State Statistical Office of Republic of North Macedonia

National Accounts Department

Dame Gruev 4, 1000 Skopje, MKD

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.

In Eurobase, countries' data are presented following the usual data structure.

At national level, data are available for 

- annual and quarterly national accounts: 'main aggregates';

- annual financial accounts (balance sheets);

- supply and use and input-output tables;

- annual government finance statistics data: 'main aggregates';

- regional breakdowns of main national accounts variables;

- industry breakdowns of main national accounts variables;

- detailed data on taxes, social contributions.

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.

Please see to following link, where are all classifications used: http://www.stat.gov.mk/Nacionalni_Klasifikacii_en.aspx.

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.

Annual data are published at more detailed level than quarterly data. Annual GDP is published by NACE section level, while quarterly and regional GDP is published at the NACE A10 level. GFCF preliminary data is published at the NACE A10 level, GFCF final data is published at NACE A21 level, while for FHCE data is published at three and two digit COICOP.

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.

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.

Countries may describe important cases where they (have to) use other units than the local KAU or the institutional unit, e.g. fiscal units as proxy for institutional units.

E.g. Germany distinguishes between 3 types of units, the third being units of homogeneous production, used in input-output accounts to describe production-related interactions.

National Accounts has been compiled on the institutional unit level, using mainly administrative data sources.

The national accounts  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.

National accounts are exhaustive. All resident statistical units are covered directly by statistical/administrative surveys or by grossing up or by NOE estimations.

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

The SSO economic territory is the administrative territory of Republic of North Macedonia. The economic territory includes free zones under the Macedonian customs control, the national air space and territorial enclaves in the rest of the world (embassies) used by government agencies with formal agreement with foreign governments where these units are located.

The economic territory excludes any parts of the Macedonian geographical territory of foreign embassies used by foreign governments, institution of European and international organisations.

The Nomenclature of Territorial Units - NTES is based on the territorial organization of the local self-government in the Republic of North Macedonia and it is harmonized with the classification of the European Union - Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics – NUTS, established by Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003.

NTES is the basis for collecting, processing and dissemination of regional statistics and it is used for planning and maintaining the regional policy in the country.

The NTES Nomenclature has 5 levels as follows:

• At NTES level 1 and NTES level 2 the whole territory of the country is one unit - correspond to NUTS 1 and NUTS 2;
• At NTES level 3 there are statistical regions (8 units) - correspond to NUTS 3;
• At NTES level 4 there are municipalities (80 units) - correspond to LAU 1 ;
• At NTES level 5 there are settlements (1776 units) - correspond to LAU 2.

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 length of annual and quarterly data series start from 2000. If backward data exist, they may have been compiled according to ESA 95.

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 compilation of chain-linked volumes for annual and quarterly national accounts SSO uses 2005 as reference year. The quarterly data are available at current prices, the previous year prices and constant prices of a reverence year. Quarterly chain-linked volumes are compiled using annual overlap method.

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.

SSO follows the rules described above.

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).

SSO follows the rules described above.

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 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.

National Accounts are compiled following the Law on State Statistics.  The SSO also works closely with both the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia (NBRM) as the main data providers for government, external sector and financial sector data (compilation of financial sector accounts is a joint SSO/NBRM competency). The SSO has signed either Memorandums of Understanding or Agreements for Cooperation with 25 data providers, including the NBRM and the MoF.

The SSO has a shared responsibility for production of excessive deficit procedure (EDP). The activities are defined in the Memorandum of Cooperation from 2009.

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.

National accounts data are used both nationally and internationally by different organisations such as policy makers, analysts, students. The data are reported to Eurostat within ESA 2010 Transmission Programme, OECD, UN and other international organisation. SSO is also the responsible institution for the coordination of IMF Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) production and presentation.

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).

The confidentiality issues are regulated by internal directives of the SSO.

SSO document about statistical confidentiality can be found on the SSO web site: http://www.stat.gov.mk/pdf/PolicyOnStatisticalConfidentiality.pdf.

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.

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.

The content and timing of national accounts statistical news releases are published in the Advance Release Calendar: http://www.stat.gov.mk/Kalendar_nov_en.aspx.

Information can be filtered by type of release, theme and date.

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

Please see the following link for National Accounts publishing calendar: http://www.stat.gov.mk/Kalendar_nov_en.aspx.

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.

All statistics that are published at SSO are available for all the users both nationally and internationally at http://www.stat.gov.mk/SoopstenijaPoOblasti_en.aspx.

The publications are published according to the release calendar.

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.

Annual national accounts data are published one a year while quarterly national accounts data are published four times per year, according to the release calendar.

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).

News release are available on SSO web site: http://www.stat.gov.mk/PrikaziSoopstenie_en.aspx?rbrtxt=32.

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 addition to the news release, National accounts data are disseminated in other publications forms. Please see link: http://www.stat.gov.mk/OblastOpsto_en.aspx?id=7.

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.

National accounts statistics are available on the website following the link: http://makstat.stat.gov.mk/PXWeb/pxweb/en/MakStat/?rxid=46ee0f64-2992-4b45-a2d9-cb4e5f7ec5ef.

National accounts metadata are available on the website following the link: http://www.stat.gov.mk/Meta_godini2_en.aspx?id=7.

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.

Twitter is used by SSO for presentation of data and other interesting news. Please see link: https://twitter.com/MakStatEN.

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 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.

Reports on revision analysis are published in a case of benchmark revisions.

Quality policy of the SSO is available on the following link: http://www.stat.gov.mk/pdf/Politika_za_kvalitet_en.pdf.

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).

Validation of input data and results of the estimation and calculation is an integral part of the calculation. Cross checks are made during the compilation internally and with data providers. External controls are made from Eurostat side.

The national practice could be reported, for example by providing a link to the national quality report delivered by Eurostat or other nationally released quality reports (or providing a summary description of its content).

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.

At national level, ministries of finance and regional development, scientific and academic communities and economic researchers are the main users of our national and regional accounts data. National accounts data are also used by analytics, journalists, entrepreneurs, students.

International organizations such as Eurostat, OECD, IMF and different NSIs are frequent users of national account 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.

In order to obtain the opinions of users on the products and services, the SSO conducts a survey to measure user satisfaction. The first survey was conducted in 2009, the second in 2012, the third in 2015, and at the beginning of 2017 the SSO conducted the survey for the fourth time.

You can download the document: User Satisfaction Survey 2017.

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 section 10.3) defines the minimum national accounts data set that must be available in all Member States of the EU.

National accounts sector send limited number of datasets to Eurostat in comparison to ESA 2010 Transmission programme. It is important to point out that the amount of data increases year by year. National accounts sector regularly publishes the following data: Annually and quarterly GDP by production and expenditure approach at current and constant prices and annual GDP by income approach, regional GDP, Supply and use tables, Input and Output tables.

The national practice could be filled in: you can refer to your national quality report and more specifically to the revision analysis in your quality report.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

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.

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).

The SSO is in disposal for domestic users strictly by publishing calendar. National accounts data are released and updated according to the following cycle: Quarterly GDP is disseminated at t+75 days. First annual estimates are published following the release of the Quarter 4 data at end-March. Preliminary annual estimates of GDP are released at t+9 months. “Final” annual estimates are published at t+17 months. Supply-Use Tables are published at t+30 months.

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 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. There is break in the time series in SUT and IOT. From 2005 - 2011 SUT are compiled according to ESA 1995, from 2010 - 2016 SUT are compiled according to ESA 2010. Also Input-output tables for 2005 and 2010 are compiled according to ESA 1995 and for 2015 are compiled according to ESA 2010.

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.

For the main aggregates there were no inconsistencies between annual and quarterly data as well as between totals and the sum of components.

See section 15.3 (Coherence - cross domain).

Not available.

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 SSO publishes explanations for major revisions in regular publishing products. Revisions are monitored in a systematic way and this will help both users and the SSO understand the sources and size of revisions. Before the benchmark revision data were compiled according to ESA95 methodology. The last revised data are based on ESA2010. Surveys are implemented to collect data on the new basis and first data on an ESA2010 basis were published in September 2014.

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.

Before the benchmark revision data were compiled according to ESA95 methodology. The last revised data are based on ESA2010. Surveys are implemented to collect data on the new basis and first data on an ESA2010 basis were published in September 2014. The last routine revision was done in December 2018, revision of the quarters according to annual data.

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.

Both the production and expenditure measures of GDP approach are compiled using separate data sources. The main data source is the system of annual financial statements, as collected in the Central Register.  Summarised are the main data sources:

• Annual financial statements of companies from the Central Register;
• Ministry of Finance (public revenue, public expenditure, treasury system);
• National Bank (monetary and BOP statistics);
• Pension and Disability Insurance Fund (payment contributions);
• Public Revenue Office (tax information base);
• Statistical surveys conducted by SSO (Survey on investment, Labour cost survey;
• Labour force survey, HBS, Agriculture and industry and construction surveys and other surveys from Business statistics).

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.

Data from Central Register are available five months after the reference year. Monetary data from Central Bank are available monthly while BOP data are available on quarterly basis. Annual fiscal data from Ministry of Finance are available in July for the previous year. Business statistics provide data on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis depending on their own deadlines.

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.

National accounts departments typically do not collect data themselves but receive them from other departments or institutions. Countries can provide a more detailed description of the channels by which external data are collected.

The data collection in national accounts depends on the nature of the data source, frequency, technical capability of providers and receivers of data, etc. The SSO has signed either Memorandums of Understanding or Agreements for Cooperation with 25 data providers, including the NBRM and the MoF.

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.

Individual data to be collected, processed and released for statistical purposes shall be used for statistical purposes only. Individually, these data shall not be used either to pass any decision whatsoever regarding the legal person or natural person they refer to, or compiled and placed in other data files which are used for non-statistical purposes.

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.

Both the production and expenditure measures of GDP approach are compiled using separate data sources. Calculation of GDP by the income measure is also carried out, but uses the same data sources as the production approach. Production approach is the leading approach as it is prepared as an independent estimate. SUT balancing in current prices is now undertaken annually (from 2005) using an excel spreadsheet system. The similar approach is used for the compilation of quarterly national accounts.

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, quarterly 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.

Seasonally adjusted series of quarterly GDP and its components are available for two methods of calculation: production and expenditure.

Defined National Calendar (in JDemetra+)  is used for seasonally adjusted data.

Working-days correction (calendar adjustment) is performed for all QNA series which are seasonally adjusted.

Models for seasonal adjustment of time series in National Accounts were revised last time with last calculated quarter of GDP (IVQ2018), from IQ2000 to IVQ2018.

No comment.