Statistical Terms Glossary

A mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane, but generally also including ethane, propane and higher hydrocarbons in much smaller amounts and some non-combustible gases such as nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

Natural gas, liquefied or in the gaseous state (Central Product Classification (CPC) Class 1202)

Natural gas comprises gases, occurring in underground deposits, whether liquefied or gaseous, consisting mainly of methane. It includes both "non-associated" gas originating from fields producing only hydrocarbons in gaseous form, and "associated" gas produced in association with crude oil as well as methane recovered from coal mines (colliery gas).

Natural gas liquids are a mixture of ethane, propane, butane (normal and iso), (iso)pentane and a few higher alkanes collectively referred to as pentanes plus.

Liquid or liquefied hydrocarbons produced in the manufacture, purification and stabilization of natural gas. Their characteristics vary, ranging from those of ethane, butane and propane to heavy oils.
NGL’s are either distilled with crude oil in refineries, blended with refined petroleum products or used directly depending on their characteristics.

See Habitat

See Natural patrimony

It is the surplus (or deficit) of the number of births in relation to the number of deaths among the population, in a given time period.

The difference between the number of live births and the number of deaths during the year. The natural increase (or natural decrease) is negative when the number of deaths exceeds the number of births.

Amount of water which would flow into the country under natural conditions, i.e. without human influence. It includes external surface water inflow or groundwater.

Is a field of computer science and linguistics concerned with the interactions between computers and human (natural) languages. Natural language generation systems convert information from computer databases into readable human language.

The average annual losses to the growing stock during the reference period due to mortality from other causes than cutting by man; for example, natural mortality, disease, insect attack, fire, wind-throw or other physical damages.

A natural monopoly exists in a particular market if a single firm can serve that market at lower cost than any combination of two or more firms. Natural monopoly arises out of the properties of productive technology, often in association with market demand, and not from the activities of governments or rivals (see monopoly). Generally speaking, natural monopolies are characterized by steeply declining long-run average and marginal-cost curves such that there is room for only one firm to fully exploit available economies of scale and supply the market.

Deaths of fish from all causes except fishing (e.g. ageing, predation and disease). It is often expressed as an annual rate that indicates the percentage of fish dying in a year; e.g. a natural mortality rate of 0.2 implies that approximately 20% of the population will die in a year from causes other than fishing. Scientists use the instantaneous natural mortality rate, M, which may also be split into one part due to predation and the other due to all other natural causes (disease, ageing).

Instantaneous relative rate of the mortality of the number of individuals that die due to all causes other than fishing.

The term natural patrimony derived from the French patrimoine naturel, totality of natural assets, including those of a historical or cultural value

Natural patrimony accounting is a French accounting system that attempts to include all components of nature that can be quantitatively or qualitatively changed by human activity (Theys, 1989).
It includes the description of non—renewable resources, environmental media and living organisms of ecosystems, agents that may affect natural assets and systems, and impacts of human beings on nature, both in monetary and in physical terms

A natural person in the Gernal Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) is an individual. A foreign natural person in a country means an individual who does not reside in the country, and who is a national or has the right of permanent residence in a foreign country

The term natural person is used by the law and by many administrative authorities to denote a human being endowed with all the rights constituting legal personality.

A natural pollutant is a pollutant created by substances of natural origin such as volcanic dust, sea salt particles, photochemically formed ozone, and products of forest fibres, among others

It is a place located at the edge of oceans, seas, rivers and lakes, to which ships intend for loading and unloading of cargo or for the transport of passengers, and with depths and submersibles suitable for berthing and takeoff. For example Um Qasr, Khor AL-Zubeir, AL-Maakel, Abou Floos, and AL-Fao.

Is the rate of unemployment consistent with constant wage inflation (non-accelerating wage rate of unemployment (NAWRU)), or constant price inflation (non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU)), given current economic conditions.

Natural resource accounting is an accounting system that deals with stocks and stock changes of natural assets, comprising biota (produced or wild), subsoil assets (proved reserves), water and land with their aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
It is frequently used in the sense of physical accounting as distinguished from monetary (environmental) accounting

Natural resources are natural assets (raw materials) occurring in nature that can be used for economic production or consumption.

When a direct investment enterprise is set up for the exploration of natural resources, inward direct investment flows provided to the direct investment enterprise by the direct investor located abroad that are used for exploration should be recorded as direct investment, equity capital

Natural resource management refers to the management of natural resources such as land, water, soil, plants and animals, with a particular focus on how management affects the quality of life for both present and future generations (stewardship).

Activities related with the management of natural resources (monitoring, control, surveys, administration and actions for facilitating structural adjustments of the sectors concerned) and their exploitation (abstraction, harvesting …).

Natural selection is the natural process by which organisms that adapt to their environment survive while those that do not adapt become eliminated progressively

See: SBR improvement survey