Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Sectoral Statistics Department. Tourism and Transport Statistics Section.
1.3. Contact name
Restricted from publication
1.4. Contact person function
Restricted from publication
1.5. Contact mail address
5-7. Keleti Károly u. Budapest, H-1024, Hungary.
1.6. Contact email address
Restricted from publication
1.7. Contact phone number
Restricted from publication
1.8. Contact fax number
Restricted from publication
2.1. Metadata last certified
12 July 2022
2.2. Metadata last posted
3 July 2023
2.3. Metadata last update
23 September 2024
3.1. Data description
Road freight data collection consists of three datasets with quarterly periodicity:
Vehicle related variables dataset for a sample of road good motor vehicles contain, among others, indication about the type and age of the vehicle, the economic activity of the owner of the vehicle, the total kilometres loaded or empty;
Journey related variables dataset which contain, among other indications about weight of goods, regions of loading and unloading, distance driven, and tonne-kilometres performed during a journey;
Goods related variables dataset which contain among others the type of goods transported and their weight and distance travelled, regions of loading and unloading.
3.2. Classification system
Statistics on carriage of goods by road apply the following statistical classifications:
The optional variable type of cargo follows the Classification of Cargo Types of UNECE (United Nations, Economic Commission for Europe - codes for types of cargo, packages and packaging materials, Recommendation 21 adopted by the Working Party on Facilitation of International Trade Procedures, Geneva, March 1986).
3.3. Coverage - sector
Statistics produced on the basis of Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 cover the following road freight transport operations by heavy goods vehicles registered in the reporting countries:
Commercial road freight transport (NACE Rev.1.1 I6024; NACE Rev.2 H494), referred to as "Hire or reward" road freight transport;
Road freight transport by private vehicles and by vehicles owned by companies classified in other classes than professional road freight transport. This kind of transport is identified as "Own account" road freight and it covers transport operations by manufacturing industry, construction, trade and other companies.
Operations by small goods vehicles (under 3.5 mtons load capacity) and extra-EEA vehicles are not covered in these statistics.
A goods road motor vehicle is any single road transport vehicle (lorry), or combination of road vehicles, namely road train (lorry with trailer) or articulated vehicle (road tractor with semi-trailer), designed to carry goods;
Cross-trade is international road transport between two different countries performed by a road motor vehicle registered in a third country;
National transport is Road transport between two places (a place of loading and a place of unloading) located in the same country by a vehicle registered in that country;
International transport is Road transport between two places (a place of loading and a place of unloading) in two different countries and cabotage by road. It may involve transit through one or more additional country or countries;
Cross trade is International road transport between two different countries performed by a road motor vehicle registered in a third country;
Transit is any loaded or empty road motor vehicle, which enters and leaves a country at different points by whatever means of transport, provided the total journey within the country is by road and that there is no loading or unloading in the country;
Goods carried by road are any goods moved by goods vehicle.
Place of loading/unloading of a goods road vehicle on another mode of transport.
Place of loading (of the goods road transport vehicle on another mode of transport): The place of loading is the first place where the goods road motor vehicle was loaded on to another mode of transport (usually a ship or a rail wagon);
Place of unloading (of the goods road transport vehicle from another mode of transport): The place of unloading is the last place where the goods road motor vehicle was unloaded from another mode of transport (usually a ship or a rail wagon).
3.5. Statistical unit
The reporting unit for road freight transport statistics is the goods road transport vehicle or the local unit (a site of a company, as identified in the national business register).
3.6. Statistical population
As the total number of statistical units (most commonly vehicles) is very large, sample surveys are carried out to collect information.
3.7. Reference area
The data provided are goods vehicles registered in the declaring country uniquely.
3.8. Coverage - Time
From 2001 onwards datasets A, B and C are provided to Eurostat.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Data are collected in tonnes, tonne-kilometres, vehicle-kilometres and in number of journeys (journey data) or in number of basic transport operations (BTO (goods related data)).
The road data are collected on a quarterly basis and are reported to Eurostat five months after the end of the reference period.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
National level:
Hungarian Government Decree on The National Statistical Data Collection Programme enacting the surveys of the reference period (yearly updated).
See annexed file. Road freight data collection can be found under the number 1654.
HCSO submits quarterly electronic dissemination: stADAT, “Transport performances” first release.
Yearly printed publications: Statistical Yearbook of Hungary, Statistical Pocketbook of Hungary, Statistical Reports.
From Eurostat :
Eurostat submits annually semi-aggregated data (data exchange tables, see Commission Regulation (EU) No 202/2010 amending the Commission Regulation (EC) 6/2003) back to the reporting countries so that they can compile the total road freight transport on their national territories, including the operations by national hauliers and also those of all other reporting countries.
These data exchange tables include more detailed breakdowns than the publicly available tables. They also include, for each value, the information on the number of observations that the estimates are based on. In this way, the reporting countries can estimate the reliability of results that they aggregate from the data exchange tables.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
National level:
Confidentiality policy of HCSO: see annex.
European level:
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.
All road freight micro-data are treated as if they were confidential.
Data transmission to Eurostat takes place in encrypted format using the eDAMIS data transmission tool.
We do not apply confidentiality flags in our databases, since we securely have no small numbers of basic data elements for our data dissemination tables.
We do not include in our data information from D-tables.
8.1. Release calendar
A release calendar for quarterly “Transport performances”, for yearly Statistical Yearbook of Hungary, Statistical Pocketbook of Hungary exists and this calendar is publicly accessible.
8.2. Release calendar access
See annex under Transport / Transport performances.
HCSO allows access to files not suitable for direct identification for scientific research purposes in the secure environment of HCSO in strict compliance with laws protecting against the disclosure of individual statistical data and relating to privacy as well as access to anonymized micro-data in the form of anonymized micro-data provision. In the framework of access to files not suitable for direct identification for scientific research purposes, HCSO allows access both free of charge and for a fee. The range of data files, which can be researched free of charge is published and continuously updated on the website of HCSO. If the data request relates to data files researchable free of charge, HCSO ensures the access to and the control of research results generated in a secure environment in the aspect of data protection free of charge. If the data request relates to data files researchable for a fee and a data compilation according to specific aspects is necessary, the production of the data files and the control of the generated research results in the aspect of data protection is possible for a fee on the basis of a specific cost calculation in line with the rules of cost-price calculation. Researchers can access micro-data for scientific purposes in five different ways:
In the Research room in the Headquarters of HCSO. In this case, the researcher receives the results of the research performed in the Research room which are verified in the aspect of the risk of disclosure and not the micro-data forming the basis of the research themselves. The rules of using the Research room and the terms of the use of results are determined by a contract between the researcher and the HCSO.
With remote access. In this case, the researcher can access micro-data in a secure IT environment from specified access points in fully the same operating conditions as the operation environment of the Research room. As in the environment of the Research room, the researcher receives the results of the research which are verified in the aspect of the risk of disclosure and not the micro-data forming the basis of the research themselves. The rules of using the secure environment and the terms of the use of results are determined by a contract between the researcher and the HCSO.
With remote execution. In this case, the researcher can perform analysis on the data file in a way that they do not see it. The staff of the Office carries out the necessary analyses and operations on the data files based on the specification made available to HCSO, and the researcher receives the results of the research verified in the aspect of data protection. The terms of producing and using the results are determined by a contract between the researcher and the HCSO.
With anonymized micro-data provision.Researchers can request anonymized micro-data files compiled according to specific needs and protected against disclosure. The terms of the use of the data file are determined by a contract between the researcher and the HCSO.
With public micro-data files.Three types of public micro-data files accessible for anyone on the internet are distinguished: test files including the full set of variables of the micro-data set, so the researchers can prepare for their analysis and make the program code; files for educational purposes usually including a limited number of variables which are not suitable for research purposes; public micro-data files suitable for research purposes which can be researched at once. Public micro-data files are accessible for anyone free of charge on the website of HCSO together with the terms of their use.
The main users of the Hungarian road freight statistics are Ministry of Construction and Transportation in Hungary, Eurostat, the European Commission, the national authorities of the EU member states, research institutions and industrial organisations.
The use of road freight statistics by administrations is frequently indirect: Data are used by the administrations via studies executed by researchers and other contractors.
The main policy areas include competition, regional policies, trans-European transport networks, modal shift actions and environmental analyses.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
No user satisfaction survey of road freight statistics was carried out in Hungary.
A user satisfaction survey of road freight statistics was carried out in 2009, as part of the rolling review of the EU road freight statistics.
12.3. Completeness
Small goods vehicles (with loading capacity below 3.5 tonnes) and extra-HU vehicles (vehicles registered in other than Hungary) are not covered by the Hungarian data.
As road freight statistics are based on sample surveys, the completeness of the data decreases as the detail of breakdowns increases.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Road freight data come from sample surveys. The overall sampling error of the estimates for the large reporting countries of the total and the national transport should be within 5% standard percentage error (SPE).
13.2. Sampling error
The compliance of the reporting countries with Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 is partly assessed on the basis of the sampling error. The requirements are set out in Article 2 of Commission Regulation (EC) 642/2004: In general, the standard percentage error (95% confidence) of annual estimates for tonnes transported, tonne-kilometres performed and total kilometres travelled loaded shall not be greater than 5% for total goods road transport and for national goods road transport.
The results of Eurostat's precision calculations for the reference years 2015 and 2016 are presented in Tables 8 and 9 of the Methodologies used in surveys of road freight transport in Member States, EFTA and Candidate Countries , while for the reference years 2017 and 2018, 2018-2019,2019-2020,2020-2021 and 2021-2022 are available on CIRCA Library > 03_road > 5_methodology > Results of precision_calculations.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Underreporting can be considered as a prevalent bias of the road freight statistics. Having in mind that respondents can ease their burden by omitting journeys, this underreporting is, in principle, an immanent systematic error. However, improvements have been made to reduce this problem. The efforts have led to a reduction in the underestimation of road freight statistics over time.
14.1. Timeliness
Data are normally updated once per quarter.
If new annual data (all four quarters of a calendar year) have become available, the annual datasets are also updated together with the quarterly datasets.
14.2. Punctuality
Road freight data are transmitted to Eurostat within 5 months after the end of the reference period, as specified in the Regulation (EU) 70/2012.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
The data collection, in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. a 70/2012 on road freight transport statistical data collection, is harmonised with the statistical system of the European Union (and Norway). Since Hungary joined the EU in May 2004 HCSO has also had a data-supply obligation. The transmitted data fully meet the requirements of the EU considering both the content and the quality of the data. Data are provided on a basic level via the eDAMIS website quarterly. Data transmission is followed by approval and, if necessary, by retransmission.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Statistical data on road freight transport performances (OSAP questionnaire No. 1654) have been collected since 1998. From 2002 the survey of road freight transport performances does not cover vehicles with a loading capacity of less than 3.5 tonnes, considering both their small share of performance (less than 10 per cent) and the relevant legislation of the European Union.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
The nature of the road freight market differs considerable from that of other transport modes. For example in Hungary, compared to the rail freight, the road freight market consists of many small operators, own account transport is very common and operators can be active in several countries. For example in Hungary, in the rail freight the market is still today dominated by one big operator in most countries. Own account rail freight or international direct freight trains are rare exceptions.
On the other hand, road freight statistics cannot be based on observations at stable terminal points, as in the case of port and airport based statistics of sea and air transport.
The nature of the road freight market therefore determines also the kind of methods than can be used for collecting statistics. In a fragmented market consisting of many small operators, a sample survey seems to be the only alternative, whereas the rail operators can produce the statistics as a "census" of all consignment notes for a given period from their computer systems.
Another particularity of the road freight statistics is that data are collected by nationality of operator on all their activities, in the reporting country and abroad.
For these reasons, road freight statistics are different from those of other transport modes, and the most important characteristics are that the values are estimates based on sample surveys and that each reporting country reports on its hauliers' operations all over the world, not just on the territory of the reporting country.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Since 1999, tables providing a breakdown by group of goods are on European level derived from basic goods transport operations (goods related information/dataset A3) whereas figures in tables without a breakdown by group of goods are derived from journey related information (dataset A2). This may lead to differences between the sum of quarterly figures (tonnes, vkm, tkm) in one table (e.g. goods related data) and the corresponding annual figure in another table for the same variable.More information on this issue is available in the document ROAD_Discrepancies_A2_A3.
In Hungary the time required to fill in one data observation was typically around 25 minutes.
The total number of questtionnaire arrived (throughout the whole year of 2023) was 33 867.
Consequently, 14 111 person-hours (1 764 person-days) can be used as a careful estimate of the total response burden of the Hungarian road freight statistics.
1.1 Routine revisions: The data published in stADAT, in The first releases, in Statistical reflections from 2012 and in Statistical Pocketbook of Hungary are preliminary ones, in the Statistical Yearbook of Hungary are final. Data corrections are validated quarterly. The corrected data are published in quarterly publications. At that time the data of the reference year are revised and modified from the beginning of the year. Mid-year data are not considered final, since they can be modified during the year because of the quarterly corrections.
1.2 Major revisions: There was no scheduled major revision in the last 10 years in this statistical domain.
2. Non-scheduled revision: Data revisions not announced in advance occur only in exceptional cases namely if any unforeseeable event (data error, technical problem, etc.) makes necessary the revision of data.
18.1. Source data
Sampling register used for the survey
Name of register: National stock of goods carriage motor vehicles;
Name of organisation who maintains the register: Ministry of Interior, Deputy State Secretariat Responsible for Keeping Registers;
Frequency of update: Twice a year;
Frequency of access to draw the samples: Once a year;
Arrangements for accessing the register: Agreement between the Hungarian Central Statistical Office and the Ministry of Interior, Deputy State Secretariat Responsible for Keeping Registers based on the Government-decree of the National Statistical Data-collecting Programme;
Information obtained from the register: Name, address, legal status (corporation or individuals), load capacity, vehicle type and age of the vehicle.
Used in stratification: Legal status, load capacity, vehicle type and location.
Procedure for reminders:
First reminder: 8 days after the end of the reference period by post.
The non-respondents have to answer within 5 days.
HCSO has the right to take steps to impose penalty in case of notorious non responds. The Data Collection Directory (responsible for data recording) has already taken a few steps to impose penalty in regions where the non-response rate were high. The non-response rate is still the same but more work is behind. The willingness to answer is getting worse. The willingness may improve in case the time period for answering will be halved in a reference year due to change in sample frequency.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
The survey is carried out throughout the entire year, see Article 1 of Commission Regulation (EC) 642/2004. Surveys in Hungary are continuous and all 13 weeks of each quarter are covered.
The time period for collecting data on each statistical unit is one week.
18.3. Data collection
Sampling methodology
Statistical unit:
Tractive vehicle.
Types of units excluded:
Special-purpose vehicles: agricultural vehicles, military vehicles and vehicles belonging to central or local public administrations.
Lorries with less than 3.5 tonnes load capacity.
Time unit:
1 week.
Time units of quarter 1 of 2022 included in the survey:
All (13 weeks).
Stratification:
The sample is stratified according to:
1st criteria: vehicle operator’s legal status (corporation or individual).
2nd criteria: load capacity, 4 categories: load capacity between 3.5 - 5 tonnes, 5 - 10 tonnes, above 10 tonnes and road tractors as a separate stratum.
After this stratification we insure the required representation of the sample.
As a 3rd criteria, at data grossing-up, the 20 countries are taken into consideration.
Recording of weight of goods:
Gross-gross weight of goods is collected, i.e. containers swap bodies and pallets are included.
Recording of journey data sent to Eurostat:
Single stop: If more than one goods commodity is carried, only the commodity with the highest weight is taken into account;
Multi stop: Multi-stop journeys are coded by vertical stages. In the calculation for the multi stop journeys, the total weight is the sum of weights loaded at each stop;
Collection/delivery: Journeys with less than 5 stops are not considered as collection/delivery journeys.
Estimation of maximum permissible laden weight:
Maximum permissible laden weight is available.
Calculation of weighting factors:
The main formula for the grossing (calculated for each of the 160 strata) is as follows:
N = total stratum population,
S = number of vehicles selected for initial sample and questionnaires despatched to vehicles owner.
Since 2014, a correction factor (C) has been calculated as proposed in the reference manual.
n1= the number of vehicles (respondents) that could be used for analysis (including those who had any activity during the sampled period and those where no vehicle activity was recorded during the sampled period but the vehicle could be considered as part of the active stock.)
n2 = respondents whose performance is 0 because the vehicle was withdrawn from circulation;
n3 = non respondents – no information; wrong address; the vehicle do not belong to the addressed person (register fault);
n4 = vehicle has been sold, leased, performs somewhere else.
The non-respondents were present in the calculation system in different ways than recommended. The multiplier proposed in the reference manual is 0.5 because the probability whether a vehicle performs or not is 50 percent. In order to prolong the effect, the correction factor was adjusted to the common calculation system during the time period of 2011–2013. The multiplier was 0.8 till 2010, 0.7 in 2011, and 0.6 in 2012 and 2013.
Optional variables covered:
A1. Vehicle-related variables:
possibility of using vehicles for combined transport (YES);
vehicle empty kilometres (YES);
vehicle operator’s NACE Rev. 2 at class level (four-digit level) (YES).
A2. Journey-related variables:
axle configuration according to the nomenclature defined in the Regulation on road transport statistics (NO);
place of loading, if any, of the road transport vehicle on another means of transport (NO);
place of unloading, if any, of the road transport vehicle from another means of transport (NO);
degree of loading : situation ‘fully loaded’ (procedure 2) or ‘not fully loaded’ (procedure 1) of the goods road transport vehicle during the journey in question, in terms of maximum volume of space used during the journey (procedure 0 = by convention for unladen journeys) (NO).
A3. Goods-related variables:
type of freight (Cargo types) as defined in the Regulation (YES).
Additional variables collected compared to the legal requirements:
Integration and aggregation of correct data into specific intermediary and standard tables.
Time series checks by reporting country are carried out on aggregated data.
From Eurostat :
Since 1999, micro-data from the reporting countries have to be submitted according to Commission Regulation 2163/2001. The data are then checked and validated by EUROSTAT (verification of many different codes used (NUTS 3, numeric or alphabetic variables) correctness of linked questionnaires in the different dataset, etc…). Detected errors are then reported back to the data sender with the request for correction, this is an iterative process until at least 99.5% of all data records are validated and loaded in the database.
There are seasonally adjustments of road freight data for 1 charts in the quarterly published “Transport performances”.
No further comments.
Road freight data collection consists of three datasets with quarterly periodicity:
Vehicle related variables dataset for a sample of road good motor vehicles contain, among others, indication about the type and age of the vehicle, the economic activity of the owner of the vehicle, the total kilometres loaded or empty;
Journey related variables dataset which contain, among other indications about weight of goods, regions of loading and unloading, distance driven, and tonne-kilometres performed during a journey;
Goods related variables dataset which contain among others the type of goods transported and their weight and distance travelled, regions of loading and unloading.
A goods road motor vehicle is any single road transport vehicle (lorry), or combination of road vehicles, namely road train (lorry with trailer) or articulated vehicle (road tractor with semi-trailer), designed to carry goods;
Cross-trade is international road transport between two different countries performed by a road motor vehicle registered in a third country;
National transport is Road transport between two places (a place of loading and a place of unloading) located in the same country by a vehicle registered in that country;
International transport is Road transport between two places (a place of loading and a place of unloading) in two different countries and cabotage by road. It may involve transit through one or more additional country or countries;
Cross trade is International road transport between two different countries performed by a road motor vehicle registered in a third country;
Transit is any loaded or empty road motor vehicle, which enters and leaves a country at different points by whatever means of transport, provided the total journey within the country is by road and that there is no loading or unloading in the country;
Goods carried by road are any goods moved by goods vehicle.
Place of loading/unloading of a goods road vehicle on another mode of transport.
Place of loading (of the goods road transport vehicle on another mode of transport): The place of loading is the first place where the goods road motor vehicle was loaded on to another mode of transport (usually a ship or a rail wagon);
Place of unloading (of the goods road transport vehicle from another mode of transport): The place of unloading is the last place where the goods road motor vehicle was unloaded from another mode of transport (usually a ship or a rail wagon).
The reporting unit for road freight transport statistics is the goods road transport vehicle or the local unit (a site of a company, as identified in the national business register).
As the total number of statistical units (most commonly vehicles) is very large, sample surveys are carried out to collect information.
The data provided are goods vehicles registered in the declaring country uniquely.
The road data are collected on a quarterly basis and are reported to Eurostat five months after the end of the reference period.
Road freight data come from sample surveys. The overall sampling error of the estimates for the large reporting countries of the total and the national transport should be within 5% standard percentage error (SPE).
Data are collected in tonnes, tonne-kilometres, vehicle-kilometres and in number of journeys (journey data) or in number of basic transport operations (BTO (goods related data)).
Name of register: National stock of goods carriage motor vehicles;
Name of organisation who maintains the register: Ministry of Interior, Deputy State Secretariat Responsible for Keeping Registers;
Frequency of update: Twice a year;
Frequency of access to draw the samples: Once a year;
Arrangements for accessing the register: Agreement between the Hungarian Central Statistical Office and the Ministry of Interior, Deputy State Secretariat Responsible for Keeping Registers based on the Government-decree of the National Statistical Data-collecting Programme;
Information obtained from the register: Name, address, legal status (corporation or individuals), load capacity, vehicle type and age of the vehicle.
Used in stratification: Legal status, load capacity, vehicle type and location.
Procedure for reminders:
First reminder: 8 days after the end of the reference period by post.
The non-respondents have to answer within 5 days.
HCSO has the right to take steps to impose penalty in case of notorious non responds. The Data Collection Directory (responsible for data recording) has already taken a few steps to impose penalty in regions where the non-response rate were high. The non-response rate is still the same but more work is behind. The willingness to answer is getting worse. The willingness may improve in case the time period for answering will be halved in a reference year due to change in sample frequency.
Quarterly electronic dissemination: stADAT, “Transport performances” first release.
Yearly printed publications: Statistical Yearbook of Hungary, Statistical Pocketbook of Hungary, Statistical Reports.
If new annual data (all four quarters of a calendar year) have become available, the annual datasets are also updated together with the quarterly datasets.
The data collection, in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. a 70/2012 on road freight transport statistical data collection, is harmonised with the statistical system of the European Union (and Norway). Since Hungary joined the EU in May 2004 HCSO has also had a data-supply obligation. The transmitted data fully meet the requirements of the EU considering both the content and the quality of the data. Data are provided on a basic level via the eDAMIS website quarterly. Data transmission is followed by approval and, if necessary, by retransmission.
Statistical data on road freight transport performances (OSAP questionnaire No. 1654) have been collected since 1998. From 2002 the survey of road freight transport performances does not cover vehicles with a loading capacity of less than 3.5 tonnes, considering both their small share of performance (less than 10 per cent) and the relevant legislation of the European Union.
