Survey at a glance
Purpose
The Annual Business Survey (ABS), formerly known as the Annual Business Inquiry - part 2 (ABI/2), is the main structural business survey conducted by ONS.
It crosses all economic sectors, collecting financial data from businesses' end year accounts, including turnover, wages and salaries, purchases of goods and services, stocks and capital expenditure.
ABS is the primary source of data used in the compilation of the Input-Output Annual Supply and Use tables for National Accounts. It also provides a major contribution to the Blue Book which is produced annually by National Accounts and used to inform HM Treasury in managing economic policy.
The Bank of England also use the data to help manage monetary policy, for example whether interest rates should be changed in order to control inflation.
ABS is also the main collection module so that ONS can meet its legal obligation to Eurostat (The European Union statistical body) in collecting and providing data under the Structural Business Statistics Regulation (SBSR).
Other users include the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the Department for Finance and Personnel in Northern Ireland (DFPNI), the Scottish and Welsh Governments and local authorities.
ABS also provides a key benchmarking source for monthly and quarterly ONS surveys such as Capital Expenditure and Stocks.
• Selection Criteria - GB trading businesses registered for VAT and/or PAYE. NI data is received direct from DFPNI which is used to create UK estimates
• Population - Approximately 1.8 million
• Sample – Approximately 62,000
• Frequency - Annually
For more information on the ABS please go to the ABS webpages
Where is the data published?
The data is published in three Statistical Bulletins each year: Provisional Results in November; Revised Results in June; Provisional Regional Results in July.
ABS data also contributes to the UK National Accounts Blue Book.
The data is published in three Statistical Bulletins each year: Provisional Results in November; Revised Results in June; Provisional Regional Results in July. The latest figures from ABS are available on the ABS release page
ABS data also contributes to the UK National Accounts
