Documentation of statistics profitability of fishery

Data description

The Profitability of Fisheries Industry statistics contain key financial indicators of fisheries and data on the financial standing of companies in the fisheries industry. The statistics offer an economic overview of Finnish fishing and aquaculture companies based on their latest financial statements. EU legislation obliges Finland to gather detailed data on the Finnish fisheries industry.  The EU programme for fisheries data collection seeks to gather biological, economic, and statistical data on fisheries to support the Common Fisheries Policy. The European Commission uses the data obtained through the fisheries data collection programme for the planning of its fisheries policy and the monitoring of the policy’s impacts. Since 2022, inland fishery is included in the statistics.

Classification system

Fishing companies are divided into large trawlers (vessels over 24 metres) and small trawlers (vessels under 24 metres), coastal fishers with turnover of over EUR 10,000 and coastal fishers with turnover of under EUR 10,000. Annual turnover of EUR 10,000 is the limit for VAT liability. This same monetary limit is also applied by the new Fishing Act to divide commercial professional fishing companies into Type I and Type II in the register of professional fishers. 

Aquaculture companies are divided into five categories based on their main production orientation: marine food fish production, freshwater food fish production, recirculating aquaculture systems, hatcheries and nurseries, and ponds. In 2008–2015 aquaculture enterprises were divided according to their production priorities into hatcheries and nurseries, freshwater food fish producers, combined producers (both fry and food fish production), and marine food fish producers. Fry production also covered natural food ponds.

The companies in the fish processing, fish wholesaling and fish retail sectors have been divided into three size categories based on company turnover figures: large companies (largest 10%), mid-size companies (largest 40% of the remaining companies), and small companies.

Sector coverage

The statistics cover marine fishing, aquaculture, fish processing, fish wholesaling and fish retail. Since 2022, inland fishery is included in the statistics.

Statistical concepts and definitions

The scale and profitability of the fisheries industry sectors is described using the operating income, value added, operating margin and net result.

Total income includes, in addition to turnover and direct subsidies, other income, such as compensation and rental income.

Value added means the value contributed by the industry. Value added is the difference between an industry's output (income) and input (material and equipment acquisitions, external services, and other operating costs, such as personnel). The value added includes items that contribute to GDP, such as wages and salaries, capital expenditure, taxes and profit. The value added ratio is the value added as a percentage of total income.

The operating margin shows a company's operating result before depreciation and financial items. The operating margin ratio shows the result, after the deduction of fixed and variable costs, as a percentage of total income.

The net result is a measure of profitability. It shows a company's profit after taxes and before extraordinary income and expenditure. The net profit ratio is the net result as a percentage of total income.

Pay adjustments have not been used when calculating the key indicators’ operating margin and net profit.

Net investments consist of the industry's tangible and intangible investments.

The equity ratio is the key indicator of solvency. It shows the percentage of total assets that are funded by shareholders’ equity. The adjusted equity ratio uses the adjusted balance sheet total minus advances received. The Finnish Company Advisory Board (YTN) has issued the following guidelines on this key indicator:

Equity ratio:

• over 40 %                            good
• 20–40 %                              satisfactory
• under 20 %                         poor

The key indicator for liquidity is the current ratio. It shows a company's assets (current assets plus financial assets) as a percentage of its current liabilities. This key indicator therefore considers the potential realisation of current assets to maintain liquidity. The Finnish Company Advisory Board (YTN) has issued the following guidelines on this key indicator:

Current ratio:

• over 2            good
• 1–2                satisfactory
• under 1         poor

Statistical unit

The data is retrieved from Natural Resources Institute Finland’s statistics on the production data of fishing and aquaculture companies and Statistics Finland's data on financial statements of the fisheries industry (fishing, aquaculture, fish processing, wholesale, retail).

Statistical population

The statistics cover marine and inland fishing, aquaculture, fish processing, fish wholesaling and fish retail.

Unit of measure 

Information is given in millions of Euros.

Reference period

Calendar year

Reference area

The statistics describe the commercial fishers in Finland.

Time coverage

Information is available in the database starting from year 2008.

Frequency of disseminations

Yearly

Base period

The statistics are not an index.

Provisions on the EU programme for the collection of data in the fisheries sector are laid down in Regulation (EU) 2017/1004 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Detailed rules, definitions and requirements are presented in Commission Regulations (EU) No 2019/909 and (EU) 2019/910. Additionally, the statistics are compiled based on the Act on the Natural Resources Institute Finland (561/2014) and the Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union concerning crop statistics (715/2014).

More information: Statistics legislation

Confidentiality is a base principle of statistics and assures the confidential processing of data provided by informants, and the Natural Resources Institute Finland has undertaken to follow this principle.

More information: Privacy policy – Statistics

The disseminations of the Natural Resources Institute Finland are published online on weekdays at 9:00. Data is public after it has been published on the website.

Release calendar

Publication dates are confirmed in autumn together with the action plans. The release calendar of the following year is published for users in the end of the year. The release calendar contains data on the dates of future publications. The calendar also contains direct links to already published statistical publication.

Release calendar access

Statistical releases calendar | Natural Resources Institute Finland

Quality assurance

The Natural Resources Institute Finland follows the Code of Practice and the Quality Assurance Framework of European statistics when compiling statistics. The Code of Practice concern the independence and accountability of statistics authorities, and the quality of processes and published data. The principles are compatible with and supplement the Principles of Official Statistics, agreed upon by the United Nations Statistical Commission.

Quality assessment

The statistics are compiled according to the Generic Statistical Business Process Model (GSBPM), and quality assurance is performed according to this model.

User satisfaction

Feedback is collected from the users of the statistics, especially when revising the statistics. Feedback is also received directly. In addition, we investigated the wishes of users for developing the statistics in the autumn of 2021 and beginning of 2022, when updating the work programme for the Natural Resources Institute Finland. We follow the received feedback and take it into consideration in developing the statistics.

Overall accuracy and reliability

In the case of fish processing, fish wholesale, and fish retail sectors and companies, the financial statements information collected by Statistics Finland covers enterprises whose field of business according to the Enterprise Register is one of the above.  The financial statements regarding commercial marine fishing and aquaculture contain all main activity companies and fishers.  Key indicators for the profitability of small companies paint a rosier picture than reality, as small-scale entrepreneurs often do not pay themselves salaries, taking their income directly from the company's net profit instead. Statistics Finland adjusts the results of small companies using a calculatory pay adjustment. In this page, the pay adjustment has not been taken into account, because the fisheries industry is mostly made up of small businesses that only operate seasonally. 

Timeliness

Data is published yearly.  The data that Statistics Finland collects on the financial statements of companies in the fisheries industry is only made available to the Natural Resources Institute Finland in the year after the financial statements are published, meaning that the latest data covers the preceding year.

Comparability - geographical

The statistics have been compiled following all definitions and criteria of the EU regulation for the collection of data. The statistics are comparable with statistics from other countries, which have been compiled following the same regulations.

Comparability - over time

The total sums of the fisheries industry are comparable over time. More detailed classifications between industries are comparable if there are no changes to these classifications.

Coastal fishers are classified using the limit for VAT liability. In 2008–2015 this limit was EUR 8,500 and since 2016 the limit has been EUR 10,000.

Aquaculture companies are divided into five categories based on their main production orientation: marine food fish production, freshwater food fish production, recirculating aquaculture systems, hatcheries and nurseries, and ponds. 

In 2008–2015 aquaculture enterprises were divided according to their production priorities into hatcheries and nurseries, freshwater food fish producers, combined producers (both fry and food fish production), and marine food fish producers.

Coherence - cross domain

Statistics Finland determines the field of business of each company on the basis of the company’s own report, as well as on the basis of turnover reviews.  Largest companies operate in several sectors. For example, the primary sector of a major fish farmer can actually be fish wholesaling or fish processing. Many fishing companies engage in fish processing activities. A company can be listed as a fish wholesaler or a fish processing company depending on the proportion of sales that the products processed in the company account for each year. As the result, a company operating in more than one sector may be transferred from one sector to another. Change in the listing of large company can impact the result of the entire sector.

The fish retail sector covers only the stores that specialise in fish retail. Most fish is sold to consumers at the supermarket fish counters. Supermarket sales fall into the fish retail sector only if the fish counter is managed by a company that has fish retail as its primary business activity.

Source data

The data is retrieved from Natural Resources Institute Finland’s statistics on the production data of fishing and aquaculture companies and Statistics Finland's data on financial statements of the fisheries industry (fishing, aquaculture, fish processing, wholesale, retail).

Frequency of data collection

Yearly

Data collection

The fisheries industry profitability data covers all commercial, professional fishing companies that report their catches. The financial information pertaining to the industry and its companies is based on Statistics Finland’s financial statement data from commercial fisheries companies. The Natural Resources Institute Finland calculates the key financial indicators for different sectors of the fisheries industry on the basis of financial statements.

Data validation

The statistics are compiled according to the Generic Statistical Business Process Model (GSBPM), and quality assurance is performed according to this model.

Data compilation

The statistics are compiled according to the Generic Statistical Business Process Model (GSBPM), and data is processed according to this model.