The Statistical Office of the SR offers to the interested parties the procedures of release and provision of statistical information, the characteristics of basic release forms and individual types of products and services, the definition of principles of relationships with the users of statistical information, principles of product and service provision, price policy of standard and non-standard outputs on the basis of requests. The release and provision of statistical information is conducted in accordance with the Act of the NC SR No. 540/2001 Coll. on state statistics (pdf - 127 kB), as amended.

The release and provision of statistical information meets the criteria of the European Statistics Code of Practice, which are mainly timeliness, accuracy, reliability, relevance, accessibility and comprehensibility, impartiality, objectivity, professional independence and cost effectiveness.

Release of statistical information

The website of the Statistical Office of the SR (www.statistics.sk) is the main tool for the release of statistical information and at the same time represents one of the main forms of statistical information dissemination.

The following products are available through the website:

• information reports, news, press releases
• publications
• data and metadata in public databases
• digital products
• methodology and metadata
• key Office documents, legislation and information on public procurement
• other information of the Office

An important principle of disseminating information to the public is timely information about the place and the time of availability of statistical information in the form of various types of products, on their scope and content. To ensure this policy, the First Release Calendar, the Release Calendar of Publications and the PD update schedule are issued.

Principles of the First Release and the First Release Calendar

Principles of First Release shall apply to:

• data categories resulting from the principles of the International Monetary Fund´s  Special Data Dissemination  Standard (SDDS Plus - Special Data Dissemination Standard Plus). These categories include gross domestic product, consumer price indices, industrial producer price indices, industrial production, foreign trade, employment and unemployment according to the Labor Force Sample Survey, average monthly wages from quarterly reporting
• data collected and processed according to contracts, agreements, obligations and on the basis of valid framework, delegated and implementing regulations (e.g. with Eurostat)
• outputs from special surveys and audits (e.g. Farm Structure Census)
• data categories with increased public interest
• further information and data, or outputs, based on the written decision of the President of the Office

The first release is carried out in the form of an information report. The First Release Calendar is available on the Office's website, it contains release dates for the next 4 months. The deadlines are set as exact release dates. The release time is set at 9:00 am. There is a standing rule that all users have the right to be provided with information at the same time.

Until the moment of the first release, the results of statistical surveys are under embargo. Provision of data before their first release by the Statistical Office of the SR (PDF - 174 kB) is possible only in exceptional cases, e.g. provision of this data for work purposes to a government institution, under contractually specified conditions, in accordance with the Regulation (EC) No. 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (Article 9 and Article 11) as amended and with the Code of Practice for European Statistics. The contract shall include a customer's commitment not to provide the data concerned to any third party until the moment of publishing by the Office.

It is possible to change the specified release date only exceptionally, for particularly serious reasons (e.g. unexpected problems during data processing). The public is informed about the change of date through the website no later than 7 working days prior to the planned release date.

For the publication of preliminary data with acceptable accuracy, the same conditions apply as for the publication of definitive data, including compliance with the procedure for changing the specified release date and the obligation to publish methodological explanations for the data.

Catalogue of publications

To ensure the information of the public on the portfolio of publications, the Catalogue of Publications is compiled by the Office for the relevant year. Where appropriate, the Office issues publications also beyond the Catalogue of Publications. The Catalogue of Publications provides an overview of all publications that the Office plans to publish in the relevant year. Publications are sorted by publication series. The introduced titles present the results of statistical surveys and censuses, while taking into account the current needs of the users of statistics.

The Catalogue of Publications contains: brief annotations to all publications, method of publication and ordering (only in case of the journal Slovak Statistics and Demography), periodicity/month of issue, language version, information on the public database and open data API of the Statistical Office of the SR.

Basic forms of releasing statistical information

Under the terms of the Office, the following are considered to be the basic forms of releasing statistical information:

publication of statistical data in the form of textual interpretations supplementing the tabular form, i.e. information and press releases and news, release of statistical data in publications, release of statistical data in data cubes in the public database (hereinafter PD).

During the release, dissemination and provision of statistical information to the users, the protection of confidential data is ensured in accordance with the Act of the NC SR No. 540/2001 Coll. on state statistics (pdf - 127 kB), as amended, and the Principles of Confidential Statistical Data Protection Use.

Information reports

The publication of statistical information is primarily carried out in the form of tables through the publication of data cubes in PD, or another tabular format. An information report is a textual interpretation that is complementary to: published data in the form of tabular reports (in data cubes or in xlsx. attachments), information about the Office's activities (e.g. on audits, methodologies, revisions, changes).

Information reports are issued weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or annually, or one time. They are released on the Office´s website on a predetermined day according to the approved First Release Calendar, always at 9:00 am. Information reports not included in the First Release Calendar and prepared for other types of products may also be published at other times, namely from 10:00 am. to 2:00 pm. After the release, all reports are stored in the Information reports catalogue on the Office's portal in the Products section.

If incorrect information is found after publication in the informative report, it will be corrected without delay, the public is informed about it through updates on the Office's portal. If an informative message was sent to the media, the relevant media are immediately informed by e-mail about the correction by the Communication Unit.

Publications

Publications are issued in the basic publication series: comprehensive publications, thematic publications, classifications, code lists (if they are issued as publications) and other publications.

In terms of the form, publications are issued electronically, selected products are also in printed form, e.g. the journal Slovak Statistics and Demography, information and promotional materials. The publications include methodological explanations and metadata, which contain the basic characteristics of the published data and definitions of the basic indicators. The basic characteristics include the information necessary for the correct interpretation of the data and the assessment of their suitability for the user's purposes (source of data, survey method, data compilation methods including imputations, changes in methodology, notice of the preliminary nature of the data and the time period to which the retrospective data refinement concerns etc.). If there is an incorrect information in the publication, the author of the publication will correct the information in the form of an errata, which contains the original information and the correct information. In case of a printed publication, if the error is discovered before the official release date, a correction ticket is inserted before the title page or on the page where the incorrect information is given. If the error is discovered subsequently, the correction ticket is inserted in the nearest issue number of the title, or will be sent directly to the customer. If there is an error in the publication displayed on the Office's internet portal, a correction note will be published within the annotation of the relevant title.

Press releases

A press release is one of the forms of statistical information release. It has a wider use than an information report, because it represents a textual interpretation of information of a different nature, namely: tabular overviews (in data cubes or in XLSX, attachments), publications, various types of released products, information about various events, interesting activities, information about the Office´s professional activities. The Communication Unit ensures the preparation of press releases. Press releases are published in the Catalogue of press releases on the Office's internet portal in the Products section.

News

News is a short report that serves for quick publishing of current important information of various nature on the Office's portal, which relate to: important events of the Office (press conferences, new surveys, interesting activities, etc.), technical shutdowns of systems, changes in deadlines for the publication of statistical information, revisions of statistical information, corrections of statistical information and refinement of methodology in various products.

Public Database (PD)

The public database (PD) consists of a system of data cubes and is based on IBM Cognos TM1 technologies. PD provides data for individual statistical areas divided into domains/area and subdomains/district. PD contains published data of the Statistical Office of the SR in the form of multidimensional data cubes for time series and data available for the SR up to the lowest territorial level (municipality). The data is objectively divided according to several dimensions (age, gender, region, etc.). The PD data update schedule is a plan that contains the dates of updating indicators in individual statistical areas stored in the PD. If there is any change in the planned release date of the data cube in the PD, or if there is an incorrect data in the data cube, the public is informed about this fact through news on the Office's portal.

Digital products

By digital products we understand the types of products published electronically on the Office's portal. Digital products are e-publications, applications and dashboards. E-publications are mainly created in Portable Document Format (.PDF) versions 1.3 and greater. DOCX, ODT can be used as an additional format. The application provides the public with statistical information through interactive elements. The dashboard is used for products aiming to integrate information from several components (for example, from PD) into a unified display. In case of detection of incorrect data in the digital product, its correction is ensured on the Office´s Internet portal, where possible, the correction of the incorrect data is marked with a note.

Provision of statistical information

In the system of provision of statistical information, an important role is played by the Information Service of the Central Office, selected departments of the Statistical Office of the SR in the regions (hereinafter referred to as departments providing information services), the Communication Unit and the Spokesperson. These units receive requests for statistical information and products. They provide those who might be interested with information about the Office's products, availability of statistical information, options and price conditions for non-standard statistical processing. They provide consultations on methodological issues, advice on the usability of statistical information and ensure the fulfillment of the user requests. The Information Service Unit at the Central Office also provides assistance to users looking for data on European statistics on the website of Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

The provision of statistical information is carried out on the basis of requests. The request is any claim for the provision of statistical information, products, metadata, methodological explanations, consultation, advice on the possibilities of access to data available to the Office.

Requests are handled by e-mail, letter and telephone.
In case of requests from the media delivered to the information provision units, these requests are forwarded to the Communication Unit. Communication with the media is ensured exclusively by the Office´s Spokesperson.

In case, the Office lacks the required data or the request processing is very demanding for the capacity and technical possibilities of the responsible unit, the request is rejected with the reason stated.

In case of information provision for payment, the price for the provided services is determined by the information provision units in accordance with the valid Price List of Services of the Statistical Office of the SR.The provision of files of confidential statistical data for scientific purposes is governed by special regulations, access is also possible through the Research Data Center in the building of the Central Office.

The user of statistical information can make a complaint about the provided products and services of the Office in writing or by e-mail.

The provision of products and services free of charge, or for payment, is governed by the Act on State Statistics no. 540/2001 Coll. as amended in §31, (1), (2) and (3). The Act defines the range of recipients to whom statistical information is provided free of charge in the agreed extent, term and periodicity. Besides these cases, according to (4) of the Act, the Office is eligible for the provision of statistical information obtained by statistical surveys for a price agreed in accordance with the pricing rules and to anyone requesting it.

The following products and services are provided free of charge:

• information published on the Office's website
• outputs based on standard customer requirements, including methodological information, if the preparation does not exceed one hour
• statistical information provided to Eurostat, ministries and other central bodies of state administration, the National Bank of Slovakia, international bodies and organizations, bodies of local state administration and territorial self-government
• retrievals from the Register of Organizations provided upon request to ministries and other central state administration bodies, the National Bank of Slovakia, local state administration bodies and territorial self-government bodies
• non-standard statistical outputs, including metadata and methodological information, e.g. for the necessary needs of the management sphere, based on the obligation resulting from the SR Government Resolutions or international treaties; the complexity of their processing and the capacities of the relevant department are taken into account
• methodological and consulting services for users of statistical information
• use of the Office´s library services
• telephone answering of questions regarding statistical information, including methodological information (if the answering of the desired information requires more time, it is necessary to inform the applicant about submitting the application in paper or in electronic form)

Products and services for a fee include:

• non-standard outputs based on the user requirements whose preparation exceeds one hour; refers to outputs from the processing of statistical surveys which are not published on the Office's website; it is an extended range of indicators, a more detailed classification, e.g. according to the economic activities, regions, types of ownership, legal form, etc.
• retrievals from the Register of Organizations provided by the Office or Infostat, provided on the basis of orders
• scientific journal "Slovak Statistics and Demography" provided on the basis of orders

A unified price policy is applied within the Office. The prices of products and services are identical for all users. In case of large-scale data processing a discount can be provided. The payment can be made by bank transfer. Considering that all the activities of the Office, from collection and dissemination of information are covered by the state budget, the standing rule is that the charge for the statistical information itself is not included in the price. Therefore, the prices cover the costs of services associated with the preparation of statistical information for the users. This concerns the time required for data processing, the used material, print and printing services, distribution costs professional and programming works in ensuring the retrievals from the internal databases and non-standard processings, information delivery on a special medium, in the required data format etc. 

External communication

External communication of the Statistical Office of the SR is carried out in accordance with generally binding legal regulations and on the basis of general recommendations of Eurostat and the UN.External communication includes communication with the following target groups, i.e. with the media, policy makers (legislative and executive authorities, state administration and self-government), professional users of statistical information and the public.

Active communication is implemented through various tools and activities:

• conferences, workshops, webinars and seminars focused on professional and current statistical topics
• working meetings with the users of statistical information from professional and scientific fields (e.g. with analysts, representatives of professional media), which are aimed at more detailed communication and interpretation of development tendencies, methodological changes, reasons for data revisions, etc.
• activities/programs for various target groups of potential users of statistical information (e.g. secondary and university students)
• personal meetings, telephone and electronic communication through the information provision units
• library services
• feedback implemented as a priority through surveys
• newsletter

Copyright and conditions for use and further disclosure

According to the EU legislation, the copyrights are applied not only to statistical publications as a work, but also to various types of information from statistical databases created by statistical offices. All statistical products and statistical databases created by the Statistical Office of the SR are protected by the Copyright Act, and their publication and provision is governed by the relevant legislation.

In the event that the work is created in cooperation with an external supplier, it is necessary that the expert responsible for the work on the part of the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic contractually ensures this cooperation in accordance with the Copyright Act No. 185/2015 Coll., as amended.

Statistical information published via the website of the Statistical Office of the SR is possible to:

• disseminate (copy, mediate and distribute to the public)
• use and quote in other works
• use commercially

The following conditions must be observed when disseminating and using published statistical information:

• the Statistical Office of the SR will be stated as the source of information (however, this must not create the impression that the Statistical Office of the SR supports users of information and data or the way in which they use the work)
• all information published at the website are information assets of the Statistical Office of the SR and are classified as "public"
• statistical information is published in accordance with Act No. 540/2001 Coll. on state statistics, as amended
• in case of information dissemination, the Statistical Office of the SR applies the use of the international public license Creative Commons Attribution License (cc-by) 4.0 and there is an obligation to state the conditions of this license, preferably with a direct link to the website www.statistics.sk
• the rules governing the re-use of the Statistical Office of the SR´s documents do not apply to the documents subject to the intellectual property rights of third parties
• The Statistical Office of the SR renounces responsibility for any damages caused as a result of the use of data from the Statistical Office of the SR´s website or any linked external sites
• The Statistical Office of the SR reserves the right to temporarily restrict access to this information for operational or professional reasons even without prior notice
• the use of robots, spiders (spiders, crawlers) and other similar tools for collecting and downloading data is expressly prohibited