Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

C1: National accounts methodology; Standards and indicators.

2920 Luxembourg LUXEMBOURG

The present data collection consists of the following indicators:

Interest rates:

• Short-term interest rates: The series are based on national methodologies. EONIA and EURIBOR (see https://www.emmi-benchmarks.eu/) follow a European methodology. Both use the same panel of banks.
• Euro yield curves: None
• Maastricht criterion interest rates: The definition of long-term interest rates to be used in the convergence criteria for EMU was agreed between the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB).

Bilateral exchange rates: National Currency: EUR

Effective exchange rates indices: Data follow the methodology of DG ECFIN, please see the technical annex at https://economy-finance.ec.europa.eu/economic-research-and-databases/economic-databases/price-and-cost-competitiveness/what-price-and-cost-competitiveness-report_en#related-documents.

Interest rates:

• Short-term interest rates: Financial institutions
• Euro yield curves: Only bonds issued by the central government (European System of Accounts 2010: sector code 'S.1311') are selected.
• Maastricht criterion interest rates: Central government

Bilateral exchange rates: Not applicable

Effective exchange rates indices: Not applicable

Interest rates:

• Short-term interest rates: Reporting banks
• Euro yield curves: Not applicable
• Maastricht criterion interest rates: Not applicable

Bilateral exchange rates: Not applicable

Effective exchange rates indices: Index 2015 = 100

Interest rates:

• Short-term interest rates: All panels of reporting banks
• Euro yield curves: Euro area central government bonds. Two types of bonds are available. One series is based on AAA-rated bonds, i.e. debt securities with the most favourable credit risk assessment. The other series is based on all (AAA-rated and other) euro area central government bonds.
• Maastricht criterion interest rates: Not applicable

Bilateral exchange rates: Not applicable

Effective exchange rates indices: Industrial countries

Interest rates:

• Short-term interest rates: Euro area aggregate, EU Member States, Turkey, Japan (only 3-month), United States (only 3-month). Data after 1999 cover euro area and national series for the EU Member States which are not members of the euro area. Before 1999, national series for all EU Member States are available. Prior to 1999, Luxembourg is not included in the aggregate calculations. The same rate was used for Luxembourg and Belgium before 1999, as both countries were members of the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union (BLEU) and monetary association.
• Euro yield curves: Euro area and EU aggregates, Member States and United Kingdom
• Maastricht criterion interest rates: Euro area and EU aggregates, EU Member States except Estonia

Bilateral exchange rates: Non-euro area European Union Member States, EFTA countries, EU candidate countries, other countries

Effective exchange rates indices: European Union – 27 countries, euro area – 20 countries (from 2023), EU Member States, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China (including Hong Kong), Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Russia, New Zealand, South Korea, United States

Interest rates:

• Short-term interest rates: The length of the time series varies considerably. Most of the series start after 1995. However, some start as early as January 1970. 
• Euro yield curves: The daily yield curves are available as of 6 September 2004, and are calculated and released daily according to the TARGET calendar.
• Maastricht criterion interest rates: The length of the time series varies considerably. In general, the national series for Member States joining the EU before 2004 are much longer than for the Member States joining 2004 or later. The longest series for daily Maastricht criterion bond yields start on 1 January 1980.

Bilateral exchange rates: Exchange rates against the Euro/ECU. Daily rates are available for the ECU from 1 July 1974 to 31 December 1998 and EUR from 4 January 1999, against a large number of currencies. However, monthly average series starts in January 1971: from that date until June 1974 these are theoretical EUA rates based on the EUA basket.

Effective exchange rates indices: Series start in 1994.

Effective exchange rates indices: Average of 2015 = 100

Other indicators: Not applicable

Interest rates: Percentages per annum

Bilateral exchange rates: ECU/euro and national currency

Effective exchange rates indices: Indices

All series are monthly.

Interest rates:

• Short-term interest rates: No specific rules apply
• Euro yield curves: No specific rules apply
• Maastricht criterion interest rates: The legal basis is the Article 121 of the Treaty establishing the European Community and Protocol on the convergence criteria.

Bilateral exchange rates: Council Regulation (EC) No 1478/2000 of 19 June 2000 amending Regulation (EC) No 2866/98 on the conversion rates between the euro and the currencies of the Member States adopting the euro

Effective exchange rates indices: Use in economic analyses and forecasts of the European Commission. Inclusion of REER in the list of indicators for the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure (MIP).

Euro yield curves: The dataset is received from the ECB as part of a memorandum of understanding.

Effective exchange rates indices: Under a memorandum of understanding, the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure indicators are shared with the European Central Bank.

Other indicators: Not applicable

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), 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.

Not applicable.

3-month interest rates, long-term government bond yields (Maastricht criterion interest rates): the precise date of release each month of these series is disseminated in the Euro indicator release calendar on the Eurostat website.

Euro yield curves: Daily data are released on the euro yield curve pages of the Eurostat website each day (t+2 days).

Bilateral exchange rates: The ECB applies the following rules for the euro reference rates. The reference rates are usually updated around 16:00 CET on every working day, except on TARGET closing days. They are based on a regular daily concertation procedure between central banks across Europe, which normally takes place at 14:15 CET. They are then published on the ECBs website. There are available release calendars in national central banks and in the Bundesbank websites. The euro area national central banks may publish more comprehensive lists of euro reference exchange rates than that published by the ECB.

Effective exchange rates: A release calendar is not available.

The release dates are disseminated in the Euro indicator release calendar on the Eurostat website,

In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice, Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat’s website (see principle 10 – ‘Accessibility and Clarity’) respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat’s Protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

Monthly

Eurostat does not normally produce news releases on monetary and financial indicators. The European Central Bank produces a monthly news releases on monetary developments in the euro area.

Euro yield curves: Please see ECB webpage: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/financial_markets_and_interest_rates/euro_area_yield_curves/html/index.en.html

Data may appear in various Eurostat publications, including the monthly article on Statistics Explained - Eurostatistics - data for short-term economic analysis.

Euro yield curves: Please see ECB note: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/financial_markets_and_interest_rates/euro_area_yield_curves/html/technical_notes.pdf

Effective exchange rates: Data section on DG ECFIN’s website: https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/indicators-statistics/economic-databases/price-and-cost-competitiveness/price-and-cost-competitiveness-data-section_en

Data are available in Eurostat’s database as either selected datasets or detailed datasets.

• ‘Selected datasets’ offer a selection of the most important data in a user-friendly way. All data are presented in simple two or three dimensional tables.
• ‘Detailed datasets’ contains the full range of data publically available. They are presented in multi-dimensional tables with various selection features and export formats.

The indicators are also presented in the Euro indicators dashboard.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Interest rates:

• Short-term interest rates: Please see ECB document The euro short-term rate (€STR) methodology and policies.
• Euro yield curves: See ECB webpage on euro area yield curves
• Maastricht criterion interest rates: Details of the selection criteria for the EMU convergence series, including the yield formula used may be obtained from European Central Bank.

Bilateral exchange rates: For documentation on methodology please consult: 

• Framework for the euro foreign exchange reference rates
• Explanatory notes on the Bundesbank’s in-house exchange rates

Effective exchange rates indices: Data follow the methodology of DG ECFIN, see https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/indicators-statistics/economic-databases/price-and-cost-competitiveness_en

Bilateral exchange rates: See Deutsche Bundesbank’s Quality report on exchange rate statistics.

Effective exchange rates: Eurostat’s mission is to provide the European Union with a high-quality statistical information service (see ESS quality framework).

Other indicators: Not applicable

Effective exchange rates: The entire dataset is recalculated and checked every month by the DG ECFIN, as component series are frequently revised.

Other indicators: Not available.

Not available.

Interest rates:

• Short-term interest rates: Various
• Euro yield curves: The slope of the yield curve gives an idea of future interest rate changes and economic activity. The euro yield curve is used as the only official source on government bond yields in the euro area.
• Maastricht criterion interest rates: Convergence reports of the European Central Bank and the European Commission.

Bilateral exchange rates: The bilateral exchange rates of the euro are used by the public at large. Other statistical domains use the bilateral exchange rates for compiling European and EU aggregates.

Effective exchange rates indices: The NEER tracks changes in the value of a country’s currency relative to the currencies of its principal trading partners. The REER is used as competitiveness indicator. The series are used in European Commission economic analyses and forecasts. The REER is also included in the MIP indicators.

Bilateral exchange rates: An analysis of the web traffic shows that exchange rate pages are mainly visited and that bilateral euro exchange rates data are largely extracted. Internal users commonly use the statistics as input for analysis and calculation of European and EU aggregates according to the 2020 user survey conducted by unit C2.

Other indicators: Not available.

Interest rates:

• Short-term interest rates: Data availability varies depending on the country and the indicator. There is a good coverage since 2000. A few series are discontinued.
• Euro yield curves: The data collection covers all the business days since 29 December 2006.
• Maastricht criterion interest rates: The collection is complete.

Bilateral exchange rates: Daily data start in 2001. Data cover only periods with convertible currencies.

Effective exchange rates indices: The data are calculated for all the countries and areas included covering the entire time span i.e. starting 1994.

Euro yield curves: Due to the high number of bonds used for calculating the yields the accuracy is very high up to 10 years maturity. For longer maturities the number of bonds available for calculation is smaller.

Bilateral exchange rates are not revised.

Effective exchange rates indices: Due to frequent updates of the basic data even historic data change frequently, ensuring accuracy over the time series. There is no standard methodology available. As a result effective exchange rate collections can vary between different compilers: DG ECFIN, ECB, IMF and others.

Other indicators: Not applicable

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Interest rates: 

• Short-term interest rates: Normally within 15 days.
• Euro yield curves: Normally within 2 days
• Maastricht criterion interest rates: Monthly data around 10 days after the end of the corresponding period.

Bilateral exchange rates against the ECU/euro: The exchange rates provided by the ECB are updated every business day and generally published within 2 days (t+2). For Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia the exchange rates are available within a week from the end of the month.

Effective exchange rates indices: Depending on the availability of the basic data around 1 month after the reference period (t+1).

Updates are usually implemented as scheduled for data with a calendar release.

Interest rates:

• Short-term interest rates: Data can be used for regional comparison.
• Euro yield curves: Other countries and areas outside the euro area follow different concepts of yield estimations.
• Maastricht criterion interest rates: Series are fully comparable between countries. There may be some differences in definition of bonds.

Bilateral exchange rates: Full comparability for most currencies.

Effective exchange rates indices: Due to use of an index with base period, caution must be used for any geographical comparison. In terms of methodology, geographical comparability is reasonable.

Euro yield curves: The data can be easily compared over time since 6 September 2004.

Bilateral exchange rates: Full comparability for most of the time series.

Effective exchange rates: Although the comparability over time of the data can be considered as very high, methodological changes occur and have a limited effect on the overall pattern of REER indicators. Each time these occur, recalculations under the new definitions are performed for the whole time series, safeguarding time series without break.

Other indicators: Generally the data are fully comparable over time. Significant series breaks are flagged.

Short-term interest rates: In Key indicators on EU policy - Short-term indicators - Monetary and financial indicators and in General statistics - European and national short term indicators - Monetary and financial indicators monthly averages of day-to-day and 3-month interest rates are available.

Euro yield curves: Daily data are released on the euro yield curve pages of the Eurostat website each day.

Bilateral exchange rates: Full comparability for all Eurostat domains as they use identical data sources.

Effective exchange rates: The series should be coherent with the component data from other domains. However, there is no standard methodology for producing NEER and REER statistics.

Other indicators: Generally the data should be fully coherent with the European Central Bank and national sources.

Effective exchange rates: The series should be coherent with the component data.

Other indicators: Not applicable.

Maastricht criterion interest rates: The data is calculated based on market data.

Other indicators: Not applicable.

Interest rates:

• Short-term interest rates: Not applicable
• Euro yield curves: Revisions do not take place. Discovered errors are extremely rare and would be corrected immediately.
• Maastricht criterion interest rates: Data are revised each time the ECB transmits revised data

Bilateral exchange rates: Revisions do not take place. Discovered errors are extremely rare and would be corrected immediately.

Effective exchange rates indices: Policy is to update the full series each quarter. Changes in methodology may occur, in particular the addition of new countries in the compilation process.

Maastricht criterion interest rates: ata revisions may occur within the following month. Major changes in methodology are announced beforehand.

Effective exchange rates: Data are not marked as provisional but are subject to revision. Revisions are frequent i.e. every quarter.

Other indicators: Revisions are quite rare. Major changes in methodology are announced beforehand and are reflected in the metadata.

Interest rates:

• Short-term interest rates: Figures for the EU Member States, United States and Japan are collected by the ECB and transmitted to Eurostat by electronic means.
  • The source of data for Turkey is the National Central Bank. For Turkey, the annual and quarterly data are calculated by the National Central Bank as an average of the monthly data.
  • Data prior to 1999 were obtained from the money market and collected directly by the European Commission.
  • The type of survey depends on the national methodology.
  • For EONIA and Euribor see https://www.emmi-benchmarks.eu/
• Euro yield curves: Online by EuroMTS and ECB
• Maastricht criterion interest rates: Daily and monthly long term interest rates convergence series data are collected by the European Central Bank (ECB) from the national central banks. The ECB also calculates the EU aggregate series, based on the data of the national central banks. In addition, for the euro area aggregates, daily data on representative long-term government bonds are collected on the markets by the ECB, which is responsible for the calculation of these aggregates. The country and aggregate data are transmitted to Eurostat by electronic means.

Bilateral exchange rates: Data are taken from the European system of central banks or other national central banks. Until 31 December 1998 these exchange rates refer to the ECU and the source was the European Commission.

Effective exchange rates indices:

The source for the effective exchange rate collection is DG ECFIN of the European Commission.

Concerning component data, bilateral exchange rates for the current year are the official daily rates recorded at 14:15 hours by the ECB. Historical exchange rates are provided by the IFS (IMF) database. For the period before 1999, a weighted average of the currencies of the Member States now participating in the euro area is used as a proxy for the euro.

Weights are derived using data on bilateral exports from the IMF DoT database and on domestic production from national accounts.

Series are all monthly, but the following series are based on daily data collection by the ECB: euro yields, long-term interest rate, exchange rates vs. euro. 

Interest rates:

• Short-term interest rates: The techniques of data collection depend on the national methodology. For EONIA and Euribor see https://www.emmi-benchmarks.eu/
• Euro yield curves: Online by EuroMTS and the European Central Bank.
• Maastricht criterion interest rates: Daily

Bilateral exchange rates: File transmissions by the ECB and national central banks. 

Effective exchange rates: See methodology from DG ECFIN: https://economy-finance.ec.europa.eu/economic-research-and-databases/economic-databases/price-and-cost-competitiveness/what-price-and-cost-competitiveness-report_en#related-documents

Interest rates:

• Short-term interest rates: Data may be checked with National authorities, the ECB and the FBE (European banking association).
• Euro yield curves: The ECB uses quality checking procedures as described in 12.1.
• Maastricht criterion interest rates: Data may be checked with the ECB and/or National central banks.

Bilateral exchange rates: The ECB, the Bundesbank and the national central banks perform all necessary checks.

Effective exchange rates indices: The data validation is performed within the European Commission (DG ECFIN).

Interest rates:

• Short-term interest rates: Until December 1998, the euro area series is the weighted average of country data.
• Euro yield curves: see ECB page: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/financial_markets_and_interest_rates/euro_area_yield_curves/html/index.en.html
• Maastricht criterion interest rates: Data are interest rates.
  • From January 1999, the weightings for the euro area are based on each country’s nominal stock of government bonds of around 10 years’ maturity.
  • For EU aggregates and before 1999 for the euro area, the weightings used are national GDP at current prices and purchasing power standards.
  • The ECB calculates the EU aggregate series, based on the data of the national central banks.
  • In addition, for the euro area aggregates, daily data on representative long-term government bonds are collected on the markets by the ECB, which calculates this aggregate.

Bilateral exchange rates: Not applicable

Effective exchange rates indices: The EU27 and EA20 aggregates are calculated by taking as weights each country’s share of extra-EU or extra-EMU trade. Double export weights are used to calculate NEER and REER, reflecting not only competition in the home markets of the various competitors, but also competition in export markets elsewhere. Note that the series for individual euro area countries continue beyond the establishment of the monetary union: their effective exchange rates will continue to vary because of differing trade patterns and cost or price trends.

None of the series are seasonally adjusted. 

Interest rates:

• Short-term interest rates: For the national series of euro area countries before January 1999 there are series breaks in some series.
• Euro yield curves: The ECB is presenting the euro yield curve on its website: http://www.ecb.de/stats/money/yc/html/index.en.html, together with graphical information and information on monthly maturities ranging from three months up to and including 30 years of residual maturity.
• Maastricht criterion interest rates: Further information: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/financial_markets_and_interest_rates/euro_area_yield_curves/html/index.en.html

Bilateral exchange rates: In order to derive a continuous time series in a former national currency from the relevant series in ECU/euro, the data in euro should be converted at the fixed conversion rate for the period after the adoption of the euro.

Effective exchange rates indices: None