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.
[4D1_F1] Crosscutting social indicators; Coordination
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
2920 Luxembourg LUXEMBOURG
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
26 June 2019
2.2. Metadata last posted
25 September 2023
2.3. Metadata last update
13 May 2026
3.1. Data description
Statistics included in the section Cultural expenditure comprise the data which are derived from two various sources: Household Budget Survey (HBS) and Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices (HICP). Supplementary information in the section is derived from the Annual National Accounts (NAMA10) - Final consumption expenditure (P.3) of households (S.14) by consumption purpose (COICOP 3 digit) data tables: nama10_p3_co3 (ECOICOP version 1) and nama_10_cp18 (ECOICOP version 2).
Therefore the coverage and periodicity of statistics in this section depends on these primary data sources.
In culture statistics, individuals and households' expenditure on cultural goods and services can be considered as a proxy of the participation in culture; data on private expenditure give the key to complete the analysis of data coming from other sources (e.g. dedicated surveys on cultural participation like EU-SILC ad hoc module on social and cultural participation).
This dimension allows a better understanding of the private financing of culture and in some way - access to culture as it enables among others the analysis of spending on cultural goods and services in the context of total household spending.
Three types of data are currently available in Eurostat:
householdsfinal consumption expenditure (HFCE) on recreation and culture, audio-visual, photographic and information processing equipment, recreational and cultural services and newspapers, books and stationery (COICOP 2 and 3 digit, from annual national accounts - NAMA10).
The HBS monitor the households’ expenditure on articles and services such as food, beverages, clothing, housing, water, electricity, health, transport, communication, education and travel. In addition, it gathers the information on income, possession of consumer durable goods and cars; basic information on housing and many demographic and socio-economic characteristics of household members. In HBS, the data can be expressed in national currencies, EUR and in PPS. The data on cultural expenditure are presented in PPS.
The use of data on cultural expenditure was made possible thanks to the EU framework for culture statistics (the ESSnet-Culture final report, 2012) that identified cultural activities (e.g. reading books and newspapers, listening to the music, playing video games, singing, dancing etc.). Starting from the list of activities, the corresponding goods and services were then spotted in the Classification of individual consumption by purpose (COICOP) used in the Household Budget Survey (HBS).
For further information on methodology of HBS survey, please consult the HBS metadata.
As private expenditure is influenced, among others, by the prices level and structure, data on private expenditure on selected cultural goods and services can be completed by statistical information from the Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices (HICP). HICPs give comparable measures of inflation, tracking over time the prices of consumer goods and services acquired by households. They use the COICOP categories for consumption.
For further information on methodology of HICP, please consult the HICP metadata.
In turn, supplementary data from annual national accounts provide information to analyse the structure of economies and their development over time. They contain a wide range of statistics describing an economy in various ways. The main GDP aggregates provide an overview of key economic developments.
What is the difference between the GDP deflator and the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP)?
National accounts are commonly compiled both in current prices ("nominal GDP") and in constant prices. For the latter, the standard approach is now to move the price base ahead every year and derive a chain-linked GDP volume rather than GDP at constant prices. Once these two have been compiled, the elementary equation value = volume x price can be used to derive a measure for price changes. These are referred to as "implicit deflators" in national accounts, because they are implied mechanically once values and volumes have been compiled. The implicit GDP deflator for example is calculated straightforwardly as GDP at current prices divided by GDP chain-linked volumes and usually presented in index form. By nature of their construction, implicit deflators are aggregate price measures that can be used in a wide range of contexts where price changes shall be removed ("deflating") or shall be imposed on some fixed volume ("inflating"), in particular in a macro-economic context. In the national accounts for example, implicit deflators of GDP, domestic demand or private consumption are used for deflating nominal variables for which no proper volume is defined, such as gross national income or gross wages and salaries. The deflators' implicit nature means they are not based directly on observations of price movements. A vast amount of direct price observations at different levels of detail goes into the compilation of national accounts at constant (previous year's) prices, alongside direct quantity or volume observations. In the implicit deflators, these are compounded into a macroeconomic aggregate price measurement. The implicit GDP deflator is the broadest of these aggregates, covering all goods and services produced or imported in the economy. Price statistics on the other hand, notably in the form of producer and consumer price indices, are based on direct price observations, the best known index being the HICP (harmonised index of consumer prices) which measures directly the changes over time in the prices of consumer goods and services acquired, used or paid for by households. When "inflation" is referred to in public without further specification, it is most often understood to mean the HICP.
Why is National Account final consumption of households figures different from Household Budget Surveys (HBS)?
The Household Budget Surveys (HBS) in the Member States of the European Union are sample surveys of private households spending carried out regularly – albeit not on a yearly basis – under the responsibility of the National Statistical Offices. The HBS is only one of the sources of information used to compile household consumption expenditure in the national accounts. Business surveys, foreign trade statistics and VAT statistics are other important sources. The HBS is primarily intended as an instrument to learn about the micro-economic behaviour of households as consumers. It is not designed for the estimation of macroeconomic aggregates such as the total household consumption expenditure in an economy. The HBS concepts – such as the definition of household and consumption expenditure – are neither identical to the corresponding national accounts ones nor fully harmonised between countries or over time.
COICOP was developed by the United Nations. The UN COICOP is built up to four digit codes divided into services (S), non-durables (ND), semi-durables (SD) and durables (D).
For the purpose of EU HBS surveys, a special version of the classification – COICOP-HBS – was created with additional fifth digit to better disaggregate the information. The fifth digit has been implemented since the 2000 wave of surveys. It was further revised in 2003 for the 2005 and 2010 waves. For the 2015 wave the European classification of individual consumption according to purpose (ECOICOP version 1) was recommended and applied by almost all the countries. ECOICOP relies on the structure and content of COICOP-HBS for the fifth digit but there are several differences. In ECOICOP, more disaggregation is available allowing the distinction of more specific expenditure categories. Additionally, the revision of numerous 5-digit codes was carried out to was resulted in the modification of content and coverage of part of codes. The mapping of cultural codes in HBS 2010 and HBS 2015 is available in Annex I: Mapping of cultural codes in HBS 2010 and HBS 2015.
The HICP components are classified according to the ECOICOP. From 2026 onwards, HICP data are compiled and disseminated according to the ECOICOP version 2 (ECOICOP 2), which is aligned with the Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose 2018 (COICOP 2018). HICP data disseminated according to ECOICOP 2 cover the period from 1996 onwards.
For culture statistics, data for selected ECOICOP 2 categories within the cultural scope are available in two Eurostat HICP datasets: prc_hicp_ainr, providing annual data, and prc_hicp_minr, providing monthly data. In addition, two datasets provide historical HICP data for culture statistics: prc_hicp_aind for annual data and prc_hicp_midx for monthly data. These data are based on the ECOICOP-HICP classification.
The household final consumption expenditure by purpose dataset uses COICOP codes with at most three-digit granularity. While the collection nama_10_co3_p3 presents detailed breakdowns of household’s final consumption expenditure by consumption purpose according to COICOP 1999 3-digit level classification, the collection nama_10_cp18 uses the COICOP 2018 (ECOICOP 2) 3-digit level classification to presents these data.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Cultural participation.
Household expenditure on cultural goods and services.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
Statistics on cultural expenditure cover equipment, media and digital services; cultural goods and creative materials; cultural services, venues and events; books, press and stationery; and jewellery and watches since 2026.
The version of the ECOICOP classification used for each data collection and compilation should be taken into account.
For HBS data, the datasets cult_pcs_hbs and cult_pcs_qnt are based on ECOICOP version 1.
For HICP data, the datasets prc_hicp_ainr for annual data and prc_hicp_minr for monthly data are based on ECOICOP version 2. In addition, two datasets provide historical HICP data for culture statistics: prc_hicp_aind for annual data and prc_hicp_midx for monthly data. These data are based on ECOICOP version 1.
For Household final consumption expenditure by purpose data, the dataset nama_10_co3_p3 is based on ECOICOP version 1, while nama_10_cp18 is based on ECOICOP version 2. Both datasets use data at 3-digit level. The cultural scope therefore comprises the following 3-digit ECOICOP codes:
nama_10_co3_p3 (ECOICOP 1):
09.1 Audiovisual, photographic and information processing equipment (partly cultural)
09.2 Other major durables for recreation and culture (partly cultural)
09.4 Recreational and cultural services (partly cultural)
09.5 Newspapers, books and stationery (partly cultural)
nama_10_cp18 (ECOICOP 2):
08.1 Information and communication equipment (partly cultural)
08.3 Information and communication services (partly cultural)
09.1 Recreational durables (partly cultural)
09.2 Other recreational goods (partly cultural)
09.4 Recreational services (partly cultural)
09.5 Cultural goods (fully cultural)
09.6 Cultural services (fully cultural)
09.7 Newspapers, books and stationery (partly cultural)
13.2 Other personal effects (partly cultural)
The ECOICOP 1 and ECOICOP 2 codes used in culture statistics are listed in Annex 2
For further information please consult the reference metadata of HBS, HICP and NAMA10.
3.5. Statistical unit
For data from HBS: Individual private households. Please consult the HBS reference metadata for further explanation.
For data from HICP: household final monetary consumption expenditure within the economic territories of the countries compiling the HICP. Please consult HICP reference metadata for further explanation.
For data from NAMA10: final consumption expenditure for households who are resident units of the economic territory. Please consult NAMA10 reference metadata for further explanation.
3.6. Statistical population
For data from HBS: Individual private households. Please consult the HBS reference metadata for further explanation.
For data from HICP: household final monetary consumption expenditure within the economic territories of the countries compiling the HICP. Please consult HICP reference metadata for further explanation.
For data from NAMA10: final consumption expenditure for households who are resident units of the economic territory. Please consult NAMA10 reference metadata for further explanation.
3.7. Reference area
For data from HBS 2010: EU Member States (excepting the Netherlands), the United Kingdom, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Türkiye. For data from HBS 2015: EU Member States, Norway, the United Kingdom, Serbia, Türkiye and Kosovo (partial data). For data from HBS 2020: EU Member States (excepting Portugal, Romania and Sweden; France, Cyprus, Malta - estimated data), Montenegro, Serbia and Türkiye.
For data from HICP (ECOICOP 2): EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Serbia and Kosovo.
For data from NAMA10 (ECOICOP 2): EU Member States, Switzerland, Montenegro, Serbia and Türkiye.
3.8. Coverage - Time
For data from HBS: 2010, 2015, 2020.
For data from HICP (ECOICOP 2): since 2002 for most countries.
For data from NAMA10: since 1995 for most countries.
3.9. Base period
For data from HBS: not applicable.
For data from HICP (ECOICOP 2): From 2026, the HICP index reference period is 2025=100. Please consult HICP reference metadata for further explanation.
For data from NAMA10: not applicable. Please consult NAMA10 reference metadata for further explanation.
For data from HBS: Purchasing power standard (PPS).
For data from HICP (ECOICOP 2): Index (2025=100).
For data from NAMA10: Chain-linked volumes for 3 base periods 2010, 2015, 2020, (million euro, million units of national currencies), price indices, current prices (million euro, million units of national currencies), previous year prices. Please consult NAMA10 reference metadata for further explanation.
For data from HBS: reference year (2010, 2015, 2020).
For data from HICP (ECOICOP 2): monthly/annual data (indices and rates).
For data from NAMA10: annual data. Please consult NAMA10 reference metadata for further explanation.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
For data from HICP: the release schedule is publicly available and published each year around mid-November for the full following year.
For data from NAMA10: EU/EA aggregates are compiled based on underlying national accounts transmitted by Member States and European aggregates when available.
For data from HICP: Monthly indices are disseminated around the middle of the month that follows the reference month. Yearly indices are disseminated in the first months of the year that follows the reference year.
For data from NAMA10 (ECOICOP 2): The transmission requirements for each dataset are defined in Annex B of EU regulation 2023/734 amending the European system of regional and national accounts, applying from 1 September 2024. Household final consumption expenditure (nama_10_cp18) are requested by t+9 months after the reference period.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
On an ad-hoc basis, depending on context and the availability of information on cultural expenditure.
For data from HBS: The Household Budget Survey is included in Commission Regulation (EC) No 831/2002 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 on Community Statistics, concerning access to confidential data for scientific purposes. Universities and certified research centres can apply for access to HBS microdata for scientific purposes. An algorithm has been used in a Computer Application, to anonymise HBS data. For more information, please refer to access to microdata.
The requirements, methodologies and compilation guidelines for the HICP are dealt with by the regulations and implementing acts available in the following sub-section of the HICP dedicated section:
Data on expenditure on cultural goods and services allow measuring the share of the households' budget devoted to the purchasing of cultural items. At the European level, the several policy initiatives and programs aim at developing the European dimension of culture and raising awareness about its social and economic benefits.
Therefore, high quality data are important to better underpin the actions taken under the various initiatives targeting the cultural sector empowerment.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Generally users have been satisfied with overall quality of the service delivered by Eurostat, which encompasses data quality and the supporting service provided to them.
Due to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union, a new aggregate, (EU-27_2020), has been calculated from February 2020 for the entire time series.
All reported errors (once validated) result in corrections of the disseminated data.
Reported errors are corrected in the disseminated data as soon as the correct data have been validated.
Data may be published even if they are missing for certain countries or flagged as provisional or of low reliability for certain countries.
European aggregates are updated for consistency with new country data.
New data are only used to update disseminated data if provided according to the provision schedule set by Eurostat, or in the case of reported errors.
18.1. Source data
HBS: Data on households' expenditure on cultural goods and services are extracted from Household Budget Survey which is a sample survey (HBS, 2010, 2015 and 2020).
HICP: All HICPs are based on the continuous measurement of a sample of prices of specified goods and services. The HICPs must be based on samples sufficient to yield reliable and comparable results, taking into account the national diversity of products and prices. Furthermore, as products or retail outlets disappear from the market, they need to be replaced with new ones. HICPs are required to be based on up-to-date samples, in particular by banning the practice whereby 'missing' prices are simply assumed to be equal to the last observed prices. The HICP will incorporate a new product when it achieves a sales volume of over one part per thousand of total consumers' expenditure covered by the HICP in a Member State.
NAMA10: Countries use many sources to compile their national accounts, among them administrative data from government, population censuses, business surveys and household surveys. No single survey can hence be referred to. Sources vary from country to country and may cover a large set of economic, social, financial and environmental items, which need not always be strictly related to national accounts. In any case, there is no single survey source for national accounts. In particular, different sources are used for calculating the different approaches of GDP mentioned above under '3.4 Concepts and definitions'. If more than one of these approaches is used, their results are usually balanced, i.e. forced to be coherent, so that a single value for GDP is obtained. For further information about sources and collection methods in National Statistical Institutes (NSIs), please refer to National Statistical Institutes and National Central Banks (see Eurostat's web site, and after having chosen the language to be used, select menu: All Services - Links and Contacts).
18.2. Frequency of data collection
HBS: every five years (1988, 1994, 1999, 2010, 2015, 2020).
HICP: Price collection takes place across at least once per month around one working week in mid-month. When products are known to be volatile, e.g. to show sharp and irregular price changes within the same month, prices are collected over a period of more than once per month as defined in Article 8 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1148.
NAMA10: Member State's annual main aggregates are generally transmitted at t+2 and t+9 months.
Apart from the validation made on the primary data, the data on household expenditures on cultural goods and services extracted and then compiled from HBS are also validated and checked in terms of comparability and consistency between countries and over time before being uploaded.
18.5. Data compilation
HBS: Disaggregated data by COICOP 5-digit (from HBS 2010, 2015 and 2020) covering item 09 "Recreation and culture" are subject to statistical processing (estimation of missing values and aggregation of cultural categories). The compiled data are then presented in two datasets published in the Eurostat database.
Data on HICP and NAMA10 are mirrored tables (bookmarks) of the source datasets in the HICP and Annual National Accounts domains. No data processing is applied for cultural statistics purposes.
18.6. Adjustment
For data from HBS: Some adjustments (allocation of ECOICOP codes) are applied for France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Norway for the results from the 2015 round of surveys to fit the ECOICOP structure as these countries followed COICOP-HBS in their 2015 wave. For more details please refer to the Annex I: Mapping of cultural codes in HBS 2010 and HBS 2015.
For data from HICP: data are not seasonally adjusted.
Statistics included in the section Cultural expenditure comprise the data which are derived from two various sources: Household Budget Survey (HBS) and Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices (HICP). Supplementary information in the section is derived from the Annual National Accounts (NAMA10) - Final consumption expenditure (P.3) of households (S.14) by consumption purpose (COICOP 3 digit) data tables: nama10_p3_co3 (ECOICOP version 1) and nama_10_cp18 (ECOICOP version 2).
Therefore the coverage and periodicity of statistics in this section depends on these primary data sources.
In culture statistics, individuals and households' expenditure on cultural goods and services can be considered as a proxy of the participation in culture; data on private expenditure give the key to complete the analysis of data coming from other sources (e.g. dedicated surveys on cultural participation like EU-SILC ad hoc module on social and cultural participation).
This dimension allows a better understanding of the private financing of culture and in some way - access to culture as it enables among others the analysis of spending on cultural goods and services in the context of total household spending.
Three types of data are currently available in Eurostat:
householdsfinal consumption expenditure (HFCE) on recreation and culture, audio-visual, photographic and information processing equipment, recreational and cultural services and newspapers, books and stationery (COICOP 2 and 3 digit, from annual national accounts - NAMA10).
The HBS monitor the households’ expenditure on articles and services such as food, beverages, clothing, housing, water, electricity, health, transport, communication, education and travel. In addition, it gathers the information on income, possession of consumer durable goods and cars; basic information on housing and many demographic and socio-economic characteristics of household members. In HBS, the data can be expressed in national currencies, EUR and in PPS. The data on cultural expenditure are presented in PPS.
The use of data on cultural expenditure was made possible thanks to the EU framework for culture statistics (the ESSnet-Culture final report, 2012) that identified cultural activities (e.g. reading books and newspapers, listening to the music, playing video games, singing, dancing etc.). Starting from the list of activities, the corresponding goods and services were then spotted in the Classification of individual consumption by purpose (COICOP) used in the Household Budget Survey (HBS).
For further information on methodology of HBS survey, please consult the HBS metadata.
As private expenditure is influenced, among others, by the prices level and structure, data on private expenditure on selected cultural goods and services can be completed by statistical information from the Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices (HICP). HICPs give comparable measures of inflation, tracking over time the prices of consumer goods and services acquired by households. They use the COICOP categories for consumption.
For further information on methodology of HICP, please consult the HICP metadata.
In turn, supplementary data from annual national accounts provide information to analyse the structure of economies and their development over time. They contain a wide range of statistics describing an economy in various ways. The main GDP aggregates provide an overview of key economic developments.
What is the difference between the GDP deflator and the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP)?
National accounts are commonly compiled both in current prices ("nominal GDP") and in constant prices. For the latter, the standard approach is now to move the price base ahead every year and derive a chain-linked GDP volume rather than GDP at constant prices. Once these two have been compiled, the elementary equation value = volume x price can be used to derive a measure for price changes. These are referred to as "implicit deflators" in national accounts, because they are implied mechanically once values and volumes have been compiled. The implicit GDP deflator for example is calculated straightforwardly as GDP at current prices divided by GDP chain-linked volumes and usually presented in index form. By nature of their construction, implicit deflators are aggregate price measures that can be used in a wide range of contexts where price changes shall be removed ("deflating") or shall be imposed on some fixed volume ("inflating"), in particular in a macro-economic context. In the national accounts for example, implicit deflators of GDP, domestic demand or private consumption are used for deflating nominal variables for which no proper volume is defined, such as gross national income or gross wages and salaries. The deflators' implicit nature means they are not based directly on observations of price movements. A vast amount of direct price observations at different levels of detail goes into the compilation of national accounts at constant (previous year's) prices, alongside direct quantity or volume observations. In the implicit deflators, these are compounded into a macroeconomic aggregate price measurement. The implicit GDP deflator is the broadest of these aggregates, covering all goods and services produced or imported in the economy. Price statistics on the other hand, notably in the form of producer and consumer price indices, are based on direct price observations, the best known index being the HICP (harmonised index of consumer prices) which measures directly the changes over time in the prices of consumer goods and services acquired, used or paid for by households. When "inflation" is referred to in public without further specification, it is most often understood to mean the HICP.
Why is National Account final consumption of households figures different from Household Budget Surveys (HBS)?
The Household Budget Surveys (HBS) in the Member States of the European Union are sample surveys of private households spending carried out regularly – albeit not on a yearly basis – under the responsibility of the National Statistical Offices. The HBS is only one of the sources of information used to compile household consumption expenditure in the national accounts. Business surveys, foreign trade statistics and VAT statistics are other important sources. The HBS is primarily intended as an instrument to learn about the micro-economic behaviour of households as consumers. It is not designed for the estimation of macroeconomic aggregates such as the total household consumption expenditure in an economy. The HBS concepts – such as the definition of household and consumption expenditure – are neither identical to the corresponding national accounts ones nor fully harmonised between countries or over time.
13 May 2026
Statistics on cultural expenditure cover equipment, media and digital services; cultural goods and creative materials; cultural services, venues and events; books, press and stationery; and jewellery and watches since 2026.
The version of the ECOICOP classification used for each data collection and compilation should be taken into account.
For HBS data, the datasets cult_pcs_hbs and cult_pcs_qnt are based on ECOICOP version 1.
For HICP data, the datasets prc_hicp_ainr for annual data and prc_hicp_minr for monthly data are based on ECOICOP version 2. In addition, two datasets provide historical HICP data for culture statistics: prc_hicp_aind for annual data and prc_hicp_midx for monthly data. These data are based on ECOICOP version 1.
For Household final consumption expenditure by purpose data, the dataset nama_10_co3_p3 is based on ECOICOP version 1, while nama_10_cp18 is based on ECOICOP version 2. Both datasets use data at 3-digit level. The cultural scope therefore comprises the following 3-digit ECOICOP codes:
nama_10_co3_p3 (ECOICOP 1):
09.1 Audiovisual, photographic and information processing equipment (partly cultural)
09.2 Other major durables for recreation and culture (partly cultural)
09.4 Recreational and cultural services (partly cultural)
09.5 Newspapers, books and stationery (partly cultural)
nama_10_cp18 (ECOICOP 2):
08.1 Information and communication equipment (partly cultural)
08.3 Information and communication services (partly cultural)
09.1 Recreational durables (partly cultural)
09.2 Other recreational goods (partly cultural)
09.4 Recreational services (partly cultural)
09.5 Cultural goods (fully cultural)
09.6 Cultural services (fully cultural)
09.7 Newspapers, books and stationery (partly cultural)
13.2 Other personal effects (partly cultural)
The ECOICOP 1 and ECOICOP 2 codes used in culture statistics are listed in Annex 2
For further information please consult the reference metadata of HBS, HICP and NAMA10.
For data from HBS: Individual private households. Please consult the HBS reference metadata for further explanation.
For data from HICP: household final monetary consumption expenditure within the economic territories of the countries compiling the HICP. Please consult HICP reference metadata for further explanation.
For data from NAMA10: final consumption expenditure for households who are resident units of the economic territory. Please consult NAMA10 reference metadata for further explanation.
For data from HBS: Individual private households. Please consult the HBS reference metadata for further explanation.
For data from HICP: household final monetary consumption expenditure within the economic territories of the countries compiling the HICP. Please consult HICP reference metadata for further explanation.
For data from NAMA10: final consumption expenditure for households who are resident units of the economic territory. Please consult NAMA10 reference metadata for further explanation.
For data from HBS 2010: EU Member States (excepting the Netherlands), the United Kingdom, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Türkiye. For data from HBS 2015: EU Member States, Norway, the United Kingdom, Serbia, Türkiye and Kosovo (partial data). For data from HBS 2020: EU Member States (excepting Portugal, Romania and Sweden; France, Cyprus, Malta - estimated data), Montenegro, Serbia and Türkiye.
For data from HICP (ECOICOP 2): EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Serbia and Kosovo.
For data from NAMA10 (ECOICOP 2): EU Member States, Switzerland, Montenegro, Serbia and Türkiye.
For data from HBS: reference year (2010, 2015, 2020).
For data from HICP (ECOICOP 2): monthly/annual data (indices and rates).
For data from NAMA10: annual data. Please consult NAMA10 reference metadata for further explanation.
For data from HBS: Purchasing power standard (PPS).
For data from HICP (ECOICOP 2): Index (2025=100).
For data from NAMA10: Chain-linked volumes for 3 base periods 2010, 2015, 2020, (million euro, million units of national currencies), price indices, current prices (million euro, million units of national currencies), previous year prices. Please consult NAMA10 reference metadata for further explanation.
HBS: Disaggregated data by COICOP 5-digit (from HBS 2010, 2015 and 2020) covering item 09 "Recreation and culture" are subject to statistical processing (estimation of missing values and aggregation of cultural categories). The compiled data are then presented in two datasets published in the Eurostat database.
Data on HICP and NAMA10 are mirrored tables (bookmarks) of the source datasets in the HICP and Annual National Accounts domains. No data processing is applied for cultural statistics purposes.
HBS: Data on households' expenditure on cultural goods and services are extracted from Household Budget Survey which is a sample survey (HBS, 2010, 2015 and 2020).
HICP: All HICPs are based on the continuous measurement of a sample of prices of specified goods and services. The HICPs must be based on samples sufficient to yield reliable and comparable results, taking into account the national diversity of products and prices. Furthermore, as products or retail outlets disappear from the market, they need to be replaced with new ones. HICPs are required to be based on up-to-date samples, in particular by banning the practice whereby 'missing' prices are simply assumed to be equal to the last observed prices. The HICP will incorporate a new product when it achieves a sales volume of over one part per thousand of total consumers' expenditure covered by the HICP in a Member State.
NAMA10: Countries use many sources to compile their national accounts, among them administrative data from government, population censuses, business surveys and household surveys. No single survey can hence be referred to. Sources vary from country to country and may cover a large set of economic, social, financial and environmental items, which need not always be strictly related to national accounts. In any case, there is no single survey source for national accounts. In particular, different sources are used for calculating the different approaches of GDP mentioned above under '3.4 Concepts and definitions'. If more than one of these approaches is used, their results are usually balanced, i.e. forced to be coherent, so that a single value for GDP is obtained. For further information about sources and collection methods in National Statistical Institutes (NSIs), please refer to National Statistical Institutes and National Central Banks (see Eurostat's web site, and after having chosen the language to be used, select menu: All Services - Links and Contacts).
For data from HBS: every 5 years approximately.
For data from HICP: Monthly indices are disseminated around the middle of the month that follows the reference month. Yearly indices are disseminated in the first months of the year that follows the reference year.
For data from NAMA10 (ECOICOP 2): The transmission requirements for each dataset are defined in Annex B of EU regulation 2023/734 amending the European system of regional and national accounts, applying from 1 September 2024. Household final consumption expenditure (nama_10_cp18) are requested by t+9 months after the reference period.
Due to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union, a new aggregate, (EU-27_2020), has been calculated from February 2020 for the entire time series.
