Change in methology
In line with the ISO 9001 requirement for continual improvement, a major effort was launched with the 2007 survey to improve the reliability of the data by harmonizing the collection methodology.
In previous years, the survey data had been collected from a variety of sources including ISO national member institutes, accreditation bodies, certification bodies and regional certification databases. A disadvantage of this approach was the resulting mixture of data from primary sources with secondary sources. Compiling data from secondary sources increased the possibility for error, particularly as these sources themselves may use different methodologies for compiling data. To reduce such problems to the minimum, the data collection method has been undergoing harmonization since the 2007 survey so that whenever possible, it has been obtained from the primary sources – the certification bodies that actually issue certificates.
Continual improvement
For future editions, the harmonized methodology will facilitate the comparison and consistency of the survey data. The responsiveness of certification bodies to requests for information has increased with the 2008 survey, improving its content. At the same, the push for continual improvement has brought to light a major discrepancy in data relating to several countries which had come from a single source.
The total of ISO 9001 certificates given for The Netherlands in the 2006 survey – and, in the absence of new data, repeated in the 2007 survey – now proves to have been significantly over-stated. Since the same source had supplied ISO 9001 data for a number of other countries, their corresponding totals for 2006 and 2007 were also too high. The ISO 9001 totals for the following countries have been therefore been revised downwards in this 2008 survey:
• The Netherlands, by 10 890
• India, by 10 270
• Israel, by 4 893
• Brazil, by 1 404
• Japan, by 13 527
• Thailand, by 1 235
• Ukraine, by 618
• USA, by 4 317.
To a lesser extent, the same situation has affected the totals of ISO 14001 certificates for the following countries which were over-stated in the 2007 report and have been revised downwards in this 2008 survey:
• Brazil, by 125
• Israel, by 191
• Thailand, by 102
• USA, by 486.
Because of these downward revisions, the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 totals for the countries indicated appear to have dropped sharply in the 2008 survey, when in fact this is an impression created by the over-inflation of figures in 2006 and 2007.
Figures on ISO 14001 certifications in Japan supplied by the same source also now prove to be have been overinflated and so the 2008 total for this country has been adjusted downwards by 6 233. The fact that despite this, Japan still shows an increase on 2007, indicates that the increase in ISO 14001 certification in Japan is far higher than suggested by the 2008 total.
ISO 9001 – 2000 and 2008 editions cumulated
On 15 November 2008, ISO 9001:2008 was published replacing the earlier edition, ISO 9001:2000. Because the 2008 edition does not include any new requirements compared to the 2000 edition, no attempt has been made to differentiate in the 2008 survey between the two. The totals of ISO 9001 certificates given cumulate both ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 9001:2008 certifications.
Certified sites
The survey is of certificates, not the number of sites covered by a certificate. At the same time, it is recognized that many organizations are choosing to have a single certificate covering multiple sites. Although not all certification bodies respond to the request to distinguish between single-site and multiple-site certificates, the response has been improving. As a result, this edition of the survey innovates by including a number of tables (when sufficient data has been received) giving country-by-country breakdowns of the number of certified sites (single-site and multiple site certificates cumulated).
Available online
The condensed version of the survey, with tables giving the world, regional and country totals of certificates, is accessible free-of-charge on ISO’s Web site (
www.iso.org), plus graphics showing the rise in certificates over the different cycles. The paper version of the complete survey, including a CD-ROM with additional information regarding breakdowns of the number of certificates per country by industrial sector, is available at a cost of 50 Swiss francs from ISO Central Secretariat (
[email protected]), and from ISO’s national member institutes (their contact details are provided on ISO’s Web site).
The 2008 survey gives detailed ISO 9001 certification breakdowns from December 2004. To facilitate comparison and analysis the 2006 edition, which gives the figures for 2001 to 2006, is retained on the ISO Web site, along with the 2000 edition which gives figures for previous ISO 9000 versions right back to the first survey in January 1993 up to the end of 2000. Figures for ISO 14001 prior to 2003 can be also be found in these retained editions on the ISO Web site.
