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 in Latvia are produced by the Macroeconomic Statistics Department. There are six sections in the department:
Annual National Accounts Section is responsible for annual main aggregates, annual non-financial sector accounts, regional accounts, supply and use, input-output tables
Quarterly National Accounts Section is responsible for quarterly main aggregates and quarterly non-financial sector accounts
Government Finance Section is responsible for the preparation of EDP notification, estimation of the general government non-financial and financial accounts and government debt
Foreign Trade Statistics Section is responsible for statistics on foreign trade of goods
Producer Price Indices Section is responsible for statistics on producer price indices
Consumer Price Indices Section is responsible for statistics on consumer price indices
Latvijas Banka is responsible for the compilation of Balance of Payments statistics.
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia
1, Lāčplēša Street
Riga, LV-1010
LATVIA
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
11 November 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
12 April 2019
2.3. Metadata last update
11 November 2025
3.1. Data description
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 Eurobase, countries' data are presented following the usual data structure.
At national level in Eurobase, data are commonly available for:
annual and quarterly national accounts: 'main aggregates'.
annual and quarterly sector accounts.
annual financial accounts and balance sheets.
annual non-financial balance sheets.
supply, use and input-output tables.
annual and quarterly government finance statistics data: 'main aggregates', quarterly financial government accounts and government debt.
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.
pension entitlements in social insurance.
All the datasets sent to Eurostat by Latvia are published in the national database.
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 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:
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.
At the national database of Latvia, quarterly output, intermediate consumption and value-added are published at NACE Rev.2 A*20 (A, BCDE, BDE, C, F, GHI, G, H, I, J, K, L, MNS, MN, OPQ, O, P, Q, R, RST).
Quarterly sector accounts are published for S.1, S.13 and S.2 only.
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 2.1). 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.
The Latvian data apply all concepts and definitions of ESA 2010.
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.
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 European Union's Member States.
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 standard length of the Latvian National Accounts time series begins in 1995.
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 Regulation (EU) 2023/734. 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.
Latvia currently uses 2020 as the reference year for compiling chain-linked volumes (for annual and quarterly national accounts). 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.
There are differences in the Latvian national accounts time series for the years 1995-2013, published in Eurobase in national currency and euros. This is due to the different Euro exchange rate used. As per the agreement with Eurostat, all transmissions after the official date of the changeover to the Euro (for Latvia January 1, 2014) was reported in "Euro-fixed" terms – dividing the whole time series in old national currency by the fixed conversion rate to the Euro. The Euro-fixed series becomes the "National Currency" for all future transmissions of data relating to the period before the changeover to the Euro. The series in "Euro-fixed" had the same growth rates as the one expressed in old national currency. Eurostat applied the floating Euro exchange rates to historic series to calculate "Euro-variable" based data. Both series coincide for years after accession to the euro area but differ for earlier years due to market exchange rate movements.
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. 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 blue book on 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 and amendment).
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.
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.
On the Eurostat website, sections 'National accounts' and 'Government finance and EDP', more legal acts relevant for national accounts can be found.
The ESA 2010 Regulation stipulates that the quality of national and regional accounts data sent to Eurostat are 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).
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.
The CSB of Latvia is a leading statistical institution implementing functional subordination over other statistical institutions in the field of production of official statistics, providing methodological guidelines, overseeing that the production process of official statistics complies with the provisions of the respective legal acts, as well as by issuing orders that are required to produce official statistics.
Mutual agreements on the exchange of statistical information are signed between the CSB of Latvia and other statistical data-producing agencies, such as the Central Bank and the Ministry of Agriculture, among others. The CSB has also signed bilateral agreements with state bodies that maintain the most important administrative registers and information systems, such as the Tax Register and the Population Register. These agreements are updated on a regular basis.
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).
Sections 17 and 19 of the Statistics Law provide that the CSB of Latvia cannot publish, or otherwise make available to any individual or organisation, statistics that would enable the identification of data of any individual person or entity
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.
The CSB of Latvia provides a publication calendar on the Official Statistics Portal (Advanced Dissemination Calendar). The release calendar usually covers the full calendar year, and all planned national accounts news releases are included.
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.
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.
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 news releases are published on the Official statistics portal of Latvia in accordance with the data release calendar. The release calendar does not cover AdHoc press releases, which are also possible and are available only on the website.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
In addition to news releases, national accounts data may be disseminated in other publications, such as statistical papers, yearbooks, internal and external articles. Usually this concerns publications in which more in-depth analysis is carried out.
Annually, a section on national accounts is included in the Statistical yearbook, latest addition 2024 (in parallel languages – Latvian and English) as well as its short version “Latvia. Statistics in Brief.’ 2024 edition.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
In order to enable easy access to national accounts data, all validated national accounts data should be made available to users by publishing them in an online database.
The portal uses a search engine, where users can type a keyword or select specific themes.
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.
Information on national accounts is also posted in social media – in both CSB’s accounts in x.com/CSB_Latvia (in English) and x.com/CSP_Latvija (in Latvian) as well as on Facebook (@CSPlatvija) and in the LinkedIn account of the CSB.
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.
CSB of Latvia is using the EU level documentation on methodology.
The country-specific inventories:
GNI inventory (of which Chapter 1 is available for the general public) and
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.
The CSB prepares Quality Reports on selected statistical domains (including National Accounts) in accordance with the EU requirements. Quality Reports provide internal and external data users with detailed information on the quality of the data compiled and describe the processing stages of statistical products.
Eurostat provides methodological validation of GNI data and EDP data. If the data are not methodologically correct, Eurostat puts action points and gives reservations on the data.
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 ESA 2010 Regulation stipulates that the quality of national and regional accounts data sent to Eurostat are 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). Each year, in accordance with Article 4(2) of the ESA 2010 Regulation, Member States report on the quality of national and regional accounts data sent to Eurostat. Based on their national quality reports, Eurostat prepares an overall assessment in accordance with Article 4(4).
The CSB of Latvia prepares Quality Reports on selected statistical domains (including National Accounts) in accordance with the EU requirements. Quality Reports provide internal and external data users with detailed information on the quality of the data compiled and describe the processing stages of statistical products.
Validation, output and consistency checks are performed regularly.
Eurostat provides methodological validation of GNI data and EDP data. If the data are not methodologically correct, Eurostat puts action points and gives reservations on the data.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
The national practice could be reported, for example by providing a link to the national quality report delivered by Eurostat or other nationally released quality reports (or providing a summary description of its content).
Validation, output and consistency checks are performed regularly.
The CSB of Latvia prepares Quality Reports on selected statistical domains (including National Accounts) in accordance with the EU requirements. Quality Reports provide internal and external data users with detailed information on the quality of the data compiled and describe the processing stages of statistical products. Eurostat provides methodological validation of GNI data and EDP data. If the data are not methodologically correct, Eurostat issues action points and provides reservations regarding the data.
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 the national level, ministries of finance and regional development, scientific and academic communities, and economic researchers are the entities that most frequently use national and regional accounts data.
In Latvia, the needs and potential for data production are discussed with users during the annual compilation process of the Official Statistics Programme (in Latvian only).
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Views and opinions of users of national accounts statistics can be collected and analysed as one of the tools to 'measure' the relevance of national accounts data.
At the CSB of Latvia, a specific survey to assess user satisfaction with national accounts data has not been conducted.
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 26 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.
In 2024, the overall completeness rate of Latvian National Accounts data as required by ESA 2010 Transmission Programme was high. Completeness was improved for the National Accounts Main Aggregates tables.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Latvia has developed revision triangles for selected GDP time series from production and expenditure approaches. The revision triangles are available starting with Q2 2014 for quarterly and 2014 annual data. Triangles include information on historical time series, year-on-year growth rates and quarter-on-quarter growth rates for seasonally adjusted data. The files are regularly updated when newer reference periods become available.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
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 end of each quarter. The annual tables must be transmitted between 2 months (for main aggregates) and 36 months (for supply and use tables) after the end of the reference year.
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).
In 2024, Latvia's punctuality was high. All required main aggregate tables were transmitted by the legal deadlines, except for T2200A+9, which was delayed by one day.
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.
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.
There are no data breaks in the time series of Latvian national accounts data.
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. The 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.
15.4. Coherence - internal
See section 15.3 (Coherence - cross domain).
Not available.
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.
Latvia, in principle, adheres to the amended harmonised European revision policy agreed by the CMFB in June 2017. For more detailed information regarding revisions in national accounts, please refer to the Revision policy guidelines of the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia.
The last benchmark revision of annual GDP and related aggregates was carried out in 2024.
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 assessments on the average size of revisions and their direction based on historical data, is required.
Information on the main reasons for Latvia's national accounts data revisions is available on the Official Statistics Portal, in the Metadata section.
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).
The main data sources used to compile Latvia's GNI data are described in the GNI inventory (Chapter 1 is available to the general public), and the sources used for quarterly GDP are described in the QNA Inventory.
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 departments typically receive/collect information in relation to their compilation schedule, i.e. for their annual or quarterly estimates.
Data collection in Latvia is usually organised via:
(i) an internal Work Plan, which is renewed on an annual basis and determines cooperation between different statistical departments on data sharing;
(ii) a signed agreement and technical protocol for cooperation with other institutions on what, when, how, etc., the data would be delivered (see point 6.2);
(iii) participation of Macroeconomic Statistics Department 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 integration of data from different sources is an integral part of compiling national accounts. Source data used in national accounts undergo a sequence of checks within NSIs.
For the validation of national accounts data, Latvia applies validation rules and provides metadata to support the Eurostat validation process, including revisions and outliers.
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 Latvia can be summarised as follows:
The production approach is the main approach used to estimate GDP in Latvia. In the income approach, operating surplus and income are computed only as balancing items. The balancing process in the SUT framework obtains the consistency between the Expenditure approach and the Production approach.
National accounts datasets are generally consistent.
For related information, see also sections 10.6. and 17.1.
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, 2024 Edition).
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 Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia uses a model-based seasonal adjustment procedure TRAMO/SEATS implemented in the software JDemetra+ (version 2.2.3). TRAMO/SEATS is one of the methods recommended by Eurostat for seasonal adjustment. All time-series are directly adjusted, which means that the QNA aggregate and each of its components are seasonally adjusted separately. QNA seasonally adjusted series are published at both current prices and chain-linked volumes.
The seasonal adjustment method was changed during the last benchmark revision in September 2024. Because quarterly GDP time series are considered long (lasting longer than 15 years), seasonally adjusting them can be challenging due to the numerous factors that can change over a prolonged period. You may get incomplete results if you adjust the entire time series simultaneously. It was decided to divide the time series into sub-time series. Partitioning improves seasonal adjustment model fitting and statistical analysis. Dividing time series into parts can help analyse periods' peculiarities more precisely and identify structural changes.
No comments.
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 Eurobase, countries' data are presented following the usual data structure.
At national level in Eurobase, data are commonly available for:
annual and quarterly national accounts: 'main aggregates'.
annual and quarterly sector accounts.
annual financial accounts and balance sheets.
annual non-financial balance sheets.
supply, use and input-output tables.
annual and quarterly government finance statistics data: 'main aggregates', quarterly financial government accounts and government debt.
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.
pension entitlements in social insurance.
All the datasets sent to Eurostat by Latvia are published in the national database.
11 November 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 2.1). 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.
The Latvian data apply all concepts and definitions of ESA 2010.
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.
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 European Union's Member States.
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).
Latvia has developed revision triangles for selected GDP time series from production and expenditure approaches. The revision triangles are available starting with Q2 2014 for quarterly and 2014 annual data. Triangles include information on historical time series, year-on-year growth rates and quarter-on-quarter growth rates for seasonally adjusted data. The files are regularly updated when newer reference periods become available.
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.
There are differences in the Latvian national accounts time series for the years 1995-2013, published in Eurobase in national currency and euros. This is due to the different Euro exchange rate used. As per the agreement with Eurostat, all transmissions after the official date of the changeover to the Euro (for Latvia January 1, 2014) was reported in "Euro-fixed" terms – dividing the whole time series in old national currency by the fixed conversion rate to the Euro. The Euro-fixed series becomes the "National Currency" for all future transmissions of data relating to the period before the changeover to the Euro. The series in "Euro-fixed" had the same growth rates as the one expressed in old national currency. Eurostat applied the floating Euro exchange rates to historic series to calculate "Euro-variable" based data. Both series coincide for years after accession to the euro area but differ for earlier years due to market exchange rate movements.
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 Latvia can be summarised as follows:
The production approach is the main approach used to estimate GDP in Latvia. In the income approach, operating surplus and income are computed only as balancing items. The balancing process in the SUT framework obtains the consistency between the Expenditure approach and the Production approach.
National accounts datasets are generally consistent.
For related information, see also sections 10.6. and 17.1.
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).
The main data sources used to compile Latvia's GNI data are described in the GNI inventory (Chapter 1 is available to the general public), and the sources used for quarterly GDP are described in the QNA Inventory.
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 end of each quarter. The annual tables must be transmitted between 2 months (for main aggregates) and 36 months (for supply and use tables) after the end of the reference year.
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.
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.
There are no data breaks in the time series of Latvian national accounts data.
