National Statistics Office (Malta)

National accounts are produced by different teams in four units and are organised in different domains:

• National Accounts Unit is responsible for main aggregates, non-financial accounts by institutional sector, supply and use, input-output tables
• Balance of Payments Unit is responsible for balance of payments statistics
• Public Finance Unit is responsible for government finance statistics, financial accounts by institutional sector, pension entitlements in social insurance
• Regional and Geospatial Unit is responsible for regional accounts

Main office:

National Statistics Office

Lascaris 
Valletta VLT 2000
Malta

Telephone: +356 25997000​

E-mail address: nso@gov.mt

Regional Office:

National Statistics Office

By the Bastion Road
Victoria VCT 2909
Gozo - Malta

Telephone: +356 25997700

E-mail address: gozo.nso@gov.mt

National accounts data concern all data produced and disseminated for an economy according to the definitions and guidelines of the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010).

National accounts provide data for the total economy, but may also include breakdowns of the total economy (into sectors, industries, products, regions, etc.). National accounts provide data for several domains:  annual and quarterly national accounts (main aggregates), sector accounts, financial accounts, supply and use and input-output tables, regional accounts and government finance statistics.

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, 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 and 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

The ESA 2010 provides a methodology on common standards, definitions, internationally harmonised classifications and accounting rules that are used for compiling national accounts on comparable bases.

The ESA 2010 defines classifications to be used for: institutional sectors, transactions in products, transactions in non-financial non-produced assets, distributive transactions, transactions in financial assets and liabilities, other changes in assets, balancing and net worth items, balance sheet entries, non-financial assets, financial assets and liabilities.

In addition, for several breakdowns ESA 2010 makes use of other classifications: NACE Rev. 2 for economic activities, CPA 2014 for products by economic activities, COFOG for the functions of government, COICOP for individual consumption by purpose, COPNI for classification of the purposes of non-profit institutions serving households, NUTS 2013 for regional breakdowns.

A full overview of classifications is available in:

- ESA 2010 Chapter 23 Classifications

- Eurostat's RAMON classification database

Country specific part:

Compilation of the supply and use tables for Malta is carried out for 128 products and 88 industries.  The products are easily aggregated into the two-digit Classification of Products by Activity (CPA) 2008.

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.

All statistical concepts and definitions to be used in national accounts are described in Annex A of the ESA 2010 Regulation (link to blue book on ESA2010 methodology). The two main sets of tables concern: (a) the institutional sector accounts; (b) the input-output framework, and the accounts by industry.

The sector accounts provide, by institutional sector, a systematic description of the different stages of the economic process: production, generation of income, distribution of income, redistribution of income, use of income and financial and nonfinancial accumulation. The sector accounts also include balance sheets to describe the stocks of assets, liabilities and net worth at the beginning and the end of the accounting period. The variables/concepts described in the sector accounts include transactions in products, transactions in non-produced non-financial assets, distributive transactions, transactions in financial assets and liabilities, other changes in assets, non-financial and financial assets and liabilities.

The input-output framework, through the supply and use tables, sets out in more detail the production process (cost structure, income generated and employment) and the flows of goods and services (output, imports, exports, final consumption, intermediate consumption and capital formation by product group). These variables are broken down by industry (NACE Rev. 2) and product (CPA 2014).

ESA 2010 also encompasses concepts of population and employment. Such concepts are relevant for the sector accounts, the accounts by industry and the supply and use framework.

Regional accounts provide regional breakdowns for major aggregates such as gross value added by industry, gross fixed capital formation and household income. Regional breakdowns are based on the NUTS classification. National accounts concepts are also used for regional accounts.

In addition Annex A of the ESA 2010 Regulation addresses and defines numerous other concepts and definitions, such as the definition of: statistical units and their groupings, flows and stocks, accounting rules (valuation, time of recording, consolidation and netting).  The main features and principles for the compilation of national accounts can be found in Chapter 1.

Following the ESA 2010 guidelines, in national accounts two types of units and two corresponding ways of subdividing the economy are used: (a) institutional unit; (b) local kind-of-activity unit (local KAU). The first type is used for describing income, expenditure and financial flows as well as balance sheets. The second type of units is used for the description of production processes, for input-output analysis and for regional analysis.

An institutional unit is an economic entity characterised by decision-making autonomy in the exercise of its principal function. A resident unit is regarded as constituting an institutional unit in the economic territory where it has its centre of predominant economic interest if it has decision-making autonomy and either keeps a complete set of accounts, or is able to compile a complete set of accounts.

A local KAU groups all the parts of an institutional unit in its capacity as producer which are located in a single site or in closely located sites, and which contribute to the performance of an activity at the class level (four digits) of the NACE Rev. 2.

An institutional unit comprises one or more local KAUs; a local KAU belongs to one and only one institutional unit.

Country specific part:

In Malta business accounts are generally available for entire enterprises, the enterprise being the smallest legally independent institutional unit.  The KAU concept is used in exceptional cases only for large enterprises which able to provide the basic data sources necessary for the compilation of  production, intermediate consumption, compensation of employees, operating surplus, employment and gross fixed capital formation.  In such cases legal units are split across industries. The concept of homogeneous units is not applied in Malta.

The national accounts population of a country consists of all resident statistical units (institutional units or local KAUs, see section 3.5). A unit is a resident unit of a country when it has a centre of predominant economic interest on the economic territory of that country, that is, when it engages for an extended period (one year or more) in economic activities on this territory.

National accounts are exhaustive. This means that all resident statistical units are covered.

The reference area for national accounts is the total economy of a country. The total economy of a country can be broken down into regions. The NUTS classification provides a single, uniform breakdown of the economic territory of the Member States of the EU.

Country specific part:

The reference area for national accounts is the total economy of a country. The total economy of a country can be broken down into regions. The NUTS classification provides a single, uniform breakdown of the economic territory of (the Member States of) the EU.

The nomenclature of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) provides a single, uniform breakdown of the economic territory of the EuropeanUnion. The NUTS is the territorial classification for the compilation of regional accounts. The economic territory of a country can be divided into regional territories and the extra-regio territory.  For the purpose of regional accounts, MALTA is divided as follows:

The regional territory includes the region that is part of the geographic territory of a country and any free zones, including bonded warehouses and factories under customs control in the region.  The extra-regio territory is made up of parts of the economic territory of a country that cannot be attached directly to a single region.

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. 

Country specific part:

Main aggregates:

• Table 101 “Gross value added at basic prices and gross domestic product at market prices” (GDP identity from the output side):  Annual data at current prices is available from 1995 onwards, Quarterly data at current prices is available from 2000 onwards (by derogation).  Data in previous years’ prices and chain-linked volumes is not yet available (by derogation).
• Table 102 “GDP identity from the expenditure side”: Annual data at current prices is available from 1995 onwards, Quarterly data at current prices, previous years’ prices and chain-linked volumes is available from 2000 onwards (by derogation).
• Table 103 “GDP identity from the income side”: Annual data at current prices is available from 1995 onwards, Quarterly data at current prices is available from 2000 onwards (by derogation).
• Table 110 “Population and employment”: Annual data is available from 1995 onwards. Quarterly data is available from 1995 onwards for population and 2000 onwards for employment (by derogation).
• Table 111 “Employment by industry”: Annual data is available from 1995 onwards. Quarterly data is available from 2000 onwards (by derogation).
• Table 117 “Final consumption expenditure of households by durability”: Annual data at current prices is available from 1995 onwards, Quarterly data at current prices, previous years’ prices and chain-linked volumes is available from 2000 onwards (by derogation).
• Tables 120/121 “Exports/Imports of goods (fob) and services by Member States of the EU / third countries”: Annual data at current prices is available from 1995 onwards, Quarterly data at current prices, previous years’ prices and chain-linked volumes is available from 2000 onwards (by derogation).

Non-financial accounts by sector: Annual dataare available for 2005 onwards for all sectors.  Malta is one of the countries whose GDP at current prices represents less than 1% of the corresponding EU total consequently quarterly non-financial accounts by sector are only obligatory for S.1, S.13 and S.2.  Quarterly data for S.1 and S.2 is available from 2000 onwards while that for S.13 is available from 1999 onwards.

Regional accounts are available from 2000 onwards at current prices.  Data in volume is not yet available (by derogation).

Supply and use, input-output tables: The supply and use tables (SUT) have been calculated for 2000, 2001, 2004, 2008 as per ESA 1995, and 2010 as per ESA 2010.  Input-output tables are available for 2010 as per ESA 2010. The supply and use tables of 2000, 2001 and 2004 are in available in NACE Rev 1.1 and those compiled for 2008 and 2010 are available in NACE Rev 2.  Thus, they are not directly comparable. 

Financial accounts and balance sheets:

The annual financial accounts and balance sheet data (Tables 6 and 7) are available from 2004 onwards, with a derogation that expires in 2017, when data will be available up to 1995. 

Government Finance Statistics:

• Table 2: Main Aggregates of the General Government Sector: Annual data available from 1995 onwards.
• Table 9: Detailed taxes and social contributions: Annual data available from 1995 onwards.
• Table 11: Expenditure of general government sector by COFOG: 1^st level data (division) available from 1995 onwards, while 2^nd level data (group) available from 2001 onwards.
• Table 27: Quarterly financial accounts for the general government sector: quarterly data is available from 2004Q1 onwards (by derogation).
• Table 28: Quarterly General Government Debt: quarterly data is available from 2000Q1 onwards.

Pension entitlements in social insurance:

The supplementary table 29 - Accrued-to-date pension entitlements in social insurance for 2015 shall compulsory be transmitted to Eurostat by the end of 2017.

The concept of 'base period' is not applied in national accounts. Instead, for some national accounts variables the concepts of previous year prices and chain-linked volumes are applied, as stipulated in Commission Decision 98/715/EC. Expressing variables at the prices of the previous year allows the calculation of volume indices between the current time period and the previous year. After a reference period is chosen as a benchmark, volume indices can be chain-linked and then applied to variables at current prices of the benchmark year. This generates volume estimates for any period of observation.

Country specific part:

Malta currently uses 2010 as reference year for the compilation of chain-linked volumes for annual and/or quarterly national accounts.  The method to compile quarterly chain-linked volumes is the annual overlap method.  The consistency check of price series (chain-linking formula) for validation (see also 18.4) is applicable for all periods for annual and quarterly unadjusted series, but not for seasonally adjusted series which are derived using direct adjustment technique (see also 18.6).

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.

Country specific part:

Flows and stocks are published in Euro.  Data for 1995 to 2007 is also published in Euro and may be converted to the former national currency i.e. the Maltese Lira to Euro using the fixed rate [LM1=€0.4293] for all years).

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).

National accounts are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010) which was published in the Official Journal as Annex A of Regulation (EU) No 549/2013. The ESA 2010 transmission programme is covered in Annex B

The ESA 2010 has the form of a Regulation and it provides for:

• a methodology (Annex A) on common standards, definitions, classifications and accounting rules that shall be used for compiling accounts and tables on comparable bases (link to blue book on ESA 2010 methodology);
• a programme of data transmission (Annex B) setting out the time limits by which Member States shall transmit to Eurostat the accounts and tables (link to ESA 2010 transmission programme).

Temporary derogations to the data transmission requirements have been granted to Member States, up to 2020, by the Commission Implementing Decision 2014/403/EU of 26 June 2014 thus allowing national data to deviate temporarily from the ESA 2010 transmission requirements.

Some other legal acts with relevance for national accounts concern:

- Commission Decision 98/715 of 30 November 1998 and Commission Decision 2002/990 of 17 December 2002 on measurement of price and volumes in national accounts.

- Legal act on the excessive deficit procedure

Several separate acts, often regarding classifications such as: NACE Rev.2, CPA 2014, COFOG, COICOP, NUTS 2013.

On the Eurostat website, sections 'National accounts'  and 'Government finance and EDP', more legal acts relevant for national accounts can be found.

Reference to main country specific legal acts and other legal agreements.

(This section should be limited to legal acts or legal agreements. Technical documents, e.g. on seasonal adjustment, are not properly speaking “agreements” concerned by this section 6.1. They should preferably be mentioned in section 10.6 “Documentation on methodology”.)

Country specific part:

The National Statistics Office (NSO) is Malta’s official national statistical agency.  It was established by order of the Malta Statistics Authority’s (MSA’s) Act XXIV of 2000.  Article 10 of this Act determines the functions and responsibilities of the Office, which include collection, compilation, extraction, and dissemination of official statistics in Malta.

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.

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).

Country specific part:

The National Statistics Office (NSO) is governed by the Malta Statistics Authority Act, 2000. In terms of the Malta Statistics Authority Act, Act XXIV of 2000, as amended by Act XXXII of 2007 and Legal Notices 426 of 2007 and 105 of 2008, Chapter 422, Part 1 Preliminary, “confidential data” means data obtained by the National Statistics Office for the production of official statistics when such data allows statistical units to be identified directly or indirectly, thereby disclosing individual information. All information supplied to the National Statistics Office is treated as strictly confidential. This information is used solely in the compilation of statistical reports. No information on individual returns can be given to any external public or private entity.

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.

Country specific part:

Confidentiality issues arise at NACE division level in Malta. Data is flagged subject to a minimum frequency count of 3 enterprises and a dominance rule of (2,80), in terms of turnover, where aggregated data is flagged if there are less than three contributors or the largest two contribute to more than 80% of the NACE division or section level . If data is transmitted to Eurostat with a confidentiality flag, these data are not disseminated until the confidentiality flag is removed in a subsequent data transmissions.

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.

Country specific part:

The NSO News Releases are covered by a pre-announced release calendar. Only in the occurrence of unforeseen circumstances, News Releases appearing in the NSO calendar are subject to deferral. National data become visible on Eurostat's online database usually one to two days after their reception (processing including quality monitoring).

Malta is also subscribed to the SDDS (Special Data Dissemination Standard), a monitored metadata standard, established by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) focusing on economic and financial indicators.  SDDS metadata about Malta may be accessed through the following link:

http://dsbb.imf.org/Pages/SDDS/CtyCtgList.aspx?ctycode=MLT

while information for any combination of countries and data categories on a quarter-ahead basis may be accessed here:

 http://dsbb.imf.org/Pages/SDDS/CustomizedQuery/ByARC.aspx.

Release calendars should be easily available and accessible for users, e.g. by publication on the website of an NSI.

Country specific part:

The News Release calendar is published on the official website of NSO:

http://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/Release_Calendar/Pages/News-Release-Calendar.aspx.

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.

Country specific part:

In line with the Malta Statistics Authority Act 2000 and the European Statistics Code of Practice, the National Statistics Office disseminates statistics on its official website respecting professional independence, objectivity, transparency in which all users are treated equitably. In fact, the mission of the office is to “to produce efficiently and with minimum burden on respondents high-quality statistics that are relevant, reliable and comparable, and to disseminate them in an impartial, independent and timely manner, making them available simultaneously to all users”. The news release calendar is made known to users at least three months in advance. In the case of SDDS, this is available four months in advance.

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.

Country specific part:

                                                   MAIN AGGREGATES 

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).

Country specific part:

National accounts news releases can be made available in hard copy and in electronic format on the website. The National Statistics Office publishes the following news releases associated with this domain.

1. Gross Domestic Product, https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_A1/National_Accounts/Pages/Gross-Domestic-Product.aspx
2. Non-Financial Accounts by institutional Sector, https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_A1/National_Accounts/Pages/Non-Financial-Accounts-by-Institutional-Sector.aspx
3. Regional Gross Domestic Product, https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_02/Regional_and_Geospatial_Statistics/Pages/Regional-Gross-Domestic-Product.aspx
4. Government Finance Statistics, https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_A2/Public_Finance/Pages/Government-Finance-Data.aspx
5. Quarterly Accounts for General Government, https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_A2/Public_Finance/Pages/Quarterly-Accounts-for-General-Government.aspx
6. Structure of General Government Debt, https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_A2/Public_Finance/Pages/General-Government-Balance-and-Debt-under-the-Maastricht-Treaty.aspx
7. General Government Balance and Debt under the Maastricht Treaty, https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_A2/Public_Finance/Pages/Structure-of-General-Government-Debt.aspx
8. Expenditure of General Government Sector by Function, https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_A2/Public_Finance/Pages/Expenditure-of-General-Government-Sector-by-Function.aspx
9. Government Expenditure on Social Security Benefits, https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_A2/Public_Finance/Pages/Government-Expenditure-on-Social-Security-Benefits.aspx
10. Social Protection Expenditure ESSPROS, https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_A2/Public_Finance/Pages/Social-Protection-Expenditure-ESSPROS.aspx
11. Tax revenues, https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_A2/Public_Finance/Pages/Tax-Revenues.aspx.
12. Research and Development in Malta, https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_A2/Public_Finance/Pages/Research-and-Development-in-Malta.aspx

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.

Country specific part:

Various publications relating to this domain are available.

National Accounts:

https://nso.gov.mt/en/publicatons/Publications_by_Unit/Pages/A1-National-Accounts.aspx

Regional and Geospatial:

https://nso.gov.mt/en/publicatons/Publications_by_Unit/Pages/02-Regional-and-Geospatial-Statistics.aspx

Public Finance: 

https://nso.gov.mt/en/publicatons/Publications_by_Unit/Pages/A2-Public-Finance.aspx

Sources and methods are available separately.

National Accounts: https://nso.gov.mt/en/nso/Sources_and_Methods/Unit_A1/National_Accounts/Pages/Gross-Domestic-Product.aspx

Regional and Geospatial: https://nso.gov.mt/en/nso/Sources_and_Methods/Unit_02/Regional_and_Geospatial_Statistics/Pages/Regional-Gross-Domestic-Product.aspx

Public Finance:  https://nso.gov.mt/en/nso/Sources_and_Methods/Unit_A2/Public_Finance/Pages/Council-Directive-852011.aspx

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.

Country specific part:

All news releases can be accessed for free from the NSO website.  Furthermore, users may downlad data from the online Statistical Database (StatDB) at http://nso.gov.mt/statdb/start.  However, the  StatDB does not provide access to all the data transmitted to Euorstat, thus users are often adviced to use Eurostat's website

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database.

Not applicable.

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.

Country specific part:

NSO makes use of Facebook and Twitter.

NSO 's Facebook posts can be accessed here: https://www.facebook.com/nsomalta

NSO's Twitter messages can be accessed here: https://twitter.com/NSOMALTA

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.

Country specific part:

Detailed documentation on methodology is accessible from the NSO (Malta)’s website in English as follows:

National Accounts: https://nso.gov.mt/en/nso/Sources_and_Methods/Unit_A1/National_Accounts/Pages/Gross-Domestic-Product.aspx

Including:

• A New Framework for National Accounts
• GNI Inventory
• Process Tables
• QNA Inventory

Regional and Geospatial: https://nso.gov.mt/en/nso/Sources_and_Methods/Unit_02/Regional_and_Geospatial_Statistics/Pages/Regional-Gross-Domestic-Product.aspx

Including:

• Regional GVA Inventory​

Public Finance:  https://nso.gov.mt/en/nso/Sources_and_Methods/Unit_A2/Public_Finance/Pages/Council-Directive-852011.aspx

Including: 

• Council Directive 85/2011
• ESSPROS
• Expenditure of General Government Sector by Function
• General Government Balance and Debt under the Maastricht Treaty
• Government Expenditure on Social Security Benefits
• Government Finance Data
• Quarterly Accounts for General Government
• Research and Development in Malta (Government Sector)
• Structure of General Government Debt
• Tax Revenues

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.

Country specific part:

Article 2(2) of the Council Regulation on the harmonisation of gross national income at market prices (1287/2003) stipulates that Member States forward to the Commission (Eurostat) figures for GNI and its components before 22 September each year.  Article 2(3) of this GNI Regulation further stipulates that at the same time a report on the quality of GNI data shall be transmitted.   The quality report is provided to Eurostat. Ad hoc questionnaires on specific issues are sent from time to time to all Member States by Eurostat.

During 2015, the Generic Statistical Business Process Model (GSBPM) which is an international standard that can be used to document any kind of official statistics business process, from the more traditional survey to the administrative data acquisition or to the statistical compilation has been compiled by all domains in NSO.  The GSBPM will be used for quality management and quality assessment in the near future.

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).

Country specific part:

The system of national accounts reflects a complete macroeconomic circuit. The procedure of balancing the gross domestic product may be considered central to a comprehensive system of quality assurance to accompany the process of compiling national accounts. Such a quality assurance approach distinguishes between ex-ante checks (source statistics), ongoing national accounts checks (results), ex-post checks on national accounts (methods used), and external checks and consultations (e.g. Eurostat, European Court of Auditors, IMF). Discussions with user representatives (Central Bank of Malta, Ministry for Finance) take place following each news release.

The national accounting system is based on harmonised European rules that are laid down in a legally binding form in the European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA 2010). In addition, they are explained in more detail in a large number of international methodology handbooks (e.g. for the compilation of quarterly national accounts or seasonal and calendar adjustment).

Ensuring exhaustiveness of gross domestic product (GDP) and gross national income (GNI) statistics has been a major goal of Maltese national accounting and a main concern of the European Commission and the GNI Committee in the process of harmonising national accounts at the European level. To this end, several measures have been adopted: supply and use tables’ reconciliation, reconciliation with the business register, and separate exhaustiveness checks in individual areas of national accounts. Based on these exhaustiveness checks, additional amounts are calculated, if required, for the areas affected by under coverage. These additional amounts are an integral part of national accounting; their sole purpose is to ensure exhaustiveness of GDP and GNI.

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).

Country specific part:

Prior publication and data transmission all variables are cross-checked against the original source data.  Checks are incorporated in the system such that any incoherence is highlighted and corrected prior dissemination.  These checks make sure that there is coherence between the assessed annual and quarterly statistics, and additivity were applicable. The data validation tools developed by Eurostat are also used prior transmission.

National accounts data provide key information for economic policy monitoring and decision making, for forecasting, for administrative purposes, for informing the general public about economic developments (directly or indirectly via news agencies), and as input for economic research.

At national level, ministries of finance and regional development, scientific and academic communities and economic researchers are usually the entities who most use national and regional accounts data. Please complete if appropriate.

The use of MS national accounts by international institutions should also be added here. International institutions can be considered as “clients” of NSI.

Country specific part:

National accounts data are a key instrument for economic analysis. The National Accounts Unit compiles and publishes free online quarterly sets of consistent, reliable and comparable macroeconomic accounts intended to meet the needs of government and private-sector analysts, policy makers and decision takers.

National users include the Central Bank of Malta, Ministry for Finance, Economic Policy Department, researchers, students, politicians, etc.  Foreign users include the European Commission, European Parliament, European Council, IMF, WB, International Agencies, Credit Rating Agencies, researchers, students, etc.                                                                  

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.

Country specific part:

In the first quarter of 2014, a user satisfaction survey was carried out by the National Statistics Office to measure the degree to which it meets its obligations towards its users. The first survey of this kind was held in 2002/3. Additionally, in 2007, the Office carried out a satisfaction survey among registered users of the NSO website. The results which were published in a dedicated news release, can be found at:

http://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_01/Methodology_and_Research/Pages/User-Satisfaction-Survey.aspx.

Results for the National Accounts Unit: 

• Quality of news releases: high/good (65.6%)
• Timeliness of news releases by domain: high/good (86.7%)
• Usefulness of news releases by domain: high/good (78.7%)
• Quality of requests by domain: high/good (53.7%)

In most countries national accounts cover the domains national accounts main aggregates, government accounts, sector accounts regional accounts and supply and use tables. However, the content of the data on these domains as well as the (details of the) various breakdowns (by region, sector, industry, product, etc.) may deviate per country, depending on national needs and available sources.

The ESA 2010 transmission programme, consisting of 22 tables across all national accounts domains (see section10.3) defines the minimum national accounts data set that must be available in all Member States of the EU.

Country specific part:

In 2016, the overall completeness of the Maltese National Accounts data as required by the ESA 2010 Transmission Programme was relatively high with the exception of Supply Use Input Output Tables.

For SUIOT, two mandatory tables 15 and 16 for year 2011 were entirely missing. There were also relatively high data gaps in some National Accounts Main Aggregates tables and Non-Financial Sector Accounts (at quarterly level there was a substantial amount of transactions missing for the Rest of the World sector). Malta envisaged some plans for reaching a full compliance in terms of completeness.

Even though voluntary data is not a subject of quality reporting, Eurostat acknowledges the provision of substantial information on voluntary basis. This holds particularly for GFS.

Country specific part:

Routine revisions in Malta may be significantly high when compared to other countries.  In fact smaller countries tend to have larger revisions.  The revisions shown below are progressively higher due to the fact that final annual data for 2011 and 2012 was already included in September 2014 when ESA 2010 compliant data was first published.  Users are kept up to date with information published in the methodological notes with each news release

*  News Release NR 195/2014

** News Release NR 093/2017

During beginning of December 2016, the following major routine revisions were carried out:

Structural Business Statistics Survey results for 2014 and gambling and betting activities were updated using published financial statements for the same year.  This led to an upward revision in gross domestic product (GDP) of €333.4 million and to €122.1 million in gross national income.

The Structural Business Statistics Survey results for 2014 covers mining and quarrying, manufacturing, waste management and remediation activities, construction, wholesale and retail trade, information and communication, part of real estate activities, professional, scientific, and technical activities, administrative and support services. The upward revision in gross value added (GVA) amounted approximately to €146.4 million for 2014 mainly due to new information covering a number of industries, namely in information and communications sector; in the professional, scientific, and technical activities sector; and in the wholesale and retail trade sector. Other activities which were revised upwards include manufacturing, construction, transportation and storage, and mining and quarrying.

The revised national accounts data for 2014 was also underpinned by the incorporation of final results from published financial statements covering gambling and betting activities which led to an upward revision of €187.0 million in GVA. Data for 2013 was also updated following new information which was not available at the time of the cut-off date of NR 163/2015. 

Data for 2015 and 2016 have been revised upwards accordingly but are still based on quarterly indicators rather than on finalised annual data.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

National accounts data should become available to users as timely as possible, taking into account the frequency of the data (annual or quarterly), the character of the data (info on the structure of an economy or on conjuncture developments) and an adequate balance between accuracy and timeliness.

The ESA 2010 transmission programme defines the required timeliness for all national accounts tables. Quarterly tables should become available between 2 and 3 months after the quarter-end. The annual tables have to be transmitted between 2 months (main aggregates) and 36 months (supply and use tables) after the end of the reference year.

Country specific part:

Main aggregates:

• Table 101 “Gross value added at basic prices and gross domestic product at market prices” (GDP identity from the output side):  Annual data at current prices is available from 1995 onwards, Quarterly data at current prices is available from 2000 onwards (by derogation).  Data in previous years’ prices and chain-linked volumes is not yet available (by derogation).  Data is available at t+70 (by derogation).
• Table 102 “GDP identity from the expenditure side”: Annual data at current prices is available from 1995 onwards, Quarterly data at current prices, previous years’ prices and chain-linked volumes is available from 2000 onwards (by derogation). Data is available at t+70 (by derogation).
• Table 103 “GDP identity from the income side”: Annual data at current prices is available from 1995 onwards, Quarterly data at current prices is available from 2000 onwards (by derogation). Data is available at t+70 (by derogation).
• Table 110 “Population and employment”: Annual data is available from 1995 onwards. Quarterly data is available from 1995 onwards for population and 2000 onwards for employment (by derogation). Data is available at t+70 (by derogation).
• Table 111 “Employment by industry”: Annual data is available from 1995 onwards. Quarterly data is available from 2000 onwards (by derogation). Data is available at t+70 (by derogation).
• Table 117 “Final consumption expenditure of households by durability”: Annual data at current prices is available from 1995 onwards, Quarterly data at current prices, previous years’ prices and chain-linked volumes is available from 2000 onwards (by derogation). Data is available at t+70 (by derogation).
• Tables 120/121 “Exports/Imports of goods (fob) and services by Member States of the EU / third countries”: Annual data at current prices is available from 1995 onwards, Quarterly data at current prices, previous years’ prices and chain-linked volumes is available from 2000 onwards (by derogation). Data is available at t+70 (by derogation).

Non-financial accounts by sector: Annual dataare available for 2005 onwards for all sectors.  Malta is one of the countries whose GDP at current prices represents less than 1% of the corresponding EU total consequently quarterly non-financial accounts by sector are only obligatory for S.1, S.13 and S.2.  Quarterly data for S.1 and S.2 is available from 2000 onwards while that for S.13 is available from 1999 onwards. Data is available at t+85 in case of quarterly data.  Annual data for S.13 is available at t+9, however, data for the other sectors is not always available at t+9.

Regional accounts are available from 2000 onwards at current prices.  Data in volume is not yet available (by derogation).  Data is available at t+12 rather than t+24 as required by the ESA transmission programme.

Supply and use, input-output tables: The supply and use tables (SUT) have been calculated for 2000, 2001, 2004, 2008 as per ESA 1995, and 2010 as per ESA 2010.  Input-output tables are available for 2010 as per ESA 2010. The supply and use tables of 2000, 2001 and 2004 are in available in NACE Rev 1.1 and those compiled for 2008 and 2010 are available in NACE Rev 2.  Thus, there are not directly comparable.  Data should be available at t+54 (by derogation), however, this deadline is not always met.

Financial accounts and balance sheets:

The annual financial accounts and balance sheet data (Tables 6 and 7) are available from 2004 onwards, with a derogation that expires in 2017, when data will be available up to 1995. 

Government Finance Statistics:

• Table 2: Main Aggregates of the General Government Sector: Annual data available from 1995 onwards.
• Table 9: Detailed taxes and social contributions: Annual data available from 1995 onwards.
• Table 11: Expenditure of general government sector by COFOG: 1^st level data (division) available from 1995 onwards, while 2^nd level data (group) available from 2001 onwards.
• Table 27: Quarterly financial accounts for the general government sector: quarterly data is available from 2004Q1 onwards (by derogation).
• Table 28: Quarterly General Government Debt: quarterly data is available from 2000Q1 onwards.

Pension entitlements in social insurance:

The supplementary table 29 - Accrued-to-date pension entitlements in social insurance for 2015 are compulsory transmitted to Eurostat by the end of 2017.

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). 

Country specific part:

The overall punctuality of the Maltese National Accounts data was high with the exception of SUIOT.

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.

Country specific part:

As the data for all reference periods are compiled according to the requirements of the ESA 2010 requirements, national accounts data are fully comparable over time with some exceptions.  These exceptions are highlighted in the methodological notes published with each news release.  In the data transmission programme of Eurostat they are marked with a flag (b  break).

Within the system of national accounts there is full consistency between the domains: annual and quarterly national accounts, government accounts, sector accounts, financial accounts, regional accounts, supply and use tables. However, in practice full consistency may not always be possible and temporary discrepancies might occur. They are usually the result of vintage differences.

Primary statistics like structural business statistics (SBS), short term statistics (STS) and labour force statistics (LFS) are widely used as input for national accounts. However, there is no full consistency between these statistical domains and national accounts. Main reasons are differences in concepts/definitions and in coverage. Balance of payments is also used as an important source for national accounts. The definitions and coverage of balance of payments, as defined in the BPM6 manual, are fully harmonised with those in ESA 2010. Therefore, balance of payments variables are in principle fully coherent with the corresponding national accounts variables.

Country specific part:

Coherence across domains is not always achieved.

The cut-off date for quarterly non-financial accounts for S.1 and S.2 is t+70 while that for S.13 is t+85.  Consequently some discrepancies may arise when comparing data across sectors.

Inconsistencies arise between quarterly and annual non-financial sector accounts for S.2.  These inconsistencies arise due to lack of co-ordination between national accounts and balance of payments compilers with respect to variables disclosed in the secondary distribution of income account onwards.  Moreover, there are issues highlighted which will be solved during a benchmark revision in order not to create a break in series in S.2.

Other inconsistencies arise between quarterly and annual accounts for financial and non-financial sector accounts which issues have not yet been solved.

GDP at NUTS 1 and 2 is coherent with the Regional GDP news release which presents data at NUTS 1, 2, and 3, only as at December of each year. GDP at NUTS 1 and 2 is revised on a quarterly basis thereafter, while Regional GDP news release is only updated in December.

See section 15.3 (Coherence - cross domain).

Not available.

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. 

Country specific part:

Currently, the National Accounts, Balance of Payments and Public Finance Unit do not have a common revision policy.  Important benchmark revisions are however co-ordinated.  These included the transition from NACE Rev 1.1 to NACE Rev 2, the ESA 1995 to ESA 2010 transition.

The National Accounts and Public Finance Unit co-ordinated the transition from NACE Rev 1.1 and NACE Rev 2 in 2011 for the whole time series between 1995 to 2011.  [The Balance of Payments Unit does not produce data by NACE and thus this transition did not have an impact on the compilation of Balance of Payments statistics] 

Subsequently, the three units co-ordinated the ESA 1995 to ESA 2010 and revision in September 2014.  The National Accounts and Public Finance Unit co-ordinated the transition from ESA 1995 to ESA 2010 for the whole time series between 1995 to 2014Q2 in September 2014.  Balance of Payments statistics were available up to 2004.  Transition items for 1995 to 2003 with respect to Balance of Payment statistics were not provided and had to be estimated by the National Accounts Unit.

As highlighted in the ‘Final report of the DMES task force on benchmark revision policy’, Public Finance Statistics keep updating the whole time series on a regular basis for EDP purposes.  Currently, National Accounts data is open as from 2011 onwards, thus revision in Public Finance Statistics prior to 2011 are not integrated in the national accounts series.  Similarly Balance of Payments statistics compilers are not obliged to provide the whole time series since 1995 as per ESA 2010 transmission programme in BPM 6. 

In the national accounts there are usually three frequencies at which data are revised backwards, namely quarterly, annually and benchmark revisions:

a) Every quarter: Data are revised for the previous quarters and the depth of the revision depends on the latest finalised supply and use tables (SUTs); all quarterly data are supported by revised annual data.

b) Every year: The depth of the revision depends on the latest finalised SUTs.

c) Benchmark revisions: These are major revisions aimed at incorporating major new data sources or methodological changes, or a change in what is being described.  These imply a full backward revision of all time periods.  These benchmark revisions are ideally carried out every five years, however, revisions resulting from reservations or other methodological changes may lead to an anticipation of such benchmark revisions.  

At present the first annual data for time t+70 days i.e. 70 days following the end of quarter by derogation.  These data are revised every quarter the depth of such revision depending on the latest finalised SUTs. 

In addition to the SUT balancing process, national accounts revisions may be caused by data re-assessment, as a result of changes to Business Register (BR) classification grossing up, internal methodological review, or changes to international standards.  These changes are normally explained to users in news releases and would normally have to be taken back as far as the beginning of the series depending on the type of revision involved.  However, these benchmark revisions only take place every five years.  Such benchmark revisions are sometimes anticipated due to the implementation of some new methodology e.g. NACE Rev. 22 or European System of Accounts (ESA) 2010.  

While revisions should be seen as a process to progressively improve the quality of national accounts as e.g. better sources and/or methods become available, the availability of metadata on revisions is a key element for understanding  national accounts data and revisions between subsequent releases.

Therefore, information on the main reasons for revisions and their nature (new source data available, new methods, etc.) as well as possibly quantitative and qualitative assessment on the average size of revisions and their direction based on historical data is required.

Country specific part:

National accounts data are subject to continuous routine revisions as new information from surveys, censuses, and administrative records become available.  This information is integrated annually usually in December. Routine revisions are not preannounced but information is published in the methodological notes with each news release.  Data transmitted to Eurostat will also include such information in the sender notes.

Benchmark revisions are generally pre-announced to the public in advance.

National and regional accounts compilation builds up on statistics that are primarily collected for other purposes (primary statistics).

It relies on a variety of data sources, including administrative data: car and business registers, accounting statements, tax data, budgetary reports, population censuses, statistical surveys of businesses and households, statements of supervising institutions and branch organisations, annual and quarterly reports, trade statistics on goods and services, balance of payments information.

There is no single survey source for national accounts. Sources vary from country to country and provide statistical information on a large set of economic, social, financial and environmental phenomena, which may not be strictly related to national accounts.

Sources and collection methods used in each country vary depending on the specific dataset.

Overall, it is difficult to be exhaustive in the listing of data sources. Inventories provided to Eurostat usually include information on main sources (see section 10.6). Further information on data sources can be found on the national websites.

Country specific part:

Information on source data is available in the GNI Inventory for Malta https://nso.gov.mt/en/nso/Sources_and_Methods/Unit_A1/National_Accounts/Documents/GNI_Inventory.pdf

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. Countries can provide a description of the time of receiving external data.

Country specific part:

National accounts departments typically receive/collect information in relation to their compilation schedule, i.e. for their annual or quarterly estimates.  More information is available in Chapter 10 of the GNI Inventory: [https://nso.gov.mt/en/nso/Sources_and_Methods/Unit_A1/National_Accounts/Documents/GNI_Inventory.pdf].

The data collection is very country specific and also varies according to the nature of the data source, e.g. administrative data, tax and car registers, surveys, accounting statements.  Guidance can be found in the Handbook of Recommended Practices for Questionnaire Development and Testing Methods in the ESS.

National accounts departments typically do not collect data themselves but receive them from other departments or institutions. Countries can provide a more detailed description of the channels by which external data are collected.

The ESS guidelines suggest that the methods used for data collection should be described. It can also be appropriate to complete the section with the following issues: (i) an NSI usually signs an agreement and technical protocol for cooperation with other institutions on what, when, how, etc. the data would be delivered; (ii) national accounts department also participates in the development of the questionnaires of statistical surveys of other departments.

Country specific part:

National accounts departments typically receive/collect information in relation to their compilation schedule, i.e. for their annual or quarterly estimates.  More information is available in Chapter 10 of the GNI Inventory: [https://nso.gov.mt/en/nso/Sources_and_Methods/Unit_A1/National_Accounts/Documents/GNI_Inventory.pdf].

Data validation refers to any activity aimed at verifying that the value of a data item comes from a given set of acceptable values. It is a key task performed in all statistical domains and particularly important for national accounts, which is a key dataset for economic analysis and policy decisions.

In order to increase overall data quality and workflow efficiency, the European Statistical System (ESS) is moving towards more harmonisation of validation activities including the definition of common standards, tools and support for implementation (see ESS validation website). National accounts are a pilot in this area. An ESA 2010 Task Force on validation was established in 2015 to agree and document validation rules in an ESA 2010 validation handbook and progressively implement them in a pre-validation service for national accounts data.

The confrontation of data from different sources is an integral part of the national accounts compilation. Source data used in national accounts undergo a sequence of checks within NSIs. For the validation of national accounts data, country X applies minimum validation rules agreed with Eurostat and provides metadata to support the validation process with respect to revisions and outliers. Further information on validation checks can be found on the website.

Country specific part:

The confrontation of data from different sources is an integral part of the national accounts compilation. Source data used in national accounts undergo a sequence of checks within NSIs. For the validation of national accounts data, Malta applies minimum validation rules agreed with Eurostat and provides metadata to support the validation process with respect to revisions and outliers.

The methodology used to check the data is typically that of comparing past trends, growth rates, and published data. Where possible data at company level is requested from the different units in order to be able to cross check figures so as to ensure consistency within the NSO. Additionally, the supply and use data (SUT) balancing exercise is carried out involving various comparisons, checks and analysis on the detailed product data received. Certain validation checks lead to investigations and subsequent changes affecting either product supply or product demand, and at times, value added.

Output and Income Approach:

The main variables of the output and generation of income accounts are grouped such that a visual analysis of the data for the whole time series being published is clearly visible. Gross value added (GVA) and compensation of employees are compared to past releases at 2-digit NACE and by quarter. Any significant revision is verified with source data and documented. Absolute changes in GVA and compensation of employees of +/- €1 million are cross checked with the basic data source and documented. A similar procedure is done for percentage changes in these variables. The intermediate consumption to output ratio for consecutive quarters and years is analysed at NACE Division level. This is typically consistent across years and thus an increase of +/-2% is generally verified with source data. The output approach is generally finalised one week prior to the release, however further checks are generally done given that the growth rate is derived from the output approach.

Expenditure Approach:

The main variables in the expenditure approach computed by the NA unit are the final consumption expenditure of households and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISHs) and gross capital formation (GCF). Household consumption expenditure is checked at COICOP 4-digit level and any revisions and absolute changes of +/- €2 million are rechecked. GFCF is particularly volatile and is therefore difficult to check. The extrapolation method used is generally verified and in case of sharp increases or decreases the import data at company level is checked.

Data sources, methods and compilation techniques are country specific, but should be employed in such a way that the definitions and concepts in ESA 2010 are met. Many guidance documents on general and specific national accounts compilation issues are available. See for more details section 10.6.

Key approaches and techniques for the compilation of national accounts in country X can be summarised as follows:

The leading approach(es) to compile GDP in the framework of annual national accounts in country X is/are the (production, expenditure/income) approach. Consistency is obtained via reconciliation/balancing process. Notably, changes in inventories and valuables or gross operating surplus and mixed income are derived as residuals. The same/another approach is used for the compilation of quarterly national accounts. Sector accounts are compiled after/together with main aggregates.

Countries can complete this section with a general description of the calculation of the data by domain listed in sections 3.1 and 10.6

National accounts datasets are generally consistent (list main exceptions/explanations).

For related information see also sections 10.6. and 17.1.

Country specific part:

Key approaches and techniques for the compilation of national accounts in Malta can be summarised as follows:

The leading approach to compile GDP in the framework of annual national accounts in Malta is the production approach. Consistency is obtained via reconciliation. Notably, changes in inventories and valuables or gross operating surplus and mixed income are derived as residuals. The same approach is used for the compilation of quarterly national accounts. Sector accounts are compiled after with main aggregates. A supply-use framework is used is used on an annual basis at t+54. When resources allow a supply-use framework is also used for the compilation of quarterly main aggregates, however, this is only used to identify errors between demand and supply and the goal is not to balance the SUT on a quarterly basis.

National accounts datasets are generally consistent with the exception of:

• The cut-off date for quarterly non-financial accounts for S.1 and S.2 is t+70 while that for S.13 is t+85.  Consequently some discrepancies may arise when comparing data across sectors.
• Inconsistencies arise between quarterly and annual non-financial sector accounts for S.2.  These inconsistencies arise due to lack of co-ordination between national accounts and balance of payments compilers with respect to variables disclosed in the secondary distribution of income account onwards.  Moreover, there are issues highlighted which will be solved during a benchmark revision in order not to create a break in series in S.2.
• Other inconsistencies arise between quarterly and annual accounts for financial and non-financial sector accounts which issues have not yet been solved.
• GDP at NUTS 1 and 2 is coherent with the Regional GDP news release which presents data at NUTS 1, 2, and 3, only as at December of each year. GDP at NUTS 1 and 2 is revised on a quarterly basis thereafter, while Regional GDP news release is only updated in December.

For related information see also sections 10.6. and 17.1.

The objectives of seasonal adjustment are to identify and remove seasonal fluctuations and calendar effects which can mask short and long-term movements in a time series and impede a clear understanding of underlying phenomena. Seasonal adjustment is therefore a fundamental process in the interpretation of time series to inform policy making (ESS guidelines on seasonal adjustment, 2015 Edition, Annex, point 1).

For selected sub-annual national accounts data, such as notably the quarterly main aggregates, time series are usually not only published in their unadjusted form, but also with various types of adjustment (e.g. seasonal, calendar, trend-cycle).

According to the ESA transmission programme, quarterly data are to be provided in non-seasonally adjusted form, as well as in seasonally adjusted form (including calendar adjustments, where relevant) except for previous year’s prices.

The provision of quarterly data that only include calendar adjustments is voluntary.

For sector accounts, seasonal adjustment (including calendar adjustments, where relevant) is compulsory for a limited set of series.

Country specific part:

Quarterly GDP time series are cleared from usual seasonal fluctuations and typical calendar effects. National Accounts compiles quarterly seasonally adjusted data in line with ESS guidelines on Seasonal Adjustment. Data is transmitted to Eurostat, but is not published nationally.  The adjusted data is available on the Eurostat’s database.

Seasonal adjustment is performed by the software JDemetra+ version 2.2.0. NSO applies model based method with two linked seasonal adjustment programs TRAMO (Time Series Regression with Arima Noise, Missing Observation and Outliers) and SEAT (Signal Extraction in Arima Time series). More information can be found in the JDemetra+ User Guide, Sylwia Grudkowska, 2015. The models are usually updated on an annual basis but this may not always be possible due to human resource constraints.  Moreover, there is no fixed quarter in which the annual analysis is done.

For quarterly national accounts, Malta the estimation of seasonally adjusted series generally includes calendar adjustments but these series are not benchmarked to annual data. Calendar adjustment is based on the Malta’s national holiday calendar.

The process of seasonal adjustment follows the recommendations of the ESS Guidelines of seasonal adjustments, Eurostat 2015. Automatic selection of a model and decomposition scheme is applied together with manual model selection for the important and problematic time series.

Seasonal adjusted series is available for:

Main aggregates:

• GDP output approach (series in current prices): Total Gross Domestic Products (GDP), Gross Value Added (GVA at A10 NACE rev.2 aggregation), Taxes and Subsidies on products.
• GDP expenditure approach components (series in current and real prices): Households Final Consumption Expenditure, NPISH, Government Collective and Individual Consumption, Export and Imports of Goods and Services, Gross Fixed Capital Formation by Investment Product (Pi6 product aggregation), Acquisition less Disposal of Valuables, Changes in Inventories inclusive of statistical discrepancy, Final consumption expenditure of households by durability.
• GDP Income approach components (series in current prices): Compensation of employees (at A10 NACE rev.2 aggregation), Gross operating surplus and mixed income, Taxes and Subsidies on production and imports, Wages and salaries (at A10 NACE rev.2 aggregation), Final consumption expenditure of households by durability (series in current and real prices).
• Total population, Total employees, Total self-employed, Total Unemployed
• Employees and Self Employed at A10 NACE rev.2 aggregation

The direct approach is performed for the three GDP approaches. To ensure consistency between the aggregate and components the discrepancy is appointed to the components’ time series which reveal seasonality for the output GDP approach.

Quarterly non-financial accounts:­ Compensation of employees, subsidies, property income, taxes on production and imports, disposable income, savings, capital transfers and net lending and borrowing.  The indirect approach is used for this dataset.

No comments.