France - Industrial Production

For France, industrial production indexes (IPI) are calculated for industry and the construction sector. The production statistics used to build them are representative of 83 % of the value-added of enterprises in sections B, C, D and F of NAF rev. 2. In section E, division 36 (water abstraction and distribution) is covered but divisions 37 to 39 (sewerage, waste management and decontamination) are not. The “industry as a whole” field published by INSEE includes sections B, C, D and division 36 of section E.

Classification

The dataset is classified under the NACE 2.0 system.

In the Informations Rapides, the indices are disseminated at levels A 10, A 17 and A 38 of the aggregate classification (NA) associated with NAF rev. 2, replacing the Summary Economic Classification (NES) associated with NAF rev. 1; they are also disseminated according to the Main Industrial Groupings (MIG) defined by Eurostat.

Sources

The industrial production indices are calculated by INSEE by means of branch surveys conducted by INSEE, the SSP, the SOES and professional bodies, and also using data collected by the Energy Observatory. The products monitored in the surveys are to be found at all levels of the manufacturing process: they therefore provide the best representation of activity in industry as a whole. The full methodology for the index, 1995 base, is currently available in the INSEE-Methods collection (n°104) accessible on www.Insee.fr. An update for the 2005 base is planned in 2009.

Industrial production indices are Laspeyres indices (with constant weightings over time) of production volumes. They are rebased every five years; the indices published for the years 2009 to 2014 have 2005 as their base, i.e. the weightings of the different levels correspond to values calculated for 2005. They are also published with a 100 in 2005 reference, i.e. the indices have a mean of 100 in 2005.

The constant weightings of the branches are their 2005 raw values added to the basic prices. By definition, the values added to basic prices exclude taxes on the products but include subsidies on the products; they do not include transport provisions. They were calculated by intersecting the results of the annual business survey and those of the annual branch surveys. In order to obtain the weightings in NAF rev. 2, the annual business survey and the annual branch surveys were exploited according to both classifications, NAF rev. 1 and NAF rev. 2. Within each branch, the index is built based on a representative sample of activities weighted by their turnover figures (in the annual branch surveys field).

Ultimately, 592 control series are used to evaluate the production trends each month in construction and, for industry, in 109 NAF rev. 2 groups. Among the 592 control series in the 2005 base IPI, 452 can be calculated easily from 1990 because the information exists in the 2000 base IPI, but 140 series were observed for the first time between 2005 and

2008, and their trends from 1990 to the first observation were evaluated. 90 control series are fragments of control series in the 2000 base IPI, the separate observation of which was made necessary by the change of classification; their trends since 1990 were assumed to be equal to the control series in the 2000 base IPI from which they were detached. Additionally, 50 control series include at least one new part, created to provide better coverage of the branch concerned; the trends of the new parts since 1990 were assumed to be equal to those of the branches they represent.