Better Product Statistics

The quality of product statistics should improve thanks to close co-operation between the Offce for National Statistics (ONS) and UK Trade Associations, including FMCEC. A review of the product categories for the PRODCOM inquiry was undertaken by ONS using funding from the European Statistical Office (EUROSTAT).

What is PRODCOM?

PRODCOM is a European harmonised system for the collection and publication of production statistics. The ONS collects values (and volume for most categories) of production data from UK manufacturers for the most commonly manufactured products. These consist of more than 4,800 product categories within some 250 manufacturing industries. All other EU member nations also collect data on the same
basis.

Review of product categories

The review of product categories which the UK carried out, was prompted by feedback from survey respondents and industry representatives. Many descriptions were considered out-of-date, poorly worded, not relevant to the industry or were at the wrong level of detail. This made it harder to complete the PRODCOM form may have affected the quality of the published data. Nearly 300 Trade Associations were consulted during this two year exercise, with more than 100 new product categories being introduced to the UK PRODCOM list as a direct result of suggestions from industry. The text descriptions for more than 1,000 product headings have been
altered to make them more relevant to the manufacturing companies filling in the forms. This, in tum, should improve the usefulness of the published data.

Industry liaison

The PRODCOM review generated a great deal of interest from industry and the dialogue between us has improved. The ONS remains committed to improving the relevance of its output whilst taking into account the ability of businesses to provide the information. So if you would like to see how the categories have been improved for your industry or if you have any comments on how to further improve the validity of the PRODCOM product list, please contact Paul Massey, ONS on Newport (01633) 813083.

Published data

The published output of PRODCOM is "Product Sales and Trade" and is the only official source of UK manufactured Product Sales information in the UK. The sales data is matched with import and export data from HM Customs and Excise. The series provides the most comprehensive product data for the UK, helping industry
measure performance, average prices, import penetration and market size. The information is useful for anyone operating in manufacturing or providing analysis, research and policy advice on that sector.

Adhoc information

Each publication provides a comprehensive picture of the UK market for individual sectors of manufacturing industries. But our aim is to supply customers with the information in the format most appropriate to their needs. If customers do not want a complete industry report, we can supply data for individual products or a series of products from different sectors. The information can be faxed to the customer or sent
in a specialised report. The data can also be supplied in the form of spreadsheets or comma separated text files (on Diskette). PRODCOM data is also available on a European wide basis on CD- ROM.