Turnover indices in wholesale trade and business services are used to measure in value the developments of sales on a monthly basis in the sectors concerned.

Turnover indices of wholesale trade and business services focus on a national and European need. They are subject to the European regulation on short-term statistics (EC "STS" regulation n°1165/98 of the Council of May 19, 1998, updated by subsequent amendments).

In order to reduce the statistical burden on businesses and because the data has been collected on a regular basis, INSEE obtained the ability to use businesses' value-added tax (VAT) declarations in order to calculate a set of monthly indices showing the evolution of turnover.

The Tax General Directorate transmits to the Insee the declarations of VAT. Until 2015, the index of turnover were calculated from a sample of companies declaring the VAT monthly, selected by INSEE.

This sample of almost 160 000 companies was renewed on an annual basis. It includes an exhaustive section (the largest businesses in each sector) and is selected in proportion of the turnover over the rest of the field.

From 2016, all the monthly declarations are exploited for the calculation of the indices.

Computation of activity and turnover indices