Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.
The primary aim of the Annual Purchases Survey is to provide a comprehensive picture of the goods and services used or transformed in the production process and running of UK businesses, otherwise referred to as intermediate consumption. This product-level information is used in supply and use tables (SUTs), which are an integral part of the measurement of gross domestic product (GDP). The Eurostat Manual of Supply Use and Input-Output Tables recommends that benchmarked supply and use tables are produced at least every five years based on updated source data. A previous survey, entitled the Purchases Inquiry, was suspended in 2006 due to insufficient quality in the data and to reduce the Office for National Statistics (ONS) costs and burden on UK businesses (final reference period being 2004). However, given the survey provides important information on the products that UK businesses purchase, it was decided that it should be reintroduced. The new survey aims to strengthen the estimates of the intermediate consumption structure of the UK economy. In 2015, Annual Purchases Survey questionnaires were sent by the ONS to approximately 31,000 businesses in the UK. In the UK, it is a compulsory survey that is administered under the statutory powers of the Statistics of Trade Act 1947 for Great Britain and under the Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 1988 for Northern Ireland. Data are not available for 2019 and 2020 due to quality concerns related to the coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic, which caused high levels of non‐response and internal resource issues.Linking to Other Business Studies These data contain IDBR reference numbers. These are anonymous but unique reference numbers assigned to business organisations. Their inclusion allows researchers to combine different business survey sources together. Researchers may consider applying for other business data to assist their research.Latest edition information: For the fourth edition (May 2024), data for 2022 were added and the 2021 data were updated. Questionnaires and data dictionary were also added for each year.
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The survey collects information about businesses’ expenditure on energy, services, goods and materials that are used up or transformed by the business activity. It includes raw materials, power and fuel, rental on buildings and business services such as advertising, recruitment consultancy and cleaning. It specifically excludes fixed assets or capital investment, staff costs and goods and services bought for resale without further processing.
Multi-stage stratified random sample
Postal survey
