Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
The Economic Accounts for Agriculture (EAA) provide an overview of the agricultural activities and the income of the agricultural sector 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 the 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. (see for more details 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).
See for more details 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 detailed in ANNEX II of the 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
Sorghum, Millet, Triticale
Other oleaginous products except Rape and turnip rape seed, Sunflower, Soya
Peanuts, Pumpkin seeds, Oil flax, Sesame
Other industrial crops: others than Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits (including seeds), Protein crops (including seeds), Raw tobacco, Sugarbeet, Fibre plants, Hops
Temporary cereals grasses and grazing harvested or used green (incl. dried hay); Lucerne; Leguminous plants harvested green (incl. dried hay); Other plants and cereals harvested green
Other fresh vegetables except Cauliflower, Tomatoes
Other crop products: Others: not elsewhere classified
Not available
Other animals Other than cattle, pigs, equines, sheep and goats, poultry
Not available
Other animal products: others 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
Fruit spirits
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 detailed in ANNEX II of the 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
Coal, firewood, solar and wind power
Other goods and services other than listed under 2.108 in the Reg.
Rental of machines and equipment without staff; fees for agricultural consultants, accountants, lawyers; market researches; purchases of working clothes and spare parts
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 detailed 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 detailed in ANNEX II of the 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 detailed in ANNEX II of the 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 specialty and the aim of EAA is to cover all agricultural activity 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 includes all local KAUs at local level which perform the economic activities, as principal or secondary activity corresponds to Division 01 in NACE Rev. 2 (cf. 1.60 to 1.66 of EAA Reg.)
3.7. Reference area
Data are collected for the entire territory of the country.
The regional economic accounts for agriculture (REAA) are established at the NUTS 2 level, the most detailed level available.
3.8. Coverage - Time
EAA time series are available from 1995 onwards.
3.9. Base period
Accounts for year n are calculated based on the previous year (n – 1) as the base period.
EAA data at current prices and at prices for the preceding year are given in millions of units of national currency.
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:
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 by Commission delegated Regulation (EU) No 2019/280 of 3 December 2018. 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.
6.1.1. Responsible institution for compilation of EAA
National Statistical Institute
6.1.2. Responsible institution for compilation of Agricultural Income Index
National Statistical Institute
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Agreement between the National Statistical Institute and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food for data exchange and strategic partnership
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).
7.2.2. Comments on the amount of data affected by embargo
Not applicable.
8.1. Release calendar
The schedule for dissemination of statistical information is published in the Release Calendar presenting the results of the statistical surveys carried out by the National Statistical Institute.
Data are published on the NSI website, under the heading "Agriculture", according to the Chapter 5 of Statistics Act and European Statistics Code of Practice, considering professional independence and with aim of impartiality and transparency, where all users are treated equal.
Statistical information for this indicator is published three times in the year:
first estimate for the year - in December of the current year;
second estimate for the year - in April of the next year;
EAA data for the year - in October of the next year;
regional EAA data - in October of year n+2 are published.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
News releases in Bulgarian and English are published regularly. News releases are published on the website of NSI:
Data for the indicator "Output of the Agricultural Industry" are available to all users of the NSI website under the heading STATISTICAL DATA - Agriculture and Forestry:
Integrated Quality and Information Security Management System
The NSI has a certified Integrated Quality and Information Security Management System in compliance with international ISO 9001:2015 and ISO/IEC 27001:2022 standards for the following fields of activities: receiving, collecting, processing, storing, analyzing, delivering and disseminating statistical information. The framework of integrated system includes:
Management Regulation
Annual quality and information security objectives
Specific procedures according to main phases of national statistical business process model (according to Generic Statistical Business Process Model - GSBPM 5.1)
Information Security Policies
Instructions
Regular internal and external audits
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Quality management assessment is according to the standard criteria for - relevance, accuracy, reliability, timeliness and punctuality, comparability and coherence at each stage of the statistical production process, in line with the Common Framework for Quality Management in the NSS and the principles of the European Statistics Code of Practice.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
NSI - National Accounts;
Eurostat;
Public Administration - Ministry of Agriculture;
Scientific and Research Institutes;
Business Structures;
Individuals.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
No surveys have been conducted to the satisfaction of the needs of users of information about the Economic Accounts for Agriculture.
12.3. Completeness
The data are fully harmonized with the EU Regulation.
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
To describe accuracy, the country uses the quality and performance indicator called ‘data revision – average absolute size’ under point 17.2.1 of this document.
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.
14.1. Timeliness
The data are submitted as follows:
First estimate - data are sent to Eurostat by 30 November of the current year and are published 20 days after the deadline of submission;
Second estimate - data are sent to Eurostat by 31 March of the following year and published within 20 days after the deadline of submission;
EAA data - data are sent to Eurostat by 30 September of the following year and published 20 days after the deadline of submission;
Final data - data are sent to Eurostat by September 30 two years after the year to which they relate and shall be published within 20 days after the deadline of submission.
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
Not applicable.
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
Not applicable.
14.2. Punctuality
No delays were recorded either in the deadlines for submitting data to Eurostat or in the Release Calendar for publishing the results of the statistical surveys conducted by the National Statistical Institute.
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: -3
Second estimates: -4
Detailed EAA: -19
15.1. Comparability - geographical
The results of EAA are comparable between regions and countries.
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
Not applicable.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Data are comparable over time for the entire period since 1999.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
25 years.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
See the information below.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
There is a coherence between quarterly estimation of Production account for National Accounts needs and annual EAA.
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
Where relevant, coherence between the EAA and the National Accounts is ensured.
15.4. Coherence - internal
There is consistency ensured between EAA and data within the Regional EAA, National Accounts, Agricultural Census, crop and livestock statistics and data from the statistics on the agricultural prices.
The costs (budget) of the studies are published in the National Statistical Programme on the NSI website. As basic criteria for response burden at this stage the time required for filling-in the questionnaire is used. Each form includes such section that respondents must complete. The time needed for filling-in the form includes also the time for data preparation. Based on this information, the burden on respondents can be defined as relatively high. Where applicable, administrative data sources are used.
17.1. Data revision - policy
Revision policy aimed at ensuring the transparency of disseminated data. Chapter 8 of the EAA manual provides guidelines for a harmonised revision policy for EAA, including the ALI data.
17.2. Data revision - practice
Routine revisions are carried out regularly in order to incorporate the most current information.
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 (2023) and the 5-years' earlier.
Indicator A
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
Mean absolute revision (5 reference years)
1st estimate
EAA
1st estimate
EAA
1st estimate
EAA
1st estimate
EAA
1st estimate
EAA
Bulgaria
108.79
114.04
98.33
102.24
132.89
133.71
116.40
109.37
71.42
73.40
3.80
17.2.2. Years where retropolations are carried out and (if they are not yet available) when they will be available
Not applicable.
17.2.3. Details of retropolation method used : items for which estimations are made and assumptions on which these estimations are based
18.2.1. Time of the year where the updates of the EAA are carried out
Update in September of year n for the year n-2.
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 )
Update in September of year n for the year n-2.
18.3. Data collection
Data collection is in accordance with a Calendar for data collection, data processing and data dissemination of the NSI.
Data are collected by an online electronic questionnaire. If necessary, data can also be collected using a statistical paper form, which is sent to respondents by regular mail.
The data from the statistical surveys carried out by MAFF are provided to the NSI by virtue of agreement on data exchange and partnership.
Administrative data are submitted by the State Fund "Agriculture" after request for information in official letter sent to the management of the fund.
18.4. Data validation
The validation of data is done by using developed software for this purpose, enabling built-in arithmetic and logical validation of input data, alongside additional analyses and verification checks. Data processing is performed at two levels: at the regional level - from experts of the RSOs, and at national level - from the experts in the NSI.
18.5. Data compilation
The description for data compilation is as follows:
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.
18.6.2. Components of the Production account : Output
Not applicable.
18.6.3. Components of the Production account : Intermediate consumption
Not applicable.
18.6.4. Components of the Generation of income account
Not applicable.
18.6.5. Components of the Entrepreneurial income account
Not applicable.
18.6.6. Elements of the Capital account
Not applicable.
The Economic Accounts for Agriculture (EAA) provide an overview of the agricultural activities and the income of the agricultural sector 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 the Regulation (EC) 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The EAA methodological manual provides further details and clarifications (LINK).
17 April 2026
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. (see for more details 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).
See for more details chapter 5 in Annex I of Regulation (EC) 138/2004.
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 specialty and the aim of EAA is to cover all agricultural activity 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.
The agricultural industry includes all local KAUs at local level which perform the economic activities, as principal or secondary activity corresponds to Division 01 in NACE Rev. 2 (cf. 1.60 to 1.66 of EAA Reg.)
Data are collected for the entire territory of the country.
The regional economic accounts for agriculture (REAA) are established at the NUTS 2 level, the most detailed level available.
2023 calendar year
To describe accuracy, the country uses the quality and performance indicator called ‘data revision – average absolute size’ under point 17.2.1 of this document.
EAA data at current prices and at prices for the preceding year are given in millions of units of national currency.
Agricultural labour input data are given in thousand annual work units (AWU).
The description for data compilation is as follows:
Statistical information for this indicator is published three times in the year:
first estimate for the year - in December of the current year;
second estimate for the year - in April of the next year;
EAA data for the year - in October of the next year;
regional EAA data - in October of year n+2 are published.
The data are submitted as follows:
First estimate - data are sent to Eurostat by 30 November of the current year and are published 20 days after the deadline of submission;
Second estimate - data are sent to Eurostat by 31 March of the following year and published within 20 days after the deadline of submission;
EAA data - data are sent to Eurostat by 30 September of the following year and published 20 days after the deadline of submission;
Final data - data are sent to Eurostat by September 30 two years after the year to which they relate and shall be published within 20 days after the deadline of submission.
The results of EAA are comparable between regions and countries.
Data are comparable over time for the entire period since 1999.
