Tonga
Title of the survey
Quarterly Survey of Industrial Production, Employment and Wages.
Organization responsible
Statistics Department, Industrial Division
Periodicity of the survey
Quarterly.
Objectives of the survey
To obtain information on the performance of the manufacturing sector in
the main island, Tongatapu. The results provide a picture on
investment, production, employment, wages and
salaries, etc., and are
used to prepare the National Accounts.
Main labour topics covered by the survey
Employment, earnings and production.
Reference period
For employment: the last pay day of each month of the reference
quarter.
For earnings: each whole month of the quarter.
Coverage of the survey
Geographical
Only the main island (Tongatapu).
Industrial
Manufacturing.
Establishments
All types and sizes of manufacturing establishments, except the
following ones: establishments engaged in repair and maintenance of
vehicles, machinery and equipment; canning, preserving and processing
of fish and fishery products; household-type activities related to
making handicrafts and the like.
Persons
All persons engaged.
Occupations
Data are not
collected on individual occupations.
Concepts and definitions
Employment
Data refer to all persons engaged, i.e. working proprietors,
working directors, apprentices, unpaid family workers and employees.
The following categories are separately identified:
- working proprietors and active partners: all individual proprietors
and partners who are actively engaged in the work of the establishment;
- unpaid family workers: family members working in the establishment
without regular pay at least one-third of the normal working time;
- production workers, i.e. workers directly engaged for pay in the
production activities of the establishment. Information is collected
separately on the number of:
- full-time and regular workers;
- part-time, casual and daily paid workers;
- other employees: they include administrative, technical and clerical
personnel such as salaried managers, directors, clerks, typists,
bookkeepers, administrative supervisors and salesmen.
Earnings
Data are collected on aggregate
gross earnings for each category of persons engaged,
before deduction of income tax, other taxes, etc. This includes all
payments by cash or cheque made on account of bonuses, cost of living
allowances and wages paid during vacation and sick leave for the
reference period.
Information is collected separately on the total value of all wages and
salaries paid in kind for all categories of workers together. This
refers to the net cost to the employer of goods and services
provided to employees free of charge or at a markedly reduced cost,
which are clearly of benefit to employees. They normally include food,
beverage, tobacco, clothing, etc.
Wage/salary rates
Not relevant.
Hours of work
Not relevant.
International recommendations
The definition of earnings complies with the international
recommendations on gross earnings. They include all regular and
irregular cash payments, as well as the value of payments in kind.
Classifications
Industrial
Data on employment and earnings are classified at the two-digit level of
the International Standard Industrial Classification of all economic
activities (ISIC), Rev.2, 1968.
Occupational
Not relevant.
Others
Not relevant.
Sample size and design
Statistical unit
The statistical and reporting unit is the operating
establishment.
Survey universe / sample frame
This consists of the Register of Establishments
maintained by the Statistics Department. This Register covers
(i) establishments that are registered as of
manufacturing type under the
Companies Act, 1912, (ii) those granted a Development License for
manufacturing under the Industrial Incentives Act, 1978 and (iii) and
those engaged in manufacturing activities with a license issued by the
Inland Revenue Department.
The Register is updated each quarter, on the basis of the survey.
Sample design
The survey is based on a complete of enumeration of manufacturing
establishments in the Register of Establishments, within the scope of
the survey, which were operating during the survey period.
Field work
Data collection
Mailed questionnaires are sent out in the months of April, July, October
and January of each year, supplemented by personal visits from the
permanent staff of the Department.
Survey questionnaire
This consists of two pages. The first contains
instructions for completing the questionnaire.
The second is designed to collect information on:
- the establishment (name, address);
- production:
- main products of the establishment, and for each
product: unit of measure, average quantity and average
ex-factory value of the above quantity.
- total value of the products other than the main ones specified
above;
- total value of work done by the establishment for other products;
- employment and wages and salaries for each category of persons
engaged;
- total wages and salaries in kind (or estimated value).
Substitution of sampling units
Not relevant.
Data processing and editing
Data are processed by computer after consistency checks have been made.
Coding of each establishment is done according to its product in
correspondence with ISIC. Data are edited by survey staff. In the case
of missing or inconsistent data, contacts are made by enumerator's
visit.
Types of estimates
Totals of employment and average earnings.
Construction of indices
No index numbers are constructed.
Weighting of sample results
Not relevant.
Adjustments
Non-response
None.
Other bias
None.
Use of benchmark data
Not relevant.
Seasonal variations
Not relevant.
Indicators of reliability of the estimates
Coverage of the sampling frame
The coverage of manufacturing establishments is considered complete.
Sampling error / sampling variance
Not relevant.
Non-response rate
Not available.
Non-sampling errors
Not available.
Conformity with other sources
Not available.
Available series
Published tables include mainly data on average paid
and unpaid employment, wages and salaries (in cash and in kind),
by ISIC division and institutional sector.
History of the survey
The survey started during the third quarter of 1983 and since then it
has been conducted without any major changes.
Documentation
Statistics Department: Statistical Bulletin on Manufacturing
Output, Employment and Wages and Salaries (Tonga).
This publication's periodicity varies according to the years covered by
the survey.
Confidentiality / Reliability criteria
The survey is conducted under Section 8 (3) of the Statistics Act, 1978
(Act No. 31). For confidentiality reasons, information on individual
establishments or quantities of individual products are not published.
Subject to confidentiality rules, results which do not appear in
national publications can be made available on diskette, on request.
Other information
Data supplied to the ILO for publication
Statistics of paid employment (employees) and average earnings per week
(as at December of each year), in manufacturing, are published in Tables
5A, 17A and 17B of the Yearbook of Labour Statistics