2016, a technical revision of the income limit for the inclusion of self-employed persons gave approx. 3,200 more new firms from 2015 to 2016.

With the publication of the Statistics on business demography for the year 2018 the reference year 2017 was republished. This was due to quality-enhanced data processing, which resulted in an otherwise uncommon revision of Accounts Statistics for Non-Agricultural Private Sector and the General enterprise statistics. Republishing the business demography ensures that these are consistent. The revision only carries minor alterations to the reference year 2017.

Since 2009, the production of the business demography has used the same methodology to identify new and terminated enterprises. From the reference year 2020 a new method has been introduced. Where the old method is based on calculations of the number of employees in enterprises, the new method uses workplace moves of individual employees to determine whether an enterprise is actually new or terminated. The new method increases the possibility of identifying enterprises that are not actually new or terminated due to demography event (exchanges of employees) with other enterprises. A comparison of methods and data form 2019 shows that the new method identifies fewer new and terminated enterprises, 0.4 and 1.7 per cent fewer respectively. For new enterprise survival rates (table DEMO6) data have been recompiled back to 2010 to give the longest possible time series for survival using the new methodology.

Coherence - cross domain

Statistics Denmark also produce an entrepreneurship database. There is a difference between the two. In the entrepreneurship database it is not allowed for an enterprise to restart. In Business Demography this is allowed if the enterprise has been closed for at least two years.

Coherence - internal

The statistics are based mainly on one source, why the internal consistency is considered high.