Relevance
Motor Vehicles
statistics cover the following areas:
- stock
of licensed vehicles as at end of the reporting quarter;
- newly-licensed
vehicles (new and used) during the reporting quarter; and
- out-of-action
vehicles during the reporting quarter.
Data
related to motor vehicle is requested in the ‘Common Questionnaire on Inland Transport
Statistics’ developed in cooperation between the United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe (UNECE), the International Transport Forum (ITF), and
Eurostat. The Common Questionnaire is
not supported by a legal act, it is a voluntary data collection based on a
gentlemen's agreement with the participating countries.
Methodological
description
Data
regarding motor vehicles is based on administrative data from Transport Malta. Data is reported to Eurostat in aggregate
form.
Accuracy and
reliability of data
Motor
vehicle data is checked for consistency and whenever anomalies emerge, queries
are sent directly to Transport Malta for clarification.
Timeliness and punctuality
of data
The
‘Motor Vehicles’ news release is released quarterly on the NSO’s website as
scheduled in the Advance
News Release Calendar. Data for a
particular reference quarter is published in the following quarter.
Data is also forwarded to Eurostat by filling in the necessary details in the ‘Common Questionnaire for Inland Transport Statistics’. Data is submitted within 9 to 12 months after
reference calendar year.
Accessibility and
clarity of data
Tables
on motor vehicles are also included in an annual publication ‘Transport Statistics’
which is available on the NSO’s website.
Coherence and
comparability / consistency of data
Motor
vehicles data is the only source of inland transport statistics. To this end, coherence tests with other
domains are not applicable. The Common
Questionnaire is a voluntary data collection based on a gentleman’s agreement;
data collection and compilation methodology is determined by the competent
national authorities and varies from country to country.