Methodology

Methodological overview

The IAP provides data on a set of tailored indicators relevant to industrial development. To ensure that the best available sources are used for each indicator, data are derived from internal as well as external databases. Where possible, data are presented at the 2-digit level of the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) to identify trends at the industry level.

Comments

• While regional/development status aggregates cover all available countries, some countries and territories are not considered in the country-level analyses:

  • Countries/territories that do not feature both trade and national accounts data

  • Countries/territories with a population of less than 300,000 in 2018

  • Countries with significant data inconsistencies

• Data of former territories (Netherlands Antilles, Serbia and Montenegro, Sudan (Former)) are included in the regional/development status aggregates.

• Regional/development status aggregates in CEPII BACI and UNIDO INDSTAT 2 are calculated on the basis of an unbalanced panel of countries, which may lead to biased results due to countries entering and exiting the sample. 

• By default, countries are compared to the largest economy in their home region (subject to data availability).

 

Main data sources

This section contains information on the platform's data sources. Due to analytical procedures applied to improve data coverage and consistency, results may – in some cases – diverge from official data.

SDG-9 Industry Indicators and Index

UNIDO serves as the custodian agency for six industry-related indicators under Sustainable Development Goal 9 adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017 (A/RES/71/313). To produce data on these indicators, UNIDO draws on data from and collaborates closely with other UN agencies, such as the ILO (employment) and the IEA (CO₂ emissions).

For more detailed information on UNIDO's role in monitoring the progress made in SDG-9, please refer to the following report.

A multidimensional index is calculated using the available data. The indicators are normalized to values between 0 (worst performance) and 1 (best performance). The geometric mean across all dimensions is used to determine the composite index.

For further details on the Index's methodology, please refer to the methodological note. The scientific paper, which originally introduced the new methodology can be found here.

Information used

Data on all indicators and the Index for 132 economies between 2000 and 2020.

Comments

• Due to insufficient country and time coverage, SDG indicators 9.3.1 and 9.3.2 (Proportion of small-scale industries in total industry value added and Proportion of small-scale industries with a loan or line of credit) are not reported.  
• The SDG-9 Industry Index and rankings are only calculated for those countries for which all reported indicators are available.

SDG-9 Industry Progress and Outlook assessment

With the exception of the doubling of manufacturing's share in GDP and total employment in Least Developed Countries from 2015 to 2030, no clearly defined benchmarks have been defined in the official documents to measure progress made and assess the outlook for successful achievement of the SDG-9 Industry targets by 2030. To fill this gap, UNIDO, in collaboration with UNESCAP, has developed a global methodology that defines benchmarks based on the relative performance of a country compared to the top 3 performing countries in its respective region.

Two measures are introduced to gauge the achievements made in SDG-9 Industry:

• Progress assesses the country’s development since 2000 relative to the advancements needed to achieve the target in 2030
• Outlook projects the country’s past trend into the future to evaluate its likelihood of achieving the targets in 2030

For more details on the calculation of benchmarks and countries' Progress and Outlook status, please refer to the methodological note.

Information used

Data on the Progress and Outlook status of 132 economies.

Comments

• For Least Developed Countries, doubling the share of manufacturing in GDP and total employment from 2015 is defined as the 2030 target for the respective indicators.
• SDG regions rather than M49 regions are used to calculate the benchmarks and measure country performance.

Quarterly Production Tracker

UNIDO Statistics publishes a series of quarterly reports about current growth trends of the world manufacturing production since 2011. The main objective is to provide an overview of the current growth assessment of world manufacturing production by country groups and by major industries.

Information used

Seasonally adjusted index numbers of industrial production (IIP) collected by UNIDO Statistics from national data sources from around 100 countries. IIP measures the growth of the volume of industrial production in real terms, free from price fluctuations.

The indices on the country level are published in UNIDO’s Quarterly IIP database, available on the UNIDO Statistics Data Portal. Since 2020, UNIDO also publishes monthly data on world manufacturing production with regular updates.

Comments

• Growth rates are calculated from national index numbers aggregated to the given country group or geographical region using weights based on the countries’ contribution to world manufacturing value added of 2015 (base 2015=100).
• Data compilation and presentation methods are regularly updated and can be reviewed in a methodological document (Methodology of the Quarterly Report).
• Growth figures have been published based on seasonally adjusted index numbers.
• The present data implements revision 4 of the International Standard for Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC Rev.4).

UNSD National Accounts Main Aggregates Database (January 2023)

The UNSD National Accounts Main Aggregates Database contains national accounts data for over 200 countries and territories since 1970. It is maintained by the Economic Statistics Branch of the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). It combines data from UNSD with that from statistical agencies of international organizations and national statistical offices.

For detailed information on the methodology as well as access to the database, please refer to the UNSD website.

Information used

Data on gross domestic product and value added of seven economic sectors for 214 economies (including former territories) between 1990 and 2021 (in current and constant 2015 US dollars).

Comments

• In this version of the UNSD National Accounts Main Aggregates Database, data on China’s manufacturing value added was unavailable for the years 1990 to 2003/2004 (current/constant prices). Data on China’s manufacturing value added between 1990 and 2003/2004 has been sourced from UNIDO National Accounts Database. For access to the latest version of UNIDO National Accounts Database, please refer to the UNIDO Statistics Data Portal.

• The value added in “Mining and utilities” is calculated as a residual of the sector “Mining, Manufacturing, Utilities” after deducting value added under “Manufacturing”.

• The value added in “Wholesale, retail trade, restaurants and hotels”, “Transport, storage and communication” and “Other Activities” has been combined under “Services”.

• “U.R. of Tanzania: Mainland” and “Zanzibar”, which are reported separately in the original data, have been merged under “Tanzania” for consistency with other datasets.

• In some instances, the original data contained duplicate country-year observations at the time of country mergers or separations. To avoid double-counting, the datasets include:

  • Netherlands Antilles - from 1990 to 2009 (replaced by Curaçao and Sint Maarten (Dutch part) from 2010 onwards)

  • Sudan (Former) - from 1990 to 2007 (replaced by Sudan and South Sudan from 2008 onwards)

  • Timor-Leste - included in Indonesia from 1990 to 1998. Reported separately from 1999 onwards.

ILO modelled estimates (February 2023)

The ILO modelled estimates provide internationally comparable labour statistics, including both official data reported by national statistical bodies, as well as imputed data for countries with missing data. The imputations are performed through a series of econometric models maintained by the ILO. This way, the ILO can obtain a balanced panel data set, for which regional and global aggregates with consistent country coverage can be computed for every year.

For more information on the methodology behind the ILO modelled estimates series and access to the data, please refer to the ILO website.

Information used

Data on the number of employees for six economic sectors of 189 economies between 1991 and 2021.

Comments

• Aggregated sectors have been used to achieve higher consistency, regardless of any changes in the data due to revisions of the ISIC classification. The number of employees in “Trade, Transportation, Accommodation and Food, and Business and Administrative Services” and “Public Administration, Community, Social and other Services and Activities” have been combined under “Services”.

CEPII BACI (February 2023) 

BACI is a trade database developed by the French research institute CEPII (Centre d’Etudes Prospectives et d’Informations Internationales). It provides data on trade flows at a high level of product disaggregation (HS 6-digit) for over 200 countries from 1995 onwards. BACI derives its source data from the United Nations COMTRADE database. CEPII BACI extends country coverage considerably compared with the original data based on elaborate harmonization procedures.

For a detailed description of BACI's methodology, please refer to BACI: International Trade Database at the Product-Level. The 1994-2007 version (Gaulier/Zignago 2010, CEPII Working Paper No. 2010-23)

After registering on the website, access to CEPII BACI is free of charge.

Information used

Data on trade flows for 232 economies (including former territories) between 1995 and 2021.

Comments

• BACI contains datasets from different versions of the Harmonized System (HS) product classification. To obtain coverage from 1995 onwards, data classified by HS92 has been selected for further processing.

• HS92 6-digit codes were translated into ISIC Rev. 3 2-digit industries and Broad Economic Categories (BEC) Rev. 4 with the help of concordance tables from World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS).

• BEC codes were used to map trade flows to basic classes of goods in the SNA (capital goods, intermediate goods, consumption goods) in accordance with BEC Rev. 4.

• Trade flows reported under “European Free Trade Association, nes” have been excluded from the dataset.

• Trade data of some countries includes information from other countries or territories:

  • Trade data for France includes Monaco

  • Trade data for Switzerland includes Liechtenstein

  • Trade data for the United States includes Puerto Rico

• Trade flows reported under “Other Asia, nes” are labelled “China, Taiwan Province”. While this is expected to be largely correct, some flows to other Asian economies might be incorrectly attributed.

Export Competitiveness Tool

The export competitiveness tool is built on top of the BACI trade dataset from CEPII (see CEPII BACI above). The tool showcases the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) for different manufacturing industries. The RCA indicates the importance of a product in a country's export basket compared to the product's importance in world trade. An RCA value of greater than 1 indicates that the product contributes a greater than average share to the country’s exports i.e., the country has a revealed comparative advantage for the product.

RCA values were calculated using CEPII BACI HS 6-digit trade-code level data and the Balassa (1965) definition of RCA. For more details on the calculation of the RCA values, please refer to this UNIDO Working Paper.

Comments

• The BACI trade data used for the calculation of RCA was aggregated to the 4-digit, 3-digit and 2-digit ISIC levels using World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) concordance tables.
• The present data implements revision 3 of the International Standard for Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC Rev.3).
• The country coverage for the export competitiveness tool is identical to the other indicators based on the BACI trade dataset from CEPII.
• For further information on the BACI trade dataset from CEPII with which the RCA values were calculated, please see CEPII BACI about section above.

UNIDO INDSTAT 2 2023

UNIDO INDSTAT 2 combines historical time series data on industrial statistics for over 170 countries from 1963 onwards. It provides data for seven principle indicators (number of establishments; employment; wages and salaries; output; value added; gross fixed capital formation and number of female employees) and the index of industrial production. For fully reporting countries, data are available for all 23 industries representing the manufacturing sector at the 2-digit level of the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) Rev. 3.

For detailed information on the methodology and access to the latest version of the database, please refer to the UNIDO Statistics Data Portal.

Information used

Data on value added, employment and gross output for 17 industries of 78 economies between 1990 and 2021 (value added and gross output in current prices).

Comments

• 17 ISIC Rev.3 2-digit industry combinations were chosen for consistency purposes, while maintaining a detailed set of industries and relatively high country coverage. Countries that did not provide data on the value added of and employment in these 17 industries for at least one year were excluded from the database, while still including countries that do not produce in certain industries at all.

• To improve consistency over time, time series were created by linking various procedures. First, a baseline year for which the country provided full data coverage for value added and employment was selected. The time series were then extrapolated forward and backward using the growth rates of the industry-level series of value added and employment. This linking of procedures smoothed breaks in the time series that arise due to changes in classifications and definitions of variables over time (e.g. employment may be reported in terms of persons engaged or in terms of number of employees).

• Due to the changes in the classification and definitions of variables, growth rates had to be compiled on the basis of one specific definition. Gaps were filled by linear interpolation, higher aggregates of industry classifications and by value added (employment) growth rates if employment (value added) was not available.

• Gross output was obtained as a ratio to value added. The ratio of output to value added was calculated for any year with data on gross output and value added. The ratio was interpolated or kept constant between the first and last year with available data for the years that had no data on gross output and value added. Subsequently, output was calculated by multiplying the obtained ratio with the final value added series.

OECD Trade in Value Added (TiVA) Database 2021 

The OECD Trade in Value Added (TiVA) Database provides indicators designed to illustrate linkages in global production networks and supply chains for over 60 countries between 1995 and 2018. It contains, among others, data on “Origin of value added in gross exports” calculated from the OECD Inter-Country Input-Output (ICIO) database. With the help of input-output tables, a country’s trade flows can be disaggregated by the source country of the embodied value added.

For indicator definitions, access to the latest version of the database (in ISIC Rev. 4) and a detailed overview of the OECD TiVA methodology, please refer to the OECD website.

Information used

Data on the indicators “Foreign value added in gross exports” and “Domestic value added embodied in gross exports” of 66 economies between 1995 and 2018.

Comments

• While the other platform data sets use ISIC Rev. 3, OECD TiVA 2021 uses the fourth revision of the classification. An approximated correspondence to ISIC Rev.3 at the 2-digit level was used to align the industry combinations.

Supplementary data sources for country profiles

Population data were taken from UNDESA World Population Prospects 2022.

Score and country ranking for the UNIDO Competitive Industrial Performance Index in the years 2020 and 2021 were derived from the UNIDO Statistics Data Portal.

Score and country rankings in the UNDP Human Development Index for the years 2020 and 2021 were taken from UNDP’s Human Development Report 2021-2022.

Country groupings

Country grouping by geographical region

The country grouping by geographical region is based on the UN M49 classification. Data for former territories (Netherlands Antilles, Serbia and Montenegro, Sudan (Former)) are classified in accordance with the latest retrievable version of M49, which includes these territories. 

Country grouping by development status

The country grouping by industrial development status is based on UNIDO’s International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 2022.

Other country groupings

The list of countries under "Landlocked Developing Countries" and "Small Island Developing States" is based on the UN M49 classification. Classification of countries by income follows the World Bank Country and Lending Groups for the fiscal year 2022. Institutional groupings are maintained by UNIDO and updated yearly based on latest available information. Data for former territories (Netherlands Antilles, Serbia and Montenegro, Sudan (Former)) are classified in accordance with the latest retrievable information on country groupings, which includes these territories.

Industry classifications

While the UNIDO Industrial Analytics Platform’s aim is to report industry-disaggregated data at the 2-digit level of the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) Rev. 3, this is not always possible. Industry-disaggregated data are frequently already reported in industry combinations for practical and analytical reasons. In other cases, the decision to collapse certain industries might be taken at a later stage to arrive at a more consistent dataset. However, where possible, data is reported at the highest level of disaggregation to preserve the granularity of the original sources.

Classification by technology group

The classification of industries by technology is based on UNIDO’s manual Industrial Statistics. Guidelines and Methodology (pp. 244, see document). It largely reflects the efforts of the OECD to group industries by their R&D intensity (latest version based on ISIC Rev. 4, see here). Rather than differentiating between “Medium-high technology” and “high technology”, the UNIDO classification combines both categories under “Medium-high and high technology (MHT)”. While it is generally acknowledged that such classifications may not fully capture the technology content of a specific industry, they are widely used in the literature.

Within the data explorer, technology groups are labelled as Low tech (L, “Low technology”), Mid tech (M, “Medium-low-technology”) and High tech (H, “Medium-high and high technology (MHT)”).

A table outlining the concordance between the different industry classifications used in the platform datasets and their technology grouping is available for download.

Disclaimers

UNIDO data represented on the platform have been treated for analytical purposes as documented above and shall by no means be considered official UNIDO records or estimates. For the official statistical products of UNIDO, please refer to stat.unido.org.

The designations employed and the presentation of material on the platform do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of UNIDO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitations of its frontiers or boundaries.

Designations such as "industrialized", "emerging" and "developing" are intended for statistical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgement about the state researched by a particular country or area in the development process.

Acknowledgements

• National accounts indicators are calculated from source data and used with the permission of the United Nations Statistical Division

• Trade indicators are calculated from source data and used in compliance with the conditions under the Permission for re-dissemination and use of data within applications in the Policy on use and re-dissemination of UN COMTRADE data and with permission from CEPII

• Employment indicators are calculated from source data by the ILO and used under licence

• GVC indicators are calculated from source data by the OECD and used under licence

• Population data is used with permission from UNDESA

• UNDP Human Development Index data is used under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IG