Statistics Portugal

Satellite Accounts and Quality Assessment of National Accounts, National Accounts Department 

angela.lobo@ine.pt

The environmental goods and services sector (EGSS) accounts report on an economic sector that generates goods and services produced for environmental protection or the management of natural resources.

Products for environmental protection prevent, reduce and eliminate pollution or any other degradation of the environment. Examples are electric vehicles, catalysts and filters to decrease pollutant emissions, wastewater and waste treatment services, noise insulation works or restoration of degraded habitats.

Products for resource management safeguard the stock of natural resources against depletion. Examples are renewable energy production, energy-efficient and passive buildings, seawater desalinization or rainwater recovery, and materials recovery.

EGSS accounts provide data on output and export of environmental goods and services and on the value added of and employment in the environmental goods and services sector.

EGSS data are compiled following the statistical concepts and definitions set out in the UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting 2012 – Central Framework.

Data are reported cross-classified by 1) the type of environmental protection or resource management activity and 2) economic activity. Environmental protection activities are classified by environmental domain as set out in the Classification of Environmental Protection Activities - CEPA. Resource management activities are classified as set out in the Classification of Resource Management Activities - CReMA. see the revised CEPA and CReMA explanatory notes for detail. Economic activity is classified according to the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community, Rev. 2 (2008).

EGSS comprises a sector of the economy that produces goods and services aimed at environmental protection and resource management (see SEEA CF 2012 chapter 4). Environmental goods and services either reduce environmental pressures or help maintaining the stock of natural resources or they are designed to be cleaner and more resource efficient than conventional products. Environmental goods and services can be produced by corporations, households, governments and non-profit institutions. The list of environmental activities and products has been set out in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2174 ('the indicative compendium of environmental goods and services').

EGSS has the same system boundaries as the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010) and consists of all environmental products within this production boundary. ESA defines production as the activity carried out under the control and responsibility of an institutional unit that uses input of labour, capital, goods and services to produce output of goods and services.

Only goods and services produced for environmental purposes are included in the scope of the environmental goods and services sector.

'Environmental purpose' means that a good or service helps either 1) preventing, reducing and eliminating pollution and any other degradation of the environment or 2) preserving and maintaining the stock of natural resources and hence safeguarding against depletion.

The EGSS statistics aim at compiling data for the following economic variables:

Output: consists of products that become available for use outside of the producer unit, any goods and services produced for own final use and goods that remain in the inventories at the end of the period in which they are produced. Apart from market output, output for own final use and non-market output, EGSS statistics also include ancillary output, comprising output intended for use within an enterprise.

Market output is to be valued at basic prices, that is, the prices receivable by the producer from the purchaser minus taxes and plus subsidies on products.
Output for own final use is to be valued at basic prices of similar products sold on the market or by the total costs of production.
Non-market output is to be estimated by the total costs of production.
Ancillary output is measured as a total of recurrent production costs (such as intermediate consumption, compensation of employees and consumption of fixed capital) incurred by enterprises to: 1) reduce environmental pressures arising from their production process or 2) produce environmental goods or services not intended for use outside the enterprise, but instead supporting other (non-environmental) activities undertaken within the enterprise (e.g. waste management services carried out in-house). For market producers, a mark-up for net operating surplus is added to the value of the EGSS ancillary output.
Gross Value Added: represents the contribution made by the production of environmental goods and services to GDP. It is the difference between the value of the output and intermediate consumption.

Employment: is measured in full-time equivalent jobs engaged in the production of output of environmental goods and services. Full-time equivalent is defined as total hours worked divided by the average annual working hours in a full-time job.

Exports: consist of sales, barter, gifts, or grants, of environmental goods and services from residents to non-residents.

Council Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 of 15 March 1993 on the statistical units for the observation and analysis of the production system in the Community describes the different statistical units of the production system.

The recommended statistical unit for the collection and compilation of EGSS statistics (excluding general government) is the establishment. For general government, the recommendation is to use institutional units and groupings of units as defined in the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010).

The statistical population is the national economy as defined in SEEA CF 2012 and the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010). It includes all economic activities undertaken by resident units.

PT - Portugal

2014 to 2021

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Output, gross value added, and exports are measured in million Euros. Employment is measured in full time equivalents (i.e., full time equivalent jobs).

The reference period for EGSS data is the calendar year.

EGSS accounts are compiled and reported in accordance with Regulation (EU) No. 691/2011 on European environmental economic accounts (EEEA).

The EEEA follow internationally agreed concepts and definitions set out in the SEEA Central Framework (2012), the international statistical standard adopted by the UN Statistical Commission. They present data in a way that is compatible with National Accounts (ESA, 2010).

EGSS accounts are compiled and reported in accordance with Regulation (EU) No. 691/2011 on European environmental economic accounts (EEEA). Statistics Portugal is responsible for the PT compilation

There are no dataset-specific rules in this case.

In the case of EGSS accounts no cases of confidentiality rules were detected.

For the 2023 Data Collection a press release will be published on the 5th February 2024.

Yearly

Yearly Press Releases

PT - https://www.ine.pt/xportal/xmain?xpid=INE&xpgid=ine_cnacionais2010b2016&contexto=cs&selTab=tab3&perfil=392023991&INST=391970297
EN - https://www.ine.pt/xportal/xmain?xpid=INE&xpgid=ine_cnacionais2010b2016&contexto=cs&selTab=tab3&perfil=392023991&INST=391970297&xlang=en

Methodological report

https://www.ine.pt/xportal/xmain?xpid=INE&xpgid=ine_cnacionais2010&contexto=cs&selTab=tab3&perfil=220674570&INST=220617355&xlang=en

Not requested for this metadata collection.

None

None

Not requested for this metadata collection.

(only in Portuguese)
https://www.ine.pt/xportal/xmain?xpid=INE&xpgid=ine_cnacionais2010b2016&contexto=cs&selTab=tab3&perfil=392023991&INST=391970297

Not requested for this metadata collection.

None

Compatibilty with National Accounts troughout several validation tests.

PT also check the quality of the collected EGSS data trough: ISBSA surveys - comparison of the answers across the years and with micro data used for NA, analysing also the KAU main activity and secondary activity purposes; in the cases where inconsistent answers are detected, ISBSA survey is not used; in the cases the KAU belongs to the NA universe and it is considered an environmental activity, but do not have an ISBSA answer in the last year, the previous year's answer was assigned to calculate the environmental coefficient and the CEPA / CReMA classification.
From the year 2018 onwards the exercise was improved as the ISBSA Survey has also been improved. For the previous years of the series, the exercise was improved, to assign each KAU activity to more than one environmental domain, whenever they answered to ISBSA survey in more than one environmental domain.

PT compare EGSS data with data from other sources and perform other cross-checks. The main checks were:

- Micro data for each KAU/NACE of the universe is subject to the same numerical treatment as in the NA; checks are made to totals, by product and by NACE;

- COFOG data - it is compared with EGSS for entities belonging to both universes. Resulting from this comparison, adjustments were required at COFOG level, although other necessary adjustments, namely at consumption of fixed capital (P.51c) have not been possible to implement in this schedule;

PT have validation rules and other plausibility checks for the results of your EGSS data compilation process. Validation rules and plausibility checks were made to NA output, GVA, exports and employment matrices, by NACE and by product, especially concerning totally environmental products and activities (NACE 37 and 38 and products CPA 20.20.14, 16.10.23, 37, 38 and 39); checks were also made to compare output and exports consistency (in general, exports must be less or equal to output). Nonetheless, in some cases exports can be grater or equal to output.

PT make cross comparison with EPEA.

For now, EGSS is mainly relevant and used, at national level, for policy initiatives such as the "Green Growth Commitment Portugal" (2015) or "ECO.NOMIA", the Action Plan for the Circular Economy in Portugal (2017), as well as for academia or public institutions with R&D activities.

The EGSS data produced for transmission to Eurostat satisfy the needs of national users.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

EGSS accounts are compiled using a range of primary statistical sources. The sampling and non-sampling errors are described in the metadata of the underlying statistical data.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

EGSS accounts are compiled using a range of primary statistical sources. The sampling and non-sampling errors are described in the metadata of the underlying statistical data.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

22 months

22 months

22 months

The data were delivered to Eurostat on the 27th October 2023. The reporting deadline for EGSS to Eurostat is 31 October. 

Delivery and publication on Stistics Portugal portal next 5th February 2024

Yes

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Products from the indicative compendium in Regulation (EU) 2015/2174 that are not covered or deliberately excluded from your EGSS accounts:

Products and activities included in your EGSS accounts beyond those mentioned in the indicative compendium:

Yes

8 years - 2014 to 2021

Yes

Annual coherence with NA

Several checks are made to ensure coherence of EGSS data with NA data (Output - Market output, Production for own-final use, Non-market output, GVA and Exports matrices, COFOG); BoP data have been used and compared at EP services' international transactions level.

The two accounts are compiled in parallel and compared, in order to ensure consistency. Nevertheless, as since 2022, the EGSS data submission was antecipated in two months, this version may not be fully consistent with EPEA, namely in 2020 and 2021.

EGSS export’s results were compared with International trade statistics.

EGSS uses the same micro data sources as the NA, therefore there is an internal coherence among the variables: output, GVA, exports and employment; the NA definitions and measurement rules are strictly followed.

In 2023 the FTE required to compile EGSS accounted 0.49 FTE, 815 hours of work. It is worth mentioning that these accounts are compiled along with EPEA, thus some hours overlap. This compilation procedure, besides improving consistence, allows saving hours of work in both projects.

Ideally data will be revised in every new benchmark change in NA.

Revision have been made whenever there is agread improvements with Eurostat. The most recent environmental accounts, with reporting obligations under Regulation 691/2011 since 2017, are still being improved and take longer to compile than the routine accounts; they are also being improved and modified at Eurostat level (TF on the Environmental Classification ongoing).

Yes

In the 2023 Data Collection was revised concerning:
2019 - To ensure coherence between output and exports in NACE F, CReMA 14;
2020 - To update S.13 final figures and ensure consistency among EGSS and EPEA.

The magnitude of changes was the following:
- Output – 2019 (-5.5 million Euros, -0.04%); 2020 (+17.4 million Euros, +0.13%)
- GVA – 2019 (-1.8 million Euros, -0.04%); 2020 (+1.6 million Euros, +0.03%)
- Employment – 2019 (-98.7 FTE, -0.09%); 2020 (+31.3 FTE, +0.03%)
- Exports - 2019 (-0.9 million Euros, -0.03%).

Final

National Accounts are the main data source, complemented by other administrative sources and surveys, as mentioned in detail in the answers ahead to specific items.

EGSS is compiled at the same time as EPEA and both accounts are connected and consistent. Note that this task was more difficult in the 2021 exercise, since EGSS was updated for 2019 and thoroughly revised for the whole series 2014 to 2018. Already in early 2022, the EPEA validation process led to revisions after the EGSS closure, so for the years 2014 to 2019, full consistency of the two accounts was not achieved at that time. For the 2022  Data Collection the consistency exercise with EPEA was completed for 2014-2019. Regarding the years 2020 and 2021, consistency may not be total, due to the two-month time lag between the submission of EPEA and EGSS. At the 31st October 2023, EPEA compilation for 2021 is not complete yet, as well as the revision of EPEA 2020.

Portuguese NA (Benchmark 2016) were used from 2016 onwards, namely NA work files: Data for total output, market output, non-market output and output for own final use, by kind of activity unit (KAU), plus GVA and Employment in the institutional sector Non-financial corporations + Households (S.11+S.14). 

Simplified Business Information (SBI) and Business Register of Statistical Units (BR/SBS)  are used as a primary data source for National Accounts (NA) (see below) - Data for total output, market output, non-market output and output for own final use, by entity, in the institutional sector Non profit institutions serving households  (S.15) and indirectly to Non-financial corporations + Households (S.11+S.14).

Dedicated annual surveys: a) Environmental Goods and Services Sector Survey (ISBSA) - respondents are a sample, selected from the Simplified Business Information (SBI), Portuguese Association of Environmental Technologies Companies (APEMETA) and the National Directory of Environment and Natural Resources (note that, since 2018, the survey questions as well as detailed explanations have been updated, so the results of the 2018 ISBSA survey and beyond, were much improved) – Data used to identify environmental domains and to calculate environmental coefficients; b) Business Survey on Management and Protection of the Environment (IEGPA) –  Data used to calculate ancillary output; c) Survey on Urban Waste Management Entities (IEGRU); d) Municipal Environmental Protection Survey (IMPA); e) Survey on Non-Governmental Environmental Organizations (IONGA) – Data used to calculate output and GVA in S.15; f) Survey of Fire Brigade Entities (IEDCB) - Data used to calculate output and GVA in S.15; g) from 2020 on PT started to use data on the Community Innovation Survey (CIS), following the Eurostat suggestion and following the national survey adaptation to the innovation in environmental activities.

- Agriculture statistics - for 2016 to 2018, compilation used the Farm Structure Survey (FSS) for 2016, for calculating environmental coefficients, for both organic farming and exports. For 2019, compilation used data from the 2019 Agricultural Census. According to Eurostat indications on the 2021 Validation reports, PT revised and completed data for organic agriculture in the whole series.

Yearly

National Accounts are the main data source, complemented by other administrative sources and surveys, as mentioned in detail in the text ahead trelated to data sources and EGSS scope:

The compilation of EGSS data was made by institutional sector (S.11+S.14 - Non-financial corporations + Households, S.13 - General government and S.15 - Non-profit institutions serving households) using micro data by KAU, with the same treatment as for the NA.

PT EGSS account follows a bottom-up approach, compiling microdata from single producer units or KAU using ESA 2010 concepts. A coefficient for the environmental share is applied by KAU that produces partially environmental products and determined, case by case, using several sources and proxies:
• KAU with response to dedicated survey ISBSA: the answers obtained allow to evaluate the output share of the KAU activities related to the environment (environmental coefficients) and in which environmental domain(s). Although the Eurostat guidelines (Handbook and Practical guide) indicate that only one domain per entity should be assigned, PT consulted Eurostat in 2019, which agreed with the distribution by several environmental domains, as the PT specific survey ISBSA contains that reach information (and in fact, many units of activity act in several domains, for example, CEPAs 2 and 3, or CEPA 2 and CReMA 10, or in CEPA 3 and CReMAs 11B, 13C and 14);
• KAU of the Higher Education system with degrees in environmental areas: a previous selection was made of the higher education courses (undergraduate, masters and doctorates) that were unequivocally related to the environment, from the REBIDES database, of the Directorate-General for Education and Science Statistics (DGEEC) and its teaching institutions were incorporated into the EGSS accounts universe. Once the "environmental degrees" were identified, DGEEC provided Statistics Portugal with the number of hours taught by teachers in these degrees, from the R&D survey. The environment coefficients were calculated using as a proxy the proportion of hours taught by teachers in environmental degrees, in the total hours taught at the institution;
• KAU with R&D activities in environmental areas: the KAUs with R&D projects in environmental areas are identified in the IPCTN (R&D survey) database through a specific question related to the share of environmental activities. The environmental coefficients are calculated using the proportion of R&D expenditure in environmental areas in total R&D expenditures as a proxy;
• KAU from NACE activity 01 - Agriculture, livestock, hunting, forestry and fishing: the environmental coefficients were calculated using the percentage of Utilised agricultural area (UAA) in organic farming from the 2013 Agricultural Census (for 2014 and 2015 compilation), from the Farm Structure Survey (FSS) for 2016 (for the 2016 to 2018 compilation) and from the 2019 Agricultural Census (for 2019 compilation);
• KAU with exports of environmental products: a cross-reference was made between entities collected from the NA database with the entities with environmental goods and services from the International trade database for goods and BoP. Missing entities in the universe have been added. Exports of environmental products by KAU allowed to design a proxy for the calculation of the environmental coefficient for the exporting KAU. Exports were calculated by KAU and compared with its total production: (1) in cases where exports were higher than the output, the initial output figure was replaced by the export's figure and coefficient 1 was attributed; (2) in those cases where exports were less than the production, it was considered that at least this value would be produced to satisfy exports and the coefficient was the ratio between the export of environmental products and the total KAU production.
The remaining partially environmental KAU, for which it was not possible to determine an environmental coefficient, were assigned with a zero coefficient.

The 2023 Data Collection covers 2021. The remaining series had no update. 

Not requested for this metadata collection.

The compilation of EGSS data was made by institutional sector (S.11+S.14 - Non-financial corporations + Households, S.13 - General government and S.15 - Non-profit institutions serving households) using micro data by KAU, with the same treatment as for the NA.

The final results for market output (P.1) and non-market output (P.11) are obtained from the sum of institutional sectors:
• For S.11+S.14, micro data on the total output (P.1) and from output for own-final uses (P.12) is used; additionally, P.12 for R&D is calculated from IPCTN data on environmental R&D, using the same algorithm as for the NA (based on the Frascatti Manual); Market output P.11 is obtained from P.11 = P.1 - P.12;
• For S.13 General governments’ accounts data is used, by selected entity; beyond P.11 previously identified, as well as P.12 (previously identified by NA), additionally P.12 for R&D was calculated from IPCTN data on environmental R&D, using the same algorithm as for the NA; P.13 results from the same algorithm used at General Government and it is calculated by entity (P.13 = P.2 + Compensation of employees (D.1) + Other taxes on production paid (D.29) - Other subsidies on production received (D.39) + Consumption of fixed capital (P.51c) - P.11 - P.12. For D.1, D.29, D.39 and P.51c micro data is used).
• For S.15, micro data on market output (P.11) and on output for own-final uses (P.12) is used; additionally P.12 for R&D is calculated from IPCTN data on environmental R&D, using the same algorithm as for the NA; Non-market output (P.13) is obtained through the following algorithm: P.13 = P.2 + Compensation of employees (D.1) + Other taxes on production paid (D.29) - Other subsidies on production received (D.39) + Consumption of fixed capital (P.51c) - P.11 - P.12. For D.1, D.29, D.39 and P.51c micro data is also used.
Specifically for NACE O - Public administration and defence, compulsory social security, only the non-market output of fire fighters’ associations classified in the Non-profit institutions serving households institutional sector (S.15) is used. Output of these associations is calculated using the following data source: Consolidated expenditure on environment (€) of non-profit institutions by Environment domains. The Biodiversity and Landscape Protection figure corresponds to the amount from the IEDCB survey.

Output was calculated by KAU and by product. Each KAU product was classified according to the type of environmental product: environmental specific services and other (including environmental specific goods: connected products and most environmental technologies and cleaner and resources efficient products), according to the Indicative EGSS Compendium (2016), as well as in Eurostat Technical Notes ‘Classification of Environmental Protection Activities and Expenditure (CEPA) and Classification of Resource Management Activities (CReMA) - Explanatory notes’ (December 2020) and ‘Guidance note – Reporting of electric and more resource-efficient transport equipment in EPEA and EGSS accounts’ (December 2020).
The output of environmental specific services is the result of the sum of products classified as environmental specific services in the total KAUs.

Ancillary output - it is obtained from the IEGPA specific survey, considering the simplified formula: D.1 + P.2 _not EP services of the entities; the main respondents of this survey produce environmental output as ancillary output;

Output for own-final use (P.12) - it is calculated by institutional sector:
• For S.11+S.14, it is used the micro-data from output for own-final uses (P.12) complemented by P.12 for R&D calculated from IPCTN data on environmental R&D, using the same algorithm as for the NA;
• For S.13, it is used the micro-data directly identified as P.12 at General Government’ database level complemented by P.12 for R&D calculated from IPCTN data on environmental R&D, using the same algorithm as for the NA;
• For S.15, it is used the micro-data from output for own-final uses (P.12) complemented by P.12 for R&D calculated from IPCTN data on environmental R&D, using the same algorithm as for the NA.

Data on GVA was compiled by institutional sector, similarly to the output compilation:
• For S.11+S.14, GVA is compiled using the algorithm GVA= Output (P.1) - Intermediate Consumption (P.2); P.2 is obtained from micro data on P.1 multiplied by the ratio P.2 / P.1 of the LKAU's NACE in NA.
• For S.13, the same algorithm is applied as for S.11+S.14;
• For S.15, GVA is compiled using the algorithm GVA= Output (P.1) - Intermediate Consumption (P.2); P.2 is obtained from micro data on P.2 multiplied by the same environmental coefficient as for P.1. The main data sources for compiling P.1 and P.2 were NA, which already incorporate several data sources such as the IEDCB and IONGA surveys.

Data on exports is compiled using NA information: The figure for national exports is determined using the International trade statistics for goods and BoP information for services. For exports from KAU classified under NACE codes 45, 4602 and 47 the distributive services margins were not considered, so total exports are not entirely valued free on board (FOB) as in NA, according to the guidelines on exports (2.2.2. Exports) included  in  the "Environmental goods and services sector accounts practical guide". 

EGSS employment is estimated with NA ratios. The amount of output estimated within the EGSS account is “converted” in Full-time equivalent (FTE) employment by the (output /FTE) from the NA. These ratios are estimated by NA industry. According to the NA employment definition “employment covers all persons engaged in productive activity that fall within the production boundary of the NA”. The ratios mentioned (output/FTE) are applied independently of the kind of output, whether it is market production, non-market, own account or ancillary.

PT did not calculate this memo item in the 2023 Data Collection. The Portuguese Energy Agency (ADENE) is the national institution that compiles the basic data, which is only available from 2021 onwards. PT is also still evaluating the best method of using that data.

Variables have the same treatment as in NA, and consistency tests are made for products and activities, between EGSS results and NA, for all variables (output, market output, non-market output, GVA, employment and exports).

Not requested for this metadata collection.