Annual Purchases Survey, 2015-2023: Secure Access

<p>The primary aim of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Annual Purchases Survey</span> is to provide a comprehensive picture of the goods and services used or transformed in the production process and running of UK businesses, otherwise referred to as intermediate consumption. This product-level information is used in supply and use tables (SUTs), which are an integral part of the measurement of gross domestic product (GDP). The Eurostat Manual of Supply Use and Input-Output Tables recommends that benchmarked supply and use tables are produced at least every five years based on updated source data. A previous survey, entitled the Purchases Inquiry, was suspended in 2006 due to insufficient quality in the data and to reduce the Office for National Statistics (ONS) costs and burden on UK businesses (final reference period being 2004). However, given the survey provides important information on the products that UK businesses purchase, it was decided that it should be reintroduced. The new survey aims to strengthen the estimates of the intermediate consumption structure of the UK economy. <br><br>In 2015, <span style="font-style: italic;">Annual Purchases Survey</span> questionnaires were sent by the ONS to approximately 31,000 businesses in the UK. In the UK, it is a compulsory survey that is administered under the statutory powers of the Statistics of Trade Act 1947 for Great Britain and under the Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 1988 for Northern Ireland. Data are not available for 2019 and 2020 due to quality concerns related to the coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic, which caused high levels of non‐response and internal resource issues.<br></p><p><span data-ng-show="abstractDisplay" class="" style=""><i>Linking to Other Business Studies</i><br>
These data contain IDBR reference numbers. These are anonymous but
unique reference numbers assigned to business organisations. Their
inclusion allows researchers to combine different business survey
sources together. Researchers may consider applying for other business
data to assist their research.</span></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Latest edition information: </span><br>For the fifth edition (February 2026), data and documentation for 2021 and 2022 were updated. Data and documentation for 2019, 2020 and 2023 were added.<br></p>