What is the difference between a business register and a statistical business register?

A business register and a statistical business register are different records, even when they describe the same unit. A business register holds legal and administrative records: the registration of a company, its identifiers, and the activity codes assigned on registration or on update. A statistical business register holds the frame for business statistics: the statistical units, their activity coding, and the links used to compile surveys and aggregates.

The two registers can be maintained by different bodies, they can be updated on different cycles, and they can hold different codes for the same unit at the same time. A confirmation must state which register was consulted.

What does a business register hold?

A business register holds the record created at registration and updated when the business reports a change. In the Netherlands, Statistics Netherlands states that each business is assigned a code by the KVK in the Business Register, and the KVK is the Chamber of Commerce that maintains that register. In France, the Sirene directory holds the company record, and Service Public states that the APE code can be viewed there. A business register entry is an administrative record, and it is the record that other administrative users see. It is updated when the holder receives a registration or a change report, and it is not updated automatically when a statistical classification changes, unless the holder carries out a recoding exercise. The French recoding to NAF 2025, effective from 1 January 2027 (FIXED), is an example of a register recoding exercise, with a checking and rectification route in the Sirene tool.

What does a statistical business register hold?

A statistical business register holds the units used for statistics: enterprises, local units, and kind of activity units, coded on the current statistical classification, and linked to survey and administrative sources. The Central Statistics Office states that its Business Register completed work during 2025 (FIXED, as stated by the Central Statistics Office) on updating the coding of enterprises to NACE Rev. 2.1. The Eurostat backcasting manual assumes that all units recorded in the Statistical Business Register are double coded under both the old and the new versions of the classification for at least one point in time, using the same activity description. Double coding in the statistical register is what makes backcasting possible: it provides the bridge between the versions for the same units. A statistical business register is therefore a statistical frame, built and maintained for compilation, and its coding can move to a new classification version before the administrative business register does, or after it, depending on the national arrangement.

How do the two registers relate?

The two registers relate through the unit and the activity description, not through a single shared code. The same activity description can be coded in both registers, and the codes can agree or differ, depending on the version each register uses and the date each was last updated. The table below shows the two registers side by side, with the holder, the content, and the update trigger for each, using only the holders verified in the pages consulted.

Register	Holder, as verified	Content	Update trigger
Business register	KVK in the Netherlands, Sirene directory in France	Registration record and assigned activity code	Registration or reported change, or a recoding exercise
Statistical business register	Central Statistics Office Business Register in Ireland, Statistical Business Register in the backcasting manual	Statistical units, coded for compilation, double coded in transition	Statistical production cycle and classification changeover

The table is a model, not a directory. In a given country, the two functions can sit in one body or in two, and the holder names in the table are examples, not a complete list. A reader should confirm the arrangement for the country concerned in the institute publication for that country, rather than assuming the model applies unchanged.

Which register is asked, for which question?

A question about the code shown on a public company record is asked of the business register that holds that record. A question about the code used in a published statistic is asked of the statistical institute that produced the statistic, and the answer will come from the statistical business register frame behind it. A question about the meaning of a category is asked of the classification documents, not of either register. A reader who asks the business register why a statistic uses a different code, or asks the statistical institute to change a company record, asks the wrong holder. The referral that follows is not a refusal. It is the division of labour between the registers, and the correct next step is to take the question to the holder named in the referral.

What does the distinction not decide?

The distinction between the registers does not decide which code is correct for a unit, and it does not decide any question about tax, licensing, funding, collective agreement or social security status. Both registers hold statistical and administrative records, and both are governed by the statistical only limit stated in the EUR-Lex summary. The entry for a specific unit is confirmed with the register that holds the record for the question being asked, and any correction is requested from that holder, on the evidence that holder requires.

Name the question, name the register that holds the record for that question, and confirm the entry with that holder.