The concept “industry” refers to a group of enterprises which turn out industrial products of a similar economic purpose.

The basic reporting unit of statistics on the industry is an enterprise whose principal activity is classified to divisions 10 - 41 of the Industrial classification of economic activities (CZ-NACE) in force since 1 January 1992.

The CZ-NACE splits the industry into the following sections:

• C – Mining and quarrying
• D – Manufacturing
• E – Electricity, gas and water supply

Sales of own goods and services incidental to industry to external users refer to sales (receipts) of own tangible and intangible output valued at current prices; they are recorded on accounts 601 and 602. If own goods are transferred to own commercial networks, the sales are recorded in account group 62. The recorded sales (receipts) are free of VAT, consumer tax and customs duty.

Employees in industry are given as actual persons. The average registered number of employees (in terms of actual persons) includes all permanent and temporary employees who have a contract of employment with the employer and receive wages from the employer for the work done. The average registered number of employees does not include e.g. women on maternity leave, temporary members of the armed forces (including persons on compulsory community service), apprentices, students on practical training, persons working under contracts for work or of service, etc.

The average gross monthly wage per employee in industry is based on the wage bill (gross) (without deductions imposed by law or agreed upon with the employee), to be paid in the given period. The wage bill does not include funds paid from the other personnel expenses account. To calculate the average gross wage, the wages paid are divided by the average number of employees and the number of months in the reference period.

ENERGY

Information on the consumption of fuels and energy in all economic activities (industries) of the national economy is obtained from all incorporated enterprises employing 20+ people. The data on the consumption of fuels and energy in the individual regions are processed for entities with their head office in the region concerned.

Consumption of solid, liquid and gaseous fuels includes consumed individual fuels in terms of energy units - i.e. both production and non-production consumption, including consumption of inputs for generation of electricity and heat and for fuel upgrading; gas oils used to drive motors (formerly diesel oil) also include gas oils consumed for intra-enterprise transport.

Consumption of electricity – also includes in-house consumption of the production of electricity.

In May 2004, the CZSO carried out the energy consumption sample survey conducted in households of the CR: ENERGO 2004. In the random two-stage sampling 40 301 households of the Czech Republic were selected; the sample set covered about 1% of permanently occupied dwellings; in total, 39 930 questionnaires were surveyed and processed. Then they served as a background material for elaboration of the publication called Household Energy Consumption in the CR 2003 (code 8109-05).

Dwellings under survey are those, questionnaires of which were included in the processing.

Household is a person or related persons (relatives), a family, as well as persons, who are not relatives and are living in one dwelling, flat.

Dwelling refers to one or more rooms designed for living by the planning authority and can serve the purpose of living as independent dwelling units.

Habitable floor area is a sum of areas of habitable rooms including a habitable kitchen.

Heated area is a floor area of all rooms of a dwelling, in which a space heater is permanently placed (independent heaters included).

Average consumption and type of main fuel are calculated from data of households that reported a car.

Urban locality includes municipalities with status of a town regardless their population.

CONSTRUCTION

Construction comprises enterprises having their head offices in the area concerned, whose principal activity is construction (CZ-NACE 45) and which employ 20 employees and more.

Construction work of contractors and sub-contractors (the value “S”) comprises total output resulting from construction activities and accepted sub-deliveries of work done by other organisations. It includes neither sub-delivery to other construction work contractors nor deliveries of work implemented between units of one organisation. They data are reported excluding value added tax.

Basic construction output (construction work done by own employees) is the volume of work carried out by employees on the organization’s books, including productive work of apprentices.

Data on housing construction refer to the entire housing construction in the area (including all types of extensions) that results in new dwellings attained by all forms of construction). Dwellings arising from changes in the purpose of use without any prior construction modifications are not included. The number of dwellings includes dwellings located in constructions for housing as well as elsewhere.

Constructions for housing are multi-dwelling buildings in which the function of housing prevails, plus family houses. The dwelling refers to one or more rooms designed for living by the planning authority and can serve the purpose of living as independent dwelling units. The dwellings started are dwellings, whose construction was started in the reference period, as laid down in the builder’s diary, irrespective of whether they were completed or not. The dwellings completed are dwellings approved for use by the planning authority, the approval taking effect in the reference period. Dwellings under construction are dwellings whose construction was started (in the reference year or earlier), but not yet finished by the end of the reference period. The habitable floor area is the floor area of habitable rooms. The habitable room is a room directly lit and ventilated, of at least 8 m² in floor area, which can be directly or indirectly heated and which is designed for living all the year round.

Data on building permits are processed from figures reported on questionnaires submitted by individual planning authorities. The building permit pursuant to Article 66 of Act No. 83/1998 Coll., which amends Act No. 50/1976 Coll., on Planning and Construction Order (Construction Act), lays down binding conditions for the implementation and use of the construction. Estimated value of constructions comprises total costs (at current prices), including technology, spent on preparing and implementing the construction and on putting it into operation.

Environmental protection refers to construction activities aimed to control water pollution, dispose of or use waste, reclaim land, and reduce impact of physical factor on the environment.

The presented data on construction are comparable to the data released in previous years.

REAL ESTATE PRICES

Data on real estate prices are obtained from the Ministry of Finance of the CR, from real estate transfer tax returns, which must be filed by real estate owners (sellers) with respective financial offices after the registered contract of purchase is taken over from the land registration office. The establishment of the price information database at financial offices was started by processing tax return data in 1998 pursuant to Decree No. 279/1997 Coll. The database covers transactions in the whole real estate market and is based on real (reported) prices.

The data for individual years released in previous yearbooks cannot be compared due to subsequent conversions of data from administrative sources.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, INFORMATION SOCIETY

The concept ‘research and development’ is stipulated in the CR by Act No. 130/2002 Coll., on the Support to Research and Development from Public Funds and on Amendments to Certain Acts. For the purpose of the Act, ‘research and development’ is defined as systematic creative work carried out to obtain new knowledge or to use it.

Research comprises creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, using methods which allow confirming supplementing or refuting the knowledge obtained.

Development is systematic creative work drawing on existing knowledge gained from research and/or practical experience, which is directed to producing new materials, products or devices, installing new processes, systems and services, or improving substantially those already produced or installed, including acquisition and verification of prototypes, pilot plants or demonstrational plants.

R&D employees are research workers directly engaged in R&D, as well as auxiliary workers, technicians, administrators and other persons working at R&D workplaces of the reporting units. They also include employees in charge of providing direct services for R&D activities. Their formal job attachment is contract of employment, contract for work or contract of service.

The registered number of employees as of 31 December in terms of actual persons (headcount) refers to the number of persons active, fully or in part, in R&D activities (human resources in research and development). Before 2001 the number also included contracts for work and of service in R&D in force as of the end of a reference year.

Internal expenditure on R&D (R&D expenditure) includes all internal R&D expenditure spent within a reporting unit or an economic sector irrespective of the source of financing. Expenditure made outside the reporting unit, but supporting internal R&D (e.g. purchases of deliveries for R&D), is included. The internal R&D expenditure consists of:

• non-investment R&D expenditure
• acquisition of intangible and tangible fixed assets for R&D

Statistics on the information society aims at describing the production (supply) of advanced information and communication technologies on the one hand and the extent, degree and use of these technologies and systems in individual sectors of society on the other hand.

Information and communication technologies (ICT) generally refer to technologies, systems, activities and processes that participate in imaging, processing, storing and transmitting information and data through an electronic means.

The data rely on the periodic annual statistical survey on the ICT use in Czech households and by individuals was conducted by the CZSO in the 4th quarter of 2004. The survey followed up its pilot survey of 2002, run on a limited sample of respondents, and the first periodic survey implemented in the 4th quarter of 2003. It was based on a similar survey carried out in the EU member states (‘Survey on ICT usage in households and by individuals’) with which it was comparable in terms of both methodology and contents. It was taken in the framework of the Labour Force Sample Survey of the CZSO, on its own questionnaire, which made it possible to tie it in with socio-demographic characteristics of persons in the households. It was a face-to-face type survey and its sample comprised 10 000 individuals aged 15+. In line with the LFSS methodology, the results were grossed up to the whole population of the CR.

The reference period of the survey was (i) the 4th quarter of measured year (data for households) and (ii) mostly last three months in the period observed (for individuals).

PC user: an individual who used PC last three months.

Internet user: an individual who used Internet last three months.

Personal computer: includes all types of personal computers: desktop, notebook or handheld (palmtop).

Broadband: connection that offers higher data transfer speeds. Included in the survey were TV cable connection (CTRV), ASDL, satellite and other wireless connections and hired data circuit (fixed line).