Foreign affiliates in Finland: documentation of statistics
21.11.2024 valid documentation
Basic data of the statistics
Data description
The statistics describe the activities of foreign affiliates located in Finland. The data can be used to assess the global networking of enterprises, which is part of the globalisation process. The data are also used to describe the ownership structure of enterprises operating in Finland, and to assess their attractiveness to foreign enterprises and other institutions. The statistics are based on Regulation (EC) No 716/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Statistical population
All foreign-owned enterprises engaged in business activities in Finland constitute the population of the statistics on foreign affiliates in Finland. An enterprise is classified as international if the institutional unit that controls it is located outside Finland.
The statistical population is built by obtaining the data on foreign affiliates from the business statistics system of Statistics Finland. The number of rows in the resulting data is equal to the number of enterprises listed in the statistics for the statistical year. The columns of the company-specific row consist of the data on legal units, which are obtained from administrative records (incl. data supplied by the Finnish Tax Administration), data directly collected from enterprises by Statistics Finland, and data produced on the basis of estimation methods. A legal unit is a concept created for administrative requirements, and it does not always correspond to the concept of enterprise used in everyday language or economics. Enterprises are selected for the statistics if they are market-based and have had personnel, turnover, investments and balance sheet during the statistical reference year.
The statistical population is built by obtaining the data on foreign affiliates from the business statistics system of Statistics Finland. The number of rows in the resulting data is equal to the number of enterprises listed in the statistics for the statistical year. The columns of the company-specific row consist of the data on legal units, which are obtained from administrative records (incl. data supplied by the Finnish Tax Administration), data directly collected from enterprises by Statistics Finland, and data produced on the basis of estimation methods. A legal unit is a concept created for administrative requirements, and it does not always correspond to the concept of enterprise used in everyday language or economics. Enterprises are selected for the statistics if they are market-based and have had personnel, turnover, investments and balance sheet during the statistical reference year.
Statistical unit
The statistics on foreign affiliates in Finland are based on enterprise units. According to Statistics Finland’s definition, an enterprise is a unit with decision-making autonomy, which produces goods and/or services for sale in the market. An enterprise may comprise one or more legal units. If an enterprise comprises more than one legal unit, transactions between the units have been eliminated.
Unit of measure
EUR million, per cent and number of personnel are used as the units of measure in the statistics’ database tables.
Base period
The statistics on foreign affiliates in Finland are not index-based. The data are specific for each year.
Reference period
The calendar year is used as the reference period for the statistics on foreign affiliates in Finland. The data are for the accounting period ending during the statistical year.
Reference area
The statistics cover foreign-owned enterprises in the whole of Finland.
Sector coverage
The objective of these statistics is to identify the foreign affiliates operating in Finland as well as the institutional units that control them. The countries of residence of the controlling bodies are also defined in the statistics. The data on foreign affiliates are supplemented with unit-level data from other data files of Statistics Finland, such as turnover and number of persons employed.
From 2021 onwards turnover and value added are published for financial and insurance activities (TOL K) on top of the number of enterprises, turnover and the number of personnel.
From 2021 onwards turnover and value added are published for financial and insurance activities (TOL K) on top of the number of enterprises, turnover and the number of personnel.
Time coverage
The statistics cover a calendar year. The published statistics are final. Statistics on foreign affiliates in Finland have been published since 2003.
The statistics for the period from 2013 to 2017 were based on legal units. The most recent data (for 2018) are not fully comparable with earlier years, because enterprise unit is now used as the statistical unit. An enterprise is a unit with decision-making autonomy, which produces goods and/or services to be sold in the market. An enterprise corresponds to a legal unit if the legal unit is not part of an enterprise group. Otherwise, the enterprise is an enterprise group or its part. The group of statistical units in the structural business and financial statement statistics was expanded year 2023. Previously, only enterprises having operated for at least six months in the statistical reference year and whose turnover, number of personnel, investments or balance sheet exceeded the statistical limit were included in the statistics. Limitations concerning the operating time and size of enterprises have been removed from the definition of statistical units. Annual data contained in the statistics can be found on the website of the statistics and in Statistics Finland’s StatFin database with renewed statistical units for the period from 2018 onwards.
The definition of an enterprise is based on the EU Regulation on statistical units (EEC) 696/93.
The statistics for the period from 2013 to 2017 were based on legal units. The most recent data (for 2018) are not fully comparable with earlier years, because enterprise unit is now used as the statistical unit. An enterprise is a unit with decision-making autonomy, which produces goods and/or services to be sold in the market. An enterprise corresponds to a legal unit if the legal unit is not part of an enterprise group. Otherwise, the enterprise is an enterprise group or its part. The group of statistical units in the structural business and financial statement statistics was expanded year 2023. Previously, only enterprises having operated for at least six months in the statistical reference year and whose turnover, number of personnel, investments or balance sheet exceeded the statistical limit were included in the statistics. Limitations concerning the operating time and size of enterprises have been removed from the definition of statistical units. Annual data contained in the statistics can be found on the website of the statistics and in Statistics Finland’s StatFin database with renewed statistical units for the period from 2018 onwards.
The definition of an enterprise is based on the EU Regulation on statistical units (EEC) 696/93.
Frequency of dissemination
The statistics are published in December each year on Statistics Finland’s website.
Concepts
AMNE
Activities of multinational enterprises. Measures describing the activity and role of multinational enterprises in general, irrespective of whether it is financed by a foreign investor or not (cf. direct investment).
Branch
Branches are local units without separate legal identity, which are dependent on foreign-owned enterprises. A branch is treated as a quasi-enterprise and has a fixed establishment (cf. foreign corporation).
Business ID (Identity code)
Business ID, or business and organisation code, is an identifying code given by authorities to all legal units.
The Business ID consists of seven numbers, a hyphen and a control number.
The Business ID consists of seven numbers, a hyphen and a control number.
Control
Control means the ability to determine the general policy of an enterprise by choosing appropriate directors as needed. Enterprise A is deemed to be controlled by institutional unit B when B controls - directly or indirectly - more than half of its shareholders' voting power or more than half of its shares.
Country of location
Country of location is the country of registration of an institutional unit. The country of location is often, but not always, the same as the nationality of an institutional unit.
Direct foreign owner
Direct foreign owner is a non-resident enterprise with a direct holding of over 50 per cent of the voting rights of a resident enterprise. Cf. Direct foreign parent.
Direct foreign parent
Direct foreign parent is a non-resident enterprise with a direct holding of over 50 per cent of the voting rights of a resident parent enterprise. Cf. Direct foreign owner.
Direct investment
Direct investment is defined as investment by a resident entity in one economy in an enterprise resident in another country with the objective of obtaining a lasting interest in the enterprise and an effective voice in its management. In practice, an investment is classified as direct investment if the resident enterprise owns 10% or more of the shares or voting power of the foreign enterprise.
Direct relationship
In the Enterprise Group Register, direct relationship describes the direct ownership and/or control relationship between two enterprises belonging to the same group.
Enterprise
An enterprise is a unit with decision-making autonomy, which produces goods and/or services to be sold on the market.
Enterprise corresponds to legal unit, if the legal unit is not part of an enterprise group. Otherwise, the enterprise is an enterprise group or part of one.
The definition of enterprise is based on the EU regulation concerning statistical units (EEC) 696/93.
Enterprise corresponds to legal unit, if the legal unit is not part of an enterprise group. Otherwise, the enterprise is an enterprise group or part of one.
The definition of enterprise is based on the EU regulation concerning statistical units (EEC) 696/93.
FATS
The acronym FATS comes from the words Foreign Affiliate Statistics and refers to statistics on foreign affiliates. This may mean either foreign affiliates abroad controlled by the compiling economy (Outward FATS), or foreign affiliates resident in the compiling economy (Inward FATS).
FATS, Inward
The concept of Inward FATS comes from the words Inward Statistics on Foreign Affiliates. In Finland, these statistics go by the name Foreign-owned Enterprises and they describe the activities of foreign-owned enterprises in Finland.
FATS, Outward
The concept of Outward FATS comes from the words Outward Statistics on Foreign Affiliates. The concept refers to statistics describing the activity of Finnish-owned enterprises abroad.
Foreign affiliate
Foreign affiliate means an enterprise resident in the compiling country over which an institutional unit not resident in the compiling country has control, or an enterprise not resident in the compiling country over which an institutional unit resident in the compiling country has control.
Foreign control
Foreign control means that the controlling institutional unit is resident in a different country from the one where the institutional unit over which it has control is resident.
Control means the ability to determine the general policy of an enterprise by choosing appropriate directors as needed.
Enterprise A is deemed to be controlled by institutional unit B when B controls - directly or indirectly - more than half of the shareholders' voting power or more than half of the shares.
Control means the ability to determine the general policy of an enterprise by choosing appropriate directors as needed.
Enterprise A is deemed to be controlled by institutional unit B when B controls - directly or indirectly - more than half of the shareholders' voting power or more than half of the shares.
Foreign corporation
A foreign corporation is a unit which is registered in Finland in order to declare its sales including VAT but which does not have a permanent establishment in Finland. These units are not included in the enterprises of the Business Register. Cf. Branch.
Foreign-owned enterprise
Foreign-owned enterprises are enterprises where more than 50 per cent of equity or voting shares are directly or indirectly held by one foreign party.
Group nationality
In the Enterprise Group Register, group nationality is determined by the country of residence of the Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO). If the UBO of an enterprise group is resident in Finland the group's nationality is Finnish.
Indirect control
Indirect control means that enterprise X has control in enterprise A through another affiliate B which has control over enterprise A.
Institutional unit
The institutional unit is an elementary economic decision-making centre. A resident unit is regarded as constituting an institutional unit if it has decision-making autonomy in respect of its principal function and either keeps a complete set of accounts or it would be possible and meaningful, from both an economic and legal viewpoint, to compile a complete set of accounts if they were required. Decision-making autonomy means that institutional units are capable of owning goods and assets, of incurring liabilities and of engaging in economic activities and transactions with other units in their own right.
The following are deemed to be institutional units:
a) units which have a complete set of accounts and autonomy of decision:
(1) private and public corporations
(2) co-operatives or partnerships recognised as independent legal entities
(3) public producers which by virtue of special legislation are recognised as independent legal entities
(4) non-profit institutions recognised as independent legal entities
(5) agencies of general government.
b) units which have a complete set of accounts and which are deemed to have autonomy of decision: quasi-corporations
c) units which do not necessarily keep a complete set of accounts, but which by convention are deemed to have autonomy of decision:
(1) households
(2) notional resident units.
The institutional units are grouped together into five mutually exclusive institutional sectors which together make up the total economy. The sectors (each sector is also divided into sub-sectors) are composed of the following types of units:
a) non-financial corporations
b) financial corporations
c) general government
d) households
e) non-profit institutions serving households.
The following are deemed to be institutional units:
a) units which have a complete set of accounts and autonomy of decision:
(1) private and public corporations
(2) co-operatives or partnerships recognised as independent legal entities
(3) public producers which by virtue of special legislation are recognised as independent legal entities
(4) non-profit institutions recognised as independent legal entities
(5) agencies of general government.
b) units which have a complete set of accounts and which are deemed to have autonomy of decision: quasi-corporations
c) units which do not necessarily keep a complete set of accounts, but which by convention are deemed to have autonomy of decision:
(1) households
(2) notional resident units.
The institutional units are grouped together into five mutually exclusive institutional sectors which together make up the total economy. The sectors (each sector is also divided into sub-sectors) are composed of the following types of units:
a) non-financial corporations
b) financial corporations
c) general government
d) households
e) non-profit institutions serving households.
Legal unit
A legal unit is a corporation, or an organisation registered for conducting business. A legal unit is identified with a Business ID.
Legal units are, for example, limited companies, private practitioners of trade, co-operative societies, state-owned companies and foundations.
Legal units are, for example, limited companies, private practitioners of trade, co-operative societies, state-owned companies and foundations.
Subsidiary company
A subsidiary company of a group is an enterprise in which the group head holds direct or indirect over 50 per cent of voting rights.
UBO
Ultimate beneficial owner. A UBO is an institutional unit controlling a foreign affiliate, i.e. an institutional unit up a foreign affiliate's chain of control, which is not controlled by another institutional unit.
UCI
Ultimate controlling institutional unit of a foreign affiliate. An institutional unit that is at the top the ownership chain of a foreign-owned enterprise and is not controlled by any other institutional unit.
Ultimate beneficial owner
An institutional unit that is at the top the ownership chain of a foreign-owned enterprise and is not controlled by any other institutional unit.
Classifications
Accuracy, reliability and timeliness
Overall accuracy
The operationalisation of the concept of enterprise into more easily measurable legal units affects the accuracy of the statistical data. For example, enterprises often convert their operations into separate companies, meaning one enterprise may comprise more than one legal unit. In that case, the category ‘number of companies’ does not give the correct picture of the actual number of enterprises. Moreover, data are not collected from all enterprises, which means that personnel and turnover data are partly estimated on the basis of a statistical model. The uncertainty arising from the results of a sample survey based on a single data collection can be easily estimated. At the same time, these statistics are based on data obtained from several sources and estimations supplementing them, which makes it difficult to calculate uncertainties.
The accuracy of the data is also affected by the overhaul of Statistics Finland’s business statistics system and the changes in the statistical criteria connected with it (see the section on comparability below). The accuracy of the data is also affected by the timetable of the production process overhaul, as a result of which Statistics Finland was unable to check the data on small enterprises as comprehensively as previously.
Statistics Finland has updated the production of its business statistics. The data for 2018 and the years before it contained in the statistics on foreign affiliates in Finland cannot therefore be fully compared with the most recent releases of the same statistics. The data contained in the statistics are published on the basis of enterprise units instead of legal units (Business ID), as previously. For the first time, these data were available for the 2018 statistical year.
The purpose of an enterprise unit is to describe economic units instead of administrative structures. Legal group units (Business ID) can form the basis for one or more enterprise units. For enterprises outside groups, an enterprise unit always corresponds to a legal unit. An enterprise unit corresponds to the smallest group of legal units that comprises an independent decision-making production unit. Business transactions taking place within enterprise units have been eliminated, which means that industry-specific data differ from the data based on legal units (data based on Business ID).
The accuracy of the data is also affected by the overhaul of Statistics Finland’s business statistics system and the changes in the statistical criteria connected with it (see the section on comparability below). The accuracy of the data is also affected by the timetable of the production process overhaul, as a result of which Statistics Finland was unable to check the data on small enterprises as comprehensively as previously.
Statistics Finland has updated the production of its business statistics. The data for 2018 and the years before it contained in the statistics on foreign affiliates in Finland cannot therefore be fully compared with the most recent releases of the same statistics. The data contained in the statistics are published on the basis of enterprise units instead of legal units (Business ID), as previously. For the first time, these data were available for the 2018 statistical year.
The purpose of an enterprise unit is to describe economic units instead of administrative structures. Legal group units (Business ID) can form the basis for one or more enterprise units. For enterprises outside groups, an enterprise unit always corresponds to a legal unit. An enterprise unit corresponds to the smallest group of legal units that comprises an independent decision-making production unit. Business transactions taking place within enterprise units have been eliminated, which means that industry-specific data differ from the data based on legal units (data based on Business ID).
Timeliness
Data are collected and checked 11 months after the end of the statistical year. Final data are published 12 months after the end of the statistical year.
Punctuality
There are no delays in releasing the data contained in the Foreign affiliates in Finland statistics. The data are published on the days given in the release calendar.
Comparability
Comparability - geographical
The data cover all foreign-owned companies in Finland. The data contained in the statistics are based on the Finnish Accounting Standards (FAS) and the international industrial classification. The data transmitted to Eurostat are internationally comparable
Comparability - over time
The group of statistical units in the Foreign affiliates in Finland statistics was expanded year 2023. Annual data contained in the statistics can be found on the website of the statistics and in Statistics Finland’s StatFin database with renewed statistical units for the period from 2018 onwards. The change causes a break in the time series compared to old data. The effect of the new statistical units on variables other than the number of enterprises is mainly quite marginal, but can affect to some of the variables.
The statistics for the period 2013 to 2017 are based on legal units. The most recent data (for 2018) are not fully comparable with earlier years as enterprise unit is now used as the statistical unit. An enterprise is a unit with decision-making autonomy, which produces goods and/or services to be sold in the market. An enterprise corresponds to a legal unit, if the legal unit is not part of an enterprise group. Otherwise, the enterprise is an enterprise group or its part.
The definition of an enterprise is based on the EU Regulation on statistical units (EEC) 696/93.
The statistics for the period 2013 to 2017 are based on legal units. The most recent data (for 2018) are not fully comparable with earlier years as enterprise unit is now used as the statistical unit. An enterprise is a unit with decision-making autonomy, which produces goods and/or services to be sold in the market. An enterprise corresponds to a legal unit, if the legal unit is not part of an enterprise group. Otherwise, the enterprise is an enterprise group or its part.
The definition of an enterprise is based on the EU Regulation on statistical units (EEC) 696/93.
Coherence - cross domain
The measurement period for the statistics on foreign affiliates in Finland is the 12-month accounting period. The accounting period is not always the same as the calendar year.
Source data and data collections
Source data
The Business Register of Statistics Finland is used as the framework for the statistics. It gives a comprehensive picture of the structure and activities of enterprises operating in Finland. Another important source of information, the Enterprise Group Register maintained at Statistics Finland includes data on ownership and control of enterprise groups, but comprehensive data on foreign ownership and/or control of all enterprises are not available from administrative files. The data from a range of different sources are therefore combined. Data on control are updated by following economic and financial news (e.g. corporate acquisitions), enterprises’ Internet pages and annual reports. Enterprises are also asked to supply details of their ownership structure as part of Statistics Finland’s financial statements inquiries. Administrative data obtained from the Bank of Finland, and Invest in Finland, which comes under the auspices of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, are also used in the updating of the statistics. The EuroGroups Register of Eurostat is also used in the updating process.
Data collection
Data for Statistics Finland’s own data collections are collected with a web questionnaire. In addition, under an agreement between Statistics Finland and the Finnish Tax Administration, the latter agency delivers the business tax data to Statistics Finland on the agreed dates.
The web questionnaire of the financial statements inquiry has been tested in connection with its introduction, and when changes have been made to it. Based on customer feedback, the instructions for the questionnaire have been specified.
The non-response of the inquiry is monitored yearly.
The web questionnaire of the financial statements inquiry has been tested in connection with its introduction, and when changes have been made to it. Based on customer feedback, the instructions for the questionnaire have been specified.
The non-response of the inquiry is monitored yearly.
Frequency of data collection
The administrative data are updated each year.
Methods
Data compilation
The data for the statistics on foreign affiliates in Finland are compiled on the basis of the structural business and financial statements statistics by selecting subsidiaries in foreign ownership from it. The data contained in the structural business and financial statements statistics are processed as follows:
Processing of business tax data
The quality of the Finnish Tax Administration data is verified programmatically. The data are revised automatically by means of mass editing and imputing. Values missing from the data are replaced in the first instance with data for earlier years, and in the second instance, with data on enterprises in the same category in terms of turnover and number of personnel. Errors and outliers are corrected either by means of logical editing or by removing outliers. Minor turnover errors (less than five per cent) are scaled.
Two different imputation methods are in use. Donor imputation is used when the enterprise is included in the statistical frame, but no data are available in the material provided by the Finnish Tax Administration. In such cases, the data are obtained from enterprises of a similar size operating in the same industry. The second method is used when no tax data on the enterprise can be obtained for the statistical year in question, but the data for the previous year are available. In such cases, the data are imputed by using changes in turnover in the periodic tax data as a weighting coefficient.
Own inquiry
Sample responses are processed manually together with the business tax data for each enterprise separately, using the image archive of the Finnish Patent and Registration Office.
Checking of the additional data on financial statements is guided by internal production application rules.
Using approved data as a basis, industry-specific coefficients are calculated for turnover specifications and expenditure specifications. The coefficients are used to produce corresponding data for the entire group of enterprises.
All enterprises in the random sample that have received only a small number of penalty points are approved en masse. Some of them are returned to manual checking.
Processing of business tax data
The quality of the Finnish Tax Administration data is verified programmatically. The data are revised automatically by means of mass editing and imputing. Values missing from the data are replaced in the first instance with data for earlier years, and in the second instance, with data on enterprises in the same category in terms of turnover and number of personnel. Errors and outliers are corrected either by means of logical editing or by removing outliers. Minor turnover errors (less than five per cent) are scaled.
Two different imputation methods are in use. Donor imputation is used when the enterprise is included in the statistical frame, but no data are available in the material provided by the Finnish Tax Administration. In such cases, the data are obtained from enterprises of a similar size operating in the same industry. The second method is used when no tax data on the enterprise can be obtained for the statistical year in question, but the data for the previous year are available. In such cases, the data are imputed by using changes in turnover in the periodic tax data as a weighting coefficient.
Own inquiry
Sample responses are processed manually together with the business tax data for each enterprise separately, using the image archive of the Finnish Patent and Registration Office.
Checking of the additional data on financial statements is guided by internal production application rules.
Using approved data as a basis, industry-specific coefficients are calculated for turnover specifications and expenditure specifications. The coefficients are used to produce corresponding data for the entire group of enterprises.
All enterprises in the random sample that have received only a small number of penalty points are approved en masse. Some of them are returned to manual checking.
Data validation
The data are analysed and checked at the level of units and aggregate data by comparing them with the previous year’s data, enterprises’ annual reports and other source material. The details of the country of origin are specified on the basis of the EuroGroups Register.
Principles and outlines
Contact organisation
Statistics Finland
Contact organisation unit
Economic Statistics
Legal acts and other agreements
The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. The Statistics Act contains provisions on collection of data, processing of data and the obligation to provide data. Besides the Statistics Act, the Data Protection Act and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities are applied to processing of data when producing statistics.
Statistics Finland compiles statistics in line with the EU’s regulations applicable to statistics, which steer the statistical agencies of all EU Member States.
Further information: Statistical legislation
Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (716/2007), and the provisions specifying it. Eurostat published the document Foreign Affiliates Statistics (FATS) Recommendations Manual, 2012.
Council Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 on statistical units applies to statistics on business activities.
The Standard Industrial Classification 2008 is based on the European Union’s common industrial classification, NACE Rev. 2, supplemented for national needs on the fifth level.
Regulation on business registers 177/2008.
Confidentiality - policy
The data protection of data collected for statistical purposes is guaranteed in accordance with the requirements of the Statistics Act (280/2004), the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the Data Protection Act (1050/2018). The data materials are protected at all stages of processing with the necessary physical and technical solutions. Statistics Finland has compiled detailed directions and instructions for confidential processing of the data. Employees have access only to the data essential for their duties. The premises where unit-level data are processed are not accessible to outsiders. Members of the personnel have signed a pledge of secrecy upon entering the service. Violation of data protection is punishable.
Further information: Data protection | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)
Confidentiality - data treatment
Data contained in the statistics are published at aggregate levels. Of the variables used in the statistics, the number of enterprises, number of personnel and the industry are publicly available. Other data are subject to confidentiality provisions.
The threshold value rule is used in the statistics to assess the disclosure risk of data for all industries. All protected data are suppressed. In primary suppression, data on an individual industry group are protected by suppression if the group has data on one or two enterprises. In secondary encryption, the data are suppressed to ensure the primarily protected data cannot be derived.
The same encryption rules apply to the information services and stricter encryption can be applied on a case-by-case basis.
The data transmitted to Eurostat that are subject to primary and secondary encryption are indicated with codes.
The threshold value rule is used in the statistics to assess the disclosure risk of data for all industries. All protected data are suppressed. In primary suppression, data on an individual industry group are protected by suppression if the group has data on one or two enterprises. In secondary encryption, the data are suppressed to ensure the primarily protected data cannot be derived.
The same encryption rules apply to the information services and stricter encryption can be applied on a case-by-case basis.
The data transmitted to Eurostat that are subject to primary and secondary encryption are indicated with codes.
Release policy
Statistics Finland publishes new statistical data at 8 am on weekdays in its web service. The release times of statistics are given in advance in the release calendar available in the web service. The data are public after they have been updated in the web service.
Further information: Publication principles for statistics at Statistics Finland
Data sharing
Data contained in the statistics on foreign affiliates in Finland are published annually on the statistics’ website and in the StatFin database.
The data are also submitted to the information service subject to charge and the research services.
In addition, industry-specific data are also transmitted to Eurostat, which publishes the data on its own website.
The data are also submitted to the information service subject to charge and the research services.
In addition, industry-specific data are also transmitted to Eurostat, which publishes the data on its own website.
Accessibility and clarity
Statistical data are published as database tables in the StatFin database. The database is the primary publishing site of data, and new data are updated first there. When releasing statistical data, existing database tables can be updated with new data or completely new database tables can be published.
In addition to statistical data published in the StatFin database, a release on the key data is usually published in the web service. If the release contains data concerning several reference periods (e.g. monthly and annual data), a review bringing together these data is published in the web service. Database tables updated at the time of publication are listed both in the release and in the review. In some cases, statistical data can also be published as mere database releases in the StatFin database. No release or review is published in connection with these database releases.
Releases and database tables are published in three languages, in Finnish, Swedish and English. The language versions of releases may have more limited content than in Finnish.
Information about changes in the publication schedules of releases and database tables and about corrections are given as change releases in the web service.
Data revision - policy
Revisions – i.e. improvements in the accuracy of statistical data already published – are a normal feature of statistical production and result in improved quality of statistics. The principle is that statistical data are based on the best available data and information concerning the statistical phenomenon. On the other hand, the revisions are communicated as transparently as possible in advance. Advance communication ensures that the users can prepare for the data revisions.
The reason why data in statistical releases become revised is often caused by the data becoming supplemented. Then the new, revised statistical figure is based on a wider information basis and describes the phenomenon more accurately than before.
Revisions of statistical data may also be caused by the calculation method used, such as annual benchmarking or updating of weight structures. Changes of base years and used classifications may also cause revisions to data.
Quality assessment
The quality of the statistics on foreign affiliates in Finland is examined as the data accumulate. At aggregate level, the data are compared with the previous year and the most significant changes are examined.
Quality assurance
Quality management requires comprehensive guidance of activities. The quality management framework of the field of statistics is the European Statistics Code of Practice (CoP). The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice.
Further information: Quality management | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)
The statistics on foreign affiliates in Finland are an official set of statistics. The Official Statistics of Finland (OSF) are a comprehensive collection of statistics describing the development and state of society. They comprise nearly 300 sets of statistics on 26 different topics. The producers of Official Statistics of Finland have approved a common quality pledge in which they undertake to observe common quality criteria and quality assurance methods. The quality criteria of the Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice. The good practices followed in the statistics are described in more detail in Statistics Finland’s handbook Quality Guidelines for Official Statistics.
User access
Data are released to all users at the same time. Statistical data may only be handled at Statistics Finland and information on them may be given before release only by persons involved in the production of the statistics concerned or who need the data of the statistics concerned in their own work before the data are published.
Further information: Publication principles for statistics
The data are made available simultaneously to all users of the statistics on the website of the statistics at https://www.tilastokeskus.fi/til/ulkoy/index_en.html
No data are disclosed before the release date. The data are transmitted to Eurostat on the agreed dates.