The Short-Term Business Statistics product is one of the economic statistical products designed to measure the short-term performance of the various sectors of the economy through monthly indicators that track developments and growth rates for each sector. The product covers all economic activities in establishments operating within the business sector.
Survey objectives
• Providing high-frequency monthly economic indicators to monitor short-term trends in the economy and measure cyclical changes across various sectors.
• Supporting decision-makers and investors with reliable data that help track economic performance and enable evidence-based decisions aligned with the latest international standards.
• Providing administrative-record indicators on business registrations and bankruptcy cases to monitor the dynamics of the business sector on a monthly basis.
• Providing building-permit indicators that support forecasts and studies related to the construction sector
Data collection tools
Key concepts
Workers (employed individuals):
All individuals (Saudis and non-Saudis) who work in the establishment, whether paid or unpaid, including owners, their family members, and their hired workers. This includes those working full-time or part-time, permanent or temporary, male or female, regardless of whether their wages are paid daily, weekly, or monthly. It also includes partners and members of joint-stock companies, chairpersons and board members, as well as workers on paid leave.
Compensation of employees:
All amounts payable periodically by the establishment to its workers during the month, including wages and salaries for regular working hours, fixed allowances, and all types of benefits such as housing and social insurance.
Operating revenues:
The cash revenues generated from the establishment’s main activity or other secondary activities, such as selling and marketing its products or providing services to consumers, or trading goods in general (e.g., sales of goods purchased for resale in the same condition). This also includes daily receipts from operations. Operating revenues include the total value of sales of manufactured products and other operating revenues not related to the establishment’s main economic activity but to its secondary activities, such as industrial service revenues, revenues from secondary activities, sales of production waste, rental of non-agricultural buildings and land, and rental of machinery and equipment, etc., as well as any other operating revenues.
Operating expenditures:
All expenses incurred by the establishment as a result of carrying out its economic activity. These include goods purchased for resale in the same condition, whether purchased during the same quarter or withdrawn from inventory purchased in previous quarters. These data are collected on a quarterly basis only.
Changes in fixed assets:
The book value of fixed assets acquired (purchased) during the quarter and the disposals (sales) of these assets. These data are collected on a quarterly basis only.
E-commerce sales:
Sales made through the establishment’s website or mobile application, or through an intermediary electronically. These data are collected on a quarterly basis only.
Number of job vacancies:
The total number of job vacancies available for hiring candidates from outside the establishment during the previous month.
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1. Who is the preferred employee to fill out the form in the establishment?
Answer: The employee responsible for reports, financial statements, and payroll (the establishment’s accountant).
2. How should the value (10,000) be entered in the form fields?
Answer: Since values in the survey are recorded in thousands of riyals, the value should be entered as (10).
3. Is payment via electronic point-of-sale (POS) at the establishment considered e-commerce sales?
Answer: No, because e-commerce sales must be conducted entirely electronically (through the establishment’s website or application, or via an electronic intermediary).
4. Are government fees considered operating expenses?
Answer: No, they are considered transfer expenses and are not targeted in the survey form.
5. Are government subsidies considered operating revenues?
Answer: No, they are considered transfer revenues and are not targeted in the survey form.
Privacy Policy
The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) is a government entity with an independent legal personality. It is the only official statistical reference for implementing, supervising, and regulating the statistical work in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It provides statistical products in social, economic, and environmental fields to support policymakers and decision-makers in advancing the implementation of development plans.
You can contact us by clicking on contact us link in our website, or send an email to: info@stats.gov.sa
Date of last update:
The last update on the privacy notice was made on (update date).
What is personal data?
Any data, regardless of its source or form, that may lead to identifying an individual specifically, or that may directly or indirectly make it possible to identify an individual, including name, personal identification number, addresses, contact numbers, bank and credit card numbers, photos, and videos of an individual, and any other data of personal nature.
What personal data is collected?
Various types of personal data and information is collected, which cover all aspects of life in the Kingdom: (demographic, social, economic, environmental, and cultural), including but not limited to:
Full name, age/date of birth, sex, address, contact information (e.g.: email address and phone numbers), ID number, marital status, current job information, previous job information, information about dependents/spouse/household.
How is personal data collected and what is the purpose?
Personal data is collected and obtained "directly or indirectly", using various methods, which include:
- Direct methods of obtaining personal data:
- Field visit to the household or establishment by GASTAT’s staff or one of its representatives.
- Phone call by GASTAT’s staff through the unified phone number: 199009.
- Self-completion on GASTAT’s website.
Indirect methods of obtaining personal data:
Collect cookies and data on how you use our site, including your visit date and time, and the type of browser you use.
By collecting data, GASTAT aims to produce official statistics that serve the public interest, i.e., any personal data collected, whether it belongs to the individual, or on behalf of another individual, will be used for statistical purposes and the production of official statistics.
How do we use your personal data?
We use personal data collected directly or indirectly to produce official statistics that serve the public interest, and support policymakers and decision makers in advancing the implementation of development plans. GASTAT is the only official statistical reference for implementing, supervising, and regulating the statistical work in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
How do we share your personal data?
Your personal information won't be given to any third party for the purpose of direct marketing. We are also dedicated to protecting the confidentiality of all Saudi Arabia’s resident data, and not disclosing it. GASTAT abides by the participation guidelines that the regulators have approved. We also pledge to enforce the laws governing data confidentiality, non-disclosure, and personal data protection vigorously and strictly.
The legal basis for collecting and processing personal data:
According to the policy of personal data protection issued by the National Data Management Office, the legal basis for collecting and processing personal data is:
- our explicit consent, and you can withdraw your consent at any time except for some exceptions explained above, and to do so you can contact the Data Governance Department.
- Legal Obligation: The regulations and bylaws in force - including Royal and High Orders - are a legal basis on which GASTAT can rely if the collection and processing of personal data is necessary to comply with these statutory requirements.
- Public Interest: Statistics collected from personal data aim to support policymakers, and decision makers to advance the implementation of Saudi Arabia's development plans.
How do we store your personal data?
Your personal data is stored securely in the technical assets of GASTAT in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Your personal data is kept for a specified period, after which we dispose of this data securely so that it cannot be accessed or restored again, based on GASTAT’s data preservation and destruction policy.
Rights of personal data owner:
Under the personal data policy, you have the following rights, which depend primarily on the purpose of collecting and processing personal data:
- Right to access personal data: you have the right to request a copy of your personal data, such data will be provided to you within seven working days via email DPO@stats.gov.sa.
- Right to dispose personal data: you have the right to request the disposal of your personal data in certain circumstances that do not contradict with the legal basis based on which data was collected.
- Right to restrict data processing: you can restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances and for specific period of time.
- Right to object to processing: you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data that is not inconsistent with the legal basis.
- Right to transfer your personal data: you have the right to ask us to transfer your personal data - collected directly from you - to another party, or to deliver it to you for a fee. This right cannot be exercised if your consent is the legal basis for processing.
Except as otherwise specified, you are not required to pay any fees for exercising these rights, and in the event that a request is made to exercise one of these rights, you will be responded to within (7 days) from the request date.
Furthermore, it should be stressed here that some of these rights (the right to data disposal, the right to data transfer, and the right to object to processing) are not absolute rights but rather depend on the primary purpose and the legal basis mentioned earlier. Other than that, they are regarded as absolute rights.
For more details about the processing of your personal data and how to exercise your rights, you can contact the Data Protection Officer at GASTAT using the contact information provided below:
Email: DPO@stats.gov.sa
Except as stipulated, you are not required to pay any fee for the exercise of these rights, and if an application is made to exercise one of these rights you will be answered within (7 days) of the date of application.
It must also be emphasized here that some of these rights (the right to destroy data, the right to transmit data, the right to object to processing) are not absolute rights, but rather depend on the main purpose and statutory basis referred to earlier, and otherwise are absolute rights.
For more details about the processing of your personal data and how to exercise your rights, you can contact the Authority's Personal Data Protection Officer according to the contact data below:
Email: DPO@stats.gov.sa
How to submit a complaint?
If you have any complaints or issues regarding our adherence to the National Data Management Office's policy regarding the protection of personal data, you can contact the Data Governance Department via email at info@stats.gov.sa.
You can email the GASTAT’s Data Governance Department at DPO@stats.gov.sa to file a complaint if you are dissatisfied with how we handled your complaint or if we did not reply to you within three working days.
If GASTAT’s Data Governance Department does not resolve your complaint within 7 days, you may also file a complaint with the National Data Management Office about how we use your personal data.
Address of National Data Management Office:
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh.
Website: Complaints (sdaia.gov.sa)