The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) informs that information on the Value Indices of Sales (Deliveries) of Goods and Services for the months of 2022 and the first three months of 2023 has been published in the Statistical Data Bank https://statbank.statistica.md. The data have been compiled for the first time based on VAT returns collected by the State Tax Service from VAT payers.

The use of VAT returns, as well as other administrative data sources, for statistical purposes is one of the NBS priorities aimed at producing new statistical indicators with more detailed disaggregations, optimizing budget expenditures, and reducing the reporting burden on the business environment.

The data are compiled and disseminated in the Statistical Data Bank under Economic Statistics / Domestic Trade in Goods and Services / Domestic Trade in Goods / Monthly Series, as value indices compared with the previous month and the corresponding month of the previous year.

For statistics on the value indices of sales (deliveries) of goods and services based on VAT returns, the observation unit is the economic entity registered as a VAT payer, whose main activity is trade and services, regardless of its form of ownership or organizational and legal form. According to Article 114 of the Tax Code, entities engaged in entrepreneurial activities are required to register as VAT taxpayers if, during any consecutive 12-month period, they have made supplies of goods and services exceeding MDL 1.2 million, except for VAT-exempt supplies. Entities may also voluntarily register as VAT taxpayers if they anticipate making taxable supplies of goods or services. Further details on VAT-taxable entities are provided in Articles 94 and 114 of the Tax Code.

Given that the information is compiled exhaustively for the population of VAT-paying entities, statistics on sales (deliveries) of goods and services are compiled and disseminated at the division level (2 digits) of the Classification of Activities in the Moldovan Economy (CAEM-2), providing a much more detailed breakdown than the data previously compiled and disseminated by the NBS based on the monthly statistical survey “SERV TS”, which were available only at the level of wholesale trade, retail trade, and market services provided to enterprises and households.

The statistics produced based on VAT returns have replaced those previously compiled as a result of the monthly statistical survey “SERV TS” – “turnover (sales revenue)”, which was compiled up to December 2022. Monthly data on turnover (sales revenue) based on the “SERV TS” statistical survey, available for the period 2014–2022, are published in the Statistical Data Bank under Economic Statistics / Domestic Trade in Goods and Services / Domestic Trade in Goods / Monthly Series.

Information on the value indices of sales (deliveries) of goods and services will be compiled on a monthly basis and disseminated in accordance with the Dissemination Calendar.