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 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 basic prices. The basic price is the price receivable by the producers from the purchaser for a unit of goods 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 basic prices 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 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
Buckwheat, triticale and mixed cereals.
Other oleaginous products except rape and turnip rape seed, sunflower, soya
Hemp, oil flax
Other industrial crops: other than oil seeds and oleaginous fruits (including seeds), protein crops (including seeds), raw tobacco, sugar beet, fibre plants, hops
No level of detail is used. Fibre crops are not grown in Estonia. Other industrial crops are, for example, Brassica nigra; Brassica juncea; Coriandrum sativum L; Silbum marianum; Taraxacum officinale; Calendula officinalis L; Cuminum cyminum; Plantago major; other or mixed aromatic, medicinal and culinary plants.
Other fresh vegetables except cauliflower, tomatoes
Cabbage, cucumber, beet, carrot, onion, garlic, green peas, turnip, and other fresh vegetables.
Other fresh fruit except apples, pears, peaches
Plums, cherries, red- and white currants, blackcurrants, gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries, and other fruits and berries.
Fiber plants
Fibre crops are not grown in Estonia.
Other crop products: other, not elsewhere classified
The item `seeds´ covers hayseeds.
Other animals other than cattle, pigs, equines, sheep and goats, poultry
There are no products covered by the item `other animals´.
Other animal products: other than milk, eggs, raw wool, silkworm cocoons
Honey, beeswax and organic manure.
Processing of agricultural products:
Items
Other animal products other than milk
There are no other animal products other than milk in Estonia.
Other inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities (goods and services) other than processing of agricultural products
All kinds of inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities: forestry, fishing and aquaculture and other inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities.
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 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 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
Other fuels and propellants include fuels. Other energy lubricants include heat energy.
Other goods and services other than listed under 2.108 in the Regulation
Costs of intermediate consumption which is not covered by the other categories, such as other materials, products, goods, packaging, other purchased services (transportation, logistics, costs of accounting and auditing services, consultancy fees, advertising, marketing, personnel recruitment, preparation and training costs, post and telecommunication charges, banking service fees (excl. interest charges), other), membership fees, other.
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
The entire territory of the country.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Economic Accounts for Agriculture, 1995–present
3.9. Base period
Accounts for year n are calculated of the base period is year n-1. Data are derived by chain linking at prices of year 2015 (and at any other reference year prices).
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.
National legislation: Not available
6.1.1. Responsible institution for compilation of EAA
In Estonia, the responsible body for official statistics is Statistics Estonia. According to the European Union Common Agricultural Policy Implementation Act, the first and second estimates are compiled by the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture and final data are compiled by Statistics Estonia.
6.1.2. Responsible institution for compilation of Agricultural Income Index
The Agricultural Income Index has been compiled by Eurostat.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
The EAA are compiled in close co-operation between Statistics Estonia and the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of 11 March 2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4); 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 observed by statistical offices in regard to statistical confidentiality (Principle 5).
The dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in sections 32, 34, 35, 38 of the Official Statistics Act.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Not applicable.
7.2.1. Confidentiality rules applied to microdata
Not applicable.
7.2.2. Comments on the amount of data affected by embargo
Not applicable.
8.1. Release calendar
Notifications about the dissemination of statistics are published in the release calendar, which is available on the website. Every year on 1 October, the release times of the statistical database, news releases, main indicators by IMF SDDS and publications for the following year are announced in the release calendar (in the case of publications – the release month).
All users have been granted equal access to official statistics: the dissemination dates of official statistics are announced in advance and no user category (incl. Eurostat, state authorities and mass media) is provided access to official statistics before other users. Official statistics are first published in the statistical database. If there is also a news release, it is published simultaneously with the release of data in the statistical database. Official statistics are available on the website at 8:00 a.m. on the date announced in the release calendar.
Annual: two estimates and final data are published.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
Not published
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Not published
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
The data are published in the statistical database under the subject area “Economy / Agriculture / Economic accounts for agriculture” in the following tables:
To assure the quality of processes and products, Statistics Estonia applies the EFQM Excellence Model, the European Statistics Code of Practice and the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (ESS QAF). Statistics Estonia is also guided by the requirements in section 7, “Principles and quality criteria of producing official statistics”, of the Official Statistics Act.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Statistics Estonia performs all statistical activities according to an international model (Generic Statistical Business Process Model – GSBPM). According to the GSBPM, the final phase of statistical activities is overall evaluation using information gathered in each phase or sub-process; this information can take many forms, including feedback from users, process metadata, system metrics and suggestions from employees. This information is used to prepare the evaluation report which outlines all the quality problems related to the specific statistical activity and serves as input for improvement actions.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Since 1996, Statistics Estonia has conducted regular reputation and user satisfaction surveys. The results are available on the Statistics Estonia website in the User surveys section. These surveys assess overall user satisfaction and do not relate to any specific statistical activity. However, with regard to this statistical work, informal feedback received from users has been generally positive.
12.3. Completeness
In compliance with the rules (regulations).
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
See information in the following sub-concept.
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
Final data are published T+9. First estimates are published in November of year N and second estimates T+3.
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
Not applicable.
14.2. Punctuality
See information in the following sub-concept.
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: -4
Detailed EAA: 0
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
Indicators of economic accounts for agriculture are in general comparable over time. Still the accounts have been specified for individual types of production:
since 2017, the accounting for potatoes has been revised, which means that the potato data are not directly comparable with those of the previous years;
since 2015, the accounting methodology of nursery production has changed, which means that the data of nurseries are not directly comparable with those of the previous years;
until 2014, other crop production includes straw, since 2015 herbs and plants, other industrial crops, etc.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
The length of the comparable time series extends from 1995 to the present, ensuring consistency in measurement and methodology.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
As the input data for economic accounts for agriculture are data of other agricultural statistics activities, the accounts are coherent with other agricultural statistics. The yield/output data are derived from agricultural production statistics, and labour force data from the Farm Structure Survey and economic indicators of agricultural holdings. In addition, prices are based on price statistics, exports on foreign trade statistics, intermediate consumption and other costs on economic indicators of agricultural holdings, depreciation and capital investment on macroeconomic statistics, and subsidies on data of the Agricultural Registers and Information Board (ARIB) via the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable.
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
The EAA use inputs from National Accounts (fixed capital consumption, gross fixed capital formation, FISIM) and are also input for both "National accounts (annual)" and "National accounts (quarterly)".
15.4. Coherence - internal
The outputs of the statistical activity are coherent. Higher-level aggregations are derived from detailed data according to pre-defined procedures. Agricultural income figures are calculated.
In the EAA, mainly data from other statistical activities and administrative sources are used. Therefore, it is not possible to reliably estimate the related burden caused by the questionnaires.
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
The published data may be revised if the methodology is modified, errors are discovered, new or better data become available.
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
Estonia
137.98
132.55
106.16
109.13
100.00
100.02
132.80
129.00
42.14
38.58
3.16
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
In the EAA, mainly data from other statistical activities and administrative sources are used. These data are used as aggregate data. Additional data are collected only about amounts of purchased agricultural products - from enterprises engaged in purchasing, with the annual official statistics questionnaire "Purchases of crop products".
18.4. Data validation
Arithmetic and qualitative controls are used in the validation process, including comparison with other data.
18.5. Data compilation
The collected data are converted into statistical output. This includes calculating additional indicators.
Gross value added is calculated on the basis of the output of the agricultural industry and total intermediate consumption. Gross value added is the basis for calculating all other agricultural income indicators.
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.
Calculation of compensation of VAT on Other taxes on production: Not applicable
Calculation of compensation of VAT on Other subsidies on production: Not applicable
18.6. Adjustment
See below.
18.6.1. Seasonal adjustment
Not applicable.
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 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).
4 June 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.)
The entire territory of the country.
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 collected data are converted into statistical output. This includes calculating additional indicators.
Gross value added is calculated on the basis of the output of the agricultural industry and total intermediate consumption. Gross value added is the basis for calculating all other agricultural income indicators.
Annual: two estimates and final data are published.
See information in the following sub-concept.
The results of EAA are comparable between regions and countries.
Indicators of economic accounts for agriculture are in general comparable over time. Still the accounts have been specified for individual types of production:
since 2017, the accounting for potatoes has been revised, which means that the potato data are not directly comparable with those of the previous years;
since 2015, the accounting methodology of nursery production has changed, which means that the data of nurseries are not directly comparable with those of the previous years;
until 2014, other crop production includes straw, since 2015 herbs and plants, other industrial crops, etc.
