Background Notes

Irish Industrial Production by Sector

Data for this survey is collected under the name of PRODCOM, but is currently published under the title of Irish Industrial Production by Sector.

Introduction to PRODCOM

This report presents results for the annual PRODCOM Inquiry conducted by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).  This is an annual survey of the value and volume of products produced by industrial enterprises in Ireland and sold during the reference year.  It is carried out in compliance with the European Community (EC) Council Regulation on the Establishment of a Community Survey of Industrial Production (No. 3924/91).  The results are presented using a harmonised EU product classification called PRODCOM.  The title comes from the French term "PRODuction COMmunautaire" (Community Production).

Appreciation is extended to all enterprises that co-operated with this annual inquiry.

Scope and Coverage

The survey covers all industrial enterprises with three or more persons engaged which are wholly or primarily engaged in industrial production and industrial services in the Mining, Quarrying and Manufacturing industries.  The survey does not cover the following sectors and products:

• products of coal and lignite mining

• coke and refined petroleum products

Survey Organisation

Customised questionnaires are issued to enterprises on an annual basis, seeking information at a detailed level on the products sold in the previous year, irrespective of the year of manufacture.  A residual category is included in each questionnaire for the recording of new products.  The details returned are classified by reference to the PRODCOM classification.  Individual questionnaires are updated annually to distinguish the particular products produced by each enterprise.

Product Groupings

In the PRODCOM classification products are grouped by the NACE Rev.2 four digit industrial sectors in which they are primarily produced (i.e. characteristic products).  NACE Rev.2 is the EU system for classifying economic activities.

The value and volume data shown for a product includes not only the production by enterprises classified to the NACE sector where it is primarily produced but also its production by enterprises classified to other NACE Rev.2 sectors.

Classification of Products

The business activity classification used in this publication is based on the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community i.e. NACE Rev. 2.  Prior to 2008 PRODCOM publications were based on the NACE Rev.1.1 classification.

The PRODCOM classification is organised into product divisions and classes corresponding to the sectoral divisions (2 digit) of NACE Rev.2.  It uses an eight-digit product code - XX.XX.XX.XX.  The first four digits of the code correspond to the 4-digit classes of NACE Rev.2.  The first six digits are the European Community Classification of Products by Activity (CPA) codes.  The CPA provides a detailed listing of the characteristic products for each 4-digit NACE Rev.2 economic activity.  The last two digits provide a more detailed breakdown of the CPA classes into PRODCOM product headings.

There is a direct link between the PRODCOM classification and the EU foreign trade Harmonised System/Combined Nomenclature (HS/CN) classification. Each PRODCOM 8-digit heading covers one or more HS/CN 8-digit headings.  The following example shows the link between all the different classifications:

PRODCOM                  Description Foreign Trade                  HS/CN code

10.12.10.10                 Fresh or chilled whole chickens              0207.11

The PRODCOM code 10.12.10.10 covers the same products as HS/CN code 0207.11, which is the code in foreign trade statistics under which imports and exports of chickens appear.  Thus, for any product a direct link can be made for its production (PRODCOM code) and its imports and exports (HS/CN code) to derive domestic consumption (production plus imports minus exports).  This in turn can be linked to the sector of economic activity.

As described above PRODCOM data may be combined with foreign trade data (imports and exports) to derive apparent domestic consumption.  Apparent consumption is calculated by adding imports to domestic production and subtracting exports.  This approximation may be of limited value in some instances due to the need to suppress details to preserve confidentiality, timing differences between PRODCOM and foreign trade data, or different valuation methods.

Variables

The data covers the value and volume of products manufactured and sold by enterprises, irrespective of the year of manufacture.  Also included are the fees earned by the enterprises for industrial services provided and work done on commission.

Value relates to the net selling value, excluding VAT, invoiced to customers.  It excludes duties and taxes payable on the goods such as excise duties, separately charged freight costs, discounts and goods resold without any further processing.

Estimation for Non-Response

Details for key non-respondents were estimated using turnover data from other CSO surveys, principally the Monthly Industrial Production Inquiry.  Total turnover was disaggregated, where possible, by reference to the product mix details supplied by the non-respondents to an earlier PRODCOM inquiry. In all other cases, both volume and value are imputed by the IT system.

In the case of respondents, estimates for missing volumes have been made in certain cases by using the average unit price from the respondent firms. In other cases it was not possible to estimate for missing volumes.

Confidentiality

The information provided by enterprises is treated as strictly confidential in accordance with national and EU law.  Rules are applied to both the value and volume data of each individual product or service to identify confidential data.  Direct or indirect disclosure of information relating to identifiable respondents is avoided by suppressing confidential data.  Individual products which are confidential are identified by -99,999,999.

(1) Definition

Net Selling Value

The value of sales for each product relates to the net selling value i.e. the net amount (excluding VAT) invoiced to customers.

This value includes amounts charged by enterprises to customers for transport of goods by their own vehicles and packaging costs.

Excluded from this definition are:

• duties and taxes payable on the goods e.g. excise duties
• separately charged freight costs
• any discounts granted to customers
• goods resold with further processing i.e. goods merchanted or factored 

(2) Products

Products include:

• all finished goods made from materials or intermediate goods purchased by the enterprise
• semi-finished goods transferred for further processing to another establishment of the business (valued at their estimated value)
• goods which were substantially made in the factory but on which some intermediary work was done on commission by another firm
• goods fully manufactured by the enterprise on commission from materials supplied by another firm
• goods partly manufactured by the enterprise on commission
• work done for a fee or charge on products supplied by another firm within the State and then returned for further processing prior to becoming a finished product
• any other work done on commission 

(3) Prodcom

PRODCOM is the title of the European Community (EC) production statistics for Mining, Quarrying and Manufacturing, i.e. Section B and C of the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community (NACE Rev. 2).  The title comes from the French "PRODuction COMmunautaire" (Community production).

The basis of the survey is Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3924/91 on the establishment of a Community survey of industrial production (PRODCOM Regulation).  In accordance with Article 2(2) of the above-mentioned Regulation, production is to be recorded according to the product headings of the PRODCOM list.
The list does not include the products of coal and lignite mining, extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas, manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (Divisions 05, 06 and 19 of NACE Rev. 2), since they are already covered in a separate set of Community statistics.