The government’s annual survey of unregistered businesses will, for the first time, ask about the constraints faced by women entrepreneurs and will move to an April–March financial year cycle from 2027, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said on Monday.
As part of a larger overhaul, the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) will introduce questions aimed to capture gender-specific constraints faced by female entrepreneurs in operating and managing their establishments.
“Such information can support a better understanding of the constraints faced by female-led enterprises and provide a useful evidence-base for examining the factors affecting their business operations,” the NSO said.
It is also expected to broaden the scope of information available from ASUSE for analysing the challenges of female entrepreneurs and for informing policy discussions relating to women’s participation in economic activity.
Further, the new gender-focused questions are aimed at filling a data gap on the challenges faced by female-led enterprises.
ASUSE has so far tracked businesses over a calendar year (January to December). The 2027-28 round is proposed to run from April 2027 to March 2028.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) said this would bring ASUSE in line with other enterprise surveys, such as the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) and the Annual Survey of Incorporated Services Sector Enterprises (ASISSE).
“Financial year alignment is expected to facilitate the use of survey information in conjunction with other economic statistics compiled on a financial year basis,” the ministry added.
To avoid a gap in the quarterly numbers during the switch, the January-March 2027 quarter will be surveyed using the existing ASUSE 2026 questionnaire.
The new cycle will begin in April 2027. NSO has put the draft questionnaire for ASUSE 2027-28 on the ministry’s website. “The proposed changes seek to improve the policy relevance of the survey while retaining its role as a key source of official statistics on the unincorporated non-agricultural sector,” the ministry added.
The draft also adds questions on the sources of electricity establishments use, to build a clearer picture of their energy arrangements.
It also adds a question on investment in fixed assets over a longer reference period than the current schedule covers to provide a broader perspective on the investment trajectory of establishments.
“It will also enhance the analytical utility of ASUSE data for understanding investment patterns in the unincorporated sector,” the NSO added.
At the request of the Ministry of Textiles, two questions have been included to identify handloom, power-loom and handicraft establishments.
“Taken together, the changes are intended to enhance the policy orientation of ASUSE and improve its responsiveness to the information needs of different ministries and other data users,” the statistics ministry highlighted.
ASUSE has been conducted since 2021-22. The survey provides information on the characteristics and economic operations of unincorporated establishments. It contributes to the availability of data for economic analysis, policy formulation and national accounting purposes.
