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.
[IT1] National Institute of Statistics (Istat) (Italy)
1.2. Contact organisation unit
DIRECTORATE FOR NATIONAL ACCOUNTS Division for supply of goods and services and institutional sectors accounts
1.3. Contact name
Restricted from publication
1.4. Contact person function
Restricted from publication
1.5. Contact mail address
via Cesare Balbo16, 00184 Rome.
1.6. Contact email address
Restricted from publication
1.7. Contact phone number
Restricted from publication
1.8. Contact fax number
Restricted from publication
2.1. Metadata last certified
2 October 2026
2.2. Metadata last posted
2 October 2026
2.3. Metadata last update
2 October 2026
3.1. Data description
The Economic Accounts for Agriculture (EAA) provide an overview of the agricultural activities in a systematic and comparable way to serve as basis for analyses, forecasts and political measures. The methodology is laid down in Annex I of the Regulation (EC) 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The EAA methodological manual provides further details and clarifications (website).
3.2. Classification system
The EAA are a satellite account of the European System of Accounts (ESA), therefore EAA constitute an integral part of the ESA. As such, they are compiled based on NACE Rev. 2, the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community. The list of activities, which defines the agricultural industry corresponds, in principle, to Division 01 of that classification: Crop and animal production, hunting and related service activities. However, some differences exist that are detailed in Annex I of Regulation (EC) 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
3.3. Coverage - sector
The sector covers all units involved in agricultural production, even if some of those units have other more important economic activities even if the purpose of these activities is not commercial. However, kitchen gardens (producing for own-consumption only) are not included.
The list of agricultural activities covered by EAA corresponds to the seven groups of Division 01 of NACE Rev 2 activities (01.1 to 01.7), with the following caveats/differences:
inclusion of the production of wine and olive oil (exclusively using grapes and olives grown by the same holding),
exclusion of certain activities which, in NACE Rev. 2, are considered as agricultural services (e.g. the operation of irrigation systems - only agricultural contract work is taken into account here).
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
The EAA are a satellite account of the ESA providing complementary information and concepts adapted to the particular nature of the agricultural industry.
The EAA are shown as a sequence of inter-related accounts. As the EAA are based on the industry concept, the sequence of accounts is limited to the first accounts of the current accounts:
the production account (its balancing item: value added)
the generation-of-income account (its balancing item: operating surplus).
Nevertheless EAA contains other accounts (of the ESA) at least partly:
the entrepreneurial income account (one of the current accounts) and
the capital account (one of the accumulation accounts).
The EAA provide a wide range of indicators on the economic activities of the agricultural sector: these include output, intermediate consumption, gross and net value added, gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), both at current prices and at reference year prices, as well as compensation of employees, other taxes and subsidies on production, net operating surplus or net mixed income, property income and net entrepreneurial income at current prices. (see for more details points 1.40-1.48 in Annex I of Regulation (EC) 138/2004.)
Three income indicators are defined in the EAA:
Index of the real income of factors in agriculture per annual work unit (indicator A).
Index of real net agricultural entrepreneurial income per unpaid annual work unit (indicator B).
Net entrepreneurial income of agriculture (indicator C).
See for more details chapter 5 in Annex I of Regulation (EC) 138/2004.
3.4.1. Components of the Production account : Output
Agricultural output is the total of the agricultural products and the goods and services produced in inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities during the accounting period. It is recorded as a resource in the production account and it is valued and recorded at the time it is generated, i.e. when produced and not when paid by the purchaser.
In the compilation of the EAA, output is progressively broken down in quantity terms (see point 2.037 of Regulation (EC) 138/2004).
Output is valued at the basic price. The basic price is the price receivable by the producers from the purchaser for a unit of a good or service produced, minus any tax (i.e. taxes on products) payable on that unit plus any subsidy (i.e. subsidies on products) receivable on that unit. The basic price excludes any transport charges invoiced separately by the producer. It also excludes holding gains and losses on financial and non-financial assets.
The valuation of output at the basic price makes it necessary to distinguish between taxes (other than VAT) on products and subsidies on products, on the one hand, and other taxes and subsidies on production, on the other.
The components of output in the production account are detailed in ANNEX II of the Regulation (EC) 138/2004. The other categories are wider, defined by the countries according to their special characteristics. The table below covers the list of products included under ‘other’ categories.
List of 'Other products'
Items
Other cereals except wheat and spelt, rye and meslin, barley, oats and summer cereals mixture, grain maize, rice
sorghum and triticale
Other oleaginous products except Rape and turnip rape seed, Sunflower, Soya
peanut, sesame, mustard
Other industrial crops: others than Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits (including seeds), Protein crops (including seeds), Raw tobacco, Sugarbeet, Fibre plants, Hops
Other fresh vegetables except Cauliflower, Tomatoes
many products, for example carrots, lettuce, peppers, courgettes
Other fresh fruit, except apples, pears, peaches
many products, such as apricots, nectarines, almonds, plums
Fiber plants
not applicable
Other crop products: Others: not elsewhere classified
not applicable
Other animals Other than cattle, pigs, equines, sheep and goats, poultry
rabbits, wild game
Other animal products: others than milk, eggs, raw wool, silkworm cocoons
honey, wax
Processing of agricultural products:
Items
Other animal products other than milk
not applicable
Other inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities (goods and services) Other than Processing of agricultural products
main items are agritourism, aquaculture, renewable energy, direct sales
3.4.2. Components of the Production account : Intermediate consumption
Intermediate consumption represents the value of all goods and services used as inputs in the production process, excluding fixed assets, the consumption of which is recorded as fixed capital consumption.
The inputs used for intermediate consumption should be valued at the purchaser prices for similar goods and services applicable at the time of their insertion in the production process. The purchaser price includes taxes less subsidies on products (but excludes deductible taxes like VAT on the products). It also includes any transport charges paid separately by the purchaser to take delivery at the required time and place.
The components of intermediate consumption in the production account are detailed in ANNEX II of the Regulation (EC) 138/2004. The other categories are wider, defined by the countries according to their special characteristics. The table below only covers the list of products included under ‘other’ categories.
List of 'Other products'
Items
Energy; lubricants other than electricity, gas, other fuels and propellants
lubricants
Other goods and services other than listed under 2.108 in the Reg.
main items are credit and insurance, transport, irrigation waters
3.4.3. Components of the Generation of income account
In the generation of income account, the distributive transactions relate to other taxes on production, other subsidies on production and the compensation of employees.
The components of the generation of income account are detailed in ANNEX II of the Regulation (EC) 138/2004.
3.4.4. Components of the Entrepreneurial income account
The entrepreneurial income account records certain types of property income (mainly land rents, interest and property income attributed to insurance policy holders).
The components of the entrepreneurial income account are detailed in ANNEX II of the Regulation (EC) 138/2004.
3.4.5. Elements of the Capital account
In addition to gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), the capital account records distributive transactions corresponding to aid for investment and other capital transfers.
The elements of the capital account are detailed in ANNEX II of the Regulation (EC) 138/2004.
3.5. Statistical unit
The statistical unit is the local kind of activity unit.
In order to provide more detailed information and to analyse flows generated by the production process and the use of goods and services, it is necessary to select units which emphasise relationships of a technical-economic kind. This means that, institutional units are broken-down into smaller and more homogeneous units with regard to the kind of production (local kind-of-activity units/local KAUs) (ESA 2010, 2.147).
The local KAU is defined as the part of a KAU which corresponds to a local unit. The institutional unit's information system is capable of indicating or calculating for each local KAU at least the value of output, intermediate consumption, compensation of employees, the operating surplus and employment and gross fixed capital formation (ESA 2010, 2.148).
The agricultural holding is the local KAU most appropriate to the agricultural industry. However, the variety of agricultural activities that can be performed on agricultural holdings makes them a special type of local KAU. The strict application of the ESA rule to units and their group should in fact result in a division of the agricultural holding into several separate local KAUs in cases where several activities of the NACE Rev. 2 four-digit class are performed on the same holding and the information required according to the explanations above is available. The adoption of the agricultural holding as the local KAU of the agricultural industry in the national accounts (NA) and EAA is based on a statistical approach.
The speciality and the aim of EAA is to cover all agricultural activity carried out by an agricultural holding or any other local KAU not having agriculture as its main activity.
The use of the local KAU as the basic unit for the agricultural industry entails recording non-agricultural secondary activities where they cannot be distinguished from the main agricultural activity (inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities of local agricultural KAUs). The selection criterion for inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities is rather the type of activity than the nature of the product. For example, agro-tourism services provided by a farm are only included if they cannot be separated from its agricultural activities.
3.6. Statistical population
The agricultural industry includes all local KAUs at local level which perform the economic activities, as principal or secondary activity corresponds to Division 01 in NACE Rev. 2 (cf. 1.60 to 1.66 of EAA Reg.)
3.7. Reference area
The entire territory of the country.
3.8. Coverage - Time
The time series start from year 1980.
3.9. Base period
Accounts for year n are calculated of the base period is year n-1. Data are derived by chain linking at prices of year 2015 (and at any other reference year prices).
EAA data at current prices and at prices for the preceding year are given in millions of units of national currency.
Agricultural labour input data are given in thousand annual work units (AWU).
2023 calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
EU legislation:
Regulation (EC) No 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 December 2003 on the economic accounts for agriculture in the Community as amended. Transmission of data for the regional EAA (REAA) at NUTS 2 level became obligatory in September 2023. Before September 2023, Eurostat collected REAA data on a voluntary basis.
National legislation:
There is not National legislation
6.1.1. Responsible institution for compilation of EAA
Italian National Institute of Statistics
6.1.2. Responsible institution for compilation of Agricultural Income Index
Italian National Institute of Statistics
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
No data sharing agreements or legislation related to data exchanges with other institutions.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society. The European Statistics Code of Practice provides conditions that have to be respected by statistical offices in regard to statistical confidentiality (Principle 5).
At the moment no microdata referred to single enterprise/farm are utilized. Only macrodata are used to compile EAA. So no other specific problems of confidentiality
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Not applicable.
7.2.1. Confidentiality rules applied to microdata
Not applicable.
7.2.2. Comments on the amount of data affected by embargo
Not applicable.
8.1. Release calendar
Annual frequency of estimates referring to the whole year carried out according to regulation 138/2004 (and following amendments):
first estimates: November year n (COSAEA_AGR1_A)
second estimates: March year n + 1 (COSAEA_AGR2_A)
final estimates: September year n + 1 (COSAEA_AGR3_A).
No briefing the press in advance of the release of the data. However, all requests for data or information from users (by e-mail or phone) have been met. So, it seems that all the known needs of users are met.
Periodicity of data dissemination (Eurostat) is yearly for First estimates, Second estimates and Final estimates.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
With reference to the first estimates of November (year t), a press release was published in January 2024 with the preliminary results of the agriculture sector for year 2023 (production, added value, etc.) (Stima preliminare dei conti economici dell’agricoltura - Anno 2023)
All the national documentation is in SIQual, the information system on quality of statistical production processes (Istat - SIQual)
10.6.1. Metadata completeness - rate
The quality indicator for metadata completeness: 0.917 (the following sections are missing: Annex 3 - Numerical examples)
[The indicator shows the ratio of metadata replies provided by country per metadata required.]
10.6.2. Further methodological guidelines available at national level
Not applicable.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
The full documentation of the process is included in the Information system on quality of statistical production processes (Siqual) link: Istat - SIQual
SIQual information system on quality (Istat - SIQual) contains information on the execution of Istat primary surveys and secondary studies and on activities developed to guarantee quality of the produced statistical information. The system is devoted to the navigation of metadata describing the production process and its characteristics: information content; phases and operations of the production process; activities to prevent, monitor and evaluate errors. Statistical information systems for data dissemination and their sources are also documented. In SIQual, primary surveys, secondary studies and statistical information systems are generically referred as statistical processes. Documentation of general interest or specific for a certain process is available in the "Documents" area of the system. SIQual also allows to consult statistical on-line data disseminated on the Web.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
The overall data quality is good and improving.
The latest benchmarks (2014 and 2019) and ESA 2010 have led to improve the overall quality of estimates.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The main national users of EAA data are: Ministry of Agriculture, CREA (Council for Agricultural Research and Economics), ISMEA (Institute of Services for the Agricultural and Food Market), Farmers and farmers' associations, Researchers, Journalists, General public.
All the known needs of users are met.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
No user satisfaction survey was conducted. However, all requests for data or information from users (by e-mail or phone) have been met.
12.3. Completeness
All data cells required are provided.
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
The quality indicator for data completeness shows the following for the reference year 2023 in the detailed EAA: 1.000
[The indicator shows the ratio of data provided per data required, excluding derogations]
13.1. Accuracy - overall
To describe accuracy, the country uses the quality and performance indicator called ‘data revision – average absolute size’ under point 17.2.1 of this document.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3.1. Coverage error
Not applicable.
13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion
Not applicable.
13.3.2. Measurement error
Not applicable.
13.3.3. Non response error
Not applicable.
13.3.3.1. Unit non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.3.2. Item non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.4. Processing error
Not applicable.
13.3.5. Model assumption error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
See below
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
As requested by Reg.138/2004 for the first estimates 1 month before reference period (e.g 30 November 2023 first estimates of year 2023); for the final results about 9 months after reference period (e.g 30 September 2024 final estimates of year 2023).
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
Not applicable.
14.2. Punctuality
For year 2023 there was no time lag between the actual delivery of the data and the target date (for first, second and final estimates).
14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
The quality indicator of punctuality delivered and publication, shows the following for the reference year 2023:
[The indicator shows the time lag of data delivery to Eurostat and the deadline of the transmission.In case data delivered earlier the indicator shows negative value.]
First estimates: -1
Second estimates: -5
Detailed EAA: 0
15.1. Comparability - geographical
The results of EAA are comparable between regions and countries.
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
Not applicable.
15.2. Comparability - over time
The time series start from 1980.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
The time series start from 1980. There were not major breaks in the time series.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
No relevant incoherence issue.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not relevant
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
Good coherence since EAA data are derived from NA data by applying a specific bridge table according to the related paragraph of EAA manual.
15.4. Coherence - internal
High level of consistency.
It is difficult to quantify cost and burden as the EAAs are compiled using a variety of survey and administrative data, collected for other purposes.
In general, the trend is towards an increased use of administrative data.
17.1. Data revision - policy
Revision policy aimed at ensuring the transparency of disseminated data. Chapter 8 of the EAA manual provides guidelines for a harmonised revision policy for EAA, including the ALI data.
17.2. Data revision - practice
The central framework of the national accounts provides for a revision of the data for the last 3 years. In other words, the n + 3 data are definitive, n + 2 semidefinitive, n + 1 provisional. Some sources may not be available or are provisional within the n + 1 estimate, so revisions include more reliable data. EAA data are derived from the central framework through the bridge table, so they follow the same revision policy.
17.2.1. Data revision - average size
Average of absolute revision is the average of absolute revisions for the years referring between the current quality (2023) and the 5-years' earlier.
Indicator A
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
Mean absolute revision (5 reference years)
1st estimate
EAA
1st estimate
EAA
1st estimate
EAA
1st estimate
EAA
1st estimate
EAA
Italy
97.40
96.12
95.21
93.21
98.27
108.12
113.70
109.00
104.22
106.22
3.96
17.2.2. Years where retropolations are carried out and (if they are not yet available) when they will be available
Not applicable.
17.2.3. Details of retropolation method used : items for which estimations are made and assumptions on which these estimations are based
Frequency depends on the characteristics of each source.
18.2.1. Time of the year where the updates of the EAA are carried out
Not applicable.
18.2.2. Years covered by each of these updates (i.e. update in September of year n for the years n-1, n-2, n-3 )
Not applicable.
18.3. Data collection
Not directly data collection. Microdata and results are collected by Istat surveys external to EAA unit.
18.4. Data validation
Main activities aim at consistency. The procedure both automatic and manual involves: analyzing the strength and coverage of sources (the main ones are about 20), comparing the statistics with previous cycles and with expectations, outlier detection.
The agricultural sector uses as calculating method, unlike most other economic sectors, the aggregation estimates on quantities and prices. In this context, agricultural accounts require (at both central framework level and satellite account level), statistical information available at a very disaggregated level. Such information is integrated, during the year with data on sowings, forecasts on production and on harvested production in progress.
18.5.1. Imputation - rate
Not applicable.
18.5.2. Calculation procedures
Please see the Calculation procedure for 1st estimates, 2nd estimates and full set of EAA in Annex 2 Methods for valuing EAA items.
18.6.2. Components of the Production account : Output
No relevant adjustments.
18.6.3. Components of the Production account : Intermediate consumption
No relevant adjustments.
18.6.4. Components of the Generation of income account
No adjustments
18.6.5. Components of the Entrepreneurial income account
No adjustments
18.6.6. Elements of the Capital account
No adjustments
No comment.
The Economic Accounts for Agriculture (EAA) provide an overview of the agricultural activities in a systematic and comparable way to serve as basis for analyses, forecasts and political measures. The methodology is laid down in Annex I of the Regulation (EC) 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The EAA methodological manual provides further details and clarifications (website).
2 October 2026
The EAA are a satellite account of the ESA providing complementary information and concepts adapted to the particular nature of the agricultural industry.
The EAA are shown as a sequence of inter-related accounts. As the EAA are based on the industry concept, the sequence of accounts is limited to the first accounts of the current accounts:
the production account (its balancing item: value added)
the generation-of-income account (its balancing item: operating surplus).
Nevertheless EAA contains other accounts (of the ESA) at least partly:
the entrepreneurial income account (one of the current accounts) and
the capital account (one of the accumulation accounts).
The EAA provide a wide range of indicators on the economic activities of the agricultural sector: these include output, intermediate consumption, gross and net value added, gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), both at current prices and at reference year prices, as well as compensation of employees, other taxes and subsidies on production, net operating surplus or net mixed income, property income and net entrepreneurial income at current prices. (see for more details points 1.40-1.48 in Annex I of Regulation (EC) 138/2004.)
Three income indicators are defined in the EAA:
Index of the real income of factors in agriculture per annual work unit (indicator A).
Index of real net agricultural entrepreneurial income per unpaid annual work unit (indicator B).
Net entrepreneurial income of agriculture (indicator C).
See for more details chapter 5 in Annex I of Regulation (EC) 138/2004.
The statistical unit is the local kind of activity unit.
In order to provide more detailed information and to analyse flows generated by the production process and the use of goods and services, it is necessary to select units which emphasise relationships of a technical-economic kind. This means that, institutional units are broken-down into smaller and more homogeneous units with regard to the kind of production (local kind-of-activity units/local KAUs) (ESA 2010, 2.147).
The local KAU is defined as the part of a KAU which corresponds to a local unit. The institutional unit's information system is capable of indicating or calculating for each local KAU at least the value of output, intermediate consumption, compensation of employees, the operating surplus and employment and gross fixed capital formation (ESA 2010, 2.148).
The agricultural holding is the local KAU most appropriate to the agricultural industry. However, the variety of agricultural activities that can be performed on agricultural holdings makes them a special type of local KAU. The strict application of the ESA rule to units and their group should in fact result in a division of the agricultural holding into several separate local KAUs in cases where several activities of the NACE Rev. 2 four-digit class are performed on the same holding and the information required according to the explanations above is available. The adoption of the agricultural holding as the local KAU of the agricultural industry in the national accounts (NA) and EAA is based on a statistical approach.
The speciality and the aim of EAA is to cover all agricultural activity carried out by an agricultural holding or any other local KAU not having agriculture as its main activity.
The use of the local KAU as the basic unit for the agricultural industry entails recording non-agricultural secondary activities where they cannot be distinguished from the main agricultural activity (inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities of local agricultural KAUs). The selection criterion for inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities is rather the type of activity than the nature of the product. For example, agro-tourism services provided by a farm are only included if they cannot be separated from its agricultural activities.
The agricultural industry includes all local KAUs at local level which perform the economic activities, as principal or secondary activity corresponds to Division 01 in NACE Rev. 2 (cf. 1.60 to 1.66 of EAA Reg.)
The entire territory of the country.
2023 calendar year.
To describe accuracy, the country uses the quality and performance indicator called ‘data revision – average absolute size’ under point 17.2.1 of this document.
EAA data at current prices and at prices for the preceding year are given in millions of units of national currency.
Agricultural labour input data are given in thousand annual work units (AWU).
The agricultural sector uses as calculating method, unlike most other economic sectors, the aggregation estimates on quantities and prices. In this context, agricultural accounts require (at both central framework level and satellite account level), statistical information available at a very disaggregated level. Such information is integrated, during the year with data on sowings, forecasts on production and on harvested production in progress.
