1     Status and update on progress of the Central Business Register

The Spanish Central Business Register is updated using information from administrative sources (mainly tax and social security sources) and economic surveys once a year.

This progress report outlines significant developments for the Central Business Register during the past year and the current issues carried out to satisfy the needs of the users.

2     Issues and problems resolved during the past year

1)    The introduction of a statistical identification number into the Central Business Register.

On a preliminary way, each enterprise is associated to a statistical identification number that is managed by the statistical agency. Basic information comes from surveys and other sources about the links between the legal units. With these developments, we can link the legal units under a same statistical identification number. Formerly, Tax Identification Number only plus virtual links were used to build Business Register units.

2)    Coverage enlargement.

This year 130,000 new legal units belonging to the activity sections A, B, L, P and Q has been introduced in the Business Register. We expect to increase that number, in particular in section A, to reach the full economic coverage, in the following years.

3)    Introduction of the first inscription date of the legal unit in the Central Business Register.

That variable completes the activity start date and is crucial in demographic studies.

4)    The introduction of a status indicator including some information about the causes involved.

Each legal unit is associated to a status indicator (birth, survival, reactivation and death) and to a sub-status indicator that explain the status, for example, a legal unit is a birth as result of the join of other legal units that will be deaths by the same reason.

5)    Enlargement of variables that links the Business Register with the Customs file according with the proposition of the new Business Register Regulation.

6)    To compute a new variable to link the Business Register units with files of Central Bank of Spain.

3     Current Issues and future plans

1)    To move to ORACLE database system. This issue has been already initiated.

2)    The introduction of an accumulated statistical burden indicator

3)    To continue updating the variable turnover to improve the stratification process

4)    To continue updating and enlarging information about enterprises groups.

5)    According with the NACE 2007 operation, we are going to develop a work plan to measure the impact of classification changes on the Business Register and to define a process to re-codify the statistical units.