NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
Launching the Monthly Survey on Service Industries
The Statistics Bureau (SBJ) launched the Monthly Survey on Service Industries in July 2008. The survey is conducted in order to grasp the monthly turnovers and employment data for most of the service industries.
Background
Over the last several decades, the share of the service industries in the Japanese economy has steadily risen to exceed 70 percent in 2006 in terms of both GDP and employment. But there has been no single survey covering the sector comprehensively, although there have been some surveys covering only some parts of the sector. As a result, there have been criticisms that statistics on service industries are insufficient and improvements are needed in this regard. To meet the increasing needs for statistics for service industries, the new survey was initiated in July 2008.
Share of the Coverage in the Monthly Survey on Service Industries(2006,%)
Survey objectives
The new survey aims to provide a set of monthly estimetes of turnovers and the number of employees of the service industries as a whole and its breakdown. The statistics from this survey will contribute to improvement of accuracy of economic indicators such as the quarterly estimates of GDP.
Sample Design and Survey Method
The survey employs a stratified random sampling based on the frame covering all the establishments in Japan enumerated by the 2006 Census of Establishments and Enterprises. The total sample size is about 39,000. The survey method differs depending on the size of employment of the establishment.
(1) For the establishments with 10 or more employees (about 29,000 establishments), questionnaires are sent by mail, and the establishments are asked to send them back by mail.
(2) For the establishments with less than 10 employees (about 10,000 establishments), enumerators deliver the questionnaires, and they will revisit the establishments to collect the filled questionnaires.
For both cases, the respondents can switch to a web-based questionnaires, if they so request.
Industries to be surveyed
Info-communications Transport and postal activities
Real estate and goods rental and leasing Scientific research and professional and technical services
Accommodation, eating and drinking services Living-related and amusement services
Education, learning support Medical, health care and welfare
Service, n.e.c.
Questions to be asked
In the first month of the survey, the establishments are asked to report:
a) Types of legal organization;
b) Amount of capital;
c) Categories of main business activities of the establishment.
d) Monthly turnover and
e) Number of employees by status in employment (as of the end of the month).
In the second month and afterwards, the establishments are asked to report d) and e).
Release of the Survey Results
The survey results will be released two months after the survey month from October 2009, when annual changes with the complete samples can be calculated.
The results will be published in the reports and the SBJ website.
