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 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
Triticale
Other oleaginous products except Rape and turnip rape seed, Sunflower, Soya
Sesame and groundnuts
Other industrial crops: others than Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits (including seeds), Protein crops (including seeds), Raw tobacco, Sugarbeet, Fibre plants, Hops
Other crop products: Others: not elsewhere classified
Carobs, treeplants and own account produced fixed capital goods
Other animals Other than cattle, pigs, equines, sheep and goats, poultry
Rabbits, pigeons, quails and hunting
Other animal products: others than milk, eggs, raw wool, silkworm cocoons
Honey, manure, hides and skins
Processing of agricultural products:
Items
Other animal products other than milk
Not applicable
Other inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities (goods and services) Other than Processing of agricultural products
Not applicable
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
Gas oil, engine oil and other oils
Other goods and services other than listed under 2.108 in the Reg.
Crop insurance, rents paid for buildings and machinery used in agriculture, insurances paid on buildings and machinery, vehicle insurance, expenditure on transport services provided by others, several administrative expenses (fees and subscriptions), purchases of small tools, equipment and clothing used for production purposes, 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 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 speciality 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
Republic of Cyprus.
3.8. Coverage - Time
EAA data based on the Regulation (EC) No 138/2004 are available and transmitted to Eurostat from 2003 onwards. Data were compiled for national purposes only and are not in line with the EAA methodology.
3.9. Base period
Accounts for year n are calculated of the base period year n-1.
EAA data at current prices and at prices for the preceding year are given in millions of units of national currency (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
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 (OJ L33, 05.02.2004) sets the legal basis for establishing a harmonized methodology for the compilation of the EAA. The regulation has been amended by Regulations 306/2005, 909/2006, 212/2008 (212/2008 relates to data from 2010), 1350/2013 and 2019/280.
Also, Article 3 of the national Official Statistics Law, No. 25(I) of 2021 defines the functions of the Statistical Service of Cyprus regarding the production and dissemination of official statistics. Moreover, Article 13, explicitly stipulates the mandate for data collection and introduces a mandatory response to statistical enquiries by stipulating the obligation of respondents to reply to surveys and provide the data required. This relates not only to national but also to European statistics which, by virtue of Article 8 of the said Law, are incorporated in the annual and multiannual programmes of work without any further procedure.
6.1.1. Responsible institution for compilation of EAA
Statistical Service of Cyprus
6.1.2. Responsible institution for compilation of Agricultural Income Index
Statistical Service of Cyprus
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Apart from Eurostat, the data are not transmitted to any other international organisation. There is no data sharing.
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).
Official statistics are released in accordance to all confidentiality provisions of the following:
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics and its later amendments (especially Chapter 5 on statistical confidentiality).
7.2.2. Comments on the amount of data affected by embargo
Not applicable.
8.1. Release calendar
In the framework of its mission, CYSTAT provides high-quality statistical information, through the web portal and social media, with the use of statistical products such as announcements, interactive tables, predefined tables, metadata, infographics and publications. The principles and the legal framework governing the dissemination of official statistical data are defined and explained in the document “Dissemination Policy”. The means of dissemination, the main statistical products and the services provided to the users, are also presented. Additionally, the document describes the procedures for data revision and error treatment.
At national level, a release calendar with preliminary dates for the next four months is published at the web portal of the Statistical Service. Announcements are confirmed on the Friday preceding their release. Notifications about the dissemination of statistics are published in the release calendar, which is available on the web portal. The annual release calendar, announced during the 4th quarter of the year, includes provisional dates of publication for the following year, which are finalised the week before publication.
No release calendar exists for EAA.
8.2. Release calendar access
The release calendar published at national level can be found at Announcement List. No release calendar exists for EAA.
8.3. Release policy - user access
As provided in article 4(1) of the Official Statistics Law (Law No. 25(I)/2021) regarding the principle of impartiality, statistics are disseminated in such a way that all users have equal and simultaneous access to the data. Also, according to the Dissemination and Pricing Policy of the Statistical Service of Cyprus (section 2.3) CYSTAT΄s main channel for dissemination of statistics is the web portal, which offers the same conditions to everyone and is updated at the same time every working day (12:00 noon). No privileged pre-release access is granted.
In addition to the annual release calendar, users are informed of the various statistical releases through the “Alert” service provided by CYSTAT.
Annual - updates occur as there are more deadlines during the year.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
No news release available accompanying the data.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
No paper publications are produced. EAA data are not published on CYSTAT's web portal; instead national economic accounts of agriculture data are published in the annual publication "Agricultural Statistics" in Excel format.
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
Not applicable.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
There is no documentation on quality management concerning the EAA.
11.1. Quality assurance
The quality of statistics in CYSTAT is managed in the framework of the European Statistics Code of Practice which sets the standards for developing, producing and disseminating European Statistics as well as the ESS Quality Assurance Framework (QAF). CYSTAT endorses the Quality Declaration of the European Statistical System. In addition, CYSTAT is guided by the requirements provided for in Article 11 of the Statistics Law No. 25(I) of 2021 as well as Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics, which sets out the quality criteria to be applied in the development, production and dissemination of European statistics.
The quality of EAA statistics is assessed according to the following quality criteria: relevance, accuracy, timeliness, punctuality, accessibility and clarity, coherence and comparability. The quality indicators are assessed taking into account Eurostat defined methodology and recommendations. On the basis of the above criteria, the EAA statistics is assessed as being of good quality. The comparisons between first/second estimates and final data for factor income, the accounts and labour input (ALI) statistics demonstrate good reliability.
Furthermore, the ALI data are compared with figures collected in the Integrated Farm Statistics.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Data are used by Eurostat, the National Accounts Unit of CYSTAT, the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, the Agricultural Research Institute, media, trade unions, farmers' organisations, enterprises and individuals.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
A user satisfaction survey is carried out on an annual basis since 2008 (with the exception of 2010, 2013 and 2020) but is not specific to EAA. It does not allow for adequate conclusions to be made with regard to the economic accounts of agriculture. The results of the surveys are available on CYSTAT’s web portal. Overall, there is a high level of satisfaction of the users of statistical data published by CYSTAT.
12.3. Completeness
The data are transmitted to Eurostat at the level of detail required by the Regulation (EC) 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
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
EAA data and agricultural labour input data:
First estimates: transmitted in November of the reference year (N)
Second estimates: transmitted in March of N+1
Final data: transmitted in September of N+1
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
Information above (see Section 14.1)
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
Not applicable.
14.2. Punctuality
No delays in the deadlines for submission of data to Eurostat were admitted.
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: -1
Second estimates: -5
Detailed EAA: -3
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
The Economic Accounts of Agriculture are comparable over time. When significant changes are introduced (e.g. change of classification, methodology), these are flagged accordingly. The EAA data for Cyprus based on the Regulation (EC) No 138/2004 are available and transmitted to Eurostat from 2003 onwards. Data regarding the accounts of agriculture prior 2003 were compiled for national purposes only and are not in line with the EAA methodology.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
The length of the comparable time series extends from 2003 to the present, ensuring consistency in measurement and methodology.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
The EAA data are aligned to National Accounts.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
The EAA data have been coherent with agricultural production statistics and agricultural price statistics, hence sub annual and annual statistics are coherent and comparisons are included in all validations. The differences between first/second estimates and final data for the main indicators of the EAA are monitored closely.
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
There is an interdependency between EAA and National Accounts (NA).
15.4. Coherence - internal
Overall, the EAA data can be considered consistent and the indicators provide reliable statistical results.
No cost and burden exercise has been recently performed.
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
A data revision policy is in place at CYSTAT. It is published on CYSTAT’s web portal. CYSTAT also publishes a list of scheduled revisions (regular or major revisions) on its web portal.
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
Cyprus
101.85
102.57
103.34
104.01
100.63
90.41
98.50
94.46
97.51
97.95
3.22
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
Not applicable.
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 )
Not applicable.
18.3. Data collection
EAA data based on the Regulation (EC) No 138/2004 are available and transmitted to Eurostat from 2003 onwards. Various data collection methods and sources are used. Detailed information can be found in Annex 1 and Annex 2.
18.4. Data validation
EAA and ALI data are checked for errors or inaccuracies including completeness, validations between related variables, acceptable ranges, summations, ratios and rational checks. Reporting of mandatory data items and formats are also checked. Additionally, comparisons are performed over time and coherence validation between the results of IFS, annual crop statistics, animal production statistics and agricultural price indices.
18.5. Data compilation
See below.
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 relevant
18.6.3. Components of the Production account : Intermediate consumption
Not relevant
18.6.4. Components of the Generation of income account
Not relevant
18.6.5. Components of the Entrepreneurial income account
Not relevant
18.6.6. Elements of the Capital account
Not relevant
No comments.
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 the Regulation (EC) 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The EAA methodological manual provides further details and clarifications (LINK).
6 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 speciality 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.).
Republic of Cyprus.
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 (Euro).
Agricultural labour input data are given in thousand annual work units (AWU).
Annual - updates occur as there are more deadlines during the year.
EAA data and agricultural labour input data:
First estimates: transmitted in November of the reference year (N)
Second estimates: transmitted in March of N+1
Final data: transmitted in September of N+1
The results of EAA are comparable between regions and countries.
The Economic Accounts of Agriculture are comparable over time. When significant changes are introduced (e.g. change of classification, methodology), these are flagged accordingly. The EAA data for Cyprus based on the Regulation (EC) No 138/2004 are available and transmitted to Eurostat from 2003 onwards. Data regarding the accounts of agriculture prior 2003 were compiled for national purposes only and are not in line with the EAA methodology.
