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, use and input-output tables, regional accounts, government finance statistics and pension entitlements.
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.
In Hungary two institutes, the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO) and the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) responsible for compilation of Hungarian national accounts and for NA data transmission to Eurostat in the framework of the ESA 2010 transmission programme (Annex B). Eurostat publish them, after validation, in its online database.
Following a mid-term review, an amended ESA 2010 Transmission Programme entered into force in April 2023, introducing some changes in transmission requirements from 1 September 2024 onwards.
At national level, the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO) is responsible for compilation of:
annual and quarterly national accounts: 'main aggregates';
annual and quarterly non-financial sector accounts;
annual non-financial balance sheets;
supply, use and input-output tables;
regional breakdowns of main national accounts variables and household accounts;
industry breakdowns of main national accounts variables;
industry by asset breakdowns: stocks and transactions;
detailed data on taxes, social contributions and government expenditure by function;
annual and quarterly NA related employment variables;
and the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) is responsible for compilation of:
annual and quarterly financial accounts and balance sheets,
annual and quarterly government finance statistics data: 'main aggregates' quarterly financial government accounts and government debt,
pension entitlements in social insurance.
The datasets are described in more detail in the domain specific metadata.
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 for products by economic activities, COFOG for the functions of government, COICOP 2018 for individual consumption by purpose, NUTS for regional breakdowns.
A full overview of classifications is available in:
Hungary follows the standard of the European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA 2010). This is the newest internationally compatible EU accounting framework for a systematic and detailed description of an economy. From September 2014 the data transmission from Hungary to Eurostat follows ESA 2010 rules.
Economic activity: A*10 and A*64 aggregation levels of the NACE Rev.2 classification are used to define industry breakdowns in publications. Activities are broken into 88 activities during calculations at current prices. The data in prices of the previous year are available only by 64 activities.
Asset types: AN_F6 and AN_F10 breakdowns are used for quarterly and annual data on gross (fixed) capital formation.
Consumption by purpose: Household final consumption expenditure (HFCE) are classified by consumption purpose according to the COICOP 2018 classification. HFCE is available at 3-digit level in Hungarian publications, for calculation COICOP structure at 4-digit level is used.
Hungarian activity classification currently used in NAs: TEÁOR'08
3.3. Coverage - sector
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.
In Hungary activities are broken into 88 activities during calculations, however data are published according to 64 activities. The data in prices of the previous year are available only by 64 activities.
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 and income generated) and the flows of goods and services (output, imports, exports, final consumption, intermediate consumption and capital formation by product group). In input-output tables, these variables are broken down either by industry (NACE Rev. 2) or product (CPA 2014).
ESA 2010 also encompasses concepts of population and employment. Such concepts are relevant for the sector accounts and the detailed breakdown of main GDP aggregates by industry.
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.
Hungarian National Accounts is fully aligned with the ESA 2010 methodology and concepts.
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.
In most cases legal unit is the statistical unit in the production accounts in Hungary. The terms “legal unit” and “enterprise” are used as synonyms and refers to only one legal unit. Consequently, the term “enterprise” does not mean what is stated in the Council regulation (EEC) No 696/93 of March 1993. Enterprises with several activities are classified in NACE according to their principal activity, which is the activity that contributes most to the gross value added that the enterprise generates. Thus, the NACE classification of an enterprise refers to its principal activity. For the institutional unit, the enterprise is used as a proxy in the calculation process of NA. The only exceptions are the budgetary institutions. They report the cost of activities at a detailed activity level, which provides an opportunity to record within the institutional unit primary and secondary activities separately.
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 Hungary.
Hungarian national accounts data are 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.
Regional data are available from 2000; quarterly non-financial sector accounts starts from 1999Q1; geographical breakdown of external trade data (fixed composition) available from 2008 and 2008Q1; all other data are published in time series starting by 1995 and 1995Q1. Time series at prices of previous year are starting one year later than the same at current prices.
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. 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.
National Accounts Department of HCSO currently uses 2021 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 Hungarian national currency, in Hungarian forint. 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).
The reference period for Hungarian input-output tables is the calendar year from December 2025.
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. Both Annex A and B are amended and published in the Official Journal of the European Union NO REGULATION (EU) 2023/734 (Amendment ESA 2010).
The ESA 2010 has the form of a Regulation with its amendment 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 ESA 2010 methodology and amendment);
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 2027 by the Commission Implementing Decision 2024/1251/EU of 25 April 2024, thus allowing national data to deviate temporarily from the ESA 2010 transmission requirements.
Hungary does not have any temporary derogations to the data transmission requirements.
Some other legal acts with relevance for national accounts concern:
Legal act on the excessive deficit procedure
Several separate acts, often regarding classifications such as: NACE Rev.2, CPA 2014, COFOG, COICOP 2018, NUTS 2013.
More legal acts relevant to national accounts can be found in the 'National accounts' and 'Government finance and EDP' sections on the Eurostat website. The ESA 2010 Regulation stipulates that the quality of national and regional accounts data sent to Eurostat is to be assessed according to the quality criteria set out by the Regulation on European statistics (Regulation (EC) No 223/2009). The modalities, structure and assessment indicators of the quality assessment process are set out in a Commission implementing act (Regulation (EU) 2016/2304).
Official statistical activity - including issues related to confidentiality - is regulated in Hungary by Act CLV of 2016 on Official Statistics, which entered into force on 1 January 2017, and by Government Decree 184/2017 (VII. 5), issued to implement the corresponding act. According to this Act, official statistical activity is a public service regulated by law, supporting evidence-based decision-making by publishing statistical data that serve official information dissemination and the general awareness of society.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
National accounts datasets are used both nationally and internationally by different organisations, policy makers and analysts. Data of Hungarian national accounts are reported to Eurostat within ESA 2010 transmission programme.
HCSO has a written agreement and technical protocol for cooperation with other Hungarian institutions (e.g. with the National Bank of Hungary, the Ministry for National Economy, the Prime Minister's Office) on the details of the data sharing.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164) stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics, as well as the access to those confidential data taking into account 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).
Official statistical activity - including issues related to confidentiality - is regulated in Hungary by Act CLV of 2016 on Official Statistics, which entered into force on 1 January 2017, and by Government Decree 184/2017 (VII. 5), issued to implement the corresponding act. According to this Act, official statistical activity is a public service regulated by law, supporting evidence-based decision-making by publishing statistical data that serve official information dissemination and the general awareness of society.
The establishment of data confidentiality policy is a major element of the strategic planning of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, including the definition of principles and rules to be followed when protecting data handled with a statistical purpose. The framework of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office’s data confidentiality policy is defined by the professional independence of the institution, the Act CLV of 2016 on Official Statistics.
In a statistical sense, ‘confidential data’ refers to data that allow statistical units to be identified, either directly or indirectly, thereby disclosing individual information. To determine whether a statistical unit is identifiable, all relevant means that might reasonably be used by a third party to identify the statistical unit shall be considered. Although national accounts data are usually highly aggregated, there may be 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.
In line with the Confidentiality Policy (see in under 7.1) individual information is not disclosed in Hungary. The confident data management, including methodological treatments, ensures that confidential data are not accessible or identifiable.
8.1. Release calendar
Good practice requires that new national accounts data and their associated news releases be announced in a release calendar that is published well in advance of the respective releases.
HCSO publishes its release calendar on its website: Publication and revision calendar. The release calendar covers a full calendar year and includes all scheduled national accounts news releases. Most national accounts news releases concern quarterly data: (preliminary) GDP flash, GDP and main aggregates, quarterly sector accounts, quarterly government debt and deficit. The publication of statistical books is pre-announced as well. Releases connection to dissemination database, tables (STADAT), interactive charts and others are available with direct links to data on the release calendar website as well.
8.2. Release calendar access
HCSO's dissemination calendar is easily available and accessible for users on the following links: Publication and revision calendar
While browsing on the release calendar website, direct links to the released data are also available.
Indicative publication dates for main data releases by Eurostat are published on the Eurostat website.
8.3. Release policy - user access
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. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.
The transmission requirements for each dataset are defined in the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010 transmission programme).
In Hungary new quarterly national and sector accounts data are published each quarter: 4 times per year. In Hungary - in line with the EU requirements - quarterly national accounts data are disseminated in each quarter by t+30 days (Flash GDP), by t+2 months (GDP main aggregates and components) and t+85 days (as part of quarterly NFSA). In case of revision of the annual data quarterly data are reconciled to the annual data and disseminated (at the end of March and September).
Results of flash employment estimation by t+45 days (both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted) are not published but transmitted to Eurostat for compilation of EU total aggregates.
Annual national account data are disseminated three time in a year: once as a sum of the 4 quarters at t+2 months; the second is at t+3 months connecting to NFSA and first EDP, then the third is the first annual regular publication at t+9 months (second EDP).
Annual sector accounts are disseminated twice a year, at the end of March and September.
Regional national accounts are disseminated ones a year, at the end of December.
SUT and IOT are disseminated ones a year, in December.
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).
The First release of quarterly national data is disseminated by t+30 days and by t+2 months. On the date indicated in the dissemination calendar, data are published at 8:30. One hour before the official release, news agencies interested in GDP-data can access them in a dedicated environment - called 'News Room' - where they can prepare their news releases and/or articles to be published exactly at 8:30 a.m., simultaneously with the HCSO release. In the 'News Room', background information is provided and HCSO staff answers the journalists' questions.
Besides electronic dissemination, national accounts data are also included in printed publications. The most important of these are the Statistical Yearbook of Hungary and the Statistical Pocketbook of Hungary. Comprehensive publications
Major data and indicators are included in this table system of ready-made tables. To support easier navigation, the tables are divided into 27 main topics - national accounts data can be found in particular under topic 'National accounts, GDP'.
Time series of annual data provide a deeper insight into the economic state of Hungary. Quarterly changes can be tracked through the shorter time series of intra-annual data. Longer term time series are released only on the main indicators (for example on GDP from 1960). Tables are free to download – in an excel format as well – and to print. There is also a methodological guide (metadata) to facilitate the interpretation of the tables.
In this database, homogeneous data groups are accessible, where users can define datasets and compile tables according to their interest. National accounts data can be found in particular under topic 'Economic accounts'.
The compiled data can be downloaded (in Excel for example), or ready-made maps or graphs are also available. A methodological guide to facilitate the interpretation of the data (metadata) sets is also available via a link.
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 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 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 also available: SNA 2008, Quarterly National Accounts Manual, Handbook on Input-Output Table Compilation and Analysis, Government Finance Statistics Manual.
In addition, Hungary describes its applied methodology for specific domains in 'inventories' available on the Eurostat website: GNI inventories (chapter 1) for the compilation of gross national income data, QNA inventory for the compilation of quarterly national accounts, ASA inventory for the annual non-financial sector accounts.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
The Hungarian Central Statistical Office develops and implements statistical methodologies for different phases and sub-processes of the statistical business process to enable and support the development, implementation and dissemination of official statistics. The main role of standard methods is to ensure and improve the quality of products and processes throughout the whole statistical business process. In order to ensure the implementation of these methodologies, the HCSO operates adequate internal procedures to support practical use.
The quality of national accounts data is assured by strict application of ESA 2010 concepts and by applying the guidelines of the ESS handbooks.
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, etc.).
The Hungarian Central Statistical Office develops and implements statistical methodologies for different phases and sub-processes of the statistical business process, in order to enable and support the development, implementation and dissemination of official statistics. The main role of these standard methods is to ensure and improve the quality of products and processes throughout the whole statistical business process. In order to ensure the implementation of these methodologies, the HCSO operates adequate internal procedures to support practical use.
ESA 2010 data transmissions are subject to regular quality assessment reviews. Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 (ESA 2010 Regulation) specifies that the data covered by this Regulation are subject to the quality criteria, namely relevance, accuracy, timeliness and punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability and coherence, as set out in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Member States are required to provide the Commission with a report on the quality of the transmitted data on national and regional accounts. The modalities, structure, periodicity and assessment indicators of the quality reports on data transmitted are specified in Commission Implementing Regulation 2016/2304 of 19 December 2016. The implementation of the quality reporting and assessment exercise started in 2017 and is carried out annually. As part of the annual exercise, Eurostat assesses the results, prepares and publishes an overall assessment based on the national quality reports and on other available information.
The Commission also reports to the European Parliament and the Council every five years on the application of the ESA 2010 Regulation, including the quality of national and regional accounts data. The first such report was published in 2018.
HCSO has carried out annual quality reporting for a couple of years, thus quality reports on National Accounts were also made over the past years. These reports include inter alia information on relevance, accuracy, reliability timeliness, accessibility, coherence, comparability, clarity, as well as basic methodological (metadata) issues. The quality report is accompanied by a self-assessment form where the major indicators (e.g. relevance, timeliness etc) are briefly assessed and a SWOT analysis is made by the producer unit.
National accounts data provide key information for economic policy monitoring and decision making, forecasting, administrative purposes, for informing the general public about economic developments (directly or indirectly via news agencies), and as an input for economic research.
At national level, the Ministry for National Economy, the National Bank of Hungary (MNB), scientific and academic communities and economic researchers are the entities who use national and regional accounts data the most frequently.
National accounts data are used also by international organisations or institutions, like Eurostat, ECB, OECD, IMF, UNECE; on the other hand - due to the free access via the webpage - several other users can reach them from universities, research institutes.
The HCSO is committed to actively and consciously recognizing users’ needs and the changes in these as well as to reacting to these rapidly. This objective is presented in the HCSO strategy up to 2030 (Strategy 2030), based on the 11th principle of the National Statistics Code of Practice.
User needs can be communicated via phone, e-mail or through HCSO website. Information services and data request services assist users in explaining their needs. At least twice in a calendar year, a report is prepared on new user needs received, which is then jointly discussed by dissemination and national accounts departments. In all cases, users receive either a positive or a negative feedback, for their requests.
User requests are submitted in writing through the Contact us menu on our website too.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
HCSO aims to measure users’ satisfaction with the work of HCSO, its products and services on a regular basis by using a variety of methods:
with online questionnaires (respective questionnaire links are only available during certain periods);
with user interviews, by writing to velemeny@ksh.hu e-mail address;
applying the Opinion box at the ’Was this content useful?’ link. Here users may provide immediate, direct feedback (regarding the content of the given topic);
with ‘Contact us' interface, in case of a need for a more detailed answer regarding suggestions or more information.
The ESA 2010 transmission programme, consisting of 26 tables across all national accounts’ domains (see ESA 2010 TP) defines the minimum national accounts data set that must be available in all Member States of the EU.
The overall completeness of datasets provided by HCSO is notably high and they are in line with the users’ needs; majority of the tables are filled-in 100% covering nearly all mandatory data. There are only a few annual tables (e.g., T0303_A, T2200_A) where data are not yet available for all variables and/or years. Besides mandatory data, certain information is also provided by HCSO on a voluntary basis.
The accuracy of the national accounts depends on the quality of data of other statistical activities used as input. The accuracy of input data from statistical activities is monitored. Data is periodically revised and the differences between the new and old versions in each round of revision are analysed. Information about the latest revisions and the effect of changes are usually available in our annual publication called Hungary’s national accounts, YYYY (second preliminary data), which is used to be published once a year connecting to the annual ‘Report on quality of Hungarian GNI’, at the end of September. The latest publication can be found here: Hungary’s national accounts, 2024 (second preliminary data)
(Link to archives of ‘Hungary’s national accounts ,YYYY’ publications.)
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
National accounts data should be made available to users as timely as possible, considering the data frequency (annual or quarterly), the character of the data (structural information or conjuncture developments) and ensuring an adequate balance between accuracy and timeliness.
Member States should transmit national accounts data to Eurostat upon national publication and/or in line with the deadlines specified in the transmission programme of the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010).
The ESA 2010 transmission programme defines the required timeliness for all national accounts tables, see the overview of tables on p.63.
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 delivered to Eurostat punctually, in accordance with the deadlines defined in the transmission programme (or earlier).
The geographical comparability of national accounts across EU Member States is generally ensured by the application of common definitions set out in the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010). Worldwide geographical comparison is also possible as most non-European countries apply the SNA 2008 guidelines, and ESA 2010 is consistent with SNA 2008.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Since data for all reference periods are compiled in accordance with the requirements of 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.
The coherence between the assessed annual and quarterly statistics submitted by Hungary is very high. Hungarian national accounts data are compiled for years and quarters.
National accounts data are generally available from 1995 and 1995Q1 without any breaks in the series.
Regional data are available from 2000; quarterly non-financial sector accounts starts from 1999Q1; geographical breakdown of external trade data (fixed composition) available from 2008 and 2008Q1. Time series at previous year prices are starting one year later than the same at current prices.
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 is in principle fully coherent with the corresponding national accounts variables.
In case of the national accounts data for Hungary, full consistency is usually a permanent feature except regional accounts and SUT-IOT (Supply, Use and Input-Output Tables), because they are compiled once a year only.
There are vertical inconsistencies between Hungarian non-financial sector accounts and financial sector accounts and there are smaller ones between rest of the world accounts and BoP.
To further specify the general Eurostat revision policy for national accounts, National Statistical Offices and National Central Banks have agreed to gradually implement the Harmonised European Revision Policy for Macroeconomic Statistics (HERP) in national accounts and balance of payments statistics.
This policy includes differentiated guidelines regarding the timing and the depth of revisions of quarterly and annual data. It aims to improve adherence to the twofold principle of alignment between statistical domains at national level and coordinated alignment across countries at EU level.
The policy provides guidelines for both 'routine' revisions and 'major' or 'benchmark' revisions and non-scheduled revisions (including error correction).
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 possible quantitative and qualitative assessments on the average size of revisions and their direction based on historical data, is required.
All national accounts data are subject to annual revision due to the following reasons:
introducing changes due to the usual routine revision,
small data corrections because of detected errors or faults,
considering methodological changes, and
continuous work on action points raised during GNI and EDP verification exercises and existing derogations.
Exemption of quarters not yet covered with a final annual estimation (‘open-quarters’), NA data can be routinely revised only at the end of March and September connected to the two EDP publications. ‘Open-quarters’ are allowed to be revised in each following quarter until compilation of the first regular annual estimation covering them.
Sources used for national accounts estimations are own data collections of HCSO and administrative data takeover from other government offices and institutions.
National accounts department and data collector departments of HCSO regularly discuss the yearly National Statistical Data Collection Programme (OSAP) and the contents and specifications of surveys to have the necessary detailed data for the national accounts estimations.
HCSO has bilateral agreements with institutions which collect statistics in their own fields of work and with holders of administrative data collections (records, registers, databases, etc.) on statistical cooperation are signed. More than 10 signed agreements exist between HCSO and other public data providers, of which data are used for national accounts purposes.
The major data sources for National Accounts in Hungary are the following:
data from different statistical data collections carried out by HCSO (for example business or foreign trade statistics, household budget survey etc.)
taxation data from National Tax Authority (NAV);
data on Government sector from Hungarian State Treasury;
data from the National Bank of Hungary (MNB)
other sources (surveys, administrative, soft information, etc.).
Information on frequency of data collections used by HCSO is available on HCSO’s website for current year (only in Hungarian): Data collections programme of HCSO (OSAP).
18.3. Data collection
National Accounts Department of HCSO does not collect data (except the economic information of the recognised churches) but receives them from other departments of HCSO or from other institutions.
Statistical data are collected from respondents using electronic tools. Businesses report via KSH-Elektra (electronic on-line application, available only in Hungarian), while households use mobile devices (laptop, PDA).
Majority of external data from other institution are received by HCSO via an application (KARÁT) (only in Hungarian).
HCSO usually has a written agreement and a technical protocol for cooperation with other institutions (e.g., with the National Bank of Hungary, the Ministry for National Economy, the Hungarian State Treasury, the National Tax Authority etc.) on the details of the data transmission (content, date etc.)
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 greater harmonisation of validation activities, including the definition of common standards, tools and support for implementation (see ESS validation website).
For data validation, HCSO provides metadata to Eurostat to support the validation process with respect to revisions and outliers.
Data source validation is conducted through multiple approaches:
completeness – detecting any missing data for specific variables or time periods,
accuracy – identifying anomalies such as unusually high, low, or unexpected values,
consistency – accounting consistency, frequency consistency between quarterly and annual accounts, consistency over time and consistency of prices,
additivity test – ensuring that the totals correspond to the sums of their components.
Main economic aggregates are estimated independently using different sources in Hungary. The final validation tool is the SUT framework, which is available within NAD for reference year at this time t+21.
18.5. Data compilation
Detailed information on data compilation can be found on the specific metadata pages of Hungary. Please also look for the specific metadata pages below.
The Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO) is responsible for compilation of the following NA domain and dataflows:
The National Bank of Hungary (MNB) is responsible for compilation of:
annual and quarterly financial accounts and balance sheets;
annual and quarterly government finance statistics data: 'main aggregates' quarterly financial government accounts and government debt;
pension entitlements in social insurance.
18.6. Adjustment
In the context of NA, adjustment can refer to the adjustment from primary sources/statistics to national accounts concepts (exhaustiveness adjustment), to the balancing process applied (macro and SUT), and to the seasonal adjustment.
In Hungary the production and expenditure approaches contribute to the estimation of exhaustiveness. The income approach to GDP is not an independent estimate, because net operating surplus and mixed income are estimated as residual items. Calculation of exhaustiveness items are made either at the income side (e.g. wages and salaries in kind and reimbursed costs) or at the production side (e.g. N6, N7 (tips and gratuity)) and these figures are recorded at the other side calculation (if it is necessary) as well. It provides the consistency between the two sides.
The next table shows type of exhaustiveness adjustment from different approaches of GDP in Hungarian NA:
Type of non-exhaustiveness
Production and income side of GDP
Expenditure side of GDP
P.1
P.2
B.1G
D.1
B.2G
B.3G
P.3_S.13
P.3_S14
P.3_S.15
P.51g
P.6
P.7
N1
x
x
x
x
N2
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
N3
x
x
x
x
x
x
N4
x
x
x
x
N5
x
x
x
x
x
N6
x
x
x
x
x
x
N7
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
(‘x’ is indicating where exhaustiveness adjustment was made)
where
N1 - Producer should have registered (underground producer)
N2 - Illegal producer
N3 - Producer not obliged to register
N4 - Registered legal person not included in statistics
N5 - Registered entrepreneur not included in statistics
N6 - Misreporting by producer
N7 - Non-response incorrectly handled or not all required data are asked
The main balancing procedure for national accounts is made within the annual SUT framework. Final SUT is compiled originally for t+33 months, but in the framework of the ‘Improvement of the GNI data’ grant project – with the introduction of a new tool, the Danish balancing instrument – HCSO sped up the balancing of SUT and integrate the result into the final NA compilation by t+21 months. Therefore, before SUT balance (at t+21 months), a macro balance is applied to eliminate the differences between the production side and expenditure side of GDP. The macro balance comes from the balancing process between the production and expenditure sides. The SUT balance is added after this first macro balance both production and expenditure sides too, and there is another macro balance in NA one year after SUT balance.
In the production side, the macro balance is divided into non-financial corporations (S11) and households (S14) sectors. Within the two sectors, it is distributed into industries at NACE 4-digit level according to their gross value added share. Finally, using the output per gross value added ratio of a given industry, the macro balance is split between output and intermediate consumption. As manufacturing has the highest GVA ratio among NACE sections, most of the macro balance is recorded there. As regards agriculture, no balancing is necessary, because agricultural accounts are based on price times quantity method, and are integrated consistently in the NA production and expenditure side estimations.
In the expenditure approach, the balance is split between household final consumption expenditure, gross fixed capital formation and changes in inventories. The household final consumption expenditure, the gross fixed capital formation and changes in inventories get balance according to the share of GDP (without balance). In cases when the amount of the balance is less than +/- 2.0 per cent of GDP the whole amount is accounted as changes in inventories.
In addition to aligning primary sources with national accounts standards, another crucial aspect is seasonal adjustment by quarterly data level. Its primary goal is to identify and remove seasonal fluctuations and calendar effects which can mask short and long-term movements in a time series and can impede a clear understanding of underlying phenomena. Seasonal adjustment is therefore a fundamental process in interpreting time series to support policy making (ESS guidelines on seasonal adjustment, 2024 Edition, Annex, point 1).
According to current practice, HCSO uses TRAMO/SEATS method implemented in JDemetra+ v.2.2.0 software and mainly manual modelling for seasonally and calendar adjustment and reconciliation of unadjusted time series. The model is identified annually, and parameters are estimated quarterly. A direct approach is used to calculate aggregates. During seasonal adjustment, the following types of outliers are identified based on tests and relevant expert information: additive outlier, temporary change and level shift. Working day and leap year effects, as well as moving holidays, are tested annually and Hungarian specific calendar is applied.
Finally, seasonally adjusted NA data are reconciled for publication to the unadjusted annual totals or the calendar adjusted totals.
The current guideline explains the background and key characteristics of seasonal adjustment methodology used by HCSO: About seasonally adjustment
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, use and input-output tables, regional accounts, government finance statistics and pension entitlements.
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.
In Hungary two institutes, the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO) and the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) responsible for compilation of Hungarian national accounts and for NA data transmission to Eurostat in the framework of the ESA 2010 transmission programme (Annex B). Eurostat publish them, after validation, in its online database.
Following a mid-term review, an amended ESA 2010 Transmission Programme entered into force in April 2023, introducing some changes in transmission requirements from 1 September 2024 onwards.
At national level, the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO) is responsible for compilation of:
annual and quarterly national accounts: 'main aggregates';
annual and quarterly non-financial sector accounts;
annual non-financial balance sheets;
supply, use and input-output tables;
regional breakdowns of main national accounts variables and household accounts;
industry breakdowns of main national accounts variables;
industry by asset breakdowns: stocks and transactions;
detailed data on taxes, social contributions and government expenditure by function;
annual and quarterly NA related employment variables;
and the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) is responsible for compilation of:
annual and quarterly financial accounts and balance sheets,
annual and quarterly government finance statistics data: 'main aggregates' quarterly financial government accounts and government debt,
pension entitlements in social insurance.
The datasets are described in more detail in the domain specific metadata.
22 October 2025
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 and income generated) and the flows of goods and services (output, imports, exports, final consumption, intermediate consumption and capital formation by product group). In input-output tables, these variables are broken down either by industry (NACE Rev. 2) or product (CPA 2014).
ESA 2010 also encompasses concepts of population and employment. Such concepts are relevant for the sector accounts and the detailed breakdown of main GDP aggregates by industry.
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.
Hungarian National Accounts is fully aligned with the ESA 2010 methodology and concepts.
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.
In most cases legal unit is the statistical unit in the production accounts in Hungary. The terms “legal unit” and “enterprise” are used as synonyms and refers to only one legal unit. Consequently, the term “enterprise” does not mean what is stated in the Council regulation (EEC) No 696/93 of March 1993. Enterprises with several activities are classified in NACE according to their principal activity, which is the activity that contributes most to the gross value added that the enterprise generates. Thus, the NACE classification of an enterprise refers to its principal activity. For the institutional unit, the enterprise is used as a proxy in the calculation process of NA. The only exceptions are the budgetary institutions. They report the cost of activities at a detailed activity level, which provides an opportunity to record within the institutional unit primary and secondary activities separately.
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 Hungary.
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).
The reference period for Hungarian input-output tables is the calendar year from December 2025.
The accuracy of the national accounts depends on the quality of data of other statistical activities used as input. The accuracy of input data from statistical activities is monitored. Data is periodically revised and the differences between the new and old versions in each round of revision are analysed. Information about the latest revisions and the effect of changes are usually available in our annual publication called Hungary’s national accounts, YYYY (second preliminary data), which is used to be published once a year connecting to the annual ‘Report on quality of Hungarian GNI’, at the end of September. The latest publication can be found here: Hungary’s national accounts, 2024 (second preliminary data)
(Link to archives of ‘Hungary’s national accounts ,YYYY’ publications.)
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 Hungarian national currency, in Hungarian forint. 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.
Detailed information on data compilation can be found on the specific metadata pages of Hungary. Please also look for the specific metadata pages below.
The Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO) is responsible for compilation of the following NA domain and dataflows:
The National Bank of Hungary (MNB) is responsible for compilation of:
annual and quarterly financial accounts and balance sheets;
annual and quarterly government finance statistics data: 'main aggregates' quarterly financial government accounts and government debt;
pension entitlements in social insurance.
Sources used for national accounts estimations are own data collections of HCSO and administrative data takeover from other government offices and institutions.
National accounts department and data collector departments of HCSO regularly discuss the yearly National Statistical Data Collection Programme (OSAP) and the contents and specifications of surveys to have the necessary detailed data for the national accounts estimations.
HCSO has bilateral agreements with institutions which collect statistics in their own fields of work and with holders of administrative data collections (records, registers, databases, etc.) on statistical cooperation are signed. More than 10 signed agreements exist between HCSO and other public data providers, of which data are used for national accounts purposes.
The major data sources for National Accounts in Hungary are the following:
data from different statistical data collections carried out by HCSO (for example business or foreign trade statistics, household budget survey etc.)
taxation data from National Tax Authority (NAV);
data on Government sector from Hungarian State Treasury;
data from the National Bank of Hungary (MNB)
other sources (surveys, administrative, soft information, etc.).
The transmission requirements for each dataset are defined in the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010 transmission programme).
In Hungary new quarterly national and sector accounts data are published each quarter: 4 times per year. In Hungary - in line with the EU requirements - quarterly national accounts data are disseminated in each quarter by t+30 days (Flash GDP), by t+2 months (GDP main aggregates and components) and t+85 days (as part of quarterly NFSA). In case of revision of the annual data quarterly data are reconciled to the annual data and disseminated (at the end of March and September).
Results of flash employment estimation by t+45 days (both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted) are not published but transmitted to Eurostat for compilation of EU total aggregates.
Annual national account data are disseminated three time in a year: once as a sum of the 4 quarters at t+2 months; the second is at t+3 months connecting to NFSA and first EDP, then the third is the first annual regular publication at t+9 months (second EDP).
Annual sector accounts are disseminated twice a year, at the end of March and September.
Regional national accounts are disseminated ones a year, at the end of December.
SUT and IOT are disseminated ones a year, in December.
National accounts data should be made available to users as timely as possible, considering the data frequency (annual or quarterly), the character of the data (structural information or conjuncture developments) and ensuring an adequate balance between accuracy and timeliness.
Member States should transmit national accounts data to Eurostat upon national publication and/or in line with the deadlines specified in the transmission programme of the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010).
The ESA 2010 transmission programme defines the required timeliness for all national accounts tables, see the overview of tables on p.63.
The geographical comparability of national accounts across EU Member States is generally ensured by the application of common definitions set out in the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010). Worldwide geographical comparison is also possible as most non-European countries apply the SNA 2008 guidelines, and ESA 2010 is consistent with SNA 2008.
Since data for all reference periods are compiled in accordance with the requirements of 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.
The coherence between the assessed annual and quarterly statistics submitted by Hungary is very high. Hungarian national accounts data are compiled for years and quarters.
National accounts data are generally available from 1995 and 1995Q1 without any breaks in the series.
Regional data are available from 2000; quarterly non-financial sector accounts starts from 1999Q1; geographical breakdown of external trade data (fixed composition) available from 2008 and 2008Q1. Time series at previous year prices are starting one year later than the same at current prices.
