Metadata: Enterprise incorporations
Source
Statbel, processed by Statistics Flanders
Definitions
Incorporations of VAT liable enterprises: the yearly incorporations (of VAT liable enterprises) refer to the entities that have VAT liable status on 31 December of the year under observation, but not on 31 December of the year before. These may or may not be new VAT liable entities.
Monthly figures refer to the entities that have VAT liable status on the last day of the month, but not on the last day of the previous month.
The final annual figures for year x are published by Statbel in the month of October of year x+1.
Survival rate at 5 years: the ratio between the number of companies surviving 5 years after incorporation and the initial starters. Starters refer to companies that are active on 31 December of the year in which they start (only new starters, not restarters). It then looks at which of these first starters are still active and remain active on 31 December of the following five years.
Remarks on quality
Only in case of major changes at the level of the variable NACEBEL can an update of the already published years take place. This must, however, remain exceptional. The distribution policy is to ‘freeze’ the published data.
In October 2018, a full review of the years from 2008 to 2016 was undertaken with regard to the classification of VAT liable enterprises according to employee categories. Since this review, the number of employees employed by a VAT liable enterprise is consistently determined using data from the fourth quarter of the year concerned. This review also provided the occasion for establishing additional one-to-one links between the CBE numbers and the NSSO numbers at the level of legal entity for the years in question. Based on the latter, employment is determined.