ABS history and background

A review of the history and background of the Annual Business Survey (ABS), known from 1997-2008 as the Annual Business Inquiry - part 2 (ABI/2).

Annual Business Survey background info 2008 onwards
(236.7 Kb Pdf) A compendium of information about the Annual Business Survey including: How businesses are sampled; How results are estimated from businesses' responses; Definitions of some key variables either collected via the survey or calculated; Contact information for the devolved governments; Quality measures; Special Analyses.
ABI Background Document under SIC2003 (1995-2007) (108.4 Kb Pdf)
A compendium of information about the Annual Business Inquiry including: How businesses are sampled; How results are estimated from businesses' responses; Definitions of some key variables either collected via the survey or calculated; Contact information for the devolved governments; Quality measures; Special Analyses.
Development of the ABI (37.7 Kb Pdf)
How and why the Annual Business Inquiry (ABI) was developed from the earlier Annual Census of Production (ACOP) and the Distribution and Services Sector (DSS) surveys. The ABI was launched in 1997.
100 Years of the Census of Production in the UK (417.3 Kb Pdf)
A look back over a 100 years of the Census of Production, which was conducted roughly every five years since 1907. From 1946 this became an annual survey as a result of the Statistics of Trade Act (1947), but was not renamed as the Annual Census of Production (ACOP) until 1970. In 1997 this became part of the Annual Business Inquiry (ABI).