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Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Methodology and quality
  3. ESMS metadata
  4. Transport of passengers and goods by transport enterprises

Transport of passengers and goods by transport enterprises

1. Contact
1.1. Contact organisation

Statistics Estonia

1.2. Contact organisation unit

Economic and Environmental Statistics Department

1.3. Contact name

Anu Ainsaar

1.4. Contact person function

Analyst

1.5. Contact mail address

51 Tatari Str, 10134 Tallinn, Estonia

1.6. Contact email address

anu.ainsaar [at] stat.ee

1.7. Contact phone number

37254005042

2. Metadata update
2.1. Metadata last certified

07/07/2025

2.2. Metadata last update

07/07/2025

3. Statistical presentation
3.1. Data description

Passenger transport and passenger traffic volume, transport of goods and freight turnover by type of transport.

Population and sample of transport enterprises and respondents by type of transport.

Passenger transport by bus (number of passengers and passenger traffic volume) on county routes, urban routes, rural routes, domestic long-distance routes, international routes, domestic occasional services and international occasional services, bus route mileage and low-floor bus route mileage.

In statistical database quarterly tables TS101, TS121, TS40 the data of economically active transport enterprises, which have been included into the statistical register of economically active units compiled on the basis of business register, are published.

In quarterly table TS541 and in annual table TS542 the data of economically active bus transport enterprises (according to its main activity), which have been included into the statistical register of economically active units compiled on the basis of business register, are published.

3.2. Classification system

Estonian Classification of Economic Activities (EMTAK 2008) based on NACE Rev. 2

3.3. Sector coverage

Transport enterprises NACE 49–51 (excl. 494), enterprises owning road freight vehicles.

3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions

County line – passenger transportation by local county lines, the road of the start and end point are located in the same administrative territory of the county, or that has been commissioned by a county-level public transport centre. County lines include the public, commercial and special regular services.

Domestic traffic – the origin and the destination point are within Estonia

Enterprise – an enterprise consists of one or more companies (public limited company, private limited company, limited partnership, general partnership, commercial association) or branches of foreign companies or sole proprietors. Statistics do not cover branches of foreign companies and sole proprietors.

Freight turnover – volume of freight transport in tonne-kilometres. One tonne-kilometre is the transport of one tonne of goods across a distance of one kilometre.

Long-distance line – passenger transport line whose stops are located in different counties and which is not a county line

International traffic – the origin and/or destination point is outside of Estonia

Municipal line – passenger transportation by local municipal lines, the start and end point are located in the administrative territory of the municipal unit. Or the lines that have been commissioned by a (rural) municipality. The municipal lines include public, commercial and special regular services.

Non-scheduled traffic – One-time customer transport or transport initiative formed a group of passengers between the carrier and the customer order or contract. Includes tourist bus travel

Passenger traffic volume – volume of passenger transport in passenger-kilometres. One passenger-kilometre is the transport of one person across a distance of one kilometre.

Urban transport – passenger transportation on local urban lines, the start and end point of the line are located in the administrative territory of the town. Or the lines that are commissioned by an urban municipality. Urban lines include public, commercial and special regular services.

Volume of transport – to estimate the volume of transport, the variables – the total number of carried passengers and passenger traffic volume (in passenger-kilometres) – are used. To measure the amount of goods, the variables – the amount of goods (in tonnes) and freight turnover (in tonne-kilometres) – are used.

3.5. Statistical unit

Enterprise, road freight vehicle

3.6. Statistical population

Transport enterprises; road freight vehicles registered in the traffic register which have a payload of over 3,500 kg (categories N2 and N3) and which are not older than 25 years.

FRAME

List of active enterprises whose main activity is passenger and freight transport, including taxi transport. The list is generated from the business register for statistical purposes.

List of companies that hold bus route permits. List of road freight vehicles which have a payload of over 3,500 kg and which are not older than 25 years.

The list is generated from the traffic register and from the register of economic activities, quarterly.

3.7. Reference area

Estonia as a whole

3.8. Time coverage

Passenger transport, passenger traffic volume, transport of goods and freight turnover by type of transport 2001–…

Passenger transport by bus on local and long-distance routes 2000–…

Population, sample and respondents of transport enterprises 2010–…

3.9. Base period

Not applicable

4. Unit of measure

Passenger transport – thousand passengers;

passenger turnover – thousand passenger-kilometres;

freight – thousand tonnes;

freight turnover – thousand tonne-kilometres;

bus route mileage – thousand kilometres;

low-floor bus route mileage – thousand kilometres

5. Reference period

Quarter

6. Institutional mandate
6.1. Legal acts and other agreements

DIRECTLY APPLICABLE LEGAL ACTS

REGULATION (EU) 2018/643 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 18 April 2018 on rail transport statistics

REGULATION (EU) 2018/974 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 4 July 2018 on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways (codification)

REGULATION (EU) 2016/1954 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 26 October 2016 amending Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways as regards the conferral of delegated and implementing powers on the Commission for the adoption of certain measures

REGULATION (EC) No 1365/2006 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 6 September 2006 on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways and repealing Council Directive 80/1119/EEC

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 425/2007 of 19 April 2007 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways

OTHER LEGAL ACTS

Not available

OTHER AGREEMENTS

Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat);

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE);

United Nations (UN);

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD);

International Transport Forum (ITF);

International Road Federation (IRF);

UNECE, ITF and Eurostat Common Questionnaire for Transport Statistics according to a gentlemen's agreement

7. Confidentiality
7.1. Confidentiality - policy

The dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in § 32, § 34, § 35, § 38 of the Official Statistics Act.

7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment

The dissemination of data collected for the production of official statistics is based on the requirements laid down in §§ 34 and 35 of the Official Statistics Act.

The principles for treatment of confidential data can be found here.

8. Release policy
8.1. Release calendar

Notifications about the dissemination of statistics are published in the release calendar, which is available on the website. Every year on 1 October, the release times of the statistical database, news releases, main indicators by IMF SDDS and publications for the following year are announced in the release calendar (in the case of publications – the release month).

8.2. Release calendar access

Calendar

8.3. User access

All users have been granted equal access to official statistics: dissemination dates of official statistics are announced in advance and no user category (incl. Eurostat, state authorities and mass media) is provided access to official statistics before other users. Official statistics are first published in the statistical database. If there is also a news release, it is published simultaneously with data in the statistical database. Official statistics are available on the website at 8.00 a.m. on the date announced in the release calendar.

9. Frequency of dissemination

Yearly;

quarterly

10. Accessibility and clarity
10.1. News release

Not published

10.2. Publications

Transport statistics are also available on the following websites:

https://www.stat.ee/en/find-statistics/statistics-theme/energy-and-transport/transport;

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/transport/overview;

europa.eu/pol/trans;

www.unece.org/transport;

https://data.oecd.org/energy.htm#profile-Transport

10.3. Online database

Data are published in the statistical database at https://andmed.stat.ee/en/stat under the subject area “Economy / Transport / General data of transport” in the following tables:

TS101: Passenger transport and traffic volume of transport enterprises by type of transport (quarters);

TS121: Transport of goods and freight turnover of transport enterprises by type of transport (quarters);

TS541: Passenger transport by bus on local and highway lines (quarters);

TS542: Passenger transport by bus on local and highway lines;

TS34: Trams and trolley buses, 31 December;

TS40: Population, sample and respondents of transport enterprises (quarters).

10.4. Microdata access

The dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in § 33, § 34, § 35, § 36, § 38 of the Official Statistics Act. Access to microdata and anonymisation of microdata are regulated by Statistics Estonia’s procedure for dissemination of confidential data for scientific purposes.

10.5. Other

Data serve as input for statistical activities 20407 “Consumer price index”, 21401 “National accounts (annual)”, 21405 “National accounts (quarterly)” and 21408 “Supply and use tables”.

10.6. Documentation on methodology

Glossary for transport statistics (prepared by the Intersecretariat Working Group on Transport Statistics – Eurostat, ITF and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe)

Reference manuals for transport statistics

10.7. Quality documentation

Published in the statistical database, table TS40: Population, sample and respondents of transport enterprises

11. Quality management
11.1. Quality assurance

To assure the quality of processes and products, Statistics Estonia applies the EFQM Excellence Model, the European Statistics Code of Practice and the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (ESS QAF). Statistics Estonia is also guided by the requirements in § 7. “Principles and quality criteria of producing official statistics” of the Official Statistics Act.

11.2. Quality assessment

Statistics Estonia performs all statistical activities according to an international model (Generic Statistical Business Process Model – GSBPM). According to the GSBPM, the final phase of statistical activities is overall evaluation using information gathered in each phase or sub-process; this information can take many forms, including feedback from users, process metadata, system metrics and suggestions from employees. This information is used to prepare the evaluation report which outlines all the quality problems related to the specific statistical activity and serves as input for improvement actions.

12. Relevance
12.1. User needs

Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications;

Ministry of Climate;

Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture;

Estonian Transport Administration

12.2. User satisfaction

Since 1996, Statistics Estonia has conducted reputation and user satisfaction surveys. All results are available on the website of Statistics Estonia in the section User surveys.

12.3. Completeness

In compliance with the rules (regulations)

13. Accuracy and reliability
13.1. Overall accuracy

The type of survey and the data collection methods ensure sufficient coverage and timeliness.

13.2. Sampling error

The error due to probability sampling is estimated for road transport indicators. In case of the other types of transport, a census is used and thus there are no sampling errors.

13.3. Non-sampling error

The response rates in different groups are published in the statistical database.

14. Timeliness and punctuality
14.1. Timeliness

The data are published 3 months after the end of the reference quarter.

14.2. Punctuality

The data have been published at the time announced in the release calendar.

15. Coherence and comparability
15.1. Comparability - geographical

The data are comparable with data of other European Union countries because a common methodology has been used for transport statistics.

15.2. Comparability - over time

The data are in general comparable over time because of the common methodology used in the time series. The increase in the number of passengers and in the passenger traffic volume in urban transport has been influenced by the adoption of a modified calculation system since the 1st quarter of 2012 and the 1st quarter of 2013. Since 2023, the methodology for calculating the number of passengers and passenger turnover in urban transport has changed. The data for years before 2023 are underestimated to some extent. Data on carriage of goods by road are comparable over time since 2017 when the source data are data of the statistical activity 22003 “Transport of goods by road”.

15.3. Coherence - cross domain

The data on freight and passenger transport volume are comparable with the same data in other activities of transport statistics. The data on freight and passenger transport by road have been collected by a sample survey and are therefore estimates.

15.4. Coherence - internal

The data are made internally coherent by using a common methodology in data collection and the same rules of data aggregation.

16. Cost and burden

Total time of filling in reports of the statistical activity, hours: 470 (data for 2023)

17. Data revision
17.1. Data revision - policy

The data revision policy and notification of corrections are described in the section Principles of dissemination of official statistics on the website of Statistics Estonia.

17.2. Data revision - practice

The published data may be revised if the methodology is modified, errors are discovered, new or better data become available within a year from the end of the reference period.

18. Statistical processing
18.1. Source data

SURVEY DATA

Census methodology is used in the case of enterprises whose main activities are railway transport, water and air transport as well as passenger transport by land routes, as well as: other passenger transport by land and taxi service enterprises, with 10 or more persons employed. For the rest of the enterprises, stratified random sampling has been applied by economic activity and number of persons employed. The population is 790 objects in road passenger transport survey, the sample includes around 180 objects.

ADMINISTRATIVE DATA

For the bus transport survey, the data of the route permits of public bus lines are used. Domestic public transport is organised and route permits for international bus lines are processed by the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture.

DATA FROM OTHER STATISTICAL ACTIVITIES

Data from statistical activities 22003 “Transport of goods by road”, 22015 “Transport by railway”, 22031 “Water transport” and 22032 “Air transport” are used.

18.2. Frequency of data collection

Quarterly

18.3. Data collection

Data are collected and the submission of questionnaires is monitored through a web-based data submission self-service environment. The questionnaires have been designed for independent completion in the self-service environment and include instructions and controls. The questionnaires and information about data submission are available on Statistics Estonia's website in the section Questionnaires.

Data are collected with the quarterly official statistical questionnaires “Road transport”, “Tram-trolleybus” and “Inland waterway transport”.

18.4. Data validation

Arithmetic and qualitative controls are used in the validation process, including comparison with the data of previous periods and other surveys.

18.5. Data compilation

In the case of missing or unreliable data, estimate imputation based on established regulations will be used. The data for road transport enterprises (with up to 20 persons employed) that did not submit data will be replaced with the average data of similar enterprises or with data from an earlier period; the data of enterprises with 20 or more persons employed will be replaced with data from an earlier period; weights are calculated for statistical units and used for expanding the sample survey data to the total population.

Variables and statistical units which were not collected but which are necessary for producing the output are calculated. New variables are calculated by applying arithmetic conversion to already existing variables. This may be done repeatedly, the derived variable may, in turn, be based on previously derived new variables.

Microdata are aggregated to the level necessary for analysis. This includes aggregating the data according to the classification, and calculating various statistical measures.

The collected data are converted into statistical output. This includes calculating additional indicators.

18.6. Adjustment

Not applied

19. Comments

Since 2016, the statistical activity 22029 “Transport of passengers and goods by transport enterprises” is merged with the following statistical activities which have similar output indicators: 22029 “General data of transport” and 22030 “Passenger transport by road”.

Since 2016, bus route mileage and low-floor bus route mileage are published. Since 2017, the national component of road freight transport in the statistical activity has been reduced (a decrease in the collection of data, but the composition of published data does not change). The data of the statistical activity 22003 “Transport of goods by road” are used as input.

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