Administrative burdens on enterprises, related to questionnaire-based data collections ordered by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO), 2020–2024
The primary goal of official statistical data collections is to offer information in adequate quality and quantity for the government and other state organisations, for economic actors as well as for the EU (Eurostat). Data collection done by the HCSO is defined by Hungarian and international legislation. It is true for many data collections that its data content, the requested information and its particularities are entirely based on EU regulations, the Office has to adhere in some cases to the Eurostat- approved questionnaire-model. A constant lessening of respondents’ burdens is an outstanding strategic goal of the HCSO: by simplifying questionnaires, by revising their data content, by releasing enterprises from reporting obligations whenever possible and by substituting data collections with external data sources; at the same time, however, due to above causes, the margin of decreasing bureaucratic response burdens by the Office is limited. Below figures show the changes occurring between 2020 and 2024 in the administrative burdens on enterprises.
| (hours) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denomination | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Economic statistics of divisions | 55,468 | 60,634 | 55,341 | 42,820 | 40,205 |
| Prices | 33,712 | 34,382 | 34,864 | 36,450 | 35,556 |
| Healthcare | 12,842 | 10,495 | 11,223 | 12,093 | 12,301 |
| Statistics of economic organisations | 119,767 | 122,258 | 126,060 | 126,518 | 127,818 |
| Environment | 3,868 | 3,669 | 3,732 | 4,378 | 4,563 |
| Culture, sports | 911 | 892 | 1,039 | 1,002 | 1,010 |
| External trade and balance of payments | 176,971 | 173,278 | 183,923 | 171,880 | 171,295 |
| Housing, public utilities | 97 | 97 | 100 | 122 | 113 |
| Register of agricultural and environmental protection units | 250 | 254 | 253 | 257 | 280 |
| Labour force | 61,399 | 72,227 | 50,829 | 51,837 | 49,390 |
| Social care | 29 | 32 | 29 | 31 | 32 |
| Interdisciplinary statistics, poverty and social topic | 5,953 | 6,712 | 7,144 | 6,497 | 7,924 |
| Science and technology | 4,476 | 3,797 | 4,543 | 4,208 | 3,399 |
Emphasized events from administrative burden point of view
+: increasing burden –: decreasing burden
Concepts, methodological notes
Respondent
Designated unit for data supply regarding the survey topic, serving data extraction purposes concerning statistical, reporting and observation units that characterise the surveyed multitude. There is legal relation between the executor of the survey and respondent. The executor requires/obligates the respondent to supply data, expects the fulfilment of data supply.
Time spent on filling in the questionnaire
Includes time spent – in minutes – on familiarising with the questionnaire, its guide, on producing data for statistical data supply, on filling in the questionnaire, on coordination in case of multiple respondents, on verifying the completed form, on occasional help-request, on consulting clerks in charge.
Administrative burden
Surveys where respondents have to fill and send in questionnaires are considered relevant administrative burden from statistical data supply point of view. In case of the so-called institutional statistics – economic, non-profit, budgetary organisations, enterprises – the obligatory data supply, based on relevant legislation, is taking place through the Elektra system. The basis of defining the administrative burden is, on one hand, the number of expected questionnaires in a given year, as determined by the HCSO, on the other the statistically cleansed data on filling-in time. The administrative burden is calculated for each data collection as the multiplication product of these two data.