Administrative Burden in the Field of Statistics
The Chamber collected opinions from companies about bureaucracy during the first quarter, with the most suggestions received regarding the field of statistics. Subsequently, the Chamber sent the statistics-related proposals to the Statistical Office and, to date, we have received feedback from the office. In total, the Chamber submitted 17 questions and proposals to the office.
Entrepreneurs' problems in the field of statistics were summarized as follows: filling out various statistical reports takes a lot of time and is largely manual. It was also pointed out that it is unclear why certain data are collected and how they are used later. It was also mentioned as a problem that the same or similar data must be submitted to the state several times. In addition, there were several very specific suggestions and questions about data collection.
Use of Data in Decision Making
One of the entrepreneurs' wishes is that the data submitted should be more actively used in state management and that it should be clear why certain data are collected.
The Statistical Office pointed out in its response that the collected data are actively and widely used in economic forecasts, in the development of support measures, in the credit ratings of the Estonian state, but also in social protection measures and in creating general strategies and legislation. The Statistical Office admitted in its response that the quality of evidence-based decision-making could certainly be better, and the short explanations added to the questionnaires about why the data are collected may not currently be sufficient. The Statistical Office is looking for a more systematic solution in cooperation with data submitters on how to better communicate the necessity of the data and the potential benefits to the state and the entrepreneur.
Multiple Submissions of the Same Data
The Statistical Office fully agrees that, if possible, data already submitted to the state should be used, and it also adheres to this principle itself. The Statistical Office already takes data from about 500 databases managed by 50 different institutions. For example, the office mentions that although the questionnaire "Wages and Labor" did not disappear entirely with the change in methodology for calculating average wages, average and median wage data are now obtained 100% from registry data. Thanks to this, the office estimates that the administrative burden on entrepreneurs for filling out this questionnaire has decreased by about 8300 hours (or 30%) compared to 2022.
The existence of similar types of data in other databases may not be sufficient for them to be used in national statistics. Additionally, the quality and format of registry data may be a problem. National statistics are based on specific internationally agreed methodologies, where data are needed in a specific format to be comparable with other countries. The Statistical Office has previously written about the use of registry data and the related limitations here and here.
Entrepreneurs also brought up various examples where questionnaires could be pre-filled from data from annual reports, tax declarations, the employment register (TÖR), or the education information system (EHIS). For example, the Statistical Office could take the gross hourly wages of male and female employees from the income and social tax declaration (TSD). The Statistical Office responded that they would also make this report entirely based on registry data, but the registers lack information about working hours. The Statistical Office has written more extensively about this here.
The Statistical Office responded that, where possible, pre-filling of questionnaires is used, and in the questionnaires, the entrepreneur must fill in the fields that cannot be obtained from, for example, the annual report, EHIS, or elsewhere. However, the response also emphasizes that closer cooperation and better communication with entrepreneurs are very important to make it possible to pre-fill more questionnaires. For example, last year's wage structure survey is mentioned, where entrepreneurs were not willing to submit employee personal codes. However, this is a very necessary prerequisite for using the corresponding registry data. The office emphasizes that it does not publish or share personalized data with anyone (including government agencies, individuals, companies), as this is prohibited by the law on national statistics, except when the individual has given explicit consent for sharing.
The Statistical Office is actively working to use more existing data. Among other things, it participates in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications' project "Data-Based Reporting," which aims to implement the principle of single submission and multiple use of data in practice. The office is also looking for solutions with the Tax and Customs Board on how to better align the TÖR and TSD with the needs of statistics, in addition to seeking other solutions to replace questionnaires (e.g., modeling).
Notifications Related to Data Submission Obligations
Feedback from companies revealed that warning letters from the Statistical Office, threatening entrepreneurs with sanctions if they do not submit a statistical report by a given date, remind uninformed users of scam letters, reducing credibility.
The Statistical Office is aware that, for example, only Omniva is marked as the sender of a registered email without additional explanations, which can create confusion. The Statistical Office emphasizes that its interest is not to sanction entrepreneurs, but to collect quality information about economic and social phenomena important to Estonian
residents. Just as the state would not function without taxes, neither can the citizens of the state nor the people organizing the life of the state do their work without data. The Statistical Office also points out that before applying sanctions, they always look for ways to accommodate entrepreneurs, such as possibly extending the deadlines for responses. The office emphasized in its response that it is very important that the company's data are correct and up-to-date in the business registry. These data form the basis for communication between the state and the entrepreneur in general.
Participation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
Entrepreneurs brought up several examples of things that are researched annually that are not rapidly changing or do not seem necessary, especially from the perspective of smaller companies. One such example is questions related to information technology.
The office explained that according to a European regulation, it is mandatory to collect data on companies with 10 or more employees for the production of internationally comparable statistics, so smaller companies do not respond to questionnaires resulting from European regulations.
In questionnaires that are the same year after year, pre-filling is generally applied to simplify responding if no changes have occurred in the meantime. Specifically, the IT survey results are used by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications to assess the digitalization level of the business sector. Internationally (in addition to comparisons between EU countries), the data are used in the Digital Decade DESI index https://digital-decade-desi.digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/, which is published annually. Estonia's high position in several categories of this index has brought significant international attention to our country and to entrepreneurs, helping them create new markets.
Future Reductions in Obligations
The Statistical Office promises, as one specific example, that the "Intrastat Goods Arrival" questionnaire will soon be completely eliminated, which would significantly reduce the administrative burden on companies (estimated at 1/3 of the total administrative burden caused by the office's questionnaires) and also reduce apparent overlap with other questionnaires. The office also expresses hope that through new developments in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, the Tax and Customs Board, and entrepreneurs in general, it will be possible to reduce the administrative burden through more pre-filled forms and real-time data movement.