What is it?

Data Topics Taxonomy is a thematic classification system used to organise open and statistical data (also referred to as official statistics, statistical indicators or statistical information) into main topics covering various areas of the economy, society, environment, governance, public life and other fields. The taxonomy helps systematically group and present data, making it easier to search, analyse, compare and reuse.

The Data Topics Taxonomy used on the Lithuanian Data Portal is developed and updated based on the Data Theme Vocabulary of the European Data Portal. This taxonomy covers public sector data inventoried by the State Data Agency, datasets from other institutions made available through centralised publication, and official statistics. It is based on semantic relationships, meaning that data are assigned to topics according to their content rather than according to the field of activity of the provider, a specific statistical survey, or any other analytical work.

Each main thematic area can be divided into more detailed topics, enabling a more precise description of data content. Therefore, indicators produced by the same provider may be assigned to different taxonomy topics, while the same topic may include data originating from the activities, surveys or other sources of several providers.

The purpose of the taxonomy is to help users find data more easily based on its meaning and content, regardless of who produced it or on what administrative or methodological basis it was prepared.

How to use it?

The main source for working with taxonomies is the Central Classification Database (CKDB), available through the Official Statistics Portal. This database contains international and national classifications, their descriptions and the relationships between them. Users can search by code, word or phrase and download classifications for their own purposes (for example, to integrate them into their accounting or information systems).

Business users most commonly use the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities (EVRK Rev. 2) when registering economic activities or completing reports. If there is uncertainty about selecting the correct code, the State Data Agency provides consultations by phone or email. It is also recommended to use the Vocabulary Services platform, which provides controlled vocabularies and standardised terms that facilitate data discovery and management.