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.
P.O. Box 24500, 2490 HA The Hague, The Netherlands
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Not applicable.
2.1. Metadata last certified
14 August 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
14 August 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
14 August 2025
3.1. Data description
Regional accounts are a regional specification of the corresponding accounts of the national economy. They provide a regional breakdown for key variables according to the definitions and guidelines of the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010), such as gross value added (GVA) and household income.
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.
In line with the Eurostat data transmission programme (ESA 2010 TP), data transmitted to Eurostat are compiled annually in three tables:
T1001 (NUTS-2 and NUTS-3 by NACE Rev.2-A*10): gross value added at current and previous year prices, total employment, employees and self-employed (persons) and population.
T1002 (NUTS-2 by NACE Rev.2-A*10): compensation of employees, gross fixed capital formation, total employment, employees and self-employed (hours worked).
T1300 (NUTS-2, household account): operating surplus and mixed income net, compensation of employees, property income (credit and debit), balance of primary incomes net/national income net, social benefits, other current transfers, current taxes on income and wealth, net social contributions, other current transfers (debit), disposable income net.
On our national website (StatLine), regional data are available at the same level of detail as transmitted to Eurostat.
For Eurostat, data are compiled and transmitted using the requested NUTS-3 regional classification, which is maintained consistently over time.
Separately, on our national website, additional data are published at a subdivision of NUTS-3 level covering 53 regions, including the Extra-regio. These detailed regional data are not transmitted to Eurostat.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Regional accounts describe the total economy of a country. All units that have their center of predominant economic interest in the economic territory of that country are covered.
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 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.
Except for some very rare cases, the number of employees is used to distribute gross value added of each (large) KAU over the regions concerned, irrespective of the actual activities executed in each local KAU.
3.6. Statistical population
The definition of regional accounts population is in line with the annual national accounts population, and chapter 11 of ESA 2010.
The national accounts population consists of all resident statistical units (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.
All resident statistical units are captured through registration in the Statistical Business Register (SBR), supported by administrative data (e.g. tax records, data from the Chambers of Commerce). This system ensures annual updating and comprehensive coverage of the business population.
Consistent with the domestic concept, persons employed in resident units are included, regardless of age or where the person is resident. All persons engaged in a productive activity, within the production boundary of national accounts, should be covered (this includes conscripts, people living in collective households, seasonal and cross-border workers etc).
Informal and illegal activities such as prostitution, illegal drugs trade and maintenance of dwellings are also included in the employment figures by way of estimation. Various methods are used to derive employment estimates per activity from the income generated by illegal and informal activities.
To obtain per capita figures, the population at the end of the year is adopted.
3.7. Reference area
The reference area for national accounts is the total economy of a country. The total economy of a country can be broken down into regions. The NUTS classification provides a single, uniform breakdown of the economic territory of the Member States of the EU.
The delimitation of the Dutch economic territory and the designation of residents are in conformity with the definitions given in ESA 2010, sections 2.04 to 2.11 inclusive.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of four parts:
The Netherlands, that is the territory of the Kingdom in Europe plus Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba as special municipalities;
Curaçao;
St. Maarten;
Aruba.
While a number of matters subject to the authority of the Kingdom, such as defence and foreign relations, are regulated jointly, the four parts enjoy complete autonomy with regard to other ‘national’ matters.
The Dutch economic territory does not encompass Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba. This is confirmed in Commission Regulation (EC) No 109/2005 of 24 January 2005 on the definition of the economic territory of Member States for the purpose of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1287/2003 on the harmonisation of gross national income at market prices. In this regulation is stated that the territory of the Netherlands encompasses ‘the territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with exception of the overseas countries and territories over which it exercises sovereignty, as defined in Annex II of the Treaty establishing the European Community’. In this Annex II Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles are stated.
There are no free trade areas within the Dutch territory. The value added in bonded warehouses, as a result, for instance, of storage and duty-free sales at airports, is included in GDP.
The Dutch section of the continental shelf is regarded as part of the economic area of the Netherlands. The extraction of oil and gas that takes place in this area is thus included in Dutch employment figures. Inclusion in the statistics is based on the grant of an operating licence.
Territorial enclaves as defined in ESA 2010, section 2.05, relate in particular to Dutch embassies and some barrack areas in NATO partner countries or other countries. Extra-territorial enclaves as defined in ESA 2010, section 2.06, include foreign embassies and consulates and establishments of organisations such as the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Dutch Reactor Centre, ESTEC, EUROCONTROL, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the International Criminal Court and the NATO.
The Netherlands does not have any deposits situated in international waters outside the Dutch part of the continental shelf that are exploited by resident units.
A point worth mentioning is that, in the province of Noord-Brabant, there are about 30 small Belgian areas that together form the municipality of Baarle-Hertog. These areas in turn enclose two small enclaves, which form part of the Dutch municipality of Baarle-Nassau.
3.8. Coverage - Time
The time series extend over several decades with benchmark revisions conducted in key years (e.g. 2001, 2010, 2015 and 2021). As required by the ESA 2010 transmission programme data starts in 2000. European aggregates are calculated starting in 2000.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Data are expressed in million euro for both current and previous year’s prices. Total employment, employees and self-emploed is measured in thousand of persons and hours worked.
The reference period is consistently based on the calendar year. When input data sources deviate (for example, some surveys or administrative data), conversion and alignment procedures are applied to adjust all figures to the calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
In addition to EU regulations (Council Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013on the European system of national and regional accounts in the European Union (OJ L 174, 26 June 2013) as amended by Council Regulation (EU) 2023/734 of 15 March 2023), the production of regional data is governed by the Wet op het Centraal bureau voor de statistiek (Statistics Netherlands Act). The Act defines the tasks, responsibilities, and principles for conducting statistical activities, including the collection and compilation of regional data.
Data sharing is carried out under formal cooperation agreements—most notably between Statistics Netherlands and the Dutch Central Bank—and in accordance with EU frameworks for official statistics.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics, and the access to these 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).
Statistics Netherlands endorses the European Statistics Code of Practice for statistical authorities and puts this code into practice.
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 such 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.
Regional accounts data are anonymized and processed securely. Access is limited to authorized personnel and any data sharing (e.g. with Eurostat or academic researchers) is subject to strict conditions. Regional accounts transmissions to Eurostat are flagged if needed to protect confidentiality.
8.1. Release calendar
Regional accounts publications are not announced through a release calendar, though they are published at regular intervals, see section 9.
8.2. Release calendar access
Release calendars should be easily available and accessible for users, e.g. by publication on the website of an NSI.
There are no restrictions; all users have equal access to the regional accounts data as published online.
The regional accounts release cycle has two publication dates each year:
In April, a preliminary release of the regional GDP growth rate of reporting year t-1 is published on our national data website (StatLine). The growth rate corresponds to the first estimate of t-1 based on the updated quarterly national accounts. This release only includes regional GDP growth rates which are available at NUTS level 1, 2 and 3. This dataset is also (partly) published in the online article ‘De Regionale Economie’ and used as input for various articles in this publication.
In December, the full set of regional figures is published and transmitted to Eurostat, which also contains figures of the year t-2 and labour data. The set released in December includes GDP values and volume changes for t-1 as well as several labour statistics such as Full Time Equivalent (fte) jobs, employed persons and hours worked. Furthermore, t-2 includes additional variables such as production, intermediate consumption and not product-related taxes and subsidies. Self-employed data at t-2 is provisional, t-3 contains final self-employed data.
The most detailed regional subdivision of both t-1 and t-2 is the NUTS 3 level. Data of t-1 are provisional and correspond to the provisional year of the national accounts. Likewise, the data of t-2 are final and correspond to the national account data with the final status. In contrast to the data of t-2, the regional data of t-1 has no subdivision of industries. For t-2 the regional data are available for 21 industries (NACE sections).
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
No.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
The annual online article De Regionale Economie includes preliminary regional data and analysis for certain regions.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
Please consult the Statline section of the Statistics Netherlands website under Regional accounts for regional accounts data.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Regional data with more industry detail are available for research under strict confidentiality protocols following approval procedures.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Not applicable.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
Documentation on the compilation of regional data is available in Dutch only at Regional Accounts methodology.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
The importance of national accounts requires that documentation should be available on the procedures applied for quality management and quality assessment. Examples of such documentation are national accounts quality reports, quality studies, and reports on revision analysis.
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, such as ex-ante (source statistics), ongoing (results), ex-post (methods used) and external checks (Eurostat, European or national Court of Auditors, IMF).
Statistics Netherlands (CBS) mission is to publish reliable and coherent statistical information that meets society’s needs. A prerequisite of this mission is that the quality of this statistical information is guaranteed, for which CBS has set up a quality management system, based on the highest international standards. This will allow CBS to remain one of the leading statistical institutes in this respect, without imposing complex and complicated quality systems. CBS’s Quality Statement specifies the way in which these quality standards are met.
Regional accounts are compiled starting from the national accounts figures, ensuring that the sum of regional data equals the national totals. Any imperfections in the national figures are subsequently reflected in the regional results.
The accuracy, timeliness, and completeness of regional accounts are evaluated through multi-stage validation procedures, including automated tests in the regionalization of the data and in-depth analyses by independent experts.
ESA 2010 data transmissions are subject to regular quality assessment reviews. Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 (ESA 2010 Regulation) specifies that the data covered by that Regulation is subject to the quality criteria, namely relevance, accuracy, timeliness and punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability and coherence, as set out in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Member States are to provide the Commission with a report on the quality of the transmitted data on national and regional accounts. The modalities, structure, periodicity and assessment indicators of the quality reports on data transmitted have been specified in a Commission Implementing Regulation 2016/2304 of 19 December 2016. The implementation of the quality reporting and assessment exercise started in 2017 and is carried out annually. As part of the annual exercise, Eurostat assesses the results, prepares and publishes an overall assessment based on the national quality reports and other available information.
The Commission also, on a 5 year basis, reports to the European Parliament and the Council on the application of the ESA 2010 Regulation, including the quality of data on national and regional accounts. The first of such reports was published in 2018. The latest report was published in 2023.
User needs are identified through ongoing consultations, surveys, and feedback mechanisms with key stakeholders (e.g. policymakers, academic researchers, and the public).
The major users of the CBS national accounts data are the Dutch Central Bank and the Netherlands Bureau of Economic Policy Analysis.
The main contact with users of National Accounts is organized through user councils, e.g. the User Council for Macro-economic Statistics, comprising of representatives of Ministries, Central Bank, Universities and Researchers. The Council meets twice a year.
12.3. Completeness
Completeness rates of data transmissions are assessed in annual quality reports. Regional accounts data transmitted to Eurostat fully complies with the ESA 2010 transmission programme.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Statistics Netherlands uses quality indicators—such as discrepancy levels after balancing and benchmark revision adjustments—to monitor overall accuracy.
Regional data are produced with a high degree of accuracy and are methodologically consistent across all NUTS levels.
In addition, Eurostat is performing an annual assessment of the accuracy regarding country data reported to Eurostat under ESA 2010 transmission programme (Quality report).
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
National accounts data should become available to users as timely as possible, taking into account the frequency of the data (annual or quarterly), the character of the data (information on the structure of an economy or on conjuncture developments) and an adequate balance between accuracy and timeliness.
Regional accounts data is transmitted to Eurostat upon national publication and/or in line with the deadlines specified in the transmission programme of the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010).
14.2. Punctuality
All transmissions have met the legal deadline in recent years.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Comparability is maintained by strictly following Eurostat guidelines for the definition of the economic territory.
As the data for all reference periods are compiled according to the requirements of the ESA 2010, regional accounts data are generally comparable over time. Previously published data back to 1995 are updated with each benchmark revision.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Within the system of national accounts, there is full consistency between the domains: annual and quarterly national accounts, government accounts, sector accounts, financial accounts, regional accounts, supply and use tables. Regional accounts ensure that the method of regionalization reflects economic reality as accurately as possible and that the totals are consistent with other systems of national accounts.
15.4. Coherence - internal
See section 15.3 (Coherence - cross domain).
Producing the regional accounts data for the national accounts is resource intensive. The Regional Accounts team is a separate section in the department of national accounts involved in the compilation of annual regional data and many other activities. The work also includes quality management, pursuing methodological improvements and contributions to publications.
17.1. Data revision - policy
National accounts data are subject to continuous revisions as new input data become available. They are called routine revisions and entail regular revisions of the source data.
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.
The revision policy adheres to the Harmonised European Revision Policy (HERP).
17.2. Data revision - practice
Revisions are conducted systematically, which include corrections for data source updates and methodological refinements. Detailed documentation on the scope and impact of revisions (including any breaks in time series) is provided in accompanying technical reports.
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 organizations, annual and quarterly reports, trade statistics on goods and services, balance of payments information.
There is no single survey source for national accounts.
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).
Regional accounts are usually compiled on an annual basis. The frequency of data collection of primary statistics varies according to the nature of the data source. For example, regionalized labor accounts data are a combination of data from the monthly micro-datasets on job level derived from the integral Employees’ Register of the Employee Insurance Agency and the Statistics on regional Employment and Earnings that use, among others, a survey to determine the individual job location to the level of ‘municipality’.
The frequency and timing of the compilation of regional accounts are not necessary aligned with the frequency and timing of (all) primary statistics data collections.
18.3. Data collection
Regional data is mostly collected via primary data sources as described in section 18.1. Techniques of data collection vary depending on the compilation approach, the source statistics available, the particular component of the data, the timeliness of data release and other factors.
Regional accounts ensure that the method of regionalization reflects economic reality as accurately as possible and that the totals are consistent with other systems of national accounts.
18.4. Data validation
Data validation refers to any activity aimed at verifying that the value of a data item comes from a given set of acceptable values. It is a key task performed in all statistical domains and particularly important for national accounts, which is a key dataset for economic analysis and policy decisions.
Source data are processed in a dedicated system that performs automated checks and generates reports of anomalies. Outliers are detected automatically and reviewed by experts, who document any findings, corrections, and decisions. Industries are rechecked after corrections to ensure completeness.
Additionally, Eurostat applies a wide variety of validation checks. Errors found (including those flagged by Eurostat) are corrected and fully documented.
Compiling regional data is done as part of the system of regional accounts. It is an integration framework within which the different sources are confronted with each other. The data from the various sources are corrected for differences in concepts and reference dates, among other things.
18.6. Adjustment
Adjustments for non-exhaustiveness (e.g. for underground or illegal activities), price gains, and other methodological refinements are systematically applied.
No comments
Regional accounts are a regional specification of the corresponding accounts of the national economy. They provide a regional breakdown for key variables according to the definitions and guidelines of the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010), such as gross value added (GVA) and household income.
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.
In line with the Eurostat data transmission programme (ESA 2010 TP), data transmitted to Eurostat are compiled annually in three tables:
T1001 (NUTS-2 and NUTS-3 by NACE Rev.2-A*10): gross value added at current and previous year prices, total employment, employees and self-employed (persons) and population.
T1002 (NUTS-2 by NACE Rev.2-A*10): compensation of employees, gross fixed capital formation, total employment, employees and self-employed (hours worked).
T1300 (NUTS-2, household account): operating surplus and mixed income net, compensation of employees, property income (credit and debit), balance of primary incomes net/national income net, social benefits, other current transfers, current taxes on income and wealth, net social contributions, other current transfers (debit), disposable income net.
On our national website (StatLine), regional data are available at the same level of detail as transmitted to Eurostat.
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 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.
Except for some very rare cases, the number of employees is used to distribute gross value added of each (large) KAU over the regions concerned, irrespective of the actual activities executed in each local KAU.
The definition of regional accounts population is in line with the annual national accounts population, and chapter 11 of ESA 2010.
The national accounts population consists of all resident statistical units (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.
All resident statistical units are captured through registration in the Statistical Business Register (SBR), supported by administrative data (e.g. tax records, data from the Chambers of Commerce). This system ensures annual updating and comprehensive coverage of the business population.
Consistent with the domestic concept, persons employed in resident units are included, regardless of age or where the person is resident. All persons engaged in a productive activity, within the production boundary of national accounts, should be covered (this includes conscripts, people living in collective households, seasonal and cross-border workers etc).
Informal and illegal activities such as prostitution, illegal drugs trade and maintenance of dwellings are also included in the employment figures by way of estimation. Various methods are used to derive employment estimates per activity from the income generated by illegal and informal activities.
To obtain per capita figures, the population at the end of the year is adopted.
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 delimitation of the Dutch economic territory and the designation of residents are in conformity with the definitions given in ESA 2010, sections 2.04 to 2.11 inclusive.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of four parts:
The Netherlands, that is the territory of the Kingdom in Europe plus Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba as special municipalities;
Curaçao;
St. Maarten;
Aruba.
While a number of matters subject to the authority of the Kingdom, such as defence and foreign relations, are regulated jointly, the four parts enjoy complete autonomy with regard to other ‘national’ matters.
The Dutch economic territory does not encompass Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba. This is confirmed in Commission Regulation (EC) No 109/2005 of 24 January 2005 on the definition of the economic territory of Member States for the purpose of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1287/2003 on the harmonisation of gross national income at market prices. In this regulation is stated that the territory of the Netherlands encompasses ‘the territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with exception of the overseas countries and territories over which it exercises sovereignty, as defined in Annex II of the Treaty establishing the European Community’. In this Annex II Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles are stated.
There are no free trade areas within the Dutch territory. The value added in bonded warehouses, as a result, for instance, of storage and duty-free sales at airports, is included in GDP.
The Dutch section of the continental shelf is regarded as part of the economic area of the Netherlands. The extraction of oil and gas that takes place in this area is thus included in Dutch employment figures. Inclusion in the statistics is based on the grant of an operating licence.
Territorial enclaves as defined in ESA 2010, section 2.05, relate in particular to Dutch embassies and some barrack areas in NATO partner countries or other countries. Extra-territorial enclaves as defined in ESA 2010, section 2.06, include foreign embassies and consulates and establishments of organisations such as the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Dutch Reactor Centre, ESTEC, EUROCONTROL, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the International Criminal Court and the NATO.
The Netherlands does not have any deposits situated in international waters outside the Dutch part of the continental shelf that are exploited by resident units.
A point worth mentioning is that, in the province of Noord-Brabant, there are about 30 small Belgian areas that together form the municipality of Baarle-Hertog. These areas in turn enclose two small enclaves, which form part of the Dutch municipality of Baarle-Nassau.
The reference period is consistently based on the calendar year. When input data sources deviate (for example, some surveys or administrative data), conversion and alignment procedures are applied to adjust all figures to the calendar year.
Statistics Netherlands uses quality indicators—such as discrepancy levels after balancing and benchmark revision adjustments—to monitor overall accuracy.
Regional data are produced with a high degree of accuracy and are methodologically consistent across all NUTS levels.
In addition, Eurostat is performing an annual assessment of the accuracy regarding country data reported to Eurostat under ESA 2010 transmission programme (Quality report).
Data are expressed in million euro for both current and previous year’s prices. Total employment, employees and self-emploed is measured in thousand of persons and hours worked.
Compiling regional data is done as part of the system of regional accounts. It is an integration framework within which the different sources are confronted with each other. The data from the various sources are corrected for differences in concepts and reference dates, among other things.
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 organizations, annual and quarterly reports, trade statistics on goods and services, balance of payments information.
There is no single survey source for national accounts.
Overall, it is difficult to be exhaustive in the listing of data sources. Inventories provided to Eurostat usually include information on main sources (see section 10.6).
The regional accounts release cycle has two publication dates each year:
In April, a preliminary release of the regional GDP growth rate of reporting year t-1 is published on our national data website (StatLine). The growth rate corresponds to the first estimate of t-1 based on the updated quarterly national accounts. This release only includes regional GDP growth rates which are available at NUTS level 1, 2 and 3. This dataset is also (partly) published in the online article ‘De Regionale Economie’ and used as input for various articles in this publication.
In December, the full set of regional figures is published and transmitted to Eurostat, which also contains figures of the year t-2 and labour data. The set released in December includes GDP values and volume changes for t-1 as well as several labour statistics such as Full Time Equivalent (fte) jobs, employed persons and hours worked. Furthermore, t-2 includes additional variables such as production, intermediate consumption and not product-related taxes and subsidies. Self-employed data at t-2 is provisional, t-3 contains final self-employed data.
The most detailed regional subdivision of both t-1 and t-2 is the NUTS 3 level. Data of t-1 are provisional and correspond to the provisional year of the national accounts. Likewise, the data of t-2 are final and correspond to the national account data with the final status. In contrast to the data of t-2, the regional data of t-1 has no subdivision of industries. For t-2 the regional data are available for 21 industries (NACE sections).
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 (information on the structure of an economy or on conjuncture developments) and an adequate balance between accuracy and timeliness.
Regional accounts data is transmitted to Eurostat upon national publication and/or in line with the deadlines specified in the transmission programme of the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010).
Comparability is maintained by strictly following Eurostat guidelines for the definition of the economic territory.
As the data for all reference periods are compiled according to the requirements of the ESA 2010, regional accounts data are generally comparable over time. Previously published data back to 1995 are updated with each benchmark revision.
