Economic Activity Survey

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    NAME OF ORGANISATION
    Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

    OVERVIEW

    The Economic Activity Survey (EAS) produces estimates of the economic and financial performance of Australian industry. The estimates are derived using a combination of data directly collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), and Business Activity Statement (BAS) data provided by businesses to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

    PURPOSE

    The EAS collection provides key measures of the performance of Australian industries and is used by analysts in both the private and public sectors.

    The general purposes of the EAS are to:

    • provide data which feeds into the Supply-Use and Input-Output tables and the National Accounts (EAS is used as an annual benchmark of economic activity in the compilation of the National Accounts).
    • measure actual changes in the operation, structure and performance of Australian industry.
    • provide "economic indicator" statistics which monitor the economy in regard to the business cycle.
    • provide a convenient vehicle to collect more detailed or specific information in certain areas (by adding questions or enhancing the sample).

    SCOPE
The EAS scope consists of all business entities operating in the Australian economy during 2018-19 except for:
  • Finance and Insurance and Superannuation (ANZSIC06 subdivisions 62 and 63);
  • Public Administration (ANZSIC06 Subdivision 75);
  • Defence (ANZSIC06 Subdivision 76);
  • Private Households Employing Staff (ANZSIC06 Subdivision 96);
  • General government (SISCA 3000), except those business classified to Water Supply, Sewerage and Drainage Services (ANZSIC06 Subdivision 28);

Government-owned or controlled Public Non-Financial Corporations are included.

    DATA DETAIL

    Conceptual framework

    The annual Economic Activity Survey uses the standard ABS integrated economic statistics framework. Details of the classifications, units model, survey design, estimation methodology and data item definitions are published in the Explanatory Notes of Australian Industry (cat. no. 8155.0).

    Main outputs

    From 2006-07, for most industry divisions and subdivisions (as specified in the Australian and New Zealand Industrial Classification (ANZSIC, 2006 edition), national estimates are presented of: income; expenses; industry value added; operating profit before tax; capital expenditure, selected components of these aggregates and derivations, industry ratios and employment. Selected estimates by business size are provided at the division level. State/territory estimates of income, employment, and wages and salaries, at the division level are also included. Broad level capital expenditure estimates are also presented at the division level. The key publication for this data is Australian Industry (ABS cat no 8155.0).

    Classifications
    The businesses that contribute to the statistics from the Economic Activity Survey are classified by:

    • institutional sector, in accordance with the Standard Institutional Sector Classification of Australia (SISCA), which is detailed in Standard Economic Sector Classifications of Australia (SESCA) (cat. no. 1218.0);
    • industry, in accordance with the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) (cat. no. 1292.0);
    • state and territory;
    • by business size.

    A non-standard classification is used for classifying businesses by size.
    From 2017-18, the size classification comprises the following categories:
    • Large businesses, with employment of 200 or more persons
    • Medium businesses, with employment of 20 to fewer than 200 persons
    • Small businesses, with employment of 5 to fewer than 20 persons
    • Micro businesses, with employment of fewer than 5 persons (including non-employing businesses).

    Other concepts (summary)



    GEOGRAPHIC DETAIL
    Australia
    New South Wales
    Victoria
    Queensland
    South Australia
    Western Australia
    Tasmania
    Northern Territory
    ACT

    Comments and/or Other Regions


    COLLECTION FREQUENCY
    Annually

    Frequency comments


    COLLECTION HISTORY

    The EAS collection was first conducted in 1989/90 as a pilot test, using a sample of about 600 units. In 1990/91, it was expanded to a full dress rehearsal, with a sample of around 8,000 units. Estimates for 1990/91 were considered for publication, but were held over until 1991/92 estimates were also available.

    Publication history:

    1991/92 First issue of Business Operations and Industry Performance Australia (ABS catalogue no. 8140.0) with two years of data.

    1992/93 Second issue of 8140.0, with three years of data.

    1993/94 Third issue of 8140.0, with four years of data. First issue produced on an ANZSIC basis, rather than an ASIC basis.

    1994/95 8140.0 released in October 1996 with five years of data.

    1995/96 8140.0 released in December 1997 with five years of data.

    1996/97

    First issue of Business Operations and Industry Performance Australia, Preliminary (ABS catalogue no. 8142.0). Released in May 1998 with two years of data.

    Business Operations and Industry Performance Australia (8140.0) released 31 March 1999. First issue to include selected experimental estimates derived by incorporating business income tax data.

    1997/98

    Business Operations and Industry Performance Australia, Preliminary (8142.0) released 27 May 1999.

    Business Operations and Industry Performance Australia (8140.0) released 10 December 1999.

    1998/99

    Business Operations and Industry Performance Australia, Preliminary (8142.0) released 12 May 2000.

    Business Operations and Industry Performance Australia (8140.0) released 14 December 2000.

    1998/99 Australian Industry (ABS catalogue no. 8155.0) released 28 March 2001. Included the first release of selected experimental detailed industry estimates derived by incorporating business income tax data.

    1999/2000

    Business Operations and Industry Performance Australia, Preliminary (8142.0) released 10 May 2001.

    Business Operations and Industry Performance Australia (8140.0) released 25 October 2001.

    Australian Industry (ABS catalogue no. 8155.0) released 20 December 2001. The publication presents estimates for a subset of industries derived using a combination of ABS annual Economic Activity Survey and business income tax data provided by ATO.

    2000/2001

    Business Operations and Industry Performance Australia, Preliminary (8142.0) released 16 May 2002.

    Business Operations and Industry Performance Australia (8140.0) released 6 December 2002.

    Australian Industry (8155.0) released 27 August 2003

    2001/02 and 2002/03

    The introduction of The New Tax System (TNTS) from 1 July 2000 had significant implications for the collection of ABS business statistics. These were initially discussed in Information Paper: ABS Statistics And The New Tax System (cat. no. 1358.0) and subsequently in Information Paper: Improvements in ABS Economic Statistics [Arising from The New Tax System] (cat. no. 1372.0).

    The adoption of new statistical infrastructure arising from the introduction of The New Tax System resulted in a new series of the Economic Activity Survey commencing from the 2001-02 reference period. Because of resultant delays in processing, estimates were released in a dual-year edition of Australian Industry (8155.0) on 7 February 2005. This release included some content that previously appeared in Business Operations and Industry Performance, Australia (cat. no. 8140.0), which was discontinued. Similarly, the preliminary publication (cat. no. 8142.0) was also discontinued. To help bridge the series, key data were presented for 2000-01 on the bases of the old and the new infrastructure.

      2003-04 Australian Industry (8155.0) released 9 August 2006.

      2004-05 Australian Industry (8155.0) released 21 December 2006.

      2005-06 Australian Industry (8155.0) released 23 November 2007.

      2006-07 Australian Industry (8155.0) released 8 October 2008.

      2007-08 Australian Industry (8155.0) released 15 May 2009.

      2008-09 Australian Industry (8155.0) released 28 May 2010.

      2009-10 Australian Industry (8155.0) released 27 May 2011.

      2010-11 Australian Industry (8155.0) released 22 June 2012.

      2011-12 Australian Industry (8155.0) released 28 May 2013.

      2012-13 Australian Industry (8155.0) released 28 May 2014.

      2013-14 Australian Industry (8155.0) released 29 June 2015.

      2014-15 Australian Industry (8155.0) released 27 May 2016.

      2015-16 Australian Industry (8155.0) released 26 May 2017.

      2016-17 Australian Industry (8155.0) released 25 May 2018.

      2017-18 Australian Industry (8155.0) released 31 May 2019.

      2018-19 Australian Industry (8155.0) released 29 May 2020.

      Major changes:

      1992/93 Move from EASPROD processing system to the IPS-based processing system.

      Inclusion of some questions about waste handling expenses.

      1993/94 Industry classification changed from ASIC to ANZSIC.

      Inclusion of a user funded question about arts and cultural sponsorship.

      Inclusion of a question about income by State/Territory.

      Move to the SPEED data management environment.

      Compilation of estimates based on "new business provision"

      1994/95 Expansion of the survey form to collect data for the Input-Output Section of the ABS. The expansion involved modifying some existing questions to provide a finer level of detail, and including additional questions. The purpose of these changes was to assist in the compilation of the National Accounts on an Input-Output basis.

      1995/96 Questions about waste management and selected expenses (Input-Output) were expanded into two separate supplementary surveys that accompanied the main EAS survey form. A new, shorter version of the main EAS survey form was also trialled on 400 respondents.

      1996/97 The main EAS survey form (the "core form") was produced in a simplified format, with all questions appearing at the front and Include/Excludes, Notes and other explanatory material at the back. New questions were included on the core form, including whether the organisation was a not for profit organisation. An additional question regarding sponsorship was included on the expenses (Input-Output) form. Selected experimental estimates derived by incorporating business income tax (BIT) data were published for the first time.

      1997/98 Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA) forms were collected.

      1998/99 Selected experimental detailed industry estimates derived by incorporating business income tax data were published for the first time.

      2000/01 Data of Donations by business to community projects, and Sponsorship, were collected from a subsample of EAS businesses, as a supplementary survey. Data relating to ANZSIC division A (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) are not available from either ABS sources or ABARE.

      2001-02 New statistical infrastructure introduced, resulting in commencement of a new data series. In mid 2002, to better use the information available as a result of The New Tax System (TNTS), the ABS changed its model by which businesses are recognised and recorded for the purpose of compiling economic statistics. For 2000-01 and earlier years, the EAS collection used the management unit as the statistical unit for direct collection. For 2001-02 and later years, the statistical units are the Australian Business Number (ABN) unit for businesses with simple structures and the Type of Activity Unit (TAU) for businesses with complex structures. In most cases, ABN units / TAUs concorded with the management units used prior to the 2001-02 year.
            To help bridge the series, key data were presented for 2000-01 on the bases of both the old and the new infrastructure. The 'new basis' data also provide revised estimates for 2000-01, calculated as though the 2000-01 collection had been conducted on the same basis as the 2001-02 and 2002-03 collections.
      Other effects of the infrastructure changes on the series were that:
          • the population of businesses that are considered to be employing based on taxation information has changed as a result of TNTS;
          • the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), which maintains the population of ABN units, classifies some businesses differently from the ABS, for example to different industries;
          • different measures of business size are available; and
            • the ABS Business Register was expanded to encompass non-employers.

            All estimates, not just the experimental series, are now derived using a combination of directly collected data from the EAS and business income tax data.

            Data continue to be unavailable for ANZSIC Division A. As well, ANZSIC Division K (Finance and Insurance) were excluded from scope, apart from limited unpublished data available for ANZSIC Subdivision 75 (Services to Finance and Insurance).

            Employment estimates not released, due to reliability problems with the modelling (from taxation data) that was intended to provide employment estimates for non-sampled ABN units.
      2002-03 Additional sample and questions included for the (biennial) Information and Communications Technology Industry Surveys. ANZSIC Division A restored to outputs.

      2003-04 Additional sample and questions included to enable compilation of the Tourism Satellite Accounts. Collection of most assets and liabilities data discontinued indefinitely.

      2004-05 Additional sample and questions included for the (biennial) Information and Communications Technology Industry Surveys. Employment data restored to outputs (for 2004-05 only), as experimental estimates.

      2005-06 Additional sample included to enable estimates produced on the 1993 edition of ANZSIC to be bridged to those for 2006.

      2006-07 Change from ANZSIC 1993 to ANZSIC 2006 industry classification.
      Significant changes to the collection scope, sample design and estimation methodology used to produce estimates, most notably in the way business tax data are used.
      As a result of these changes a new statistical series commenced with the 2006-07 collection.
      Business counts, employment data and ANZSIC subdivision and class level estimates were not included in this edition.
      Key data data from 2004-05 and 2005-06 compiled using the new methodology and on a 2006 ANZSIC basis were included as an aid to analysis.
      The publication Mining Operations, Australia (8415.0) was discontinued with the 2006-07 issue being the last until 2011-12.

      2007-08 Additional questions included to provide more detailed breakdown of sales and service income, purchases and inventories.
      Business counts and employment data for all industries for both 2006-07 and 2007-08 were reinstated for this edition. These data items enabled the calculation of additional business ratios.
      Data for the private sector of Division O (Public Administration and Safety) now included.
      Data spreadsheets including data for 2006-07 and 2007-08 at subdivision level were again included.
      Detailed data relating to the Energy Supply industry which was collected for the 2007-08 reference period released as data cubes.

      2008-09 Sample size increased by about one-third (from approximately 15,000 to 20,000) to improve reliability of estimates.

      2009-10 Additional questions included to provide more detailed breakdown of transport and tourism activity to feed into National Accounts and the Tourism Satellite Accounts.
      Sample size increased to improve reliability of estimates.

      2010-11 For the first time experimental estimates for Subdivision 64 Auxiliary finance and insurance services are released as a two year time series. These estimates are available as an appendix to this publication. However, they are not included in aggregates for Total selected industries.

      Finer level estimates for the Australian manufacturing industry for 2010-11 were released in July 2012 as a data cube on the web page for Australian Industry (cat. no. 8155.0). They were previously released in Experimental Estimates for the Manufacturing Industry, 2009-10 (cat. no. 8159.0).

      2011-12 This was the last release of Australian Industry (8155.0) containing a PDF publication.
      The collection of detailed Mining industry data was recommenced and released under the revived separate publication Mining Operations, Australia (8415.0).

      2012-13 This was the first release of Australian Industry (8155.0) not to contain a PDF.
      Off-June adjusted estimates were released as a datacube in Australian Industry (cat. no. 8155.0) in this and future issues. They were previously released in Information Paper: Experimental Estimates for Australian Industry Adjusted for Off-June Year Reporting (cat. no. 8169.0).

      2015-16 Detailed Mining industry estimates previously released under Mining Operations, Australia (8415.0) were released as a data cube as part of the release for Australian Industry (cat. no. 8155.0) and the Mining publication was discontinued.

      2017-18 The experimental estimates for Subdivision 64 Auxiliary finance and insurance services moved from the appendix into their own data cube. These estimates remain experimental and are not included in aggregates for Total selected industries.

      DATA AVAILABILITY
      Yes

      Data availability comments




      DATE OF LAST UPDATE FOR THIS DOCUMENT
      26/05/2020 10:57 AM