Culture

The second edition of Eurostat’s ‘Cultural statistics’ pocketbook, published in April 2011,  presents an overview of cultural data taken from a variety of European harmonised data collections.

Eurobase, Eurostat’s reference database, does not include a specific domain on ‘cultural statistics’, since no sectoral surveys on culture are conducted by Eurostat. However, Eurostat does provide several harmonised thematic databases covering certain aspects of culture:

• UOE data collection - education
• LFS - employment
• SBS - enterprises
• STS - turnover index
• SILC ad-hoc module 2006 - cultural participation
• AES - cultural participation
• HBS - household expenditure
• HICP - prices
• Comext - external trade
• ICT - use of new technologies.
  

Many data relating to culture can be found in Eurobase using ‘cultural’ codes for the relevant variables (e.g. NACE codes of economic activities for business statistics or employment, ISCED for field of education, etc.).

More detailed data requests can be answered by database managers.

ESSnet-culture is working with Eurostat to develop a common methodology for cultural statistics and to prepare recommendations for a more complete coverage of culture, in particular with the aim to show the economic and social impact of culture.