Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

National accounts are produced by different teams in three units and are organised in different domains:

• Unit C2 "National accounts production" is responsible for main aggregates, non-financial accounts by institutional sector, financial accounts by institutional sector, and regional accounts, pension entitlements in social insurance
• Unit C5 "Integrated global accounts and Balance of Payments" is responsible for supply and use, input-output tables
• Unit D4 "Quality management; Government Finance Statistics" is responsible for government finance statistics

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

5 Rue Alphonse Weicker

L-2921 Luxembourg

National accounts data concern all data produced and disseminated for an economy according to the definitions and guidelines of the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010).

National accounts provide data for the total economy, but may also include breakdowns of the total economy (into sectors, industries, products, regions, etc.). National accounts provide data for several domains:  annual and quarterly national accounts (main aggregates), sector accounts, financial accounts, supply and use and input-output tables, regional accounts and government finance statistics.

One of the main aggregates of national accounts is the change rate of the price-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP), which indicates the economic development of a country of region and is also referred to as economic growth rate.

Eurostat publishes, after validation, all country data that it receives in the framework of the ESA 2010 transmission programme (Annex B) in its online database: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database

National accounts data are presented in the section "Economy and finance" [National accounts (ESA 2010) (na10)] and organised into the following collections:

- Annual national accounts (nama10) present annual data on GDP and its main aggregates (output, expenditure and income) as well population and employment data and derived indicators (e.g. GDP per capita, productivity, unit labour costs). Detailed breakdowns of main output, income and employment aggregates by industry, a cross-classification of assets by industry, breakdowns of household consumption by purpose and balance sheets of assets by sectors are also included in this dataset. 
- Quarterly national accounts (namq_10) present quarterly data on GDP and its main aggregates (output, expenditure and income) as well population and employment data.
- Supply, use and Input-output tables (naio_10) present a view of the national economy in detail of 64 products and industries; the data contains annual supply and use tables at purchasers' prices and five-yearly use tables at basic prices and input-output tables. Many voluntary annual tables are submitted by countries.
- Annual sector accounts (ESA 2010) (nasa_10) which include:

+ Non-financial transactions (ESA 2010) (nasa_10_nf_tr) present the sequence of accounts providing a description of the different stages of the economic process: production, generation of income, distribution of income, redistribution of income, use of income and non-financial accumulation. Economic flows are recorded by institutional sector (non-financial and financial corporations, general government, households, non-profit institutions serving households, rest of the world) in order to illustrate their economic behaviour and interactions between them. Data set also provides a list of balancing items of high analytical value (value added, operating surplus and mixed income, balance of primary incomes, disposable income, saving, net lending / net borrowing) and derived key ratios (saving rate, investment rate, profit share).
+ Financial flows and stocks (ESA 2010) (nasa_10_f) present annual data on financial transactions, revaluations, other changes in volume, and balance sheets as well as counterpart information by sector.

- Quarterly sector accounts (ESA 2010) (nasq_10) which include:

+ Non-financial transactions (ESA 2010) (nasq_10_nf_tr) present the sequence of accounts by institutional sectors (non-financial and financial corporations, general government, households combined with non-profit institutions serving households, rest of the world) at quarterly frequency.
+ Financial flows and stocks (nasq_10_f) present the financial flows and stocks data as reported to the European Central Bank under the Guideline of the ECB of 25 July 2013. Not all data presented in this section are required by ESA 2010 transmission programme. 

- Regional economic accounts - ESA 2010 (nama_10reg) present regional data at NUTS 2 level for GDP, Gross Value Added, Compensation of Employees, Gross Fixed Capital Formation, employment (measured in persons and hours worked), population and Household accounts and at NUTS 3 level for GDP, Gross Value Added, employment measured in persons and population.
- Accrued-to-date pension entitlements in social insurance: this section presents accrued to date stocks and flows by type of social insurance pension schemes including unfunded schemes not fully covered in core national accounts (social security and government employees pensions). Data are transmitted on a three yearly basis as from reference year 2015.
- Government finance statistics (gov_gfs10) present annual data for government revenue, expenditure and main aggregates, general government expenditure by function (COFOG), main national accounts tax aggregates, and financial accounts for general government. This section also informs about quarterly data for non-financial and financial accounts for general government, and quarterly government debt.

An additional dataset presents national accounts received from other organisations (OECD, IMF) based on a regular exchange of data (see also section 6.2):

- National accounts - international data cooperation (naid_10): this section presents a more limited set of GDP and main aggregates, population and employment data for EU and non-EU countries.

However, not all data presented in this collection are based on ESA 2010 methodology.

For selected variables Eurostat compiles aggregates for the euro area and the EU.

The datasets are described in more detail in the domain specific metadata.

The ESA 2010 provides a methodology on common standards, definitions, internationally harmonised classifications and accounting rules that are used for compiling national accounts on comparable bases.

The ESA 2010 defines classifications to be used for: institutional sectors, transactions in products, transactions in non-financial non-produced assets, distributive transactions, transactions in financial assets and liabilities, other changes in assets, balancing and net worth items, balance sheet entries, non-financial assets, financial assets and liabilities.

In addition, for several breakdowns ESA 2010 makes use of other classifications: NACE Rev. 2 for economic activities, CPA 2014 for products by economic activities, COFOG for the functions of government, COICOP for individual consumption by purpose, COPNI for classification of the purposes of non-profit institutions serving households, NUTS 2013 for regional breakdowns.

A full overview of classifications is available in:

- ESA 2010 Chapter 23 Classifications

- Eurostat's RAMON classification database

For the presentation / dissemination of (breakdowns of) country data and aggregated data compiled for the euro area and EU Eurostat makes use of all classifications defined in ESA 2010, see Chapter 23.

National accounts describe the total economy of a country. All units that have their centre of predominant economic interest in the economic territory of that country are covered.

In addition, several breakdowns of the total are described. Two of the most important breakdowns are the breakdown by institutional sector and the breakdown by NACE Rev. 2 activity. Exhaustiveness is required for each of the breakdown items.

Concerning the institutional sector breakdown, ESA 2010 distinguishes five mutually exclusive domestic institutional sectors: (a) non-financial corporations; (b) financial corporations; (c) general government; (d) households; (e) non-profit institutions serving households. The five sectors together make up the total domestic economy. Each sector is also divided into subsectors.

Regarding the activity breakdown, ESA 2010 applies NACE Rev.2. Activities can be broken down into several levels of detail, for example into 3, 10, 21, 38, 64 or 88 activities. At the 'highest' level a breakdown into 3 categories is defined: (a) agriculture, forestry and fishing; (b) mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity gas steam and air conditioning supply, water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities, construction; (c) services.

Eurostat's published data cover the national accounts data of the total economies of the countries and all transmitted breakdowns. For selected tables and variables Eurostat also compiles the aggregated national accounts for the euro area and the EU. As far as the transmitted country data are complete, all units and activities in the respective economic areas are covered. However, contrary to non-financial and financial accounts by institutional sector, the data for the quarterly and annual main aggregates of the euro area and the EU do not include the euro area respectively the EU international organisations.

Both the country data and the euro area and EU aggregates are broken down in several respects. For example, supply and use tables are broken down by activity and product, and sector and financial accounts are broken down by institutional sector.  In principle the respective activities and sectors are fully covered.

All statistical concepts and definitions to be used in national accounts are described in Annex A of the ESA 2010 Regulation (link to blue book on ESA2010 methodology). The two main sets of tables concern: (a) the institutional sector accounts; (b) the input-output framework, and the accounts by industry.

The sector accounts provide, by institutional sector, a systematic description of the different stages of the economic process: production, generation of income, distribution of income, redistribution of income, use of income and financial and nonfinancial accumulation. The sector accounts also include balance sheets to describe the stocks of assets, liabilities and net worth at the beginning and the end of the accounting period. The variables/concepts described in the sector accounts include transactions in products, transactions in non-produced non-financial assets, distributive transactions, transactions in financial assets and liabilities, other changes in assets, non-financial and financial assets and liabilities.

The input-output framework, through the supply and use tables, sets out in more detail the production process (cost structure, income generated and employment) and the flows of goods and services (output, imports, exports, final consumption, intermediate consumption and capital formation by product group). These variables are broken down by industry (NACE Rev. 2) and product (CPA 2014).

ESA 2010 also encompasses concepts of population and employment. Such concepts are relevant for the sector accounts, the accounts by industry and the supply and use framework.

Regional accounts provide regional breakdowns for major aggregates such as gross value added by industry, gross fixed capital formation and household income. Regional breakdowns are based on the NUTS classification. National accounts concepts are also used for regional accounts.

In addition Annex A of the ESA 2010 Regulation addresses and defines numerous other concepts and definitions, such as the definition of: statistical units and their groupings, flows and stocks, accounting rules (valuation, time of recording, consolidation and netting).  The main features and principles for the compilation of national accounts can be found in Chapter 1.

Both for the disseminated country data and for the euro area and EU aggregates that Eurostat compiles, Eurostat basically applies all concepts and definitions of ESA 2010. However, deviations might occur where the received country data are not fully compliant with the ESA 2010 guidelines. In addition, it should be noted that for the annual and quarterly main aggregates, the imports and exports of goods and services of the euro area and the EU are not consolidated, but presented on a 'gross' basis.

Following the ESA 2010 guidelines, in national accounts two types of units and two corresponding ways of subdividing the economy are used: (a) institutional unit; (b) local kind-of-activity unit (local KAU). The first type is used for describing income, expenditure and financial flows as well as balance sheets. The second type of units is used for the description of production processes, for input-output analysis and for regional analysis.

An institutional unit is an economic entity characterised by decision-making autonomy in the exercise of its principal function. A resident unit is regarded as constituting an institutional unit in the economic territory where it has its centre of predominant economic interest if it has decision-making autonomy and either keeps a complete set of accounts, or is able to compile a complete set of accounts.

A local KAU groups all the parts of an institutional unit in its capacity as producer which are located in a single site or in closely located sites, and which contribute to the performance of an activity at the class level (four digits) of the NACE Rev. 2.

An institutional unit comprises one or more local KAUs; a local KAU belongs to one and only one institutional unit.

The units used in the national accounts data published by Eurostat are, in principle, the local KAU or the institutional unit as defined in ESA2010. This is the case for both the country data received, and for the euro area and EU aggregates compiled by Eurostat. However, deviations might occur where the units used in the received country data are not fully compliant with the ESA 2010 guidelines.

The national accounts population of a country consists of all resident statistical units (institutional units or local KAUs, see section 3.5). A unit is a resident unit of a country when it has a centre of predominant economic interest on the economic territory of that country, that is, when it engages for an extended period (one year or more) in economic activities on this territory.

National accounts are exhaustive. This means that all resident statistical units are covered.

The population of the countries' national accounts data as published by Eurostat includes, in principle, all resident statistical units. The population of the euro area and EU aggregates includes, in principle, all statistical units resident in the euro area respectively the EU. However, deviations might occur where the population in the received country data does not include all resident units. In addition, contrary to non-financial and financial accounts by institutional sector, the data for the quarterly and annual main aggregates of the euro area and the EU do not include the euro area respectively the EU international organisations.

The reference area for national accounts is the total economy of a country. The total economy of a country can be broken down into regions. The NUTS classification provides a single, uniform breakdown of the economic territory of the Member States of the EU.

Eurostat collects and disseminates in its database data for all Member States of the EU, EFTA countries and enlargement countries whenever available based on ESA 2010. A more limited set of national accounts data for other countries is available via international data sharing (see also section 6.2). In addition Eurostat compiles and disseminates estimations for the euro area and the EU aggregates for selected tables and variables.

Eurostat also disseminates regional data for selected tables and variables. Regions are, in principle, defined using the NUTS classification and regional accounts data are compiled and transmitted to Eurostat by the countries.

National accounts data are usually compiled for years and quarters.

In general, the ESA 2010 transmission programme requires data starting in 1995 (years) and 1995Q1 (quarters) but some series start later. If backwards data exist, they may have been compiled according to earlier versions of ESA and can present conceptual breaks with those compiled under ESA2010.

The time coverage of national accounts data produced by countries and published by Eurostat varies from country to country and depends on the length of the time series transmitted by the countries. In general, the time series published correspond with the requirements defined in Annex B of the ESA 2010 Regulation (link to ESA 2010 transmission programme). Most of the data series in the transmission programme start in 1995, but there are several exceptions. If countries provide Eurostat with longer time series than required in the transmission programme, Eurostat will also publish them. Countries may also sometimes provide shorter time series as a result of temporary derogations.

The time coverage of the selected tables and variables for which Eurostat compiles euro area and EU aggregates usually coincides with the time coverage requirements of those variables in the ESA 2010 transmission programme.

The concept of 'base period' is not applied in national accounts. Instead, for some national accounts variables the concepts of previous year prices and chain-linked volumes are applied, as stipulated in Commission Decision 98/715/EC. Expressing variables at the prices of the previous year allows the calculation of volume indices between the current time period and the previous year. After a reference period is chosen as a benchmark, volume indices can be chain-linked and then applied to variables at current prices of the benchmark year. This generates volume estimates for any period of observation.

For the relevant national accounts variables country data are not only provided to Eurostat in current prices, but also in previous year's prices and chain-linked volumes. Depending on the reference year chosen by the countries, Eurostat currently re-references the received chain-linked series to reference years 2005 and 2010.

National accounts variables for which Eurostat compiles euro area and EU aggregates are also, if relevant, expressed in previous year's prices and chain-linked volumes with 2005 and 2010 as reference years.

With the exception of some variables concerning population and labour that are usually expressed in number of persons, hours or jobs, the ESA 2010 system shows all flows and stocks in monetary terms: in euros or other national currency. Flows and stocks shall be measured according to their exchange value, i.e. the value at which flows and stocks are in fact, or could be, exchanged for cash. Market prices are, thus, the ESA's reference for valuation.

In addition to measurement in current (market) prices, some national accounts variables are also expressed in previous year's prices and chain-linked volumes, see section 3.9. Furthermore, it is possible to derive growth rates and indices, and various other measures '(e.g. percentages, per capita data, data expressed in purchasing power standards)' can be applied as well.

Both for the country data and the euro area and EU aggregates Eurostat employs the measures described above.

For more information see domain specific metadata.

The usual reference period to be used for presenting national accounts data is the calendar year for annual data and the quarter for quarterly data.

Two basic kinds of information are recorded: flows and stocks. Flows refer to actions and effects of events that take place within a given period of time (year or quarter), while stocks refer to positions at a point of time (usually the beginning or end of a year or quarter).

For both the country data and the euro area and the EU aggregates that Eurostat presents in its publications, the usual national accounts reference periods are used.

National accounts are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010) which was published in the Official Journal as Annex A of Regulation (EU) No 549/2013. The ESA 2010 transmission programme is covered in Annex B

The ESA 2010 has the form of a Regulation and it provides for:

• a methodology (Annex A) on common standards, definitions, classifications and accounting rules that shall be used for compiling accounts and tables on comparable bases (link to blue book on ESA 2010 methodology);
• a programme of data transmission (Annex B) setting out the time limits by which Member States shall transmit to Eurostat the accounts and tables (link to ESA 2010 transmission programme).

Temporary derogations to the data transmission requirements have been granted to Member States, up to 2020, by the Commission Implementing Decision 2014/403/EU of 26 June 2014 amended by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1891 of 30 November 2018 thus allowing national data to deviate temporarily from the ESA 2010 transmission requirements.

Some other legal acts with relevance for national accounts concern:

- Commission Decision 98/715 of 30 November 1998 and Commission Decision 2002/990 of 17 December 2002 on measurement of price and volumes in national accounts.

- Legal act on the excessive deficit procedure

Several separate acts, often regarding classifications such as: NACE Rev.2, CPA 2014, COFOG, COICOP, NUTS 2013.

On the Eurostat website, sections 'National accounts'  and 'Government finance and EDP', more legal acts relevant for national accounts can be found.

In addition to the legal acts mentioned above, there are two important 'gentlemen's agreements' with many Member States that enable Eurostat to collect national data for the estimation of the euro area and EU quarterly GDP at 30 days and at 45 days after the end of the reference period. 

National accounts data are key datasets used and published by many international organisations to improve data consistency and exploit synergies for data collection and validation. An initiative to improve data sharing for National Accounts was launched in 2016 by the Inter-Agency Group on Economic and Financial Statistics (comprising representatives of the Bank for International Settlements, the European Central Bank, Eurostat, the IMF, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United Nations, and the World Bank)  under the G20 Data Gap Initiative.

EU and Euro area aggregated data and data received via the ESA 2010 transmission programme are shared with other institutions in accordance with specific agreements, notably with the ECB and the OECD.

Between Eurostat and ECB:

• Memorandum of Understanding on economic and financial statistics between the Directorate General Statistics of the ECB (DG Statistics) and the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat), March 2003. Memorandum of Understanding on the cooperation between the European Statistical System and the European System of Central Banks, April 2013.
• Service Level Agreement (SLA) on Data Exchanges between the ECB Eurostat, February 2008.
• Memorandum of Understanding between Eurostat and the ECB/Directorate General Statistics on the quality assurance of statistics underlying the Macroeconomic Imbalances Procedure, November 2016.

Between Eurostat and OECD:

• Protocol for co-operation between Eurostat and the OECD in the area of national accounts signed in June 2013 specifies agreed data exchange and data validation arrangements.

Eurostat is also a member of the Inter-Agency Group on Economic and Financial Statistics and actively participates in the G20 Data Gap Initiative. Data assembled under this initiative are presented in a dedicated collection in Eurobase (naid_10), see section 3.1.

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 further conditions that have to be respected by statistical offices in regard to statistical confidentiality (Principle 5).

Eurostat applies the confidentiality policy as described in Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics and in Principle 5 of the European Statistics Code of Practice. In case the data of a country is missing but could be derived from the EU total minus the other reporting countries, Eurostat applies secondary confidentiality and ensures the data remain confidential. Confidential data are not disclosed by Eurostat. Access to confidential data for scientific purposes may be granted (after informing and requesting authorisation from respective country) on the basis of Commission Regulation 557/2013 and Regulation 223/2009 of the European Parliament and the Council on European statistics.

In a statistical sense, ‘confidential data’ means data which allow statistical units to be identified, either directly or indirectly, thereby disclosing individual information. To determine whether a statistical unit is identifiable, account shall be taken of all relevant means that might reasonably be used by a third party to identify the statistical unit. Although national accounts data are usually highly aggregated, there may be possible cases for detailed breakdowns of aggregates and/or small economies. In these cases measures should be taken in order not to disclose data of a separate statistical unit. Guidance on how to prevent disclosure can be found in the Handbook on Statistical Disclosure Control.

The transmission of different types of confidentiality flags and their technical treatment for dissemination actually differ somewhat across countries and national accounts domains. However, in general practice is that if countries transmit data with a confidentiality flag or an embargo date, these data are not disseminated until the confidentiality flag is removed in a subsequent data transmission or the embargo expired. Confidential data appear as ":" in Eurobase, possibly combined with a C flag.

The technical transmission standard SDMX allows countries to specify the confidentiality status of data.

Good practice requires that new national accounts data and associated news releases are announced in a release calendar that is published well in advance of the respective releases.

Eurostat publishes a (Eurostat-wide) release calendar on its website. The release calendar covers a full calendar year and includes all scheduled national accounts news releases. Most national accounts news releases concern quarterly data: (preliminary) GDP flash, GDP and main aggregates, employment, quarterly sector accounts, quarterly government debt and deficit. The publication of statistical books is pre-announced as well. However, database releases are not included in the Eurostat-wide release calendar.

For the 'Annual and quarterly national accounts (main aggregates)' a domain specific calendar is available on the dedicated section of the website. This calendar includes both the annual and quarterly accounts news releases and the database releases.

On the Eurostat website links to the release calendars of the Member States are available as well.

Release calendars should be easily available and accessible for users, e.g. by publication on the website of an NSI.

The pre-announced Eurostat-wide release calendar, that includes all scheduled national accounts news releases, is available here: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/news/release-calendar.

The Eurostat calendar for statistical books is available here: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/news/forthcoming-publications.

Annual and quarterly national accounts (main aggregates) releases, including news releases and database releases are published here: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/24987/6642470/QNA_release_calendar.pdf

The Eurostat website also provides links to release calendars of National Statistical Institutes in Member States: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/links/national_statistical_offices. In some countires national and regional accounts are compiled by other institutions than statistical officies, e.g. national bank. See countries' metadata for more information about each country.

In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice (Principle 6 on impartiality and objectivity, Principle 13 on timeliness and punctuality and Principle 15 on accessibility and clarity), national accounts data that meet the quality standards, including relevant metadata, should be made available to users. Users should be informed when the data become available and how they can be accessed.

Eurostat disseminates European statistics on its website (see section 10.3 - 'Dissemination format') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

New quarterly national accounts data are published each quarter: 4 times per year. However, depending on circumstances and national practices, initially released quarterly national accounts data may be revised and disseminated again. Annual national accounts data are published at least once a year: when data for a new year are added. But, depending on country practices and revision policy, annual data can also be published more often, e.g. publication of a provisional estimate early in the calendar year and a revised one later in the calendar year.

National data that countries provide for most of the tables of the transmission programme are, after validation, immediately published by Eurostat. This will take place at least 4 times a year for quarterly data and at least once or twice a year for annual data, but the number of disseminations can be (much) larger if countries transmit revised data sets to Eurostat.

Euro area and EU quarterly estimates are usually disseminated at least every quarter and annual estimates at least once a year. However, initially disseminated quarterly and annual euro area and EU estimates are often revised after their first publication and then published again. In addition, practice differs per domain. For example, for (parts of) the annual and quarterly national accounts main aggregates 4 subsequent estimates (respectively at 30, 45, 65 and 100 days after the quarter-end) are compiled and released for one and the same reference quarter.

The most important results of national accounts are issued in news releases. New key national accounts data may also be presented in press conferences or press briefings. The exact dates are pre-announced in release calendars (see section 8.1 above).

Eurostat publishes news releases that are associated with some milestone estimations, such as the quarterly GDP flash estimate. Most of Eurostat's national accounts news releases concern quarterly data: (preliminary) GDP flash, GDP and main aggregates, employment, quarterly sector accounts, quarterly government debt and deficit. They often have a fixed structure and are disseminated on the Eurostat website.

For domain specific information, please consult the metadata for each ESA 2010 domain.

In addition to news releases, national accounts data may be disseminated in other publications, such as statistical papers, yearbooks, internal and external articles. Usually this concerns publications in which more in-depth analysis is carried out.

In Eurostat, national accounts data containing in-depth analyses are published in Statistics Explained or statistical books. An important statistical book on the area of national accounts is Eurona (Eurostat Review on National Accounts and Macroeconomic Indicators); this publication contains selected (and peer-reviewed) articles. Eurostat's national accounts data are also used in various other publications.

In order to enable easy access to national accounts data, all validated national accounts data should be made available to users by publishing them in an online database.

All national accounts data (country data as well as euro area and EU aggregates) are made available to users in Eurostat’s public database. All national accounts data are available by entering the navigation tree under 'Database by themes' and then select 'Economy and finance' and subsequently 'National accounts ESA 2010' or 'Government statistics'. See section 3.1 for more details.

Alternatively, a selection of the most important national accounts data can be accessed by entering the database under 'Tables by themes'. In a similar way as explained above, key national accounts tables and data can be found.

Not applicable.

In addition to news releases and other publications (see sections 10.1 and 10.2), information on national accounts may be posted using social media.

Eurostat makes use of Facebook and Twitter.

Eurostat's Facebook messages can be accessed here: EurostatStatistics

Eurostat's Twitter messages can be accessed here: @EU_Eurostat

The general methodological framework for the compilation of national accounts in the EU is ESA 2010.

In addition, several handbooks have been developed to help compilers to produce national accounts data. Some of the most important methodological manuals are the Handbook on quarterly national accounts, Manual on regional accounts methods, Eurostat Manual of Supply, Use and Input-Output Tables, Manual on Government Deficit and Debt. Also, guidance manuals on specific topics are available, e.g. compilation guide on land estimation, compilation guide on inventories, Manual on measuring Research and Development in ESA 2010.

The manuals above specifically apply to EU national accounts statistics. However, world-wide equivalents are often also available: SNA 2008, Quarterly National Accounts Manual, Handbook on Input-Output Table Compilation and Analysis, Government Finance Statistics Manual.

The country data published in Eurostat's database are prepared by the respective countries using the methodologies as specified under the metadata description of those countries. The ESA 2010 guidelines are applied by all countries.

Methodological information is also published on domain specific websites, e.g.:

• Annual national accounts (including GDP) informs on the compilation of annual main aggregates, including links to main methodological references and information on the estimation of the euro area and EU main aggregates.
• Quarterly national accounts informs on the compilation of quarterly main aggregates, including links to main methodological references and information on the estimation euro area and EU main aggregates.
• European sector accounts informs on compilation of sector accounts aggregates for euro area and the EU, presents aggregated and national data, and provides links to methodological references including national inventories of sources and methods. It covers both annual and quarterly data, both non-financial and financial.
• Supply, Use and Input-Output tables informs on the methodological and practical issues to compile those tables. It includes a numerical example to allow the users tracing all steps of the compilation. Examples of analyses are given in the manual. 
• Government finance statistics and EDP (As we mentioned already above, some countries doubt EDP reporting should be mentioned here, because it is not according to transmission programme) informs on the compilation of annual data for government revenue, expenditure and main aggregates, general government expenditure by function (COFOG), main national accounts tax aggregates, and financial accounts for general government. It also informs about compilation of quarterly data for non-financial and financial accounts for general government, and quarterly government debt.
• Pensions in national accounts informs on methodological aspects of pensions data compilation, provides methodological guidance and links to existing manuals and related reports on pensions compiled by other institutions.

In addition, countries often describe their applied methodology for specific domains in 'inventories' available on the Eurostat website: GNI inventories (chapter 1) (to be changed there is currently no text in that page) for the compilation of gross national income data, QNA inventories for the compilation of quarterly national accounts, ASA inventories for the annual sector accounts, QSA inventories for the quarterly sector accounts.

In its compilation of the euro area and EU aggregates Eurostat applies the ESA 2010 methodology and makes use of the manuals and classifications as mentioned above.

For more detailed information for each ESA 2010 domain, please refer to the respective metadata file and to the dedicated sections in Eurostat's website.

The importance of national accounts requires that documentation should be available on the procedures applied for quality management and quality assessment. Examples of such documentation are national accounts quality reports, quality studies and reports on revision analysis.

The quality (accuracy/consistency) checks carried out by Eurostat on the received country data are described in the validation handbook. From 2017 onwards also annual national quality reports are available. They describe several dimensions of the quality of countries' national accounts data transmissions.

Quality (accuracy) of the euro area and EU aggregates, and more specifically quarterly euro area and EU GDP, is documented in the quarterly news releases and expressed in terms of revisions to the previous estimates.

Quality of national accounts data is assured by strict application of ESA 2010 concepts and by applying the guidelines of the ESS handbook for quality reports.

During the overall compilation process, national and regional accounts data undergo several kinds of quality checks, e.g. ex-ante (source statistics), ongoing (results), ex-post (methods used) and external checks (Eurostat, European or national Court of Auditors, IMF).

Eurostat assures the quality (accuracy/consistency) of national data by systematically applying validation checks to all national accounts transmissions of countries. In addition, Eurostat is performing an annual assessment of several quality dimensions regarding country data reported to Eurostat under ESA 2010 transmission programme: the national quality reports. The findings are made available to the national compliers.

Quality (accuracy) of the euro area and EU aggregates, and more specifically quarterly and euro area GDP, is assured by systematically calculating and evaluating the revisions to the previous estimates. The applied compilation method ensures coherence between annual and quarterly national accounts main aggregates. Punctual publication is encouraged by publishing the release calendar in advance.

Regarding the transmissions of country data: data are validated if the validation checks are met. If not, a report is produced and feedback of the respective countries is required.  In addition, a summary report of the annual assessment of the quality of country data reported to Eurostat under ESA 2010 transmission programme is published every year. It can be found here (link to be provided).

The euro area and EU aggregates are assessed before each publication by considering and evaluating the revisions to the previous estimates.

National accounts data provide key information for economic policy monitoring and decision making, for forecasting, for administrative purposes, for informing the general public about economic developments (directly or indirectly via news agencies), and as input for economic research.

Users of annual and regional national accounts data at European level are typically Directorate-General Economic and Financial Affairs and Directorate-General Regional and Urban Policy, but other DGs of the European Commission also use this data. The European Central Bank (ECB) and OECD also intensively use national accounts data. These organisations mainly use the data for monitoring economic policy and forecasting purposes.

The Eurostat national accounts data are also used for several administrative purposes: the contribution to the EU budget (partly based on gross national income data), the allocation of European regional funds (based on the regional distribution of GDP), monitoring of Member States' government debt and deficit (derived from government finance statistics/EDP data).

Views and opinions of users of national accounts statistics can be collected and analysed as one of the tools to 'measure' the relevance of national accounts data.

Following the publication of news releases, Eurostat usually follows up the interest perceived from users on the basis of databases consultations and downloads of the publications.

In most countries national accounts cover the domains national accounts main aggregates, government accounts, sector accounts regional accounts and supply and use tables. However, the content of the data on these domains as well as the (details of the) various breakdowns (by region, sector, industry, product, etc.) may deviate per country, depending on national needs and available sources.

The ESA 2010 transmission programme, consisting of 22 tables across all national accounts domains (see section10.3) defines the minimum national accounts data set that must be available in all Member States of the EU.

Eurostat's national accounts cover the variables and details that are defined in the ESA 2010 transmission programme. For these variables Eurostat publishes country data, as far as they are delivered by the countries and could be validated. Eurostat also checks the delivered country data with the ESA 2010 requirements and compiles, by country and table of the transmission programme, statistics on the completeness rate. A summary is published here (hyperlink to be added).

For selected tables and variables, Eurostat compiles euro area and EU aggregates.

Eurostat assesses the accuracy of national data by systematically applying validation checks to all national accounts transmissions of countries. In addition, Eurostat is performing an annual assessment of the accuracy regarding country data reported to Eurostat under ESA 2010 transmission programme. In the framework of the quality reports quarterly and annual revision rates of several key variables in the transmission programme are calculated.

Accuracy of the euro area and EU aggregates, and more specifically accuracy of quarterly and euro area GDP, is assured by systematically calculating and evaluating the revisions to the previous estimates. Eurostat also publishes growth rate triangles for GDP from which revisions (and thus accuracy) can be derived for the euro area and the EU GDP.

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National accounts data should become available to users as timely as possible, taking into account the frequency of the data (annual or quarterly), the character of the data (info on the structure of an economy or on conjuncture developments) and an adequate balance between accuracy and timeliness.

The ESA 2010 transmission programme defines the required timeliness for all national accounts tables. Quarterly tables should become available between 2 and 3 months after the quarter-end. The annual tables have to be transmitted between 2 months (main aggregates) and 36 months (supply and use tables) after the end of the reference year.

Country data are usually transmitted at the deadlines as defined in the ESA 2010 transmission programme. Some countries transmit their data earlier, others later. Later transmissions are usually justified by derogations granted to the Member States. Eurostat publishes the country data immediately after their validation. The time needed for validating the country data varies per domain. While it usually limited to 1-2 working days for quarterly national accounts, where timeliness is crucial, other datasets have longer validation processes. Expected delays were specified in an OECD-Eurostat cooperation agreement, Table 2 (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/24987/6624264/OECD-Eurostat-cooperation.pdf). It also depends on the time taken by countries to reply to questions related with data validation raised by Eurostat during the validation work.

Aggregated euro area and EU national accounts data are compiled by Eurostat for selected tables and variables. As the compilation of the aggregates takes time, they become available some time after the country data have been received. The compilation time varies by domain: the GDP flash for the euro area and EU is already published within 1 working day after reception of the country data. For the regular quarterly euro area and EU main aggregates estimations 5 working days are needed. For quarterly sector accounts, quarterly government finance statistics, annual regional accounts, annual financial accounts, and supply/use tables respectively some working days are necessary for compiling the euro area and EU aggregates.

Good practice requires that the dates on which national accounts data become available are pre-announced and that the pre-announced publication dates are met.

National accounts data transmissions in the framework of the ESA 2010 transmission programme should be punctually delivered to Eurostat at the timeliness defined in the transmission programme (or before).

Concerning country data: Eurostat compiles statistics on the punctual delivery for each table of the ESA 2010 transmission programme. A summary is published here (hyperlink to be added).

Regarding the euro and EU aggregates compiled by Eurostat: the publication dates of the key variables are communicated in the pre-announced release calendar (see sections 8.1 and 8.2), on which dates the underlying datasets also become available. Only in exceptional cases the pre-announced dates cannot be respected; in these cases the release calendar is corrected as soon as the change is known.

The geographical comparability of national accounts in Member States of the EU is ensured by the application of common definitions of the European System of Accounts ESA 2010). Worldwide geographical comparison is also possible as most non-European countries apply the SNA 2008 guidelines, and SNA 2008 is consistent with ESA 2010.

As far as the countries correctly apply the ESA 2010 concepts, the country data published by Eurostat are comparable with each other. In addition, the euro area and EU aggregates are also compiled according ESA 2010 guidelines; they are comparable with corresponding data for other economic areas that base their estimations on ESA 2010 or SNA 2008 methodology, like the United States. An exception concerns the euro area and EU estimates of the annual and quarterly national accounts main aggregates for the exports and imports of goods and services: they are not consolidated, but presented on a 'gross' basis (also see section 3.4).

As the data for all reference periods are compiled according to the requirements of the ESA 2010, national accounts data are fully comparable over time. Also, in the case of fundamental changes to methods or classifications, revisions of long time series are performed, usually going far back into the past.

In principle, all country data and euro area and EU aggregates disseminated by Eurostat are comparable over time. However, in a limited number of cases comparability over time might be hampered. This is often the result when new sources for part of the time series are used. If possible, these cases are indicated in the database by marking them with a flag B (break). 

Within the system of national accounts there is full consistency between the domains: annual and quarterly national accounts, government accounts, sector accounts, financial accounts, regional accounts, supply and use tables. However, in practice full consistency may not always be possible and temporary discrepancies might occur. They are usually the result of vintage differences.

Primary statistics like structural business statistics (SBS), short term statistics (STS) and labour force statistics (LFS) are widely used as input for national accounts. However, there is no full consistency between these statistical domains and national accounts. Main reasons are differences in concepts/definitions and in coverage. Balance of payments is also used as an important source for national accounts. The definitions and coverage of balance of payments, as defined in the BPM6 manual, are fully harmonised with those in ESA 2010. Therefore, balance of payments variables are in principle fully coherent with the corresponding national accounts variables.

Although in theory the national accounts data should be harmonised between all national accounts domains, in practice there will be discrepancies in the data of several countries as well as in the euro area and EU aggregates. The reasons are the following.

• Quarterly data of most countries are usually aligned to annual data once a year; inconsistencies between quarters and the corresponding year might appear for some time before the alignment.
• National data for different national accounts domain are compiled at different points in time, which is usually related to availability of sources.
• Timeliness requirements differ between tables of the ESA 2010 transmission programme. For example, quarterly national accounts main aggregates have to be delivered to Eurostat 2 months after the end of the reference quarter, whereas the quarterly sector accounts table and government quarterly financial accounts table have to be transmitted at 85 days or 3 months after the quarter-end.
• The length of the validation and compilation processes differs between the responsible Eurostat units. For example, a correction done by a national accounts domain that publishes at 90 days after the reference quarter cannot be taken on board by the domain that already disseminated its data at 65 days after the reference quarter.

Usually the discrepancies between the national accounts domains only concern the most recent reference period; previous reference periods tend to be coherent between domains.

Eurostat started assessing the coherence within the domain of annual and quarterly national accounts (main aggregates). A summary is published here (hyperlink to be added). Work is ongoing to extend the assessment between national accounts domains.

See section 15.3 (Coherence - cross domain).

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National accounts data are subject to continuous revisions as new input data become available. They are called routine revisions and entail regular revisions of country data and of the European aggregates, which are derived from the former.

More rarely, exceptional revisions (called benchmark revisions) will result from major changes in data sources, classifications or methodology. For example, when changing from ESA95 to ESA 2010, a benchmark revision occurred at country level and at euro area / EU data level.

Two Task Forces developed proposals for a more harmonised approach for benchmark and routine revisions. The one under the auspices of the Directors of Macroeconomic Statistics (DMES) dealt with benchmark revision policy, the other under the auspices of the Committee on Monetary, Financial, and Balance of Payments Statistics (CMFB) on the European Harmonised Revision Policy dealing with routine revisions. 

The country data that Eurostat publishes for most domains follow the revision policy chosen by the respective countries. They may deviate from the recommendations done by the Task Forces.

The revision policy for the European aggregates may differ by domain, but in general for each estimation round all previous reference periods (quarters or years) are open for revision.

While revisions should be seen as a process to progressively improve the quality of national accounts as e.g. better sources and/or methods become available, the availability of metadata on revisions is a key element for understanding  national accounts data and revisions between subsequent releases.

Therefore, information on the main reasons for revisions and their nature (new source data available, new methods, etc.) as well as possibly quantitative and qualitative assessment on the average size of revisions and their direction based on historical data is required.

For some national accounts domains Eurostat publishes information on its publication of national data and on its revision policy for European aggregates on its website. For example, information on the revision policy for main aggregates can be found here. 

National and regional accounts compilation builds up on statistics that are primarily collected for other purposes (primary statistics).

It relies on a variety of data sources, including administrative data: car and business registers, accounting statements, tax data, budgetary reports, population censuses, statistical surveys of businesses and households, statements of supervising institutions and branch organisations, annual and quarterly reports, trade statistics on goods and services, balance of payments information.

There is no single survey source for national accounts. Sources vary from country to country and provide statistical information on a large set of economic, social, financial and environmental phenomena, which may not be strictly related to national accounts.

The country data published by Eurostat are compiled on the basis of the sources that are nationally available. See the country specific sections for more information.

For Eurostat, the sources to compile euro area and EU aggregates are the data transmitted by countries.

For more details on data sources used in each ESA 2010 domain, please refer to section 18.1 of the metadata file in the respective domain.

National accounts are usually compiled on an annual or quarterly basis from other primary statistics. The frequency of data collection of primary statistics varies according to the nature of the data source. For example, business statistics are typically available on a monthly (and quarterly) basis. Some households' surveys are available on quarterly or annual frequency (sometimes even less frequent). Availability of administrative data varies from country to country. Population censuses are mostly collected every decade.

The frequency and timing of the compilation of national accounts are not necessary aligned with the frequency and timing of (all) primary statistics data collections.

Member States send annual national and regional accounts data to Eurostat once or twice per year (between 2 and 36 months after the end of the reference year), depending on the specific dataset/table. Revisions can be sent at any time and regular transmissions typically include revised data for previous years.

Quarterly data are sent to Eurostat between 2 and 3 months after the reference quarter. Revisions can be sent at any time and regular transmissions typically include revised data for previous quarters.

The data collection is very country specific and also varies according to the nature of the data source, e.g. administrative data, tax and car registers, surveys, accounting statements.  Guidance can be found in the Handbook of Recommended Practices for Questionnaire Development and Testing Methods in the ESS.

For Eurostat, the sources of national accounts data, both for the country data and the European aggregates, are the data transmissions of the national compilers. National accounts data that countries transmit to Eurostat in the framework of the ESA 2010 transmission programme are SDMX compliant, i.e. the codes and concepts correspond to what has been defined in the relevant Data Structure Definitions (DSDs). See DSDs for national accounts here.

Data validation refers to any activity aimed at verifying that the value of a data item comes from a given set of acceptable values. It is a key task performed in all statistical domains and particularly important for national accounts, which is a key dataset for economic analysis and policy decisions.

In order to increase overall data quality and workflow efficiency, the European Statistical System (ESS) is moving towards more harmonisation of validation activities including the definition of common standards, tools and support for implementation (see ESS validation website). National accounts are a pilot in this area. An ESA 2010 Task Force on validation was established in 2015 to agree and document validation rules in an ESA 2010 validation handbook and progressively implement them in a pre-validation service for national accounts data.

Eurostat's minimum validation checks for national accounts were agreed and documented in an ESTAT-OECD protocol signed 2013. They start with basic coding and completeness checks (coverage of reference periods and variables), followed by plausibility checks (zero, negative, missing values and outliers), consistency checks of accounting rules, price series, between different datasets (e.g. quarterly and annual accounts, different domains) and consistency checks over time (revisions).

While major issues are investigated with the countries, acceptable delays for validation depend on the dataset. Timeliness and accuracy have to be carefully balanced and limited temporary inconsistencies may be accepted for some datasets to meet user needs.

The data undergo a comprehensive validation work around two components performing validation operations: one for structural validation (called STRUVAL) and one for content validation (called CONVAL) aiming to ensure that no incomplete or otherwise incorrect data enters production databases for further processing. The validation services are designed to produce full, detailed and descriptive reports and feedback to production stakeholders on the possible presence of validation failures to support effective and efficient corrective response.

Data sources, methods and compilation techniques are country specific, but should be employed in such a way that the definitions and concepts in ESA 2010 are met. Many guidance documents on general and specific national accounts compilation issues are available. See for more details section 10.6.

The country data published by Eurostat are compiled by the respective countries themselves and are based on their national data and compilation practices. See the country specific files for more detailed information by country.

The compilation of the euro area and EU aggregates is based on available country data that are complemented with estimations if necessary. Concrete compilation techniques used in national and regional accounts depend on the ESA 2010 domain. For more details on each domain, please consult the corresponding metadata files.

The objectives of seasonal adjustment are to identify and remove seasonal fluctuations and calendar effects which can mask short and long-term movements in a time series and impede a clear understanding of underlying phenomena. Seasonal adjustment is therefore a fundamental process in the interpretation of time series to inform policy making (ESS guidelines on seasonal adjustment, 2015 Edition, Annex, point 1).

For selected sub-annual national accounts data, such as notably the quarterly main aggregates, time series are usually not only published in their unadjusted form, but also with various types of adjustment (e.g. seasonal, calendar, trend-cycle).

According to the ESA transmission programme, quartery data are to be provided in non-seasonally adjusted form, as well as in seasonally adjusted form (including calendar adjustments, where relevant) except for previous year’s prices.

The provision of quarterly data that only include calendar adjustments is voluntary.

For sector accounts, seasonal adjustment (including calendar adjustments, where relevant) is compulsory for a limited set of series.

The approach to the compilation and publication of seasonally adjusted data varies across datasets.

For quarterly national accounts, seasonally and calendar adjusted data are compiled using an indirect approach, i.e. based on the transmitted country figures. Metadata on countries seasonal adjustment practices (e.g. direct or indirect approach, additivity of sum versus components, alignment with annual data) provided by NSIs as part of a questionnaire on QNA are available on the website.

For seasonal adjustments on the euro area and EU aggregates, Eurostat uses JDemetra+, which is recommended as software for official statistics within ESS and ESCB and offers applications necessary to conduct seasonal and calendar adjustment of high statistical quality.

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