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Household Income Distribution Atlas

• 1Contact
  • 1.1Contact organisation
    National Statistics Institute of Spain
    
  • 1.5Contact mail address

    Avenida de Manoteras 50-52 - 28050 Madrid

    
    
• 2Metadata update
  • 2.1Metadata last certified
    18/10/2023
  • 2.2Metadata last posted
    31/01/2023
  • 2.3Metadata last update
    18/10/2023
• 3Statistical presentation
  • 3.1Data description

    It is an operation based entirely on the exploitation of administrative registers whose objective is to provide information on the level and distribution of income of the population broken down according to the demographic variables sex, age and nationality and at the territorial levels census sections, districts, municipalities, islands, provinces and autonomous communities.

    It is an operation based entirely on the exploitation of administrative registers whose objective is to provide information on the level and distribution of income of the population broken down according to the demographic variables sex, age and nationality and at the territorial levels census sections, districts, municipalities, islands, provinces and autonomous communities.

  • 3.2Classification system
    • Clasificaciones utilizadas

      Territorial: census sections, districts, municipalities, islands, provinces and autonomous communities.

      Nationality: Spanish and foreign.

      Age: All ages, under 18, between 18 and 64, 65 and over.

      Sex: Both sexes, men and women

      Gender: Both sexes, men and women.

  • 3.3Sector coverage

    Information is collected on all households in the national territory and the members that comprise them

    .

  • 3.4Statistical concepts and definitions
    • Average income per consumption unit
      Equivalised income is a measure of household income that takes account of the differences in a household's size and composition, and thus is equivalised or made equivalent for all household sizes and compositions. The equivalised income is calculated by dividing the household's total income by its equivalent size,
      which is calculated using the modified OECD equivalence scale.This scale attributes a weight to all members of the household:
      1.0 to the first adult;
      0.5 to the second and each subsequent person aged 14 and over;
      0.3 to each child aged under 14.
    • Average income per person
      Income per person is obtained, for each household, by dividing the net household income by the number of members of said household
  • 3.5Statistical unit

    The statistical units in this operation are the households in the national territory and the persons who usually reside in them.

     

  • 3.6Statistical population

    The statistical populations in this operation are all households in the national territory and all persons usually residing in them.

    The statistical populations in this operation are all households in the national territory and all persons usually residing in them.

  • 3.7Reference area

    The geographical scope is formed by the national territory as a whole, disaggregating the information for all the census sections, districts, municipalities, islands, provinces and autonomous communities into which the state is territorially organised.

    The geographical scope is formed by the national territory as a whole, disaggregating the information for all the census sections, districts, municipalities, islands, provinces and autonomous communities into which the state is territorially organised.

  • 3.8Time coverage

    The publication includes information from 2015 to 2021, inclusive.

     

    The publication includes information from 2015 to 2021, inclusive.

  • 3.9Base period

    The primary data sources and procedures used to obtain the final indicators have been the same for each reference year of the published data so that the publication is conformed by homogeneous time series.

    The primary data sources and procedures used to obtain the final indicators have been the same for each reference year of the published data so that the publication is conformed by homogeneous time series.

• 4Unit of measure
  • 4.1Unit of measure

    The main units of measurement are euros, persons and percentages.

• 5Reference period
  • 5.1Reference period

    Data referenced to the period: Annual A: 2021

• 6Institutional mandate
  • 6.1Legal acts and other agreements

    The compilation and dissemination of the data are governed by the Statistical Law No. 12/1989 "Public Statistical Function" of May 9, 1989, and Law No. 4/1990 of June 29 on “National Budget of State for the year 1990" amended by Law No. 13/1996 "Fiscal, administrative and social measures" of December 30, 1996, makes compulsory all statistics included in the National Statistics Plan. The National Statistical Plan 2009-2012 was approved by the Royal Decree 1663/2008. It contains the statistics that must be developed in the four year period by the State General Administration's services or any other entity dependent on it. All statistics included in the National Statistics Plan are statistics for state purposes and are obligatory. The National Statistics Plan 2021-2024, approved by Royal Decree 1110/2020, of 15  December, is the Plan currently implemented. This statistical operation has governmental purposes, and it is included in the National Statistics Plan 2021-2024. (Statistics of the State Administration).

    
    

    Royal Decree 97/2022 of 1 February approving the 2022 Annual Programme of the National Statistical Plan 2021-2024 includes for the first time the Atlas of Household Income Distribution (ADRH) as a statistic for state purposes.

    Royal Decree 97/2022 of 1 February approving the 2022 Annual Programme of the National Statistical Plan 2021-2024 includes for the first time the Atlas of Household Income Distribution (ADRH) as a statistic for state purposes.

  • 6.2Data sharing
    The exchanges of information needed to elaborate statistics between the INE and the rest of the State statistical offices (Ministerial Departments, independent bodies and administrative bodies depending on the State General Administration), or between these offices and the Autonomic statistical offices, are regulated in the LFEP (Law of the Public Statistic Function). This law also regulates the mechanisms of statistical coordination, and concludes cooperation agreements between the different offices when necessary.
    

    For the compilation of these statistics, the INE receives information on the results of the Personal Income Tax returns from both the AEAT and the Basque Country Regional Tax Authorities. In the case of the AEAT, the INE delivers a file that incorporates all persons residing in households, specifying the elecoral section in which the household is located, and the AEAT returns the information from the personal income tax returns aggregated by electoral sections from which to obtain the relevant indicators for the different geographical areas considered in the national territory.  In the case of the Basque Country's Regional Treasuries, they provide the INE with the necessary information from the individual tax returns, which is subsequently aggregated to obtain the indicators. On the other hand, the Autonomous Community of Navarre calculates the indicators for its territory and delivers them to INE, which includes them in its publication.

     

• 7Confidentiality
  • 7.1Confidentiality - policy

    The Statistical Law No. 12/1989 specifies that the INE cannot publish, or make otherwise available, individual data or statistics that would enable the identification of data for any individual person or entity. Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society

    
    
  • 7.2Confidentiality - data treatment
    INE provides information on the protection of confidentiality at all stages of the statistical process: INE questionnaires for the operations in the national statistical plan include a legal clause protecting data under statistical confidentiality. Notices prior to data collection announcing a statistical operation notify respondents that data are subject to statistical confidentiality at all stages. For data processing, INE employees have available the INE data protection handbook, which specifies the steps that should be taken at each stage of processing to ensure reporting units' individual data are protected. The microdata files provided to users are anonymised.
    

    In order to preserve both statistical and tax secrecy, a ring-fencing of individual incomes is carried out so that the gross income of any taxpayer whose tax return result exceeds EUR 3 million or is less than minus EUR 3 million is set at the same ceilings.

• 8Release policy
  • 8.1Release calendar

    The advance release calendar that shows the precise release dates for the coming year is disseminated in the last quarter of each year.

    
    
  • 8.2Release calendar access

    The calendar is disseminated on the INEs Internet website (Publications Calendar)

    
    
  • 8.3User access

    The data are released simultaneously according to the advance release calendar to all interested parties by issuing the press release. At the same time, the data are posted on the INE's Internet website (www.ine.es/en) almost immediately after the press release is issued. Also some predefined tailor-made requests are sent to registered users. Some users could receive partial information under embargo as it is publicly described in the European Statistics Code of Practice

    
    
• 9Frequency of dissemination
  • 9.1Frequency of dissemination

    The statistical operation is disseminated annually, and is currently scheduled to be published at the beginning of the fourth quarter of the year.

    The statistical operation is disseminated annually, and is currently scheduled to be published at the beginning of the fourth quarter of the year.

• 10Accessibility and clarity
  • 10.1News release

    The results of the statistical operations are normally disseminated by using press releases that can be accessed via both the corresponding menu and the Press Releases Section in the web

    
    

    The results of the statistical operations are generally disseminated with press releases that can be consulted both in the menu corresponding to the operation and in the Press Releases section.

  • 10.2Publications

    Apart from the ad hoc publication, the results of this operation feed into other statistics such as the Urban Indicators or the Demographic Censuses.

  • 10.3On-line database

    INEbase is the system the INE uses to store statistical information on the Internet. It contains all the information the INE produces in electronic formats. The primary organisation of the information follows the theme-based classification of the Inventory of Statistical Operations of the State General Administration . The basic unit of INEbase is the statistical operation, defined as the set of activities that lead to obtaining statistical results on a determined sector or subject based on the individually collected data. Also included in the scope of this definition are synthesis preparation.

    
    

    The dissemination of the information produced is made up of 10 statistical tables by geographical area and 9 maps by geographical area for as many indicators.

     

    The list of tables disseminated is:

    - Average and median income indicators.

    - Distribution by source of income.

    - Percentage of population with income per unit of consumption below certain fixed thresholds by sex.

    - Percentage of population with income per consumption unit below certain fixed thresholds by sex and age group.

    - Percentage of population with income per consumption unit below certain fixed thresholds by sex and nationality.

    - Percentage of population with income per consumption unit below/above certain relative thresholds by sex.

    - Percentage of population with income per consumption unit below/above certain relative thresholds by sex and age brackets.

    - Percentage of population with income per consumption unit below/above certain relative thresholds by sex and nationality.

    - Gini Index and income distribution P80/P20.

    - Demographic indicators.

     

    The indicators for which maps are produced are:

    - Average net income per person.

    - Average net income per household.

    - Percentage of population with income per consumption unit below 7500 €.

    - Percentage of population with income per consumption unit below 60% of the median value.

    - Percentage of population with income per consumption unit above 200% of the median value.

    - Percentage of population under 18 with income per consumption unit below 60% of the median value.

    - Percentage of population under 18.

    - Percentage of population over 65.

    - Gini index.

    - Gini index.

  • 10.4Micro-data access
    A lot of statistical operations disseminate public domain anonymized files, available free of charge for downloading in the INE website Microdata Section
    

    Microdata associated with this statistic will not be available to users.

  • 10.5Other

    Not applicable

  • 10.6Documentation on methodology

    The technical project which details all the methodological aspects related to the elaboration of the Atlas of Household Income Distribution is hosted in the web section of the publication.

  • 10.7Quality documentation

    This standardised methodological report contains all the elements of what is considered to be a "user-oriented quality report"

    .

• 11Quality management
  • 11.1Quality assurance

    Quality assurance framework for the INE statistics is based on the ESSCoP, the European Statistics Code of Practice made by EUROSTAT. The ESSCoP is made up of 16 principles, gathered in three areas: Institutional Environment, Processes and Products. Each principle is associated with some indicators which make possible to measure it. In order to evaluate quality, EUROSTAT provides different tools: the indicators mentioned above, Self-assessment based on the DESAP model, peer review, user satisfaction surveys and other proceedings for evaluation.

    
    

    Time and geographic consistency studies are carried out on all data received and those prior to publication. In addition, we analyse and respond to the numerous queries from different types of users and implement any improvements that may arise from this process.

  • 11.2Quality assessment

    The Atlas of Household Income Distribution is a high quality operation in which there are no sampling errors as it is of a census type and in which the data received from the different tax sources are highly reliable both in terms of content and date of receipt due to the great specialisation and resources available from these sources.

     

• 12Relevance
  • 12.1User needs

    The ADRH was born as an experimental by-product derived from the necessary procedures for the elaboration of income indicators included in the INE Urban Indicators statistics. The excellent reception of the ADRH by citizens, companies, public administrations and the academic world, as shown by the repercussion in the media with each publication or the numerous requests for information by the aforementioned groups, together with the quality and stability of its sources and methods, has led to its consolidation as a statistic for state purposes.

    TP2=22 months

    TP2=22 months

  • 12.2User satisfaction

    The INE has carried out general user satisfaction surveys in 2007, 2010, 2013,  2016 and 2019 and it plans to continue doing so every three years. The purpose of these surveys is to find out what users think about the quality of the information of the INE statistics and the extent to which their needs of information are covered. In addition, additional surveys are carried out in order to acknowledge better other fields such as dissemination of the information, quality of some publications...

    On the INE website, in its section Methods and Projects / Quality and Code of Practice / INE quality management / User surveys are available surveys conducted to date.(Click  next link)

     

    
    

     

     

  • 12.3Completeness

    The information provided to ADRH users is 100% of that required in the 2023 Annual Program of the 2021-2024 National Statistical Plan.

    R1=100%

     

     

     

• 13Accuracy and reliability
  • 13.1Overall accuracy

    There are no sampling errors in this operation because it is a census operation and, as explained in section 13.3, non-sampling errors are of very small magnitude.

  • 13.2Sampling error

    There are no sampling errors as this is a census-type operation.

  • 13.3Non-sampling error

    The collection of income data subject to personal income tax is carried out by the different collaborating tax agencies, so it is difficult to know the exact degree to which errors occur in the estimation of the variables due to non-sampling causes, although the different tax agencies have extensive resources and experience by means of which they efficiently collect and store the information on the economic income subject to personal income tax of each of the residents in the national territory and therefore it can be assumed that the different components of non-sampling error are kept at very low levels.

• 14Timeliness and punctuality
  • 14.1Timeliness

    TP2=22

  • 14.2Punctuality

    There have been no delays in the last few statistical releases and due to the quality and stability of sources and methods used no delays are expected in future release commitments.

• 15Coherence and Comparability
  • 15.1Comparability - geographical

    The primary data sources as well as the processing of the data at all stages are the same in all territories so that the results are perfectly comparable for any geographical breakdown.

     

    The only exception to the above is the distribution of the sources of income that is collected for the income of the Basque Country with respect to that of the rest of the national territory.

  • 15.2Comparability - over time

    CC2=7

  • 15.3Coherence - cross domain

    The following is a brief comparison with other statistical sources that also use the concept of household income.

    - Living Conditions Survey. The theoretical definition of household income fits well between the two operations. However, there are some differences such as, among others, the inclusion of all payments in kind and "imputed income" in the HICP (in the LCS only the "company car" is included) or the inclusion of monetary transfers between households in the LCS.

    - National Accounts. The concept of disposable income used in the national accounts is not homologous to that of net income used in the HRDS. Moreover, there is also a difference between the two sources in terms of the population scope, as the population living in collective accommodation is included in the national accounts and is not taken into account in the HRA.

    .

  • 15.4Coherence - internal

    Consistency between variables is checked in both input and publishable files.

    Consistency between variables is checked in both input and publishable files.

• 16Cost and burden
  • 16.1Cost and burden

    The cost estimate according to the 2023 annual program amounts to 90.11 thousand euros.

     

     

     

    .

• 17Data revision
  • 17.1Data revision - policy

    The INE of Spain has a policy which regulates the basic aspects of statistical data revision, seeking to ensure process transparency and product quality. This policy is laid out in the document approved by the INE board of directors on 13 March of 2015, which is available on the INE website, in the section "Methods and projects/Quality and Code of Practice/INE’s Quality management/INE’s Revision policy" (link).

    This general policy sets the criteria that the different type of revisions should follow:  routine revision- it is the case of statistics whose production process includes regular revisions-; more extensive revision- when methodological or basic reference source changes take place-; and exceptional revision- for instance, when an error appears in a published statistic-.

    
    
  • 17.2Data revision - practice

    Published data will only be reviewed in the event of errors being detected.

• 18Statistical processing
  • 18.1Source data

    The collection of income data is based on standardized annual requests to the various collaborating tax agencies.

  • 18.2Frequency of data collection

    Data collection by the tax agencies usually takes place during the second quarter of the year following the date of accrual of personal income tax. The data requested by the INE is usually received in the middle of the year following the reporting period, i.e. 18 months after the date of accrual of personal income tax.

     

  • 18.3Data collection

    Income data collection by the INE is based on standardised annual requests to the different collaborating tax organisations.

     

  • 18.4Data validation

    A first control of the input data is carried out in order to detect geographical, measurement and balance inconsistencies, so that the input information covers the census section, has a coherent temporal evolution and that the gross income equals the sum of the different components broken down in the publication. If there is any doubt about the information received, it is possible to contact the source for information. Analogous analyses are carried out once the indicators to be published have been drawn up.

  • 18.5Data compilation

    To make the indicators more robust, the following treatments are carried out on the data:

    - In the calculation of the Gini index, a prior truncation of the data by income brackets per consumption unit of 1.5% of the lowest income values and 1.5% of the highest values is carried out, replacing the original value with the extreme value.

    - Fixing a minimum population size for the different territorial units for which information is offered. These minimum sizes will depend both on the variable under study and on the classification variables (for more information, please consult the technical project hosted on the ADRH website).

    - The extreme values of the income indicators are dimensioned. The extreme values that the income indicators take in each of the territories will be calculated, calculating upper and lower limits so that when the indicator takes a value below the lower limit or above the upper limit, this value will be censored by the limit.

    - The extreme values that the income indicators take in each of the territories will be calculated, calculating upper and lower limits so that when the indicator takes a value below the lower limit or above the upper limit, this value will be censored by the limit.

  • 18.6Adjustment

    No temporary adjustment is made.

     

• 19Comment
  • 19.1Comment