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.
National accounts data concern all data produced and disseminated for an economy according to the definitions and guidelines of the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010).
National accounts provide data for the total economy, but may also include breakdowns of the total economy (into sectors, industries, products, regions, etc.). National accounts provide data for several domains: annual and quarterly national accounts (main aggregates), sector accounts, financial accounts, supply and use and input-output tables, regional accounts and government finance statistics. National accounts for the Federal Republic of Germany are largely compiled at the Federal Statistical Office.
One of the main aggregates of national accounts is the change rate of the price-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP), which indicates the economic development of a country of region and is also referred to as economic growth rate.
3.2. Classification system
The ESA 2010 provides a methodology on common standards, definitions, internationally harmonised classifications and accounting rules that are used for compiling national accounts on comparable bases.
The ESA 2010 defines classifications to be used for: institutional sectors, transactions in products, transactions in non-financial non-produced assets, distributive transactions, transactions in financial assets and liabilities, other changes in assets, balancing and net worth items, balance sheet entries, non-financial assets, financial assets and liabilities.
In addition, for several breakdowns ESA 2010 makes use of other classifications: NACE Rev. 2 for economic activities, CPA 2014 for products by economic activities, COFOG for the functions of government, COICOP for individual consumption by purpose, COPNI for classification of the purposes of non-profit institutions serving households, NUTS 2013 for regional breakdowns.
A full overview of classifications is available in:
National accounts describe the total economy of a country. All units that have their centre of predominant economic interest in the economic territory of that country are covered.
In addition, several breakdowns of the total are described. Two of the most important breakdowns are the breakdown by institutional sector and the breakdown by NACE Rev. 2 activity. Exhaustiveness is required for each of the breakdown items.
Concerning the institutional sector breakdown, ESA 2010 distinguishes five mutually exclusive domestic institutional sectors: (a) non-financial corporations; (b) financial corporations; (c) general government; (d) households; (e) non-profit institutions serving households. The five sectors together make up the total domestic economy. Each sector is also divided into subsectors.
Regarding the activity breakdown, ESA 2010 applies NACE Rev.2. Activities can be broken down into several levels of detail, for example into 3, 10, 21, 38, 64 or 88 activities. At the 'highest' level a breakdown into 3 categories is defined: (a) agriculture, forestry and fishing; (b) mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity gas steam and air conditioning supply, water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities, construction; (c) services.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
All statistical concepts and definitions to be used in national accounts are described in Annex A of the ESA 2010 Regulation (link to blue book on ESA2010 methodology). The two main sets of tables concern: (a) the institutional sector accounts; (b) the input-output framework, and the accounts by industry.
The sector accounts provide, by institutional sector, a systematic description of the different stages of the economic process: production, generation of income, distribution of income, redistribution of income, use of income and financial and nonfinancial accumulation. The sector accounts also include balance sheets to describe the stocks of assets, liabilities and net worth at the beginning and the end of the accounting period. The variables/concepts described in the sector accounts include transactions in products, transactions in non-produced non-financial assets, distributive transactions, transactions in financial assets and liabilities, other changes in assets, non-financial and financial assets and liabilities.
The input-output framework, through the supply and use tables, sets out in more detail the production process (cost structure, income generated and employment) and the flows of goods and services (output, imports, exports, final consumption, intermediate consumption and capital formation by product group). These variables are broken down by industry (NACE Rev. 2) and product (CPA 2014).
ESA 2010 also encompasses concepts of population and employment. Such concepts are relevant for the sector accounts, the accounts by industry and the supply and use framework.
Regional accounts provide regional breakdowns for major aggregates such as gross value added by industry, gross fixed capital formation and household income. Regional breakdowns are based on the NUTS classification. National accounts concepts are also used for regional accounts.
In addition Annex A of the ESA 2010 Regulation addresses and defines numerous other concepts and definitions, such as the definition of: statistical units and their groupings, flows and stocks, accounting rules (valuation, time of recording, consolidation and netting). The main features and principles for the compilation of national accounts can be found in Chapter 1.
3.5. Statistical unit
Following the ESA 2010 guidelines, in national accounts two types of units and two corresponding ways of subdividing the economy are used: (a) institutional unit; (b) local kind-of-activity unit (local KAU). The first type is used for describing income, expenditure and financial flows as well as balance sheets. The second type of units is used for the description of production processes, for input-output analysis and for regional analysis.
An institutional unit is an economic entity characterised by decision-making autonomy in the exercise of its principal function. A resident unit is regarded as constituting an institutional unit in the economic territory where it has its centre of predominant economic interest if it has decision-making autonomy and either keeps a complete set of accounts, or is able to compile a complete set of accounts.
A local KAU groups all the parts of an institutional unit in its capacity as producer which are located in a single site or in closely located sites, and which contribute to the performance of an activity at the class level (four digits) of the NACE Rev. 2.
An institutional unit comprises one or more local KAUs; a local KAU belongs to one and only one institutional unit.
According to the national accounting concepts in Germany, three different units of analysis are distinguished, that is institutional units, local kind-of-activity units, and units of homogeneous production.
A unit is an institutional unit if, first, it is an elementary economic decision-making centre, i.e. it performs economic activities on its own authority, and, second, it has a complete business accounting system with information on the use or distribution of the operating surplus including balance sheet. The institutional units are grouped into institutional sectors (non-financial corporations, financial corporations, general government, households, non-profit institutions serving households and the “rest of the world” sector covering all economic units whose permanent seat or place of residence is outside the economic territory). The main purpose of those sectors, which are the basis of the system of accounts in national accounting, is to show the income, accumulation of capital and financing processes.
For a subject-related representation of the economic structure in a breakdown by industries, the local kind-of-activity units should be used. Because of restrictions in the source statistical data, national accounts in Germany generally use the enterprise as a unit of analysis. The units are grouped according to their main activity into industries which, consequently, may still include secondary activities.
Units of homogeneous production are used in input-output accounts to describe production-related interactions. They are defined by production-relevant variables and should be largely homogeneous in terms of output, production technology and input structure. They are grouped into homogeneous branches which, consequently, produce only products of a specific product group and no longer contain any secondary activities.
3.6. Statistical population
The national accounts population of a country consists of all resident statistical units (institutional units or local KAUs, see section 3.5). A unit is a resident unit of a country when it has a centre of predominant economic interest on the economic territory of that country, that is, when it engages for an extended period (one year or more) in economic activities on this territory.
National accounts are exhaustive. This means that all resident statistical units are covered.
3.7. Reference area
The reference area for national accounts is the total economy of a country. The total economy of a country can be broken down into regions. The NUTS classification provides a single, uniform breakdown of the economic territory of the Member States of the EU.
The data for Germany from 1991 onwards refer to the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany since 3 October 1990. The data for the former territory of the Federal Republic refer to the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany as until 3 October 1990; they include Berlin-West.
3.8. Coverage - Time
National accounts data are usually compiled for years and quarters.
In general, the ESA 2010 transmission programme requires data starting in 1995 (years) and 1995Q1 (quarters) but some series start later. If backwards data exist, they may have been compiled according to earlier versions of ESA and can present conceptual breaks with those compiled under ESA2010.
The usual length for the German time series within the National Accounts is between 1991 and the actual quarter or year.
3.9. Base period
The concept of 'base period' is not applied in national accounts. Instead, for some national accounts variables the concepts of previous year prices and chain-linked volumes are applied, as stipulated in Commission Decision 98/715/EC. Expressing variables at the prices of the previous year allows the calculation of volume indices between the current time period and the previous year. After a reference period is chosen as a benchmark, volume indices can be chain-linked and then applied to variables at current prices of the benchmark year. This generates volume estimates for any period of observation.
Germany currently uses 2015 as reference year for the compilation of chain-linked volumes. The method to compile quarterly chain-linked volumes is the annual overlap method.
With the exception of some variables concerning population and labour that are usually expressed in number of persons, hours or jobs, the ESA 2010 system shows all flows and stocks in monetary terms: in euros or other national currency. Flows and stocks shall be measured according to their exchange value, i.e. the value at which flows and stocks are in fact, or could be, exchanged for cash. Market prices are, thus, the ESA's reference for valuation.
In addition to measurement in current (market) prices, some national accounts variables are also expressed in previous year's prices and chain-linked volumes, see section 3.9. Furthermore, it is possible to derive growth rates and indices, and various other measures '(e.g. percentages, per capita data, data expressed in purchasing power standards)' can be applied as well.
The usual reference period to be used for presenting national accounts data is the calendar year for annual data and the quarter for quarterly data.
Two basic kinds of information are recorded: flows and stocks. Flows refer to actions and effects of events that take place within a given period of time (year or quarter), while stocks refer to positions at a point of time (usually the beginning or end of a year or quarter).
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
National accounts are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010) which was published in the Official Journal as Annex A of Regulation (EU) No 549/2013. The ESA 2010 transmission programme is covered in Annex B
The ESA 2010 has the form of a Regulation and it provides for:
a methodology (Annex A) on common standards, definitions, classifications and accounting rules that shall be used for compiling accounts and tables on comparable bases (link to blue book on ESA 2010 methodology);
a programme of data transmission (Annex B) setting out the time limits by which Member States shall transmit to Eurostat the accounts and tables (link to ESA 2010 transmission programme).
Temporary derogations to the data transmission requirements have been granted to Member States, up to 2020, by the Commission Implementing Decision 2014/403/EU of 26 June 2014 thus allowing national data to deviate temporarily from the ESA 2010 transmission requirements.
Some other legal acts with relevance for national accounts concern:
- Commission Decision 98/715 of 30 November 1998 and Commission Decision 2002/990 of 17 December 2002 on measurement of price and volumes in national accounts.
- Legal act on the excessive deficit procedure
Several separate acts, often regarding classifications such as: NACE Rev.2, CPA 2014, COFOG, COICOP, NUTS 2013.
On the Eurostat website, sections 'National accounts' and 'Government finance and EDP', more legal acts relevant for national accounts can be found.
National accounts data are key datasets used and published by many international organisations to improve data consistency and exploit synergies for data collection and validation. An initiative to improve data sharing for National Accounts was launched in 2016 by the Inter-Agency Group on Economic and Financial Statistics (comprising representatives of the Bank for International Settlements, the European Central Bank, Eurostat, the IMF, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United Nations, and the World Bank) under the G20 Data Gap Initiative. At the national level, there exist several Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with other national authorities (ONAs) and institutions that ensure the data sharing for the purpose of compiling national accounts, e.g. with the German Central Bank.
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 further conditions that have to be respected by statistical offices in regard to statistical confidentiality (Principle 5).
Pursuant to Article 16, para. 1 of the Federal Statistics Law (BStatG), the bodies of German official statistics must keep individual data secret. Exceptions are individual data which cannot serve to identify a respondent or are aggregated together with the data of other respondents (tables). National accounts data are secondary statistics whose data basis comprises only data that were already published in other statistics and are consequently (no longer) subject to confidentiality.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
In a statistical sense, ‘confidential data’ means data which allow statistical units to be identified, either directly or indirectly, thereby disclosing individual information. To determine whether a statistical unit is identifiable, account shall be taken of all relevant means that might reasonably be used by a third party to identify the statistical unit. Although national accounts data are usually highly aggregated, there may be possible cases for detailed breakdowns of aggregates and/or small economies. In these cases measures should be taken in order not to disclose data of a separate statistical unit. Guidance on how to prevent disclosure can be found in the Handbook on Statistical Disclosure Control.
8.1. Release calendar
Good practice requires that new national accounts data and associated news releases are announced in a release calendar that is published well in advance of the respective releases.
All publication dates for the results of German national accounting are announced in the Federal Statistical Office's release calendar in autumn of a year for the whole of the following calendar year (www.destatis.de).
In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice (Principle 6 on impartiality and objectivity, Principle 13 on timeliness and punctuality and Principle 15 on accessibility and clarity), national accounts data that meet the quality standards, including relevant metadata, should be made available to users. Users should be informed when the data become available and how they can be accessed.
All statistics that are published at Statistisches Bundesamt are available for all the users both nationally and internationally at http://www.destatis.de .
New quarterly national accounts data are published each quarter: 4 times per year. However, depending on circumstances and national practices, initially released quarterly national accounts data may be revised and disseminated again. Annual national accounts data are published at least once a year: when data for a new year are added. But, depending on country practices and revision policy, annual data can also be published more often, e.g. publication of a provisional estimate early in the calendar year and a revised one later in the calendar year.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
The most important results of national accounts are issued in news releases. New key national accounts data may also be presented in press conferences or press briefings. The exact dates are pre-announced in release calendars (see section 8.1 above).
At regular intervals, the Federal Statistical Office publishes the results of official national accounts for Germany as a whole through various dissemination channels.
The most important results are issued in press releases on the relevant publication dates, while the first provisional annual results for the preceding year are additionally announced and commented on at a press conference, which is held not later than in mid-January of the following year. First quarterly GDP data are published in the form of a so-called first release about 30 days after the end of the reference quarter, namely at the end of April (for the first quarter), end of July (for the second quarter), end of October (for the third quarter) and end of January (for the fourth quarter). Those first release dates are largely harmonised at the European level. Detailed results are issued in the form of another press release about 25 days later, that is, 55 days after the end of the reference quarter. If required, the results of the previous quarters are revised by those dates, while the results of the four preceding years and the relevant quarters are reviewed in August of each year (so-called regular or current revisions). The exact dates are announced in the annual release calendar of the Federal Statistical Office (www.destatis.de).
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
In addition, the results of German national accounts are published in Fachserie 18: Volkswirtschaftliche Gesamtrechnungen (National accounts) which contains comprehensive tables:
• Reihe (Series) 1.1 Inlandsproduktberechnung - Erste Jahresergebnisse (item number 2180110); available in English: Domestic product - First annual results
• Reihe (Series) 1.2 Inlandsproduktberechnung - Vierteljahresergebnisse (item number 2180120); available in English: Domestic product - Quarterly results
• Reihe (Series) 1.3 Inlandsproduktberechnung - Saisonbereinigte Vierteljahresergebnisse nach Census X13 (item number 2180130); available in English: Domestic product - Seasonally adjusted quarterly results using Census X13
• Reihe (Series) 1.4 Inlandsproduktberechnung - Detaillierte Jahresergebnisse (item number 2180140); Domestic product - Detailed annual results
• Reihe (Series) 1.5 Inlandsproduktberechnung - Lange Reihen ab 1970 (item number 2180150); Domestic product - Long term series since 1970
• Reihe (Series) 2 Input-Output-Rechnung (item number 2180200); Input-output accounts
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
All electronic versions of the Fachserie 18 and the majority of the national accounts publications (also supplements and methodological reports) are available free of charge via www.destatis.de . The national accounts page at www.destatis.de additionally provides texts, tables and charts on the quarterly and annual gross domestic product, detailed results of the domestic product calculations, the EU Stability Pact, input-output accounts and national wealth accounts.
The database "GENESIS-Online" contains time series and tables, too, in the following link https://www-genesis.destatis.de/genesis/online.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Not applicable.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
In addition to news releases and other publications (see sections 10.1 and 10.2), information on national accounts may be posted using social media.
The twitter account of Destatis is the following https://twitter.com/destatis?lang=en
10.6. Documentation on methodology
The general methodological framework for the compilation of national accounts in the EU is ESA 2010.
In addition, several handbooks have been developed to help compilers to produce national accounts data. Some of the most important methodological manuals are the Handbook on quarterly national accounts, Manual on regional accounts methods, Eurostat Manual of Supply, Use and Input-Output Tables, Manual on Government Deficit and Debt. Also, guidance manuals on specific topics are available, e.g. compilation guide on land estimation, compilation guide on inventories, Manual on measuring Research and Development in ESA 2010.
The manuals above specifically apply to EU national accounts statistics. However, world-wide equivalents are often also available: SNA 2008, Quarterly National Accounts Manual, Handbook on Input-Output Table Compilation and Analysis, Government Finance Statistics Manual.
Information on and detailed descriptions of the content and structure of the national accounting system are provided in many publications of the Federal Statistical Office whose online versions are available as free downloads:
• Wichtige Zusammenhänge im Überblick: This informational brochure provides interested users with a first brief insight into the complex system of national accounts.
• Data Report (chapter on Wirtschaft und öffentlicher Sektor, Volkswirtschaftliche Gesamtrechnungen)
• Regular articles in the Wirtschaft und Statistik journal
Information on both the methods and bases of national accounts:
- Fachserie 18, Reihe S.32: Methoden der Preis- und Volumenmessung; Methods of price and volume measurement in the national accounts
- Fachserie 18, Reihe S.31: Vierteljährliche Inlandsproduktberechnung nach ESVG 2010 - Methoden und Grundlagen; available in English: Methoden und Grundlagen; available in English: Quarterly national accounts inventory based on ESA 2010 methodology - Edition 2017
- Fachserie 18, Reihe S.30: Inlandsprodukt und Nationaleinkommen nach ESVG 2010 - Methoden und Grundlagen; available in English: Domestic Product and national income in accordance with ESA 2010 - Methods and Sources - Edition 2016
- ESA 2010 methods and sources for the German GNI and its components; available only in English
10.7. Quality management - documentation
The importance of national accounts requires that documentation should be available on the procedures applied for quality management and quality assessment. Examples of such documentation are national accounts quality reports, quality studies and reports on revision analysis.
At regular intervals, the Federal Statistical Office publishes a quality report of national accounts for Germany on www.destatis.de
11.1. Quality assurance
Quality of national accounts data is assured by strict application of ESA 2010 concepts and by applying the guidelines of the ESS handbook for quality reports.
During the overall compilation process, national and regional accounts data undergo several kinds of quality checks, e.g. ex-ante (source statistics), ongoing (results), ex-post (methods used) and external checks (Eurostat, European or national Court of Auditors, IMF).
The national practice regarding quality assurance could be filled in.
In Germany, the system of national accounts reflects a complete macroeconomic circuit. The procedure of balancing the gross domestic product may be considered central to a comprehensive system of quality assurance to accompany the process of compiling national accounts. Such a quality assurance approach distinguishes between ex-ante checks (source statistics), ongoing national accounts checks (results), ex-post checks on national accounts (methods used), and external checks and consultations (e.g. Eurostat, European Court of Auditors, IMF). Discussions with user representatives (Deutsche Bundesbank, Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, Federal Ministry of Finance) take place on every release date; seasonal and calendar adjustment of the quarterly results is based on partnership arrangements with the Deutsche Bundesbank.
The national accounting system is based on harmonised European rules that are laid down in a legally binding form in the European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA 2010). In addition, they are explained in more detail in a large number of international methodology handbooks (e.g. for the compilation of quarterly national accounts or seasonal and calendar adjustment).
Ensuring exhaustiveness of gross domestic product (GDP) and gross national income (GNI) statistics has been a major goal of German national accounting and a main concern of the European Commission and the GNI Committee in the process of harmonising national accounts at the European level. To this end, several measures have been adopted: input-output accounts reconciliation, reconciliation with the business register, reconciliation with VAT statistics, separate exhaustiveness checks in individual areas of national accounts. Based on these exhaustiveness checks, additional amounts are calculated, if required, for the areas affected by undercoverage. These additional amounts are an integral part of national accounting; their sole purpose is to ensure exhaustiveness of GDP and GNI.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Due to the early calculation dates, not all source data required for national accounting are available for the first release date. For this reason, the first publication is based to a considerable extent on indicators and estimates. Initially, missing data are estimated or extrapolated on the basis of partly rather provisional indicators. Later the data basis is improved by additional statistics that are successively integrated into the calculations. Only after about four years, almost all source statistics required are available and the national accounts data are considered as "final" (subject to major revisions).
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
National accounts data provide key information for economic policy monitoring and decision making, for forecasting, for administrative purposes, for informing the general public about economic developments (directly or indirectly via news agencies), and as input for economic research.
At national level, ministries of finance and economic affairs, the Bundesbank, economic research institutes, business associations and scientific and academic communities are the entities who most use national and regional accounts data.
In addition, international institutions such as the OECD, World Bank, IMF and in particular the European institutions (Eurostat, ECB, European Commission) are among the users
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
At the national level, there is an official bieannual exchange with all institutional users. In addition, an exchange with major users takes place on a quarterly basis.
12.3. Completeness
In most countries, national accounts cover the domains national accounts main aggregates, government accounts, sector accounts regional accounts and supply and use tables. However, the content of the data on these domains as well as the (details of the) various breakdowns (by region, sector, industry, product, etc.) may deviate per country, depending on national needs and available sources.
The ESA 2010 transmission programme, consisting of 22 tables across all national accounts domains (see section10.3) defines the minimum national accounts data set that must be available in all Member States of the EU.
The overall completeness rate of the German National Accounts data is at the highest level.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Generally, in Germany sampling and non-sampling errors of the source statistics integrated into national accounts may also be contained in the national accounting results. Also, applying estimation methods and extrapolating time series may lead to inaccuracies. However, this is necessary to meet the user requirements regarding timeliness of the national accounts data. For this reason, a certain degree of inaccuracy is the price to pay for having a high degree of timeliness of the national accounts data.
The quality of the national accounting calculations is continuously checked during the calculation process so that possible shortcomings or errors can be detected and eliminated. Major elements of that quality assurance procedure are the following:
• Source statistics, where produced as part of official statistics and used by national accounts, are subjected to quality control in the relevant specialised departments.
• In national accounts, the source data provided are checked again for completeness and plausibility.
• A major quality assurance element is the far-reaching comparison of the source statistics used in national accounting and of the very results of national accounts with complementary data from other sources.
• The national accounting results are reconciled with the results of input-output accounts.
• Setting up sector accounts always involves checking the system coherence. The production, use and distribution approaches and also the financial accounts based on institutional sectors must be co-ordinated to reflect a closed economic cycle. Any discrepancies will easily be detected in the balancing items of the sectors.
Further details can be found in the national quality report (sectin 4.1).
Also, due to their great importance for financial and economic policies and as they are widely used for administrative purposes in the European Union (e.g. payments to the EU budget, calculation of Maastricht criteria), national accounts are regularly subjected to international audits; for example by Eurostat, the European Court of Auditors and the International Monetary Fund (IWF Data-ROSC-Bericht).
13.2. Sampling error
Differing assessments of the quality of the diverse data sources can lead to differing adjustment mechanisms and ultimately also to differing results. This, however, is a problem that applies to virtually all accounting systems which are fed from various mutually independent sources that may contain errors. Therefore, the ultimate production of a result which is coherent and plausible in its structure must not blind us to the scope that exists for estimation in certain of the published overall results.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
National accounts data should become available to users as timely as possible, taking into account the frequency of the data (annual or quarterly), the character of the data (info on the structure of an economy or on conjuncture developments) and an adequate balance between accuracy and timeliness.
The ESA 2010 transmission programme defines the required timeliness for all national accounts tables. Quarterly tables should become available between 2 and 3 months after the quarter-end. The annual tables have to be transmitted between 2 months (main aggregates) and 36 months (supply and use tables) after the end of the reference year.
The quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) for Germany is initially published in a GDP first release after about 30 days. This is followed by more detailed results in a press release published about 55 days after the end of the reference quarter (that is, for the first quarter of a year in May, for the second quarter in August, for the third quarter in November and for the fourth quarter in February). On those occasions, the previous results of the last few quarters - in August those of the last four years - are updated, too. The first annual result is published at a press conference in January, about 15 days after the end of the reference year. Although the legally binding European standards (t+60) thus are definitely more than met by German national accounts, the revisions caused by that are justifiable. However, there is a trade-off between timeliness and accuracy, that is, lower accuracy in the form of more need for revision is the price of more rapid calculation and earlier publication.
Generally, the last four years including the relevant quarters are revised in August of each year. The results of the earliest of the years become final at that status of calculation and need not be revised regularly any more. For example, the results of reference year 2018 became final in August 2022, subject to future major revisions. Such regular revisions are necessary to include into the national accounting system large-scale annual statistics whose results become available with some time lag from the end of the reference period. The results of these source statistics replace the data at the recent end of the series which was until then obtained partly through indicator-based calculations.
14.2. Punctuality
Good practice requires that the dates on which national accounts data become available are pre-announced and that the pre-announced publication dates are met.
National accounts data transmissions in the framework of the ESA 2010 transmission programme should be punctually delivered to Eurostat at the timeliness defined in the transmission programme (or before).
The release dates to be reported to Eurostat and the IMF are indicated in the annual release calendar of the Federal Statistical Office for major economic indicators one year in advance. In the past, those deadlines were always met.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
The geographical comparability of national accounts in Member States of the EU is ensured by the application of common definitions of the European System of Accounts ESA 2010). Worldwide geographical comparison is also possible as most non-European countries apply the SNA 2008 guidelines, and SNA 2008 is consistent with ESA 2010.
The definitions of German national accounts are entirely identical to those of the binding European System of National and Regional Accounts, so that data are available that are harmonised and comparable at the European level. Furthermore, the first release of quarterly GDP at about 30 days after the end of the reference quarter is harmonised on the basis of a gentleman's agreement within the European Union.
At a global level, there is far-reaching comparability of national accounts thanks to the application of the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA). However, the SNA is not legally binding. The structure of the new ESA 2010 is consistent with the SNA 2008. The ESA 2010 is already legally in force and was implemented as from September 2014 throughout Europe; data transmission from Member States to Eurostat have to follow ESA 2010 rules.
15.2. Comparability - over time
As the data for all reference periods are compiled according to the requirements of the ESA 2010, national accounts data are fully comparable over time. Also, in the case of fundamental changes to methods or classifications, revisions of long time series are performed, usually going far back into the past.
Quarterly and annual data without breaks are provided for Germany as a whole from the first quarter of 1991. Regarding the former territory of the Federal Republic, time series without breaks are available for the period from 1970 to 1991 (data for 1991 being available both for Germany and for the former territory of the Federal Republic). However, they are also not comparable with the revised data for Germany in methodological terms as they were not adjusted to the new classifications in the context of the 2011 revision of national accounts and were not revised in the context of the major methodological revision in 2014 either; here the status of calculation is 2005. In addition, (unrevised) annual data are available for the period from 1950 to 1969 and some selected results for the years from 1925 to 1938. However, those time series contain breaks caused by different territorial delimitations, concepts, definitions and price base years; they will not be revised any more.
The quarterly data are consistently linked with the annual results.
One of the characteristics of national accounts is the fact that, in the case of fundamental changes to methods or classifications, revisions of long time series are performed going far back into the past, so that an optimum range of data are offered to data users.
The comparability of national accounting results over long periods will be impaired if, in the context of major revisions (cf. section 4.3.1) whose main purpose is the integration of new concepts and/or new classifications, data are calculated backwards only for the "more recent past" rather than for the entire period so far covered by a long time series. In the course of the 2019 major revision, for example, backward calculations were made only for Germany back to the year 1991, while previous years remained unchanged. This was the case in the context of the major revisions in 2014 and 2011, too, whereas data were recalculated back to 1970 in preceding major revisions (in 2005 for the last time). However, as all national accounts aggregates have been revised in full detail for the whole time series back to 1991, methodologically consistent time series are still available for data users.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Within the system of national accounts there is full consistency between the domains: annual and quarterly national accounts, government accounts, sector accounts, financial accounts, regional accounts, supply and use tables. However, in practice full consistency may not always be possible and temporary discrepancies might occur. They are usually the result of vintage differences.
Primary statistics like structural business statistics (SBS), short term statistics (STS) and labour force statistics (LFS) are widely used as input for national accounts. However, there is no full consistency between these statistical domains and national accounts. Main reasons are differences in concepts/definitions and in coverage. Balance of payments is also used as an important source for national accounts. The definitions and coverage of balance of payments, as defined in the BPM6 manual, are fully harmonised with those in ESA 2010. Therefore, balance of payments variables are in principle fully coherent with the corresponding national accounts variables.
Data published in Germany within the scope of national accounts often differs from data published within the scope of the relevant specific statistics regarding similar, or seemingly the same, variables. In most cases, this is due to methodological differences and to the nature of an accounting system in which a multitude of different data sources are integrated to calculate results for one variable. For example, the calculation of the output (including goods for resale) in trade is based not only on the monthly statistics of wholesale and retail trade but, among other things, also on the annual surveys in wholesale and retail trade and the turnover tax statistics.
National accounts are also used as a basis for satellite systems such as environmental-economic accounting (UGR), which describes interactions between the economy and the environment, and for the socio-economic reporting system, which examines connections between economic and social developments.
15.4. Coherence - internal
See section 15.3 (Coherence - cross domain).
As national accounts are an accounting system in which existing results of primary and secondary surveys and from administrative data sources are processed, no additional burden is placed on respondents.
17.1. Data revision - policy
National accounts data are subject to continuous revisions as new input data become available. They are called routine revisions and entail regular revisions of country data and of the European aggregates, which are derived from the former.
More rarely, exceptional revisions (called benchmark revisions) will result from major changes in data sources, classifications or methodology. For example, when changing from ESA95 to ESA 2010, a benchmark revision occurred at country level and at euro area/EU data level.
Two Task Forces developed proposals for a more harmonised approach for benchmark and routine revisions. The one under the auspices of the Directors of Macroeconomic Statistics (DMES) dealt with benchmark revision policy, the other under the auspices of the Committee on Monetary, Financial, and Balance of Payments Statistics (CMFB) on the European Harmonised Revision Policy dealing with routine revisions.
In German national accounts, revision means the revising of results, for example, by including new data, new statistics and/or new methods into the accounting system. A distinction is made between regular revisions referring to minor corrections for individual quarters or years and comprehensive or major revisions. The latter are fundamental revisions of all national accounts and of very long time series. Such major revisions of national accounts take place approximately every five years (latest revisions in 2019, 2014, 2011, 2005 and 1999).
Reasons for comprehensive revisions may be the following:
• introducing new concepts, definitions or classifications into the accounting system;
• integrating new statistical bases for the calculation that have not been applied yet;
• applying new calculation methods;
• modernising the presentation and, where required, introducing new terms;
• enhancing international comparability.
The most recent major revision of national accounts took place in Germany as also in most other European member states in 2019. The main purpose of this major revision was to refine the results by including new data sources and calculation methods. In addition, as always during a major revision, the opportunity was also used to comprehensively review and revise the entire national accounting system. The revision covered the entire time series from 1991, so that statistical breaks have been avoided as far as possible.
Regular revisions refer to minor corrections for individual quarters or years. They are performed in the course of current calculations and can generally occur during any release date. Such revisions are performed to include into the system current information that differs significantly from the data bases available before. In this way, data users are supplied with the best possible results for analyses and forecasts.
Usually, the data for the quarters of the current year are checked at every quarterly release date, while data for the last four years, including the relevant quarters, are revised only once a year (in August).
17.2. Data revision - practice
While revisions should be seen as a process to progressively improve the quality of national accounts as e.g. better sources and/or methods become available, the availability of metadata on revisions is a key element for understanding national accounts data and revisions between subsequent releases.
Therefore, information on the main reasons for revisions and their nature (new source data available, new methods, etc.) as well as possibly quantitative and qualitative assessment on the average size of revisions and their direction based on historical data is required.
The new concepts of the "European System of National and Regional Accounts" (ESA 2010) were implemented into the national accounts framework as part of the 2014 major revision of national accounts, which was completed in September 2014 in Germany. The ESA 2010 is a European Regulation, which is binding for all EU member states as of 1 September 2014 (Council Regulation (EU) No. 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013, published in the Official Journal on 26 June 2013).
ESA 2010 is the newest internationally compatible EU accounting framework for a systematic and detailed description of an economy. Compared with the formerly used ESA 1995, the methodology is more harmonised and the concepts, definitions, classifications and accounting rules defined in ESA 2010 are more precise and more accurate. The ESA 2010 regulation now contains 24 chapters of methodology in Annex A, including new chapters on important subjects such as pensions and insurance or government accounts. Annex B determines the transmission programme, i.e. the tables to be transmitted to Eurostat by the member states.
The changeover to ESA 2010 required a major revision of all national accounts data, which had to be completed in September 2014. In Germany, the revision work was mainly performed by the Federal Statistical Office and other institutions, namely the Deutsche Bundesbank.
As major revisions of national accounts are performed approximately every five years, the latest major revision in Germany and most other EU member states took place in 2019. Both the 2014 and 2019 major revisions involved a thorough revision of the entire German national accounting system, as is always the case in major revisions in Germany. The Federal Statistical Office therefore recalculated all national accounts aggregates in full detail back to 1991. Thus, methodologically consistent long time series without breaks are available to data users also after the revisions. The 2019 major revision was also used again to integrate new data sources and new calculation methods, e.g. in the government sector.
As a result of the revision, the level of revised GDP at current prices was on average a bit lower than before the revision. The overall economic picture remained largely unchanged, though.
18.1. Source data
National and regional accounts compilation builds up on statistics that are primarily collected for other purposes (primary statistics).
It relies on a variety of data sources, including administrative data: car and business registers, accounting statements, tax data, budgetary reports, population censuses, statistical surveys of businesses and households, statements of supervising institutions and branch organisations, annual and quarterly reports, trade statistics on goods and services, balance of payments information.
There is no single survey source for national accounts. Sources vary from country to country and provide statistical information on a large set of economic, social, financial and environmental phenomena, which may not be strictly related to national accounts.
Sources and collection methods used in each country vary depending on the specific dataset.
Overall, it is difficult to be exhaustive in the listing of data sources. Inventories provided to Eurostat usually include information on main sources (see section 10.6). Further information on data sources can be found on the national websites (www.destatis.de).
All suitable surveys of economic statistics that are available by a given time of publication are used to calculate the national accounting results. Usually, definitions and classifications apply in the same way to both source statistics and national accounts. To build on the revised results of source statistics, however, revisions of classifications take place later in national accounts than in the source statistics (e.g. WZ 2008 was integrated into national accounts only in the context of the 2011 revision).
Regarding source statistics that are used in national accounts, there are naturally various time lags between the time when the data become available and the reporting period. As long as the source statistics required for the calculation of a given national accounting aggregate are not yet available, a provisional result is compiled for that aggregate using short-term indicators. When the source data become available for the reporting period concerned, they are integrated into the national accounts thus replacing the indicator calculations. In general, final annual results can be integrated into the calculations with a time lag of t + 30 months. This explains the regular revisions of national accounts. Calculating quarterly results and first provisional annual results (not later than in January of the following year) is based exclusively on monthly and quarterly statistics that are received with a time lag of nearly eight weeks. Please see the methodological description of the quarterly calculations (Fachserie 18, Reihe S.31, Quarterly national accounts inventory based on ESA 2010 methodology - Edition 2017, p. 73) as an example of the major data sources used in national accounting.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
National accounts are usually compiled on an annual or quarterly basis from other primary statistics. The frequency of data collection of primary statistics varies according to the nature of the data source. For example, business statistics are typically available on a monthly (and quarterly) basis. Some households' surveys are available on quarterly or annual frequency (sometimes even less frequent). Availability of administrative data varies from country to country. Population censuses are mostly collected every decade.
The frequency and timing of the compilation of national accounts are not necessary aligned with the frequency and timing of (all) primary statistics data collections.
National accounts department in Destatis receive external data quarterly and annual.
National accounts department in Germany does not collect data itself but receive them from other departments or institutions.
The ESS guidelines suggest that the methods used for data collection should be described. It can also be appropriate to complete the section with the following issues: (i) an NSI usually signs an agreement and technical protocol for cooperation with other institutions on what, when, how, etc. the data would be delivered; (ii) national accounts department also participates in the development of the questionnaires of statistical surveys of other departments.
18.4. Data validation
Data validation refers to any activity aimed at verifying that the value of a data item comes from a given set of acceptable values. It is a key task performed in all statistical domains and particularly important for national accounts, which is a key dataset for economic analysis and policy decisions.
In order to increase overall data quality and workflow efficiency, the European Statistical System (ESS) is moving towards more harmonisation of validation activities including the definition of common standards, tools and support for implementation (see ESS validation website). National accounts are a pilot in this area. An ESA 2010 Task Force on validation was established in 2015 to agree and document validation rules in an ESA 2010 validation handbook and progressively implement them in a pre-validation service for national accounts data.
The confrontation of data from different sources is an integral part of the national accounts compilation. Source data used in national accounts undergo a sequence of checks within NSIs. For the validation of national accounts data, country X applies minimum validation rules agreed with Eurostat and provides metadata to support the validation process with respect to revisions and outliers. Further information on validation checks can be found on the website.
Data transmitted to Eurostat are submitted to the validation system (CONVAL), this applies rules contained in the ESA 2010 validation handbook.
18.5. Data compilation
Data sources, methods and compilation techniques are country specific, but should be employed in such a way that the definitions and concepts in ESA 2010 are met. Many guidance documents on general and specific national accounts compilation issues are available. See for more details section 10.6.
Key approaches and techniques for the compilation of national accounts in country X can be summarised as follows:
The leading approach(es) to compile GDP in the framework of annual national accounts in country X is/are the (production, expenditure/income) approach. Consistency is obtained via reconciliation/balancing process. Notably, changes in inventories and valuables or gross operating surplus and mixed income are derived as residuals. The same/another approach is used for the compilation of quarterly national accounts. Sector accounts are compiled after/together with main aggregates.
For more details see sections 10.6. and 17.1.
In germany, all suitable continuous surveys of economic statistics that are available by a given time of publication or revision are used to calculate the national accounting results. Also, other data sources are evaluated, such as administrative data (for example, finance and tax statistics, data of the Federal Employment Agency), business statistics and annual accounts of large enterprises (for example, Lufthansa, Deutsche Telekom, credit institutions), household surveys (sample survey of income and expenditure (EVS), microcensus) and information from associations.
The gross domestic product (GDP) is calculated applying both the production and the use approach. The two results are then balanced to obtain the official GDP and its aggregates to be published. The third calculation option, i.e. a complete calculation of GDP through the distribution approach, cannot be performed in Germany because of incomplete source data on entrepreneurial and property income.
18.6. Adjustment
The objectives of seasonal adjustment are to identify and remove seasonal fluctuations and calendar effects which can mask short and long-term movements in a time series and impede a clear understanding of underlying phenomena. Seasonal adjustment is therefore a fundamental process in the interpretation of time series to inform policy making (ESS guidelines on seasonal adjustment, 2015 Edition, Annex, point 1).
For selected sub-annual national accounts data, such as notably the quarterly main aggregates, time series are usually not only published in their unadjusted form, but also with various types of adjustment (e.g. seasonal, calendar, trend-cycle).
According to the ESA transmission programme, quarterly data are to be provided in non-seasonally adjusted form, as well as in seasonally adjusted form (including calendar adjustments, where relevant) except for previous year’s prices.
The provision of quarterly data that only include calendar adjustments is voluntary.
For sector accounts, seasonal adjustment (including calendar adjustments, where relevant) is compulsory for a limited set of series.
The German gross domestic product and most of its components can be shown not only in nominal terms (i.e. at current prices), but also in price-adjusted terms. Price adjustment in national accounts is based on a price base changing every year (previous year's price base). The base year used here is always the previous year, in contrast to the fixed price base applied in the past. Applying the previous year's price base method thus ensures that current price ratios are always used. Consequently, the calculation of "real" change rates is more exact.
This is what is actually done in the calculation when applying the method of previous year's price base: the values of a specific year are deflated by means of price indices which are always based on the annual average of the previous year. This produces, first of all, a sequence of annual results at previous year's prices (for example, results for 2016 at prices of 2015, results for 2015 at prices of 2014, etc.), which, due to the chain linking of every individual value, form comparable time series. The calculation method applied in Germany to calculate quarterly results is the annual overlap method.
In German national accounts, seasonal and calendar adjustment (i.e. adjusting the original, unadjusted figures for seasonal and calendar variations) of most quarterly data is based on two different methods - on the one hand, X13 in JDemetra+ the method recommended in the ESS for international comparison(in partnership-based co-operation with the Deutsche Bundesbank) and, on the other, the so-called Berlin method BV4.1. The results of X13 in JDemetra+ are published in Fachserie 18 in an individual series (Series 1.3: Domestic product - Seasonally adjusted quarterly results using X13, available in English). The results of both methods are published in the database GENESIS-Online.
Regional national accounts
The Länder national accounts working group compiles and publishes regional accounts for the Länder and administrative districts (Kreise) of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Contact:
Land Statistical Office of Baden-Württemberg, Böblinger Str. 68, 70199 Stuttgart, tel: +49 (0) 711 / 641-2650 and -2471, e-mail: vgr@stala.bwl.de, internet: http://www.vgrdl.de
National accounts data concern all data produced and disseminated for an economy according to the definitions and guidelines of the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010).
National accounts provide data for the total economy, but may also include breakdowns of the total economy (into sectors, industries, products, regions, etc.). National accounts provide data for several domains: annual and quarterly national accounts (main aggregates), sector accounts, financial accounts, supply and use and input-output tables, regional accounts and government finance statistics. National accounts for the Federal Republic of Germany are largely compiled at the Federal Statistical Office.
One of the main aggregates of national accounts is the change rate of the price-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP), which indicates the economic development of a country of region and is also referred to as economic growth rate.
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All statistical concepts and definitions to be used in national accounts are described in Annex A of the ESA 2010 Regulation (link to blue book on ESA2010 methodology). The two main sets of tables concern: (a) the institutional sector accounts; (b) the input-output framework, and the accounts by industry.
The sector accounts provide, by institutional sector, a systematic description of the different stages of the economic process: production, generation of income, distribution of income, redistribution of income, use of income and financial and nonfinancial accumulation. The sector accounts also include balance sheets to describe the stocks of assets, liabilities and net worth at the beginning and the end of the accounting period. The variables/concepts described in the sector accounts include transactions in products, transactions in non-produced non-financial assets, distributive transactions, transactions in financial assets and liabilities, other changes in assets, non-financial and financial assets and liabilities.
The input-output framework, through the supply and use tables, sets out in more detail the production process (cost structure, income generated and employment) and the flows of goods and services (output, imports, exports, final consumption, intermediate consumption and capital formation by product group). These variables are broken down by industry (NACE Rev. 2) and product (CPA 2014).
ESA 2010 also encompasses concepts of population and employment. Such concepts are relevant for the sector accounts, the accounts by industry and the supply and use framework.
Regional accounts provide regional breakdowns for major aggregates such as gross value added by industry, gross fixed capital formation and household income. Regional breakdowns are based on the NUTS classification. National accounts concepts are also used for regional accounts.
In addition Annex A of the ESA 2010 Regulation addresses and defines numerous other concepts and definitions, such as the definition of: statistical units and their groupings, flows and stocks, accounting rules (valuation, time of recording, consolidation and netting). The main features and principles for the compilation of national accounts can be found in Chapter 1.
Following the ESA 2010 guidelines, in national accounts two types of units and two corresponding ways of subdividing the economy are used: (a) institutional unit; (b) local kind-of-activity unit (local KAU). The first type is used for describing income, expenditure and financial flows as well as balance sheets. The second type of units is used for the description of production processes, for input-output analysis and for regional analysis.
An institutional unit is an economic entity characterised by decision-making autonomy in the exercise of its principal function. A resident unit is regarded as constituting an institutional unit in the economic territory where it has its centre of predominant economic interest if it has decision-making autonomy and either keeps a complete set of accounts, or is able to compile a complete set of accounts.
A local KAU groups all the parts of an institutional unit in its capacity as producer which are located in a single site or in closely located sites, and which contribute to the performance of an activity at the class level (four digits) of the NACE Rev. 2.
An institutional unit comprises one or more local KAUs; a local KAU belongs to one and only one institutional unit.
According to the national accounting concepts in Germany, three different units of analysis are distinguished, that is institutional units, local kind-of-activity units, and units of homogeneous production.
A unit is an institutional unit if, first, it is an elementary economic decision-making centre, i.e. it performs economic activities on its own authority, and, second, it has a complete business accounting system with information on the use or distribution of the operating surplus including balance sheet. The institutional units are grouped into institutional sectors (non-financial corporations, financial corporations, general government, households, non-profit institutions serving households and the “rest of the world” sector covering all economic units whose permanent seat or place of residence is outside the economic territory). The main purpose of those sectors, which are the basis of the system of accounts in national accounting, is to show the income, accumulation of capital and financing processes.
For a subject-related representation of the economic structure in a breakdown by industries, the local kind-of-activity units should be used. Because of restrictions in the source statistical data, national accounts in Germany generally use the enterprise as a unit of analysis. The units are grouped according to their main activity into industries which, consequently, may still include secondary activities.
Units of homogeneous production are used in input-output accounts to describe production-related interactions. They are defined by production-relevant variables and should be largely homogeneous in terms of output, production technology and input structure. They are grouped into homogeneous branches which, consequently, produce only products of a specific product group and no longer contain any secondary activities.
The national accounts population of a country consists of all resident statistical units (institutional units or local KAUs, see section 3.5). A unit is a resident unit of a country when it has a centre of predominant economic interest on the economic territory of that country, that is, when it engages for an extended period (one year or more) in economic activities on this territory.
National accounts are exhaustive. This means that all resident statistical units are covered.
The reference area for national accounts is the total economy of a country. The total economy of a country can be broken down into regions. The NUTS classification provides a single, uniform breakdown of the economic territory of the Member States of the EU.
The data for Germany from 1991 onwards refer to the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany since 3 October 1990. The data for the former territory of the Federal Republic refer to the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany as until 3 October 1990; they include Berlin-West.
The usual reference period to be used for presenting national accounts data is the calendar year for annual data and the quarter for quarterly data.
Two basic kinds of information are recorded: flows and stocks. Flows refer to actions and effects of events that take place within a given period of time (year or quarter), while stocks refer to positions at a point of time (usually the beginning or end of a year or quarter).
Generally, in Germany sampling and non-sampling errors of the source statistics integrated into national accounts may also be contained in the national accounting results. Also, applying estimation methods and extrapolating time series may lead to inaccuracies. However, this is necessary to meet the user requirements regarding timeliness of the national accounts data. For this reason, a certain degree of inaccuracy is the price to pay for having a high degree of timeliness of the national accounts data.
The quality of the national accounting calculations is continuously checked during the calculation process so that possible shortcomings or errors can be detected and eliminated. Major elements of that quality assurance procedure are the following:
• Source statistics, where produced as part of official statistics and used by national accounts, are subjected to quality control in the relevant specialised departments.
• In national accounts, the source data provided are checked again for completeness and plausibility.
• A major quality assurance element is the far-reaching comparison of the source statistics used in national accounting and of the very results of national accounts with complementary data from other sources.
• The national accounting results are reconciled with the results of input-output accounts.
• Setting up sector accounts always involves checking the system coherence. The production, use and distribution approaches and also the financial accounts based on institutional sectors must be co-ordinated to reflect a closed economic cycle. Any discrepancies will easily be detected in the balancing items of the sectors.
Further details can be found in the national quality report (sectin 4.1).
Also, due to their great importance for financial and economic policies and as they are widely used for administrative purposes in the European Union (e.g. payments to the EU budget, calculation of Maastricht criteria), national accounts are regularly subjected to international audits; for example by Eurostat, the European Court of Auditors and the International Monetary Fund (IWF Data-ROSC-Bericht).
With the exception of some variables concerning population and labour that are usually expressed in number of persons, hours or jobs, the ESA 2010 system shows all flows and stocks in monetary terms: in euros or other national currency. Flows and stocks shall be measured according to their exchange value, i.e. the value at which flows and stocks are in fact, or could be, exchanged for cash. Market prices are, thus, the ESA's reference for valuation.
In addition to measurement in current (market) prices, some national accounts variables are also expressed in previous year's prices and chain-linked volumes, see section 3.9. Furthermore, it is possible to derive growth rates and indices, and various other measures '(e.g. percentages, per capita data, data expressed in purchasing power standards)' can be applied as well.
Data sources, methods and compilation techniques are country specific, but should be employed in such a way that the definitions and concepts in ESA 2010 are met. Many guidance documents on general and specific national accounts compilation issues are available. See for more details section 10.6.
Key approaches and techniques for the compilation of national accounts in country X can be summarised as follows:
The leading approach(es) to compile GDP in the framework of annual national accounts in country X is/are the (production, expenditure/income) approach. Consistency is obtained via reconciliation/balancing process. Notably, changes in inventories and valuables or gross operating surplus and mixed income are derived as residuals. The same/another approach is used for the compilation of quarterly national accounts. Sector accounts are compiled after/together with main aggregates.
For more details see sections 10.6. and 17.1.
In germany, all suitable continuous surveys of economic statistics that are available by a given time of publication or revision are used to calculate the national accounting results. Also, other data sources are evaluated, such as administrative data (for example, finance and tax statistics, data of the Federal Employment Agency), business statistics and annual accounts of large enterprises (for example, Lufthansa, Deutsche Telekom, credit institutions), household surveys (sample survey of income and expenditure (EVS), microcensus) and information from associations.
The gross domestic product (GDP) is calculated applying both the production and the use approach. The two results are then balanced to obtain the official GDP and its aggregates to be published. The third calculation option, i.e. a complete calculation of GDP through the distribution approach, cannot be performed in Germany because of incomplete source data on entrepreneurial and property income.
National and regional accounts compilation builds up on statistics that are primarily collected for other purposes (primary statistics).
It relies on a variety of data sources, including administrative data: car and business registers, accounting statements, tax data, budgetary reports, population censuses, statistical surveys of businesses and households, statements of supervising institutions and branch organisations, annual and quarterly reports, trade statistics on goods and services, balance of payments information.
There is no single survey source for national accounts. Sources vary from country to country and provide statistical information on a large set of economic, social, financial and environmental phenomena, which may not be strictly related to national accounts.
Sources and collection methods used in each country vary depending on the specific dataset.
Overall, it is difficult to be exhaustive in the listing of data sources. Inventories provided to Eurostat usually include information on main sources (see section 10.6). Further information on data sources can be found on the national websites (www.destatis.de).
All suitable surveys of economic statistics that are available by a given time of publication are used to calculate the national accounting results. Usually, definitions and classifications apply in the same way to both source statistics and national accounts. To build on the revised results of source statistics, however, revisions of classifications take place later in national accounts than in the source statistics (e.g. WZ 2008 was integrated into national accounts only in the context of the 2011 revision).
Regarding source statistics that are used in national accounts, there are naturally various time lags between the time when the data become available and the reporting period. As long as the source statistics required for the calculation of a given national accounting aggregate are not yet available, a provisional result is compiled for that aggregate using short-term indicators. When the source data become available for the reporting period concerned, they are integrated into the national accounts thus replacing the indicator calculations. In general, final annual results can be integrated into the calculations with a time lag of t + 30 months. This explains the regular revisions of national accounts. Calculating quarterly results and first provisional annual results (not later than in January of the following year) is based exclusively on monthly and quarterly statistics that are received with a time lag of nearly eight weeks. Please see the methodological description of the quarterly calculations (Fachserie 18, Reihe S.31, Quarterly national accounts inventory based on ESA 2010 methodology - Edition 2017, p. 73) as an example of the major data sources used in national accounting.
New quarterly national accounts data are published each quarter: 4 times per year. However, depending on circumstances and national practices, initially released quarterly national accounts data may be revised and disseminated again. Annual national accounts data are published at least once a year: when data for a new year are added. But, depending on country practices and revision policy, annual data can also be published more often, e.g. publication of a provisional estimate early in the calendar year and a revised one later in the calendar year.
National accounts data should become available to users as timely as possible, taking into account the frequency of the data (annual or quarterly), the character of the data (info on the structure of an economy or on conjuncture developments) and an adequate balance between accuracy and timeliness.
The ESA 2010 transmission programme defines the required timeliness for all national accounts tables. Quarterly tables should become available between 2 and 3 months after the quarter-end. The annual tables have to be transmitted between 2 months (main aggregates) and 36 months (supply and use tables) after the end of the reference year.
The quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) for Germany is initially published in a GDP first release after about 30 days. This is followed by more detailed results in a press release published about 55 days after the end of the reference quarter (that is, for the first quarter of a year in May, for the second quarter in August, for the third quarter in November and for the fourth quarter in February). On those occasions, the previous results of the last few quarters - in August those of the last four years - are updated, too. The first annual result is published at a press conference in January, about 15 days after the end of the reference year. Although the legally binding European standards (t+60) thus are definitely more than met by German national accounts, the revisions caused by that are justifiable. However, there is a trade-off between timeliness and accuracy, that is, lower accuracy in the form of more need for revision is the price of more rapid calculation and earlier publication.
Generally, the last four years including the relevant quarters are revised in August of each year. The results of the earliest of the years become final at that status of calculation and need not be revised regularly any more. For example, the results of reference year 2018 became final in August 2022, subject to future major revisions. Such regular revisions are necessary to include into the national accounting system large-scale annual statistics whose results become available with some time lag from the end of the reference period. The results of these source statistics replace the data at the recent end of the series which was until then obtained partly through indicator-based calculations.
The geographical comparability of national accounts in Member States of the EU is ensured by the application of common definitions of the European System of Accounts ESA 2010). Worldwide geographical comparison is also possible as most non-European countries apply the SNA 2008 guidelines, and SNA 2008 is consistent with ESA 2010.
The definitions of German national accounts are entirely identical to those of the binding European System of National and Regional Accounts, so that data are available that are harmonised and comparable at the European level. Furthermore, the first release of quarterly GDP at about 30 days after the end of the reference quarter is harmonised on the basis of a gentleman's agreement within the European Union.
At a global level, there is far-reaching comparability of national accounts thanks to the application of the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA). However, the SNA is not legally binding. The structure of the new ESA 2010 is consistent with the SNA 2008. The ESA 2010 is already legally in force and was implemented as from September 2014 throughout Europe; data transmission from Member States to Eurostat have to follow ESA 2010 rules.
As the data for all reference periods are compiled according to the requirements of the ESA 2010, national accounts data are fully comparable over time. Also, in the case of fundamental changes to methods or classifications, revisions of long time series are performed, usually going far back into the past.
Quarterly and annual data without breaks are provided for Germany as a whole from the first quarter of 1991. Regarding the former territory of the Federal Republic, time series without breaks are available for the period from 1970 to 1991 (data for 1991 being available both for Germany and for the former territory of the Federal Republic). However, they are also not comparable with the revised data for Germany in methodological terms as they were not adjusted to the new classifications in the context of the 2011 revision of national accounts and were not revised in the context of the major methodological revision in 2014 either; here the status of calculation is 2005. In addition, (unrevised) annual data are available for the period from 1950 to 1969 and some selected results for the years from 1925 to 1938. However, those time series contain breaks caused by different territorial delimitations, concepts, definitions and price base years; they will not be revised any more.
The quarterly data are consistently linked with the annual results.
One of the characteristics of national accounts is the fact that, in the case of fundamental changes to methods or classifications, revisions of long time series are performed going far back into the past, so that an optimum range of data are offered to data users.
The comparability of national accounting results over long periods will be impaired if, in the context of major revisions (cf. section 4.3.1) whose main purpose is the integration of new concepts and/or new classifications, data are calculated backwards only for the "more recent past" rather than for the entire period so far covered by a long time series. In the course of the 2019 major revision, for example, backward calculations were made only for Germany back to the year 1991, while previous years remained unchanged. This was the case in the context of the major revisions in 2014 and 2011, too, whereas data were recalculated back to 1970 in preceding major revisions (in 2005 for the last time). However, as all national accounts aggregates have been revised in full detail for the whole time series back to 1991, methodologically consistent time series are still available for data users.
