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.
Regional accounts are a regional specification of the corresponding accounts of the national economy. They provide a regional breakdown for key variables, such as gross value added (GVA) and household income.
Transmitted series are available at NUTS 2 and NUTS 3 level:
Gross Domestic Product (at current prices and at previous year prices)
Gross Value Added (at current prices and at previous year prices) by industry Employment (in persons and in hours worked) by industry
Compensation of employees by industry
Gross fixed capital formation by industry
Household accounts by region (allocation of primary income account and the secondary distribution of income account) is available at (NUTS level 2).
Nationally, data features are available at a more detailed regional level.
Overall, regional accounts use the same concepts as national accounts. However, due to conceptual and measurement limitations at regional level, the following gaps exist:
regional accounts are not calculated for the expenditure approach,
the available industry breakdown is more limited than at national level,
the only accounts available by sector are household accounts.
More about Finland's national classifications can be found under Classification groups.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Regional accounts describe the total economy of a country, but at a regional level.
Household sector accounts use the same concepts and definitions as the household sector accounts of national accounts. Regional household accounts deviate from national accounts in that they include profits from sale of property,
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
Regional accounts are based on national accounts concepts and are compiled in accordance with the statistical principles and definitions set out in the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010).
Comprehensive guidance on the underlying concepts, data sources, and compilation methodologies is provided in the 2013 edition of the Eurostat Manual on Regional Accounts Methods.
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:
institutional unit;
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 latter type 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 Rec.2.
An institutional unit comprises one or more local KAUs; a local KAU belongs to one and only one institutional unit.
Finland applies 1) an institutional unit in sector accounts, 2) an establishment that corresponds to a local KAU, used in production accounts, investments and in supply and use tables.
Regional accounts use both an establishment and an institutional unit as the statistical unit. The statistical unit used in the regional accounts of production and employment is an establishment for which a unique residence and industry can be found.
The statistical unit used in the regional accounts of households, on the other hand, is an institutional unit, i.e. a household. A household is a uniregional institutional unit allocated to the region in which it has its centre of predominant economic interest.
3.6. Statistical population
The national accounts population of a country consists of all resident statistical units (institutional units or local KAUs, see Section Statistical Unit). 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 statistical population of regional accounts is the same as in national accounts. The statistical population covers all local statistical units. A unit is a resident local unit when it has a principal activity in a region of the country in question. In addition, regional accounts include the activity of the separate extraregio territory.
The average annual population in regional accounts is a 12 month average.
3.7. Reference area
The total economy of Finland is divided into regions. The NUTS classification is a single, uniform breakdown of the economic territory of the member states of the EU.
In regional accounts the concept of a region is based on the division into municipalities as used in the latest statistical year of regional accounts and the related classification of sub-regional units, regions and major regions. In addition the regional accounts contain extraregio territories that do not belong to municipalities.
There are five NUTS 2 regions and twenty NUTS 3 regions in Finland.
3.8. Coverage - Time
The current time series of regional accounts is published from 2000 onwards. The archives contain data from 1975 onwards in terms of production accounts and from 1995 onwards in terms of regional household accounts.
Data cover the reference period from 2000 to the actual calendar year minus 1 year (t-1) for total GVA, population and employment.
For other variables, it is calendar year minus 2 years (t-2).
3.9. Base period
The concept of 'base period' is not applied in national accounts. Instead, for some national accounts variables the concepts of previous year prices and chain-linked volumes are applied, as stipulated in Commission Decision 98/715/EC. Expressing variables at the prices of the previous year allows the calculation of volume indices between the current time period and the previous year. After a reference period is chosen as a benchmark, volume indices can be chain-linked and then applied to variables at current prices of the benchmark year. This generates volume estimates for any period of observation.
Finland currently uses 2015 as reference year for the compilation of chain-linked volumes.
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.
Regional data are expressed in million euro for both current and previous year’s prices. Total employment, employees and self-employed data are measured in thousands of persons and hours worked.
The reference period to be used for presenting regional accounts data is the calendar year.
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).
a methodology (Annex A) on common standards, definitions, classifications and accounting rules that shall be used for compiling accounts and tables on comparable bases
a programme of data transmission (Annex B) setting out the time limits by which Member States shall transmit to Eurostat the accounts and tables
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).
Regional accounts data is transmitted to Eurostat, and via Eurostat to other international organisations.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics 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).
The data protection principles of Statistics Finland are described at: Data protection
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.
All Finnish regional accounts data (available on the database) are released for public use and marked as free.
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 release calendar lists in advance all the statistical data and publications to be released over the year. The statistical data are released on the Internet at 8 am, unless otherwise indicated. The calendar is updated on weekdays. The release calendar for next year is published in December each year.
The release calendar of regional accounts is available at Future releases.
8.2. Release calendar access
Release calendar is available and accessible for users.
8.3. Release policy - user access
In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice (Principle 6 on impartiality and objectivity, Principle 13 on timeliness and punctuality and Principle 15 on accessibility and clarity), regional accounts data that meet the quality standards, including relevant metadata, should be made available to users. Users should be informed when the data become available and how they can be accessed.
All data are published and transmitted to Eurostat always when they become updated. Data are published both as a statistical release and as a statistical database update.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
A news release is issued at the time of publishing new data. Publications.
New statistical data are published in Statistics Finland's Internet service as basic statistical publications, i.e. statistics-specific publications, and database updates.
StatFin online service contains the following tables for regional accounts (as at October 2025):
The national documentation is partly available in English.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
The documentation on the procedures applied for quality management and quality assessment is available.
11.1. Quality assurance
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, Finland reports 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).
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 quality criteria and practices of Statistics Finland are described at Quality Criteria.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
See point 11.1.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Regional 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.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Statistics Finland regularly follows up and reports of the reactions of the media.
There is a permanent National Accounts Co-operation group (skt-ryhmä). It consists of experts from the main economic forecasting institutions in Finland, Board of Customs’ statistical unit, ministry of finance, Bank of Finland and Helsinki University, and national accounts and balance of payments experts of Statistics Finland. The group meets twice a year to discuss recent or future changes in the data or methodology, or other current issues.
There may be occasional questionnaires for the users of Regional Accounts to follow up the user needs.
12.3. Completeness
In Finland, national accounts cover the domains national accounts main aggregates, government accounts, sector accounts regional accounts and supply, use and input-output tables.
The ESA 2010 transmission programme, consisting of a set 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.
Completeness of Finland's regional accounts data is very high.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
The data are based on the data of national accounts. Regionalisation often relies on the same basic statistics as national accounts. Not all data needed for the calculations is available regionally, which is why indicator-based calculations are sometimes necessary. The more necessary it is to rely on methods other than a pure bottom-up method, the more uncertainty the data involve.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable. Regional accounts consist of aggregated data.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable. Regional accounts consist of aggregated data.
14.1. Timeliness
Regional accounts data become available to users as timely as possible, taking into account the adequate balance between accuracy and timeliness.
The ESA 2010 transmission programme defines the required timeliness for all national accounts tables.
Time of publication, t + 12 months after the reference year, for NUTS 2 data for total Value Added, total employment and population and at t + 24 months, for all the other data.
14.2. Punctuality
Released on the pre-announced date and transmitted to Eurostat complying with the legal deadlines.
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. Comparability between regions is ensured by application of the NUTS classification. 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, regional 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.
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, use and input-output tables. However, in practice full consistency may not always be possible and temporary discrepancies might occur. They are usually the result of vintage differences. Specifically, supply, use, and input-output tables are generally not updated after each revision of main GDP aggregates.
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.
The discrepancies between national accounts domains concern only the latest periods and are due to vintage (different timing of the calculations).
15.4. Coherence - internal
See section 15.3 (Coherence - cross domain).
Not available.
17.1. Data revision - policy
Statistics Finland implements all recommendations included in the Harmonised European Revision Policy (HERP).
Regional, and 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.
Relevant documentation of the revisions can be found on each statistics web page under ’Revisions in these statistics'
The latest benchmark routine in Finland occurred in 2024. In the benchmark routine, the national accounts time series was revised from 2010 to 2023.
Regional accounts are benchmarked following the national accounts benchmark revision.
17.2. Data revision - practice
While revisions should be seen as a process to progressively improve the quality of national accounts as e.g. better sources and/or methods become available, the availability of metadata on revisions is a key element for understanding national accounts data and revisions between subsequent releases.
Therefore, information on the main reasons for revisions and their nature (new source data available, new methods, etc.) as well as possibly quantitative and qualitative assessment on the average size of revisions and their direction based on historical data is required.
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.
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 at Statistical data
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Regional accounts are usually compiled on an annual 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).
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.
In Finland, regional accounts receives data from other Statistics Finland's departments and from other national institutions.
Data sources are described in methodological inventories of the statistics, see point 10.6.
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 an integral part of the regional accounts compilation in Finland. Source data undergo a sequence of validity checks at Statistics Finland.
Data is validated also by Eurostat upon receiving the transmitted data.
18.5. Data compilation
When compiling regional accounts, the same statistical concepts and definitions used in national accounts are applied. Both regional and national accounts rely on largely the same data sources and produce fully consistent results, as regional outcomes are always aligned with national aggregates.
Some regional accounting methods make use of national accounts data, which are typically derived from a wider range of detailed sources than those available for regional compilation. Data on Gross Value Added (GVA) and Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) in regional accounts are produced using both top-down and bottom-up approaches.
Compensation of employees is defined as the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable by an employer to the employee in return for work done by the latter during the accounting period. In regional household accounts compensation of employees is calculated for regions according to the location of the household.
Compensation of employees is broken down into:
wages and salaries: wages and salaries in cash; wages and salaries in kind
employers' social contributions: employers actual social contributions; employers imputed social contributions.
18.6. Adjustment
Adjustments to all the regional accounts time series is done by automatically balancing the regional accounts data with the national accounts data. This is ensured at the time of release of new regional accounts data.
No comments.
Regional accounts are a regional specification of the corresponding accounts of the national economy. They provide a regional breakdown for key variables, such as gross value added (GVA) and household income.
Transmitted series are available at NUTS 2 and NUTS 3 level:
Gross Domestic Product (at current prices and at previous year prices)
Gross Value Added (at current prices and at previous year prices) by industry Employment (in persons and in hours worked) by industry
Compensation of employees by industry
Gross fixed capital formation by industry
Household accounts by region (allocation of primary income account and the secondary distribution of income account) is available at (NUTS level 2).
Nationally, data features are available at a more detailed regional level.
Overall, regional accounts use the same concepts as national accounts. However, due to conceptual and measurement limitations at regional level, the following gaps exist:
regional accounts are not calculated for the expenditure approach,
the available industry breakdown is more limited than at national level,
the only accounts available by sector are household accounts.
29 December 2025
Regional accounts are based on national accounts concepts and are compiled in accordance with the statistical principles and definitions set out in the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010).
Comprehensive guidance on the underlying concepts, data sources, and compilation methodologies is provided in the 2013 edition of the Eurostat Manual on Regional Accounts Methods.
Following the ESA 2010 guidelines, in national accounts two types of units and two corresponding ways of subdividing the economy are used:
institutional unit;
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 latter type 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 Rec.2.
An institutional unit comprises one or more local KAUs; a local KAU belongs to one and only one institutional unit.
Finland applies 1) an institutional unit in sector accounts, 2) an establishment that corresponds to a local KAU, used in production accounts, investments and in supply and use tables.
Regional accounts use both an establishment and an institutional unit as the statistical unit. The statistical unit used in the regional accounts of production and employment is an establishment for which a unique residence and industry can be found.
The statistical unit used in the regional accounts of households, on the other hand, is an institutional unit, i.e. a household. A household is a uniregional institutional unit allocated to the region in which it has its centre of predominant economic interest.
The national accounts population of a country consists of all resident statistical units (institutional units or local KAUs, see Section Statistical Unit). 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 statistical population of regional accounts is the same as in national accounts. The statistical population covers all local statistical units. A unit is a resident local unit when it has a principal activity in a region of the country in question. In addition, regional accounts include the activity of the separate extraregio territory.
The average annual population in regional accounts is a 12 month average.
The total economy of Finland is divided into regions. The NUTS classification is a single, uniform breakdown of the economic territory of the member states of the EU.
In regional accounts the concept of a region is based on the division into municipalities as used in the latest statistical year of regional accounts and the related classification of sub-regional units, regions and major regions. In addition the regional accounts contain extraregio territories that do not belong to municipalities.
There are five NUTS 2 regions and twenty NUTS 3 regions in Finland.
The reference period to be used for presenting regional accounts data is the calendar year.
The data are based on the data of national accounts. Regionalisation often relies on the same basic statistics as national accounts. Not all data needed for the calculations is available regionally, which is why indicator-based calculations are sometimes necessary. The more necessary it is to rely on methods other than a pure bottom-up method, the more uncertainty the data involve.
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.
Regional data are expressed in million euro for both current and previous year’s prices. Total employment, employees and self-employed data are measured in thousands of persons and hours worked.
When compiling regional accounts, the same statistical concepts and definitions used in national accounts are applied. Both regional and national accounts rely on largely the same data sources and produce fully consistent results, as regional outcomes are always aligned with national aggregates.
Some regional accounting methods make use of national accounts data, which are typically derived from a wider range of detailed sources than those available for regional compilation. Data on Gross Value Added (GVA) and Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) in regional accounts are produced using both top-down and bottom-up approaches.
Compensation of employees is defined as the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable by an employer to the employee in return for work done by the latter during the accounting period. In regional household accounts compensation of employees is calculated for regions according to the location of the household.
Compensation of employees is broken down into:
wages and salaries: wages and salaries in cash; wages and salaries in kind
employers' social contributions: employers actual social contributions; employers imputed social contributions.
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.
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 at Statistical data
Annually, typically in November or in December.
All data are published and transmitted to Eurostat always when they become updated. Data are published both as a statistical release and as a statistical database update.
Regional accounts data become available to users as timely as possible, taking into account the adequate balance between accuracy and timeliness.
The ESA 2010 transmission programme defines the required timeliness for all national accounts tables.
Time of publication, t + 12 months after the reference year, for NUTS 2 data for total Value Added, total employment and population and at t + 24 months, for all the other data.
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. Comparability between regions is ensured by application of the NUTS classification. 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, regional 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.
