Enterprises: A business or service entity operating in New Zealand. It can be a company, partnership, trust, estate, incorporated society, producer board, local or central government organisation, voluntary organisation or self-employed individual.
Employee Count: Employee count is a head-count of all salary and wage earners for the February reference month.
Overseas Equity: degree of overseas ownership. Information is collected from only medium and large enterprises.
Limitations of the data
There are a number of limitations associated with business demography data. These limitations include:
- Non-coverage of 'small' enterprises that fall below the economic significance criteria on Statistical Business Register (SBR).
- Lags in recording business births and deaths.
- Difficulties in maintaining industrial and business classifications for smaller firms (that are primarily maintained using administrative data).
Inclusions
Business demography statistics are limited to economically significant individual, private-sector and public-sector enterprises that are engaged in the production of goods and services in New Zealand. These enterprises are maintained on the Statistical Business Register, which generally includes all employing units and those enterprises with GST turnover greater than $30,000 per year.
Changes to data collection/processing
Up to 2015 business demography series was based on the Stats NZ Longitudinal Business Frame (LBF).
From 2016 business demography series is based on the Statistical Business Register (SBR).