Economic accounts for agriculture (aact)

1.1. Contact organisation

[AT1] Bundesanstalt Statistik Österreich (Statistics Austria)

1.2. Contact organisation unit

Directorate Spatial Statistics

Agriculture and Forestry, VIS

1.3. Contact name

Restricted from publication

1.4. Contact person function

Restricted from publication

1.5. Contact mail address

Guglgasse 13

1110 Vienna

Austria

1.6. Contact email address

Restricted from publication

1.7. Contact phone number

Restricted from publication

1.8. Contact fax number

Restricted from publication

2.1. Metadata last certified

10 March 2025

2.2. Metadata last posted

10 March 2025

2.3. Metadata last update

10 March 2025

3.1. Data description

The Economic Accounts for Agriculture (EAA) provide an overview of the agricultural activities in a systematic and comparable way to serve as basis for analyses, forecasts and political measures. The methodology is laid down in Annex I of Regulation (EC) 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The EAA methodological manual provides further details and clarifications (LINK).

3.2. Classification system

The EAA are a satellite account of the European System of Accounts (ESA), therefore EAA constitute an integral part of the ESA. As such, they are compiled based on NACE Rev. 2, the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community. The list of activities, which defines the agricultural industry corresponds, in principle, to Division 01 of that classification: Crop and animal production, hunting and related service activities. However, some differences exist that are detailed in Annex I of Regulation (EC) 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

3.3. Coverage - sector

The sector covers all units involved in agricultural production, even if some of those units have other more important economic activities, even if the purpose of these activities is not commercial. However, kitchen gardens (producing for own consumption only) are not included.
The list of agricultural activities covered by EAA corresponds to the seven groups of Division 01 of NACE Rev 2 activities (01.1 to 01.7), with the following caveats/differences:

inclusion of the production of wine and olive oil (exclusively using grapes and olives grown by the same holding),
exclusion of certain activities which, in NACE Rev. 2, are considered as agricultural services (e.g. the operation of irrigation systems - only agricultural contract work is taken into account here).

3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions

The EAA are a satellite account of the ESA providing complementary information and concepts adapted to the particular nature of the agricultural industry.
The EAA are shown as a sequence of inter-related accounts. As the EAA are based on the industry concept, the sequence of accounts is limited to the first accounts of the current accounts:

the production account (its balancing item: value added)
the generation of income account (its balancing item: operating surplus).

Nevertheless, EAA contains other accounts (of the ESA) at least partly:

the entrepreneurial income account (one of the current accounts) and
the capital account (one of the accumulation accounts).

The EAA provide a wide range of indicators on the economic activities of the agricultural sector: these include output, intermediate consumption, gross and net value added, gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), both at current prices and at reference year prices, as well as compensation of employees, other taxes and subsidies on production, net operating surplus or net mixed income, property income and net entrepreneurial income at current prices (for more details see points 1.40-1.48 in Annex I of Regulation (EC) 138/2004).

Three income indicators are defined in the EAA:

Index of the real income of factors in agriculture per annual work unit (indicator A).
Index of real net agricultural entrepreneurial income per unpaid annual work unit (indicator B).
Net entrepreneurial income of agriculture (indicator C).

For more details see chapter 5 in Annex I of Regulation (EC) 138/2004.

3.4.1. Components of the Production account : Output

Agricultural output is the total of the agricultural products and the goods and services produced in inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities during the accounting period. It is recorded as a resource in the production account and it is valued and recorded at the time it is generated, i.e. when produced and not when paid by the purchaser.
In the compilation of the EAA, output is progressively broken down in quantity terms (see point 2.037 of Regulation (EC) 138/2004).
Output is valued at the basic price. The basic price is the price receivable by the producers from the purchaser for a unit of a good or service produced, minus any tax (i.e. taxes on products) payable on that unit plus any subsidy (i.e. subsidies on products) receivable on that unit. The basic price excludes any transport charges invoiced separately by the producer. It also excludes holding gains and losses on financial and non-financial assets.
The valuation of output at the basic price makes it necessary to distinguish between taxes (other than VAT) on products and subsidies on products, on the one hand, and other taxes and subsidies on production, on the other.

The components of output in the production account are listed in detail in Annex II of Regulation (EC) 138/2004. The other categories are wider, defined by the countries according to their special characteristics. The table below covers the list of products included under ‘other’ categories.

List of 'Other products'	Items
Other cereals except wheat and spelt, rye and meslin, barley, oats and summer cereals mixture, grain maize, rice	Triticale, buckwheat, millet, sorghum, amaranth, quinoa, emmer and einkorn
Other oleaginous products except rape and turnip rape seed, sunflower, soya	Pumpkins for oil, poppy seeds, linseed, mustard seeds, hemp seeds
Other industrial crops: others than oil seeds and oleaginous fruits (including seeds), protein crops (including seeds), raw tobacco, sugarbeet, fibre plants, hops	Medicinal plants, aromatic and culinary plants, energy grasses
Other forage plants except fodder maize, fodder root crops (including forage beet)	Red clover and other clover species, lucerne, clover grass, temporary grasses and grazings, rye harvested green, other field fodder (grasses, mixtures), one-cut meadows, twice- and multiple-cut meadows, cultivated pastures, common pastures, litter meadows, mountain pastures and mountain meadows
Other fresh vegetables except cauliflower, tomatoes	Gherkins, cucumbers (grown in the open and under glass or high accessible clover), carrots, green parsley, hamburg parsley, radishes, white radishes, horse-radish, beetroot, fennel, celeriac, savoy cabbage, chinese cabbage, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, white cabbage, white cabbage for processing, red cabbage, colored bell peppers incl. capia, green bell pepper, chili peppers, butterhead lettuce, crisphead (iceberg) lettuce, endive frisée, cornsalad, other lettuces, onions, leeks, garlic, chives, fresh peas, french beans, runner beans, spinach, asparagus, mushrooms, broccoli, rhubarb, eggplants, courgettes, gourds and pumpkins, sweet corn, melons, parsnips, sweet potatoes, green soya beans
Other fresh fruit except apples, pears, peaches	Sweet cherries, sour cherries, apricots, plums, strawberries, red and white currants, black currants, gooseberries, raspberries, blueberries, apples from extensive farming (winter apples incl. cider apples, summer apples), cider pears, walnuts, elderberries, aronia
Fiber plants	Hemp for fibre, flax
Other crop products: others, not elsewhere classified	Straw
Other animals: other than cattle, pigs, equines, sheep and goats, poultry	Game (red deer, roe deer, chamois, mouflon, sika deer, fallow deer, wild boars, hares and wild rabbits, snipes, pheasants, partridges, wild ducks, wild geese)
Other animal products: other than milk, eggs, raw wool, silkworm cocoons	Honey
Processing of agricultural products:	Items
Other animal products: other than milk	Not available
Other inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities (goods and services): other than processing of agricultural products	Direct marketing: revenues from the direct marketing of untreated, unprocessed primary products, revenues from the direct marketing of treated or processed primary products and revenues from ”Buschenschank” and “Heurige”, which are small taverns, where home-grown wine is sold. Tourist-accomodation services: revenues from the provision of overnight accommodation and lodgings for paying guests (up to a limit of ten guest beds). Further secondary activities: This item covers a range of activities characterised by their subordination to an agricultural holding; in other words, they are not businesses in their own right as defined by the Trade Regulation Act (Gewerbeordnung) and are directly connected to agriculture (e.g. composting as a permanent facility within a farm).

3.4.2. Components of the Production account : Intermediate consumption

Intermediate consumption represents the value of all goods and services used as inputs in the production process, excluding fixed assets, the consumption of which is recorded as fixed capital consumption.

The inputs used for intermediate consumption should be valued at the purchaser prices for similar goods and services applicable at the time of their insertion in the production process. The purchaser price includes taxes less subsidies on products (but excludes deductible taxes like VAT on the products). It also includes any transport charges paid separately by the purchaser to take delivery at the required time and place.

The components of intermediate consumption in the production account are listed in detail in Annex II of Regulation (EC) 138/2004. The other categories are wider, defined by the countries according to their special characteristics. The table below only covers the list of products included under ‘other’ categories.

List of 'Other products'	Items
Energy; lubricants other than electricity, gas, other fuels and propellants	Not relevant.
Other goods and services other than listed under 2.108 in the EAA Regulation	General administrative expenditure (writing materials, professional journals, etc.), consumables (detergents, cleaning agents, twine, etc.), other expenditure on crop cultivation (costs of soil analyses, compost fleece, etc.), expenditure on viticulture (corks, labels, banderoles, etc.), expenditure on horticulture, slaughter fees, other expenditure for livestock farming (costs for feed analyses, earmarks, etc.), costs arising from exchanges of breeding and productive animals between farms, low-value items for tourist accommodation services, current expenditure for tourist accommodation services, food for tourist accommodation services, preparation of meals for tourist accommodation services, low-value items for Buschenschank and Heurige taverns, current expenditure for Buschenschank and Heurige taverns, food for Buschenschank and Heurige taverns, expenditure for direct marketing (such as stand rents and space rentals, purchases of goods like bread spices, etc.), low-value items for further secondary activities, current expenditure for further secondary activities, water, waste disposal, other services (seed cleaning, maize husking, weighing fees, aspiration fees, etc.)

List of 'Other products'

Items

Energy; lubricants other than electricity, gas, other fuels and propellants

Not relevant.

Other goods and services other than listed under 2.108 in the EAA Regulation

General administrative expenditure (writing materials, professional journals, etc.), consumables (detergents, cleaning agents, twine, etc.), other expenditure on crop cultivation (costs of soil analyses, compost fleece, etc.), expenditure on viticulture (corks, labels, banderoles, etc.), expenditure on horticulture, slaughter fees, other expenditure for livestock farming (costs for feed analyses, earmarks, etc.), costs arising from exchanges of breeding and productive animals between farms, low-value items for tourist accommodation services, current expenditure for tourist accommodation services, food for tourist accommodation services, preparation of meals for tourist accommodation services, low-value items for Buschenschank and Heurige taverns, current expenditure for Buschenschank and Heurige taverns, food for Buschenschank and Heurige taverns, expenditure for direct marketing (such as stand rents and space rentals, purchases of goods like bread spices, etc.), low-value items for further secondary activities, current expenditure for further secondary activities, water, waste disposal, other services (seed cleaning, maize husking, weighing fees, aspiration fees, etc.)

3.4.3. Components of the Generation of income account

In the generation of income account, the distributive transactions relate to other taxes on production, other subsidies on production and the compensation of employees.

The components of the generation of income account are listed in detail in Annex II of the Regulation (EC) 138/2004.

3.4.4. Components of the Entrepreneurial income account

The entrepreneurial income account records certain types of property income (mainly land rents, interest and property income attributed to insurance policy holders).

The components of the entrepreneurial income account are listed in detail in Annex II of Regulation (EC) 138/2004.

3.4.5. Elements of the Capital account

In addition to gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), the capital account records distributive transactions corresponding to aid for investment and other capital transfers.

The elements of the capital account are listed in detail in Annex II of Regulation (EC) 138/2004.

3.5. Statistical unit

The statistical unit is the local kind-of-activity unit.

In order to provide more detailed information and to analyse flows generated by the production process and the use of goods and services, it is necessary to select units which emphasise relationships of a technical-economic kind. This means that institutional units are broken-down into smaller and more homogeneous units with regard to the kind of production (local kind-of-activity units/local KAUs) (ESA 2010, 2.147).
The local KAU is defined as the part of a KAU which corresponds to a local unit. The institutional unit's information system is capable of indicating or calculating for each local KAU at least the value of output, intermediate consumption, compensation of employees, the operating surplus and employment and gross fixed capital formation (ESA 2010, 2.148).
The agricultural holding is the local KAU most appropriate to the agricultural industry. However, the variety of agricultural activities that can be performed on agricultural holdings makes them a special type of local KAU. The strict application of the ESA rule to units and their group should in fact result in a division of the agricultural holding into several separate local KAUs in cases where several activities of the NACE Rev. 2 four-digit class are performed on the same holding and the information required according to the explanations above is available. The adoption of the agricultural holding as the local KAU of the agricultural industry in the national accounts (NA) and EAA is based on a statistical approach.

The speciality and the aim of EAA is to cover all agricultural activities carried out by an agricultural holding or any other local KAU not having agriculture as its main activity.

The use of the local KAU as the basic unit for the agricultural industry entails recording non-agricultural secondary activities where they cannot be distinguished from the main agricultural activity (inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities of local agricultural KAUs). The selection criterion for inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities is rather the type of activity than the nature of the product. For example, agro-tourism services provided by a farm are only included if they cannot be separated from its agricultural activities.

3.6. Statistical population

The agricultural industry comprises all local KAUs which perform the economic activities as principal or secondary activity corresponding to Division 01 of NACE Rev. 2 (cf. 1.60 to 1.66 of EAA Regulation).

3.7. Reference area

The entire territory of the country.

3.8. Coverage - Time

EAA time series are available from 1995 onwards.

3.9. Base period

The concepts of previous year's prices and chain-linking is applied. The data for the production account and for gross fixed capital formation are also calculated at the previous year's prices. This allows the calculation of series of volume indices at the prices of a reference year by chaining the indices calculated at the previous year's prices.

In the Austrian EAA, 2020 is currently used as reference year for the compilation of chain-linked volumes.

EAA data at current prices and at prices for the preceding year are given in millions of euro.

Agricultural labour input data are given in thousand annual work units (AWU).

2023 calendar year.

6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements

EU legislation:

EAA are legally covered by Regulation (EC) No 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 December 2003 on the economic accounts for agriculture in the Community as amended. Transmission of data for the regional EAA (REAA) at NUTS 2 level became obligatory in September 2023. Before September 2023, Eurostat collected REAA data on a voluntary basis.

National legislation:

Agricultural and forestry accounts are enumerated in Schedule II of the Federal Statistics Act 2000, Federal Law Gazette I No. 163/1999 as amended.

REAA are also based on an agreement concluded between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management on its own behalf and on behalf of the federal provinces and Statistics Austria.

6.1.1. Responsible institution for compilation of EAA

Statistics Austria, Directorate spatial statistics.

6.1.2. Responsible institution for compilation of Agricultural Income Index

Statistics Austria, Directorate spatial statistics.

6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing

Regarding basic data used for EAA compiled by Statistics Austria, data sharing and exchange takes place within the Directorate spatial statistics itself as well as between the Directorate spatial statistics and other Directorates, such as the Directorate business statistics. There is a mutual data exchange with the Directorate macro-economic statistics (EAA data are made available for national accounts and NA data are also provided for EAA purposes).

Regarding administrative data, under the Federal Statistics Act 2000, Statistics Austria is required to use available administrative data, given they meet the quality requirements needed for official statistics production, prior to data collection by surveys, so as to minimise the respondents' burden. There is an obligation on the holders of administrative data to cooperate.

The calculation of subsidies and capital transfers and the extrapolation/forecast of non-salaried labour input is performed by the Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics, Rural and Mountain Research.

7.1. Confidentiality - policy

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. The European Statistics Code of Practice provides conditions that have to be respected by statistical offices in regard to statistical confidentiality (Principle 5).

Country-specific information:

Article 17 of the Austrian Federal Statistics Act 2000 regulates the confidentiality of statistics. It contains provisions governing data protection. Article 19 specifies rules for publication of statistics. Consequently, statistics shall be published in a manner that prevents any connection being made with statements concerning specific or identifiable data subjects unless the data subject concerned has no interest warranting protection in his/her data remaining confidential. In the event such connections cannot be ruled out, publication is subject to the explicit prior written consent of the data subject involved.

Compliance with confidentiality provisions is monitored by a data protection officer.

An internal directive on data security regulates staff’s handling of confidential data (see Datensicherheitsvorschrift für Statistik Austria, in German only).

In addition, Statistics Austria's information security policy (see Informationssicherheit Statistik Austria, in German only) includes the protection of data and information with the identified need for protection against loss, manipulation and undesired disclosure and thus also the protection of corresponding data and information storage media and processing facilities. Information on paper, digital storage media and the verbal transmission of information are also part of information security.

7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment

The methodical guidelines and internal code of conduct regarding statistical confidentiality in publications and when passing on data can be found in "Statistische Geheimhaltung in Publikationen und bei Weitergabe von Daten" (in German only).

As EAA is an accounting system that mainly makes use of already processed and anonymised data from primary and secondary statistics and due to their high degree of aggregation, EAA data are usually not confidential. See sub-categories below for further information.

7.2.1. Confidentiality rules applied to microdata

The Austrian Federal Statistics Act 2000 contains measures for the protection of the right to confidentiality of individuals and organisations as well as measures for ensuring the confidentiality of micro data.

An internal directive on data security regulates staff’s handling of confidential data.

No microdata are published.

7.2.2. Comments on the amount of data affected by embargo

Since EAA are derivative statistics in Austria and due to their high degree of aggregation, EAA data are usually not confidential.

8.1. Release calendar

Statistics Austria publishes a release calendar for all statistical areas on its website. The release calendar includes all scheduled EAA publications.

8.2. Release calendar access

The release calendar published on the website of Statistics Austria can be found via the following link: Statistics Austria – Release calendar.

8.3. Release policy - user access

In accordance with the "special publication obligations" pursuant to Section 30 (3) of the Federal Statistics Act 2000, the Federal Statistical Office must inform the competent federal minister without delay of the results of statistical surveys and, at the same time, ensure that they are published in an appropriate manner. Public access to the main results of the statistics via the internet free of charge must be granted. Advance transmission of information may only take place within a narrow framework (see Publication policy).

The EAA are annual statistics that are updated several times a year. Publication dates are as follows:

EAA first estimates for year n: published in December of the current year n
EAA second estimates: published in April n+1
EAA at current prices and at prices of previous year, detailed: published in July n+1
EAA regional data: published in September n+1

10.1. Dissemination format - News release

A (regular) news release is published for the second estimate.

Press release on the second estimate for 2023: Strong decrease of agricultural incomes in 2023

10.2. Dissemination format - Publications

Statistics Austria publishes four reports (available on the website of Statistics Austria as pdf files containing the main results and meta information) per year as regards the EAA.

The reports for the year 2023 (in German only) can be found in the following links:

Statistik Austria (2023): Landwirtschaftliche Gesamtrechnung, Kalenderjahr 2023, Erste Vorschätzung
Statistik Austria (2024): Landwirtschaftliche Gesamtrechnung, Kalenderjahr 2023, Zweite Vorschätzung
Statistik Austria (2024): Landwirtschaftliche Gesamtrechnung, Kalenderjahr 2023, Vorläufige Ergebnisse
Statistik Austria (2024): Regionale landwirtschaftliche Gesamtrechnung, Kalenderjahr 2023, Vorläufige Ergebnisse

Statistics Austria disseminates EAA/REAA data mainly via electronic publications. Apart from the reports mentioned above, the data are accessible via predefined tables and graphs as well as extractions from the STATcube database.

Pursuant to the Federal Statistics Act 2000 as amended Statistics Austria is obliged to make the main results available on the internet free of charge. They are available on the website of Statistics Austria under the sections Economic accounts for agriculture at national level and Regional economic accounts for agriculture.

10.3. Dissemination format - online database

STATcube database: see STATcube - statistical database Statistics > Agriculture and forestry > Economic Accounts

EAA data are available using the free guest access.

10.3.1. Data tables - consultations

STATcube consultations:

DATA ID	2023	2024
EAA01_Economic accounts for agriculture at current prices in million euros	176	260
EAA02_Economic accounts for agriculture at n-1 prices in million euros	50	47
EAA03_Economic accounts for agriculture: chained volume indices 2020 = 100	38	31
EAA04_Agricultural income indicators	62	39
EAA05_Agricultural labour input	48	38
REAA01_Regional economic accounts for agriculture at current prices in million euros	125	174

Website visits (Access statistics from 15 December 2023 to 14 December 2024):

	Pageviews	Unique pageviews
EAA NUTS 0	2 534	2 055
REAA NUTS 2	1 056	867

EAA NUTS 0 Website:

EAA NUTS 0 Website: pageviews

REAA NUTS 2 Website:

REAA NUTS 2 Website: pageviews

10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access

Not applicable.

10.5. Dissemination format - other

Contributions setting out the results of the EAA/REAA can be found among others in the Green report of the BMLUK (printed publication, electronically available at Home | Grüner Bericht Österreich and the Green Reports of the Federal Provinces (see for example Green Reports for Burgenland or Green Reports for Lower Austria).

EAA data are sent to Eurostat to be released as national/regional data for Austria and to be used in European aggregates. In accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) 138/2004, EAA data are transmitted to Eurostat four times a year (EAA first estimates; EAA second estimates; EAA at current prices and at prices of previous year, detailed; EAA regional data). The EAA data are transmitted through EDAMIS (Electronic Data files Administration and Management Information System) using the templates provided by Eurostat.

EAA and REAA data are also made available to national accounts.

10.5.1. Metadata - consultations

Not applicable.

10.6. Documentation on methodology

See information in the following sub-concepts.

10.6.1. Metadata completeness - rate

The quality indicator for metadata completeness: 1.000

[The indicator shows the ratio of metadata replies provided by country per metadata required.]

10.6.2. Further methodological guidelines available at national level

The most relevant methodological information is included in every publication. Detailed documentation on methodology and quality is provided by the so called standard documentations, which are released on the website of Statistics Austria. Standard documentations are available in German; the most important information is available in English as well. The standard documentations for EAA and REAA were last updated in 2023.

Links:

Statistik Austria (2023): Standarddokumentation, Metainformationen (Definitionen, Erläuterungen, Methoden, Qualität) zur landwirtschaftlichen Gesamtrechnung (LGR) and
Statistik Austria (2023) Standarddokumentation, Metainformationen (Definitionen, Erläuterungen, Methoden, Qualität) zur regionalen landwirtschaftlichen Gesamtrechnung (RLGR).
Statistics Austria (2023): Standard documentation, meta information (Definitions, comments, methods, quality) on Economic accounts for agriculture (EAA) and
Statistics Austria (2023): Standard documentation, meta information (Definitions, comments, methods, quality) on Regional economic accounts for agriculture (REAA).

10.7. Quality management - documentation

Quality documentation is included in the standard documentations (see 10.6.2).

11.1. Quality assurance

Statistics Austria is managed according to the principles of total quality management (TQM). In accordance with Article 24 of the Federal Statistics Act, Statistics Austria has to use statistical methods and processes in compliance with internationally recognised scientific principles and standards, conduct ongoing analyses of the statistics with a view to quality improvements and ensure that statistics are as up-to-date as possible. This commitment to quality is also specified in Statistics Austria’s mission statement. In adopting the European Statistics Code of Practice, Statistics Austria has committed to adhering to principles and standards for the production and dissemination of high-quality statistics. As part of the European Statistical System (ESS), Statistics Austria recognises the Quality Declaration of the ESS.

TQM is concerned with quality throughout the entire organisation. There is a designated quality manager and quality unit. Beyond the central focus on the quality of products, TQM comprises efficiency, qualification and motivation of staff members, as well as customer relation management and the relation to the respondents. TQM is seen as an ongoing process with the objective of continuous improvement.

The Austrian Statistics Act sets one of the main focuses of the Statistics Council's work on quality assurance. The Statistics Council has established a Quality Assurance Committee, a primary focus of which is the ongoing examination of potential quality improvements.

Statistics Austria developed quality guidelines covering the whole statistical production chain. The quality guidelines give orientation to staff for individual steps in the production process. A further aim of the quality guidelines is to inform users that Statistics Austria strives for high quality standards, following – whenever possible – best practices for all products.

Statistics Austria uses standard documentations to provide users with information about the underlying concepts, definitions, methods used and the quality of the statistics (meta-information) in a standardised format. The introduction of this documentation, which is based on a multi-dimensional quality concept compliant with EU standards (relevance, accuracy, up-to-date nature, access, comparability, coherence), has created a basic framework for the ongoing internal and external evaluation of the quality of statistical production processes and products.

Regarding EAA and REAA, standard documentations were published for the first time in 2009 and are updated as required. Apart from regular quality reporting, quality assurance procedures applied to the EAA comprise various measures including data validation, training courses, enhancement of information flows and knowledge sharing as well as the use of best practices.

Ongoing or planned improvements in quality assurance procedures comprise a further automation of data exchange, EAA compilation and publication, further training, the evaluation of new data sources, continuous work on methodological improvements and the analyses of revisions. Quality assurance is seen a continuous process taking into account developments at European level and input from working group meetings with external experts and discussions with NA colleagues.

11.2. Quality management - assessment

In cooperation with the Statistical Council’s Quality Assurance Committee, feedback talks concerning the quality of the different statistical products are held regularly within the framework of Statistics Austria’s quality management programme. In addition, internal quality audits are carried out by the quality management team. The content and objectives concern critical examination of the quality aspects of statistics with particular consideration of the methods and processes used; identification of quality improvement potential; development of recommendations for improvement measures; and improvement of the standard documentation on the statistics concerned, with special attention to the views of users and external experts.

12.1. Relevance - User Needs

The main users are:

DG Agri, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management (BMLUK) and provincial governments use EAA data to design, monitor and assess (common) agricultural policy. In the European context, EAA data are also relevant to the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork strategy. In Austria, EAA data also serve as source for the annual report of the BMLUK on the state of Austrian agriculture and forestry (Green Report) and the Green Reports of the federal provinces.
Eurostat collects national and regional EAA data to compile statistics at EU level.
Subordinate agencies of the BMLUK (such as the Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics, Rural and Mountain Research), universities (such as the University of natural resources and life sciences (BOKU)) and non-university research institutes (such as the Austrian Institute of Economic Research) use EAA data for agro-economic analyses, studies and model calculations.
Social partners (such as the chambers of agriculture and the chamber of labour) and interest groups use EAA data for the purpose of analysing developments and subsequently as an information basis for decision making and negotiations.
National accounts (including regional accounts and input-output statistics) are the main internal users of Statistics Austria. The EAA also provide important source data for compiling the weighting scheme of agricultural price indices.
Further data users comprise media and the general public

Unmet user needs mentioned by requests (resources and / or legal base currently not available):

Disaggregated intermediate consumption and gross value added for output categories
EAA data on organic farming
Longer time series

Further user needs which have been met:

Regarding timeliness of data provision see point 14.1 of this document
Regarding regional data below NUTS 2 level: EAA data at NUTS 3 level are calculated at irregular intervals on behalf of BMLUK.

Plans to meet needs more completely in the future: As part of the European process to modernise EAA, Statistics Austria has carried out a grant project between August 2023 and July 2025 which dealt with the following topics:

Secondary non-agricultural activities
Preliminary work on extended input-output tables with exemplary calculations for a major crop and a major animal product group comprising (i) monetary supply and use tables and (ii) the determination of intermediate consumption items.

The results of the project serve as input for the ongoing discussions at European level.

12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction

There are no dedicated procedures to measure user satisfaction in EAA. However, the annual user satisfaction survey conducted by Statistics Austria covers both (i) institutional aspects of general importance and (ii) the evaluation of important quality aspects such as timeliness, accuracy und comparability for the main statistical topics. Regarding the user satisfaction survey conducted between November 2024 and February 2025, a total of 327 experts participated in this voluntary survey and answered a web questionnaire. Results of the user satisfaction survey 2024/2025 are available via the following link (in German only): Nutzerinnenbefragung2025.pdf.

User consultation/contact specifically related to EAA data needs is mainly ensured by meetings with users inside and outside the statistical system and informal contact with relevant users.

12.3. Completeness

The datasets are in principle complete. A higher level of detail would be desirable for non-agricultural secondary activities (inseparable) but is currently not possible due to missing input data.

12.3.1. Data completeness - rate

The quality indicator for data completeness shows the following for the reference year 2023 in the detailed EAA: 1.000

[The indicator shows the ratio of data provided per data required, excluding derogations]

13.1. Accuracy - overall

Due to the multi-source character of the EAA, it is not possible to provide an overall indicator. We assume that there are no general deficiencies in the datasets.

The differences between EAA first and second estimates and final EAA data are monitored by the quality and performance indicator called “data revision – average absolute size” (see point 17.2.1 of this document).

The accuracy of regional EAA data is considered to be lower than the national level data as the regional data are breakdowns of the national data and are partly based on a top-down approach.

13.2. Sampling error

Not applicable.

13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators

Not applicable.

13.3. Non-sampling error

Not applicable.

13.3.1. Coverage error

Not applicable.

13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate

Not applicable.

13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion

Not applicable.

13.3.2. Measurement error

Not applicable.

13.3.3. Non response error

Not applicable.

13.3.3.1. Unit non-response - rate

Not applicable.

13.3.3.2. Item non-response - rate

Not applicable.

13.3.4. Processing error

Not applicable.

13.3.5. Model assumption error

Not applicable.

see sub-concepts

14.1. Timeliness

Timeliness of the EAA first and second estimates mainly derives from the European transmission programme for EAA. For national reasons (availability for the Green Report of the BMLUK and national accounts), detailed EAA data at current prices and at prices of previous year are already published in July T+1 (Eurostat transmission deadline: September T+1). Regional EAA data are published already in September T+1 due to user needs of the federal provinces and regional accounts (Eurostat transmission deadline: September T+2)

14.1.1. Time lag - first result

EAA first estimates: published in T-0.5 months

EAA second estimates: published in T+4 months

14.1.2. Time lag - final result

EAA at current prices and at prices of previous year, detailed: T+6.5 months

EAA regional data: T+9 months

EAA and REAA are usually further updated in the following three years when more input data become available. Furthermore there can be major revisions due to the availability of source data, which are only available at longer intervals, the availability of new data sources and methodological changes.

14.2. Punctuality

Data were submitted to Eurostat according to the transmission programme of the EAA Regulation. Transmission deadlines were met.

EAA data were nationally released according to a pre-announced schedule. Data were published on the scheduled date.

14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication

The quality indicator of punctuality delivered and publication, shows the following for the reference year 2023:

[The indicator shows the time lag of data delivery to Eurostat and the deadline of the transmission. In case data delivered earlier the indicator shows negative value.]

First estimates: 0

Second estimates: -5

Detailed EAA: -27

see sub-concepts

15.1. Comparability - geographical

EAA data for the different regions of Austria are comparable with each other.

EAA (including regional EAA) are compiled according to the harmonised guidelines provided by Eurostat and hence comparable with other European countries.

15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient

Not applicable.

15.2. Comparability - over time

As the data for all reference periods are compiled according to the requirements of Regulation (EC) 138/2004, EAA data are fully comparable over time. In the case of major changes to methods or data sources, revisions of time series are performed.

15.2.1. Length of comparable time series

EAA (national and regional data): 30 reference periods (since 1995)

15.3. Coherence - cross domain

Coherence with Farm Sustainability Data Network (FSDN; former Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN)):

Whereas the EAA analyse the macroeconomic situation of a country’s (NUTS 2 region’s) agricultural industry and changes in agricultural income, FSDN is a microeconomic tool. It serves for the collection and analysis of farm-level sustainability data covering economic, environmental and social dimensions. Unlike the EAA, which are primarily based on national accounts principles (adopted for the agricultural industry), FSDN is based on harmonised bookkeeping principles applied to a sample of farms.

For the past reference years, EAA and FADN results showed similar development trends. Observed discrepancies can be attributed to differences in scope and methodology. It further should be acknowledged that FADN/FSDN is also used as a data source for individual EAA items such as intermediate consumption and inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities.

Coherence with agricultural production and agricultural price statistics:

EAA data are in principle coherent with agricultural production and agricultural price statistics which are main data sources for EAA. However, a comparison of EAA volume indices with quantity percentage changes according to agricultural production statistics is only possible to a limited degree as the volume index also reflects quality and compositional changes. For methodological reasons, there are also limitations regarding the comparison of EAA price indices with agricultural price indices.

15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics

Not applicable, because EAA are annual statistics.

15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts

The calculations on NACE division A01 “Crop and animal production, hunting and related service activities” in national accounts are carried out on the basis of EAA data. A satellite account to the national accounts, the structure of the EAA is closely aligned with that of national accounts, but they contain additional information and have been adapted to the particular nature of the agricultural industry. As some of the rules differ from the general ESA 2010 rules, the results of the EAA need to be adapted for use in the national accounts. Data are adjusted, inter alia, for own-account production of agricultural goods by private households and, for wine production (see inventory of methods for national accounts in Austria on the website of Austrian National accounts: Homepage Statistics Austria > Statistics > National economy and public finance > National Accounts > Gross domestic product and main aggregates > Further documentation). Temporary deviations may also occur due to vintage effects.

15.4. Coherence - internal

EAA data are internally consistent.

Regarding regional EAA, temporary deviations compared to recent EAA data at national level may occur due to vintage effects as regional EAA is not updated several times a year.

Restricted from publication

17.1. Data revision - policy

A document describing the revision policy of Statistics Austria is published on its website.

Annexes:
Statistics Austria's revision policy

Chapter 8 of the EAA manual provides guidelines for a harmonised revision policy for EAA, including ALI data.

17.2. Data revision - practice

Like other macroeconomic statistics, EAA are based on a large variety of data sources. These sources are provided with varying degrees of timeliness, some structural data being available only at intervals of several years. EAA data are therefore updated regularly to incorporate new information and to replace estimated values for missing information by reported figures.

The sequence of publications/revisions is as follows: First EAA estimates are published in December of the current year T, followed by a publication of second estimates in April T+1. In July T+1 detailed EAA data and in September T+1 (consistent) REAA data are published. Both EAA data at national and regional level are subsequently revised again to implement newly available input data. According to the recommendations in the EAA manual, such routine revisions should be limited to a maximum length of four years and are no longer foreseen at the first estimates.

Apart from these routine revisions, major or benchmark revisions are carried out at longer intervals to incorporate main new data sources and major methodological changes. They cover not only some years, but as many previous years as possible to provide consistent time series. In the Austrian EAA, a major ad-hoc benchmark revision was carried out in 2025 to align EAA with the latest NA benchmark revision 2024 (i.e. regarding the calculation of consumption of fixed capital) and to incorporate important structural information from the survey on fruit plantations 2023 and farm structure survey 2023.

17.2.1. Data revision - average size

Average of absolute revision is the average of absolute revisions for the years referring between the current quality report (2023) and the 5-years' earlier.

Indicator A	2019		2020		2021		2022		2023		Mean absolute revision (5 reference years)
Indicator A	1st estimate	EAA	1st estimate	EAA	1st estimate	EAA	1st estimate	EAA	1st estimate	EAA	Mean absolute revision (5 reference years)
Austria	100.79	94.44	104.83	100.46	101.07	105.72	118.44	125.36	78.63	78.94	4.47

17.2.2. Years where retropolations are carried out and (if they are not yet available) when they will be available

EAA time series at national level are available from 1995 onwards. Retropolations were carried out for the years 1995-1999.

When regional EAA was implemented in Austria in 2003, backward data were also compiled from 1995.

17.2.3. Details of retropolation method used : items for which estimations are made and assumptions on which these estimations are based

The retropolations were made using the same methods as for the current calculations.

18.1. Source data

EAA compilation is based on various data sources, especially agricultural statistics, administrative data and accounting data from the FSDN (former FADN). For further information please see Annex 1.

Annexes:
Annex 1

18.2. Frequency of data collection

Most of the data sources for EAA stem from other statistical activities and are not collected exclusively for the EAA. Only for very few items not covered by official data, information is collected exclusively for EAA purposes.

Data collection related to other domains is defined by the specific regulations/decisions. They can be annual, quarterly or monthly data sources that are aggregated at annual level for the purpose of EAA compilation. Data collection specifically for EAA is implemented annually.

18.2.1. Time of the year where the updates of the EAA are carried out

Until 2024, updates of previous reporting years were carried out at the first and second estimates and with the publication of the full set of EAA (required by Eurostat by end of September, nationally published already in July).

From 2025 onwards, according to the recommendations of the EAA Manual routine revisions should only take place at the second estimates and with the publication of the full set of EAA. No updates of previous years are expected at the first estimates.

18.2.2. Years covered by each of these updates (i.e. update in September of year n for the years n-1, n-2, n-3 )

Until 2024, there were no strict provisions regarding the number of years covered by updates.

From 2025, according to the recommendations of the EAA Manual routine revisions should be limited to a maximum length of:

Four years at the second estimates including updates of the first estimates (i.e. year n, n-1, n-2 and n-3).
Four years at the full set of EAA required by end of September including revision of the second estimates (i.e. year n, n-1, n-2 and n-3).

18.3. Data collection

There are no specific surveys conducted to collect data exclusively for the EAA.

Please see also Annex 1 for further information

18.4. Data validation

Input data are compared with the previous year. In case of deviations not explained in the publications and implausible developments, the compilers of the statistics are contacted.

Automatic and manual data validation measures are in place to monitor completeness, outliers, consistency and coherence of output datasets. Accuracy of estimates is validated by comparisons of estimates and final data.

18.5. Data compilation

National EAA data in current prices (n) and prices of the previous year (n-1) are calculated for the variables required by Regulation (EC) No 138/2004. As defined in the EAA Regulation, three agricultural income indicators (A, B and C) are calculated, which reflect the changes between the current and the reference period and are compiled using agricultural income data in real terms and labour input in annual work unit. Data in real terms are compiled using the national GDP deflator.

Regional data are calculated at current prices in accordance with the amended regulation mentioned above.

18.5.1. Imputation - rate

Not applicable.

18.5.2. Calculation procedures

Please see the calculation procedure for 1st estimates, 2nd estimates and full set of EAA in 'Annex 2' Methods for valuing EAA items.

Annexes:
Annex 2