The Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter “SO SR”)

Directorate of Macroeconomic Statistics is managed by the Director General (DG) in accordance with the relevant standards of the quality management system; at the same time, the DG decides on the approach appropriate for ensuring of all activities which are to be carried out under the competence of this Directorate broken down into particular departments and divisions.

National accounts are produced by different teams in two departments and are organised in different domains:

• Department of Sector Accounts consists of the director and two heads of divisions. This department is responsible for the generation and dissemination of selected statistical products and provides advices and consultations in the area of national accounts in the sectoral breakdown, in accordance with the system of national accounts and in line with the requirements of the internal and external users and the relevant legislation of EU and the SR. It performs activities related to the communication with users and the methodological preparation of the statistical surveys, while at the same time, it ensures the application of the national accounts methodology in the relevant statistics. The department compiles and balances the industrial and regional accounts for all institutional sectors of the SR, including the balancing of particular indicators, performs the price calculations into previous year’s prices and the chained linked volumes; in addition, it pursues  estimations and calculations of figures which are not covered by information databases. It is responsible for the elaboration of records for the public deficit and debt notifications and for the own resources of the EU budget. It pursues the conceptual development of the European System of National and Regional Accounts under the conditions of the SR and cooperates with the Directorate of General Methodology in the investigation and revealing of administrative data sources. It provides information and data from the system of national accounts according to the time table for the publication system of the SOSR and renders the methodological and consultancy services to users for the area of national accounts. This department in further broken down into:
  • unit of sector accounts for general government,
  • unit of sector accounts for corporations, households and ROW.

• Department of Analyses and Syntheses of National Accounts consists of the director and its employees. The department ensures the creation and dissemination of selected statistical products and provides advisory and consultation activities for the area of national accounts in accordance with the system of national accounts and in line with the requirements of the internal and external users and the relevant legislation of EU and the SR. It performs activities related to the communication with users and the methodological preparation of the statistical surveys, while at the same time it ensures the application of the national accounts methodology in the relevant statistics. The department compiles and balances the industrial and regional accounts, flash estimates of GDP, weighted average VAT rate, works out the commodity-industrial Supply and Use tables (SUTs) and the symmetric input-output tables (IOTs) according to the updated national accounts methodology. It carries out the recalculations into the previous year´s prices and the chained linked volumes. It pursues the conceptual development of the European System of National and Regional accounts under the conditions of the SR and cooperates with the Directorate of General Methodology in the investigation and revealing of administrative data sources. It provides information and data from the system of national accounts according to the time table for the publication system of the SOSR and renders the methodological and consultancy services to users for the area of national accounts. The department is not furthermore broken down into divisions.

·         Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic

• Miletičova 3
• 824 67 Bratislava

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.

In the framework of the transmission programme ESA 2010 The Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic publishes data on its website “DataCube”, please see link to database: http://datacube.statistics.sk/#!/lang/en

• 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.

            2 Macroeconomic statistics / 1 National account / 1 Key indicators /

            2 GDP – annual data

-          Revised and preliminary annual data of GDP at current prices [nu0007rs]

-          Revised and preliminary annual data of GDP at constant prices on the base of previous year [nu0008rs]

-          Revised and preliminary annual data of GDP at constant prices chain-linked volumes with reference year 2010 [nu0009rs]

            2 Macroeconomic statistics / 1 National account / 3 Annual account at current

            prices / 1 Structural accounts

-          GDP by production approach at current prices [nu1021rs]

-          GDP by expenditure approach at current prices [nu1036rs]

-          GDP by income approach at current prices [nu1037rs]

-          Gross value added by industry A88 at current prices [nu1054rs]

-          Final consumption expenditure at current prices [nu1035rs]

-          Consumption of fixed capital by economic activities (NACE Rev. 2) at replacement prices [nu2060rs]

-          Gross Capital Formation by Industry - data in current prices [nu1032rs]

-          Exports of Goods (fob) and Services [nu1029rs]

-          Imports of Goods (fob) and Services [nu1030rs]

-          Gross fixed assets by economic activities (NACE Rev. 2) at replacement prices [nu2062rs]

-          Net fixed assets by economic activities (NACE Rev. 2) at replacement prices [nu2061rs]

-          Disposable income - Saving and Net lending and net borrowing [nu1031rs]

-          Gross national income [nu1043rs]

-          D.1 and D.11 by industry A10 [nu1022rs]

-          Compensation, wages and salaries of employees by industry A88 [nu1055rs]

            2 Macroeconomic statistics / 1 National account / 4 Annual account at constant 

            prices

-          GDP by production approach, chain-linked volumes [nu1048rs]

-          GDP by expenditure approach, chain-linked volumes [nu1046rs]

-          Gross value added by industry A88, chain-linked volumes [nu1056rs]

-          Final consumption expenditure, chain-linked volumes [nu1047rs]

-          Gross Capital Formation by Industry - Annual data at chain-linked volumes [nu1034rs]

-          Export of goods (fob) and services, chain-linked volumes [nu1044rs]

-          Import of goods (fob) and services,chain-linked volumes [nu1045rs]

            2 Macroeconomic statistics / 1 National account / 5 Employment by ESA 2010 /

            2 Annual data

-          Population and employment - national concept [nu1024rs]

-          Employment by industry A10 - domestic concept [nu1025rs]

-          Employment by industry A88 - domestic concept [nu1057rs]

• Quarterly national accounts (namq_10) present quarterly data on GDP and its main aggregates (output, expenditure and income) as well population and employment data.

            2 Macroeconomic statistics / 1 National account / 1 Key Indicators /

            1 GDP – quarterly data

-          Flash estimate of GDP and Total employment according to ESA 2010 [nu0001qs]

-          Quarterly GDP data at current prices [nu0002qs]

-          Quarterly GDP data at constant prices on the base of previous year [nu0003qs]

-          Quarterly GDP data at constant prices chain - linked volumes with reference year 2010 [nu0004qs]

-          Quarterly GDP data by industry at current prices [nu0005qs]

-          Quarterly GDP data by industry at constant prices chain - linked volumes with reference year 2010 [nu0006qs]

-          Seasonally adjustment of GDP by expenditure components at current prices - quarterly data [nu2043qs]

-          Seasonally adjustment of GDP by expenditure components at chain-linked volumes with reference year 2010 - quarterly data [nu2044qs]

-          Seasonally adjustment of GDP resources at current prices - quarterly data [nu2051qs]

-          Seasonally adjustment of GDP resources at at chain-linked volumes with reference year 2010 - quarterly data [nu2052qs]

            2 Macroeconomic statistics / 1 National account / 2 Quarterly accounts /

            1 Structural account – tables from SLOVSTAT

-          Gross Domestic Product per capita [nu2028qs]

-          Gross Domestic Product recalculated per one working and calendar day [nu2034qs]

-          Gross output by branches of NACE Rev. 2 at current prices [nu2002qs]

-          Intermediate consumption by branches of NACE Rev. 2 at current prices [nu2008qs]

-          Value added by branches of NACE Rev. 2 at current prices [nu2010qs]

            2 Macroeconomic statistics / 1 National account / 5 Employment by ESA 2010 /

            1 Quarterly data – tables from SLOVSTAT

-          Total employment (ESA 2010) by branches of NACE Rev. 2 [nu2042qs]

-          Hours worked of employed persons (ESA 2010) by branches of NACE Rev. 2 [nu2047qs]

-          Employees (ESA 2010) by branches of NACE Rev. 2 [nu2050qs]

• 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.

            2 Macroeconomic statistics / 1 National account / 3 Annual account at current

            prices / 3 Supply and Use tables

-          Supply table at basic prices [nu1026rs]

-          Use Table at Purchasers´Prices [nu1027rs]

• 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).

            2 Macroeconomic statistics / 1 National account / 3 Annual account at current

            prices / 2 Sector accounts

-          Accounts for individual institutional sectors [nu1028rs]

• 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.

            2 Macroeconomic statistics / 1 National account / 3 Annual account at current

            prices / 2 Sector accounts

-          Financial accounts - stocks consolidated [nu1038rs]

-          Financial accounts - stocks non-consolidated [nu1039rs]

-          Financial accounts - transactions consolidated [nu1040rs]

-          Financial accounts - transactions non-consolidated [nu1041rs]

-          Other changes in volume accounts non-consolidated [nu1058rs]

-          Reporting of government deficit, surplus and debt levels [nu1049rs]

-          Revaluation of financial instruments accounts non-consolidated [nu1059rs]

• 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.

            2 Macroeconomic statistics / 1 National account / 2 Quarterly accounts /

            1 Structural account – tables from SLOVSTAT

-          Final consumption of households by Classification COICOP at current prices [nu2020qs]

-          Final consumption of households by Classification COICOP at constant prices [nu2022qs]

-          Gross fixed capital formation by branches of NACE Rev. 2 at current prices [nu2012qs]

-          Gross fixed capital formation by classification of production at current prices [nu2014qs]

-          Gross fixed capital formation by sectors at current prices [nu2016qs]

-          Export and import goods and services at current prices [nu2058qs]

-          Generation and use of income in sector of households at current prices [nu2025qs]

-          Generation and use of income in sector of households at current prices - quarterly data - seasonally adjusted [nu2063qs]

-          Compensation of employees (ESA 2010) by branches of NACE Rev. 2 at current prices [nu2046qs]

-          Disposable income at current prices [nu2054qs]                           

• 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.

            http://datacube.statistics.sk/#!/lang/en

            2 Macroeconomic statistics / 1 National account / 1 Key indicators /

            3 GDP – regional data

-          Regional gross domestic product (in current prices) [nu3001rr]

-          Regional gross domestic product per capita (at current prices) [nu3002rr]

-          Regional employment and employees [nu3003rr]

-          Allocation of primary income account of households [nu3005rr]

-          Allocation of secundary income account of households [nu3006rr]

-          Gross value added [nu3007rr]

-          Gross fixed capital formation [nu3008rr]

• 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.

Up to now the data for pension entitlements in social insurance have not been published on SO SR website. They will be uploaded in accordance with the date set by Eurostat policy.

• Government finance statistics (EDP and ESA 2010) (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.

            http://datacube.statistics.sk/#!/lang/en

            2 Macroeconomic statistics / 1 National account / 2 Quarterly accounts /

            2 Gen. government sector (S13N) – non cons

-          Stock of assets - S13N [nu1003qs]

-          Stocks of liabilitie - S13N [nu1004qs]

-          Transactions in assets - S13N [nu1001qs]

-          Transactions in liabilities - S13N [nu1002qs]

            http://datacube.statistics.sk/#!/lang/en

            2 Macroeconomic statistics / 1 National account / 2 Quarterly accounts /

            3 Gen. government sector (S13C) – cons

-          Stock of assets - S13C [nu1007qs]

-          Stocks of liabilitie - S13C [nu1008qs]

-          Transactions in assets - S13C [nu1005qs]

-          Transactions in liabilities - S13C [nu1006qs]

            http://datacube.statistics.sk/#!/lang/en

            2 Macroeconomic statistics / 1 National account / 2 Quarterly accounts /

            4 Cen. government subsec. (S1311C) – cons

-          Stock of assets - S1311C [nu1011qs]

-          Stocks of liabilitie - S1311C [nu1012qs]

-          Transac. in liabilities - S1311C [nu1010qs]

-          Transactions in assets - S1311C [nu1009qs]

            http://datacube.statistics.sk/#!/lang/en

            2 Macroeconomic statistics / 1 National account / 2 Quarterly accounts /

            5 Loc. government subsec. (S1313C) – cons

-          Stock of assets - S1313C [nu1015qs]

-          Stocks of liabilitie- S1313C [nu1016qs]

-          Transac. in liabilities - S1313C [nu1014qs]

-          Transactions in assets - S1313C [nu1013qs]

            http://datacube.statistics.sk/#!/lang/en

            2 Macroeconomic statistics / 1 National account / 2 Quarterly accounts /

            6 Soc. secur. funds (S1314C) – cons

-          Stock of assets - S1314C [nu1019qs]

-          Stocks of liabilitie -S1314C [nu1020qs]

-          Trans. in liabilities -S1314C [nu1018qs]

-          Transac. in assets - S1314C [nu1017qs]

            http://datacube.statistics.sk/#!/lang/en

            2 Macroeconomic statistics / 1 National account / 2 Quarterly accounts /

            1 Structural account – tables from SLOVSTAT

-          General government revenues at current prices - quarterly data [nu2039qs]

General government expenditure at current prices - quarterly data [nu2040qs]

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

From the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic point of view we use the classification SK NACE rev.2 which is linked to the NACE rev.2 for economic activities. Some economic activities included within the SK NACE rev.2 provide more detail information in comparison with the classification NACE rev.2.

Under the condition of the Slovak Republic we use the classification CPA 2015 for products by economic activities which is linked to the CPA2014. This classification at the our NA level provide more detail information for some economic products by economic activities. 

Both of them are published on our web site, see link https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/portal/!ut/p/z1/jZHBboJAEIafxQNXZsiCbnsbjIG1thEigc7FoEEkKhh2W16_pD0ZlTK3mXzfn5kMMGTAdf5dlbmpmjo_9_0nT7fRTEnfdwjx_W2OSqgw8il2kDxIbwH5ES9QbWgdxEvXQdcDHuPPAwrd2QpRrgIPFYVJ_BIJgSTG-fikCMf5AwAPx6fAv8jQBf9l8OCSyoUlcHludn__oHonZAncFoeiLVr7q-3HR2OurxZa2HWdrU3_Pm2qvbb1ycJH0rHRBrI7GK6XJEkyrNaXVGqaTH4AX8s5dw!!/dz/d5/L0lDUmlTUSEhL3dHa0FKRnNBLzROV3FpQSEhL2Vu/

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.

SO SR compiles and transmits data for quarterly sector accounts only for the S.1, S.13 and S.2 in accordance with the Transmission programme ESA2010 since our country fulfils the criteria that GDP at current prices represents less than 1% of the corresponding Union total.

As far as annual financial accounts data the SO SR compiles and publishes data for S.12 on the sub-sectors breakdown.

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.

Within the NA compilations the SO SR strictly follows the ESA 2010 methodology

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.

SO SR uses the definitions of both the institutional unit and local kind-of-activity unit (local KAU) what it is fully compliant with the ESA2010 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.

In case of the Slovak Republic all resident statistical units are covered

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.

SO SR allocates aggregated regional data to sector level in the structure of NACE Rev. 2. The regional level is determined on the basis of principles based on the NUTS (Nomenclature of The territorial units for statistics - Classification of Territorial Units for Statistics). NUTS 2 level in SR consists of four regions and NUTS 3 area consists from 8 regions.

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. 

In case of Slovakia all figures required by the ESA2010 Transmission programme are compiled and transmitted to Eurostat except the data covered by derogations. Requirements covered by derogations are currently being addressed within the Grant project work with May 2018 deadline.  

The list of SK derogations which are currently being addressed within the Grant project work are following:

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.

Slovak national accounts variables are compiled and transmitted to Eurostat in PPY and chain-linked volumes with reference year 2010.

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.

The SO SR follows the mentioned above approach procedure.

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).

The SO SR follows the mentioned above approach procedure.

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.

With the aim to ensure the quality NA data, SO SR uses also the information from the administrative data sources.  Mutual agreements with data suppliers (i.e. National bank of Slovakia, Ministry of finance, State treasury, DataCentrum, etc.) are signed and updated each year.

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.

In case of Slovakia, the Memorandum of Understanding between the SO SR, MF SR and NBS is signed for ensuring the effective cooperation with the process of compilation of figures proceeded for EDP notification.

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 SO SR established own internal document related to DIRECTIVE on the protection of confidential statistical data in the Statistical Office of the SR (Ev. č. SME-1/2015). This information is available on internal website of SO SR.

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.

Within the transmission standard SDMX the technical security of the confidentiality is generally applied on data with confidentiality status “C flag”.

In case where the data consists of less than 3 reporting units, the confidentiality is ensured by higher data aggregation, e.g. in the supply and use tables.

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.

SO SR updates and publishes its Release calendar on regular basis which contains timetable of the first release of selected indicators.

The release calendar covers a full calendar year and includes all scheduled national accounts news releases and data as it is mentioned above.

Link on SO SR web site: Release Calendar

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

The SO SR release calendar that includes all scheduled national accounts news releases and data is available here: Release Calendar

Cataloque of Publications is published on SO SR web site: https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/portal/ext/products/publikacie/catalogue/!ut/p/z1/jZBLD4IwEIR_kelgeXlcjZYaUi0vsRfDgRgSAQ_G3y8hXgyxsLfNfpOZHWZYyUxXvZt79Wr6rnoM-9X4N9Jap3FRQBTrAyR3BFSeAzxglxHAnyEws0SvAxlutw4hVMkeMqOzSI6uA9ez6jP_q98JitwgBsJYeJAU5clGcw7iy_wtBuYnnhcAUqXDqUjFKcQk_wSY9TcjYvtgBGwVz5mYuRZV1Lc1S-uOPdt8mBKNXNEH8VP2iw!!/dz/d5/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS80TmxFL1o2X1E3SThCQjFBME9STDAwSUIyMUg0Q0szOFY3/

The table related to release calendar of national accounts revisions in 2018 is updated on regular basis and it is presented on our website under the Revision policy, please see here (unfortunately available in Slovak language only):

https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/3fa1b4fd-0c69-4dca-a21a-f5767a0eef97/Priloha_kalendar_revizii.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=m510yTC&CVID=m510yTC

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.

The independence and impartiality of The Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic, ministries and the state organizations in collecting, processing, disseminating and evaluating of statistical information is etablished in the Act No. 540/2001 Coll. on State Statistics, as later amended (paragraph 3, Part 2 of the Act on Statistics).

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.

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).

The SO SR publishes news releases on its website as it is mentioned in section 8.1. The transmitted and published data for selected quarterly indicators of national accounts are also objective of press conferences and discussions with analysts on quarterly basis. They often have a fixed structure and are disseminated in the electronic format and also in the form of informative reports presented on SO SR web site within Release calendar as it is mentioned in the section 8.1.

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.

The publications related to national account data are disseminated on SO SR web site within the section “Publications of the Catalogues”, see link here: https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/portal/ext/products/publikacie/!ut/p/z1/pZPRboIwFIZfZTfc2gNFirurLlQWokAFWW8WdETJQJygxofYg-w53IONiMuubE3Wu6b_19Pzn79IoASJTXrIV2mTV5u0aPcvwnqlQRBwL46BxYYDLtYZTKIIABM0vwgc7ht0YLLRUzhtBbORYXPPMgB0JNrjgLj2cKhTsPsEwJ3wlo05cIArP2J0bBIPwPZYH1w6jsJBgDFQfOGV9eHGonAff0sws6R8-MvHnn9tEHgfKPN1Mwx8wG7HS-yR13eItH77vI6XGCzzf6rip5aU56aCbwUynhIFT-X9O6r5heR_88cdL4nXHImLRJZg1R1CNWShSpGQ2sxUgjYmz0isimrRffl102wfNdDgeDz28kXZW1alBkXV7GsN6izdLddIfOyz3QklTZF-f1aH89fDIquzt9PdfFEt0yJDSf2OeLZB2zL6Wwnkbu6Xc7uxfwCcIvjV/dz/d5/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS80TmxFL1o2X0FRUVFTTFZWMEdWMkYwSTMxRzBOVVUwMFI3/

Within these publications related to national account data are presented e.g. Statistical Yearbook of Slovakia, Regional Statistical Yearbook of Slovakia and Statistical Report on Basic Development Trends in the Slovak Economy.

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 are made available to users in SO SR public database “DataCube”. All national accounts data are available by entering the navigation tree under “Macroeconomic statistics” and then select “National accounts” and subsequently the users can found the relevant data. See section 3.1 for more details.

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.

Information on national accounts posted by using social media has not been used until now. However, nowadays SO SR is considering using this way of spreading information

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 list of main national publications on the data sources used and methodology applied can be find in the following link:

https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/portal/ext/themes/macroeconomic/accounts/metadata/!ut/p/z1/jZJLU4MwFIV_DVtyeKfuUrQpHaYPEIvZONRBiiJ0IJa_b8bHxkfK3SXnO-feTC4RJCeiLc51Vci6a4tGne-F_7ALIjqfWwzUC4BonWbAXYp045P9D2Cd3CC6ZVuerFwLrkeEkhfp1mYzl4fXyWah5NCmaezbgPXl1wBiSv-Qs6UbxACNuYeILbNktnMcMGeaH_8UwzS_BhD6-D0RH4juBZcyhHZIbl0A8J2g-YUVEVXTHT43grUHh1ZE9OVT2Ze9-dar66OUpysDBsZxNAepFmiQ9eNgDi8G_jIdu0GS_BdMTq-Zqhx19Ow155i9A7fcvjg!/dz/d5/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS80TmxFL1o2X1E3SThCQjFBMDg1NzAwSU5TVTAwVlMwU0kw/#%C5%A1tvr%C5%A5ro%C4%8Dn%C3%A9

For specific domains the link are following:

ESA 2010  https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/78b5fabc-448d-4bdf-8586-a639b9bc9e52/ESA_2010_Regulation_549_2013.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

GNI Inventory-SK  https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/23cbfc47-0bf5-4d04-bff0-392c1328ef03/GNI_Inventory_EN_ESA_2010.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

EDP Inventory 2015  https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/aae8c717-ef9c-46b9-a254-6f52096b4ab9/EDP_inventory_2015_textova_cast.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

ASA Inventory   https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/75d83a57-318d-43f6-83d1-f91dea467f09/ASA_INVENTORY_SK_Annual_Sector_Accounts.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

QFA metodology   http://www.nbs.sk/_img/Documents/_Statistika/MetodikaSFU_EN.pdf

Handbook on quarterly national accounts  https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/3104071c-2291-4842-b608-4bd37466a829/Handbook_on_quarterly_national_accounts.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

Handbook on prices and volumes  https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/149f8359-3830-4c7f-89c8-08c044f2158d/Handbook_on_Prices%26Volumes.pdf?MOD=AJPERES 

Manual on regional accounts methods  https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/572ef597-e9c9-4e7b-a90a-9d3bd53266eb/Manual_on_regional_accounts_methods.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

Manual on research and development http://apl.czso.cz/nufile/Clean%20Manual%20on%20research%20anddevelopment%20for%20DMES%20approval%20through%20writt....pdf

Manual on goods sent abroad for processing  http://apl.czso.cz/nufile/Manual%20on%20goods%20sent%20abroad%20for%20processing%20FINAL.pdf

Manual on the Changes from ESA 95 to ESA 2010  https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/e2e58780-a389-4484-b599-719dcd48ae9f/Manual_on_Changes_between_ESA_95_and_ESA_2010_FINAL.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

Regulations related to national accounts  https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/portal/ext/themes/macroeconomic/accounts/metadata/!ut/p/b1/lZLLUsMgFIafpU_AT-5dkmgIGtMASWzZdLJwOpmxrQvH55d04kIzgrJjzvfBuRFD9sRcxo_pNL5P18v4Ot9NcpSpyPKcMmRxCohG98CgoQUscLAAfjkMP_xG3UN0rOXqIaKI4sV3AN98PD0WEKGoZM4UhYgWv-CsitIayGoeQ7CqV1sZhmDh3_J3fDD7TEqp62EAH4LShilH09s3umTxHYDLL1OPb4HZL3UbsG3Eizu1s-GuCDJdJwFAF98BuOrHqv414PJ3icfn9J_9X3_g8Z-JuSGuDbgBrhX1Ddn4pmCcaXIfYNvcVNfzC3k7919nj0lM7Wmz-QTV54fP/dl4/d5/L0lDUmlTUSEhL3dHa0FKRnNBLzRKVXFDQSEhL2Vu/#Regulations

Eurostat Manual of Supply, Use and Input-Output Tables http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/3859598/5902113/KS-RA-07-013-EN.PDF/b0b3d71e-3930-4442-94be-70b36cea9b39?version=1.0

Manual on Government Deficit and Debt  http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/3859598/7203647/KS-GQ-16-001-EN-N.pdf/5cfae6dd-29d8-4487-80ac-37f76cd1f012

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.

Please find below the list of Quality reports related to NA data:  

GNI Inventory-SK  https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/23cbfc47-0bf5-4d04-bff0-392c1328ef03/GNI_Inventory_EN_ESA_2010.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

EDP Inventory 2015  https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/aae8c717-ef9c-46b9-a254-6f52096b4ab9/EDP_inventory_2015_textova_cast.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

ASA Inventory   https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/75d83a57-318d-43f6-83d1-f91dea467f09/ASA_INVENTORY_SK_Annual_Sector_Accounts.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

GNI Quality Report https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/portal/ext/metadata/report/!ut/p/z1/jZTRUoJAFIZfJS-4dQ8sAna30ohbpAKCtDcNGimFYoI6PkQP0nPUg7WhU1NOu-4MF8z5vz1n__0BMRQjtky22SypsmKZ5Pz9jhn3kTu0Oh2VALihCkTTbLuPMYauica1oBsMNdLWHfvKH3SBjmzNClxDA1AR42XPpEf-9sYGimnP6xBfBaofedshPd10ASzXaQElvdBve7wBwTUv7Q__LALn8cTzvMCNInAijc-PVQf6YQgwMmpecDwxzxsw8fYH_tsgq2UC0H7Ai1EAwcD47d-fcqBLeC4Q8cSU8EQ8P5b554t5qf9YzPsn858G7Kz7FwiYOF5jxGqJKMGyPZgsJEyWQia8ZkcmANkMXz7IvuRrxGZ5MTn8NOZVtbpUQIHdbtfMJovmtFgokBfVplSgTJP1dI7YyyZd71Fc5cnHa7F9f7uYpGX6sD-bz4tpkqcoLp9RwJ_VIvxZMWQ0o0-tfOs-kkbjEymwGPU!/dz/d5/L0lHSkovd0RNQU5rQUVnQSEhLzROVkUvZW4!/

Documentation on quality management/assessment of SO SR production processes is described within the Quality Declaration of SO SR on SO SR website here:

https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/portal/ext/aboutus/key.documents/quality.declaration/!ut/p/z1/lZTdUoJAFIBfpRtv3cOPgN0tmusWCcsm2t40aFQWhinq-BA9SM9RD9amTk6iiy3DBcP3nZ_lLEigPhKv8WL0GOej7DVO5fOtsO6YTR3X1TD4bQJA7Utuho6t-5aGemugQXDbtD0AxyM1oLjdDevMMAAbSJziw5GF4TT_F4DrqwZQg7aZi0MNqLn2Iy_YvHaA1wCTQDNDFoBBra2PGWPciyIgkd6Svkag0-0Cud6rvxh-4ysS_PGdTtOV9Xs2c6hr-K6-X38RUPQP9YJfBFT7h22171-YSj-AEl8mEOrwaj9Qf39a0v8P8L_5KQJCPZ49JNaI6gSUxdgAR2YQbqwt0OKBjusmaTRDXwI3Dd3hnqUDaFtgN0U1W3bR4dKOOHBSBkBZDS17P8KBg7aXwo10uZOdULtijOjNQoQDo1427JdIPKbZYPNfesrzyXkFKrBcLqujwbg6zMYVSLN8PqvALImnwyck3ubJdIX6eRp_vWeLz4-zQTJL7lcn-2k2jNME9WcviMt7Mu7uVh9G9Od6rqUL7wF_A1e6Q3c!/dz/d5/L0lHSkovd0RNQU5rQUVnQSEhLzROVkUvZW4!/

The SO SR ensures performing of audits (internal and external audits) which are focused on adhering to methodology and data quality.

The managerial supervision over the data collection and the compilation of statistical data is regularly verified by the means of internal audits (IA) according to the plan determined in advance. Table 1 shows the dates of IAs performed in the years 2009-2017.

The SOSR is the holder of the management quality system certificate according to ISO 9001:2008, which was received in November 2006. In regular audits, it undergoes the external audits – supervisory and recertification; in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014, the Bureau Veritas Certification Agency carried out the supervisory audit. The recertification audits in 2009, 2012, 2015 and 2017 confirmed the validity of certificate for the SOSR.

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).

Within the part of the revision policy, the quality data sources entering to the calculation of NA indicators, i.e. GDP is ensured by setting up data collection, processing, and then evaluating its quality process to ensure data comparability at quarterly, annual and regional level.

The technical validation of NA data is ensured through the IT tool “STRUVAL” and numerical validation our data via “CONVAL”.

Detail information related to Quality reports after Eurostat validation process are published on SO SR website as it is mentioned in the section 10.7.

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, National bank of Slovakia, scientific and academic communities and economic researchers are the main users of our national and regional accounts data. Another group of data users is created by students, analytics, journalists, foreign embassies in the Slovak Republic and entrepreneurs.

At EU level, Eurostat, OECD, MMF and different NSIs are frequent users of our national account data.

The SO SR regularly evaluates website traffic by relevant sections and departments. Furthermore, the survey on customer satisfaction is carried out by each year. 

This is at disposal on SO SR website, please see here (unfortunately, it is in Slovak language only):

https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/portal/ext/aboutus/marketing/survey.of.satisfaction/!ut/p/z1/lZTRUoJAFEB_pRdf28uCgL0tmusaCcsq0r40aJQWRinq-BF9SN9RH9amTs1YLbYMDwzn3LuXvRckUYLkY7qa3qXltHhMc_V8Je1r7jDX8wwCQYcCMKcrrMh1MJgmGm6BJiUdy_EBXJ_WgZHOIGpw0wRiInmMD38sAsf5XwBcXjSBmazDPRIZwKytH_vh7rULog6EhoYV8RBMZu99DaDL38CH-d1ey1OA73CXeWbg4X_u_2cCjR8QR-8H55bWD6HCVwmkPrzeD7XnFzBc4TN9_bZR4StA6o9nWNXgUt-eQyS3iG4CqmLsAMI5F34cA41xW_WwQaE3GAD07T3QFiEmDYs2W1GggH4Tu8K3MYCxB77LrDuqip5QdixA0CoAqvbQdg4j_DJoBym8GKsv2YuMC84pbv2I8MuoVA1bF8m7vBjt_kuTsnw6q0EN1uv16XQ0Ox0XsxrkRblc1GCRpfPxBMnnZTbfoKTM0_eXYvX2ejLKFtnN5mg_L8ZpnqFk8YCEup9mg--VwJR9Xvf1fOXfkg_Zb17c/dz/d5/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS80TmxFL1o2X1E3SThCQjFBME9IRzAwSTdKUzRSODcyNE00/

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.

The overall completeness of National Accounts data since 1995 in Slovak Republic as required by the ESA2010 transmission programme was high.

In terms of mandatory data, Slovakia provided complete datasets for nearly all tables and has also provided substantial information on voluntary basis for some indicators.

A full compliance is envisaged by SO SR for December 2018.

The revisions of national account data are in detail described within the GNI reports and EDP reports on regular basis.

At national level we do not compile own revision indicators. At present some proposed revision indicators are subject of pilot exercise related to 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.

All tables were sent to Eurostat in accordance with deadlines set by ESA2010 transmission programme. After validation process to these tables by Eurostat the feedback on some data adjustments and explanations was provided to Eurostat.

The SO SR has granted derogation on some data of transmission programme ESA2010, which will be send to Eurostat at the end of the year 2018

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).

In 2016, all requested data were transmitted in time.

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.

We have no information on any incomparability.

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.

Up to now the NA data are compiled without any significant breaks in time series

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.

See other subsections of section 15.

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. 

Information concerning revision policy for national and regional accounts are unfortunately not available in English on our website. For Slovak version please follow these links:

https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/2eae886e-431b-4960-987b-008a4eb8da9e/politika_revizii.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/3fa1b4fd-0c69-4dca-a21a-f5767a0eef97/Priloha_kalendar_revizii_2017.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

Information about revision policy stated below are taken from GNI INVENTORY (ESA 2010)

The revision policy and timetable for revising and finalising the estimates:

Revision policy

The Statistical Office of the SR (hereinafter „Office“) is the central government body for state statistics. The  mission of  the Office is to provide objective and high quality statistical products and services in order to contribute to the increase of information and intellectual capital of the users; thus, to contribute to the decrease of risks in their decision making and to support the assurance of the sustainable development of Slovakia. The main condition for the fulfilment of this mission is the production of statistical data of the highest quality. The revision policy is an important tool for increasing the quality of statistical data.

For the purposes of this provision, each change of the statistical value of indicators stored in relevant databases and of statistical data being published is considered as revision. The reason for revision lies in changes in the valid legislation, methodological definitions and approaches, classifications and codes, implementation of new statistical-mathematical methods, availability of updated figures as well as in the concrete mistakes in the source and calculated data. The aim of revisions is to achieve or maintain the consistence in the content of statistical data.   

The Code of Practice (CoP) for European statistics determines the principle 8 for the revision policy by saying that „Revisions follow standard, approved and transparent approaches“. Thus, revisions should be performed in compliance with the stated rules and their basic characteristics, i.e. conception, purpose, efficiency, transparency and periodicity. The unified, tabular and transparent system of adjustments should be reached as a result.

Basic rules and general procedures applied in terms of revisions are governed by the Decision of the President of the SOSR, by which a revision calendar has been issued (updated each year), and by the decision ROZ-3/2015, by which a revision policy has been issued.

The data publishing is governed by a valid legislation  (Act of Law No. 540/2001 on State Statistics as amended) and internal legal rules  (ROZ-5/2013 decision of the President of the SOSR), by which the Principles of publishing and provision of statistical data are issued.

The published data might have the following quality degrees:

• Flash estimate – estimate of the given indicator based on the available information or the extrapolation of trend
• Improved estimate – figure being obtained based on the results of the short-term reporting and the use of available administrative data sources
• Preliminary estimate – figure being compiled from the verified and revised data sources used for the compilation of the improved estimate or figure, which is available in the time of the 1^st publishing. It can be compiledin the lower range of indicators
• Semi-definitive estimate – figure revised based on the improved statistical questionnaires and administrative data, as well as on complementary information
• Definitive figure – has been compiled from the verified revised reports, administrative sources and data obtained based on the improved statistical-mathematical methods and on the complementary information

  From the subject-matter standpoint, the following issues can be considered as  reasons for revision:

• Incorporation of better-quality data based on a more complex data source,
• Improvement of data due to the updating of seasonal factors and the change in the base period,
• Improvement on the basis of an updated methodology (in concepts, definitions and classification) and changes in statistical methods,
• Corrections made in source data and calculations.

  From the timing point of view, the revisions are broken down into:

• current revisions are revisions without any essential modifications of methodology. Usually some important corrections of data, including new values obtained from new data purposes, are in question. They are carried out periodically in the precisely determined dates, for the updating of monthly and quarterly data, until the next closest data publishing, 
• annual revisionsare revisions, which are made provided all the monthly and quarterly data and the more detailed results from annual surveys are available,
• ad-hoc and major revision sare revisions of definitive data due to important methodological changes resulting from the revisions of methodologies, changes in statistical and mathematical methods, calculations or data corrections. A special revision may result in the break in data comparability in time (e.g. due to change in definition).

Revisions are made according to thecalendar of revisions, which is determined for particular statistics in days (d) and months (m) from the reference period (t) or in years (r) before or after the current reference period (t). 

For marking the dates of revision, the following abbreviations are used:

• t+d (t+45 days, t+70 days, etc.) means the reference period plus the number of days from the reference period,
• t+m (t+4 months, t+9 months, etc.) means the reference period plus the number of months from the reference period,
• t±r (t+1year, t-2 years, etc.) means the current reference period plus the number of years following the current reference period or minus the number of years preceeding the current reference period.

The announcement of revision with the date of publishing of revised data precedes the release of the revised data. The announcement is published at the Office´s web page minimally two days prior to the publishing of revised data. Information on the current and annual revisions is part of methodological explanations of relevant monthly, quarterly and annual publications and the particular databases of the SOSR, if the revisions are related to the data in databases.

The aim of revision is to achieve or maintain the consistency of the content of statistical data. The necessity for clear rules is underlined also by the requirements from Eurostat, which supports the ongoing increase of quality for the purposes of higher international comparability and consistency of statistical data.

The revised data are usually complemented by information on the origin, importance and evaluation of revisions, which is published on the webpage at the time of the release of revised data. 

The time table for revision of annual and quarterly national accounts data is carried out in compliance with the Annex B of the Regulation of European Parliament and the Council No. 549/2013 as of 21 May 2013 on the European System of National and Regional Accounts in the European Union (ESA 2010).

• Quarterly accounts are revised regularly with the three-month delay. Thus, the current revision of quarterly accounts presupposes the improvement of data always in t+6 months after the reference period. The exceptions are main aggregates for GDP and data on employment compiled as flash estimates (t+45 days). These data are revised to the version „preliminary“ in t+70 days. The data revision is performed based on the more precise data mainly from administrative sources. Quarterly data for the 4^th quarter and the sum of quarters for the given year are at the same time presented as the estimate of the annual account (t-1 year). The estimate of the annual account for t-1year can be modified until the end of March, in accordance with the result of the notification for the sector of general government. 
• Annual accounts are revised based on the precision of data obtained gradually from the administrative data sources and from the processing of statistical questionnaires. The adjustments resulting from the removal of balancing inequality solved within the framework of SUTs and the corrections based on the revised calculations are incorporated. In the course of this process, the methodological changes resulting from new regulations or directives are step-by-step implemented. The current revision covers the gradual precision of data version marked as „estimate“ (t+70 days after the reference period as a sum of quarterly data plus some precisions acquired within the verification of quarterly data). The first current revision covers the improvement of “estimate” until the end of September, after the end of the reference year in order to achieve the version called “preliminary”.  The finalisation of the current revisions is given by the compilation of the version “definitive”. The sectoral accounts required at t+12 months as  „semi-definitive“ are consistent with the version t+9 months and are step-by-step revised until the version  „definitive“ is reached (t+36 months).
• Regional accounts are revised usually according to the programme of their quality improvement and follow the revision of annual accounts resulting from the „semi-definitive“ version of annual accounts. Due to the complexity of calculations, the revision of regional accounts is delayed by 3 months as compared to the revised accounts (t+24 months).
• Supply and Use Tables (SUTs) serve for the balancing of the entire system of national accounts within the framework of 2-digit code of SK NACE Rev.2 and 3-digit code CPA2008 classifications; at the same time, they are to be considered as a base for the definitive annual version of sectoral accounts. SUTs are compiled always at t+36 months after the end of the reference year; the data revisions are not required. The symmetric IOT is compiled once per five years. 
• Notification tables of the government deficit (EDP) are, in line with the Article 4 of the Council Regulation No. 3605/93 as of  22 November 1993 on the application of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure as amended, which forms the Annex to the Treaty of the European Community,  compiled and treated as follows: 

ü  The 1^st notification of the government deficit contains data for the time period t-1 year up to t-4 years and the estimate for the year t. Data are submitted in t+3 months. The half-finalised data are t-1 year, t-2 years, t-3 years.   Data for t-4 years are final. The exceptions are big revisions or specifically treated items according to the Eurostat guidance.

ü  The 2^nd notification  of the government deficit  contains data for the time period  t-1 year up to t-4 years and the estimate for the year t. Data are submitted in t+9 months and are consistent with annual accounts for t-1 year, with “half-finalised” versions of annual accounts for t-2, t-3 years, and with “final” version for t-4 year.

Timetable for revising and finalising estimates:

Timetable for revising and finalising estimates in particular domains of national accounts is updated on yearly basis and is available at the SOSR´s website. 

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.

Based on information from GNI Quality report 2017 the SO SR performed revisions caused by the changes in methods and sources, revised figures related to ESA2010 implementation within the action points (hereinafter AP) A2, A4 resulting from the GNI information visit in July 2017) and routine (current) revisions. The overall impact is shown below:

 Revisions to Slovakia’s GNI (ESA95 based) for 2010-2013 and Slovakia’s GNI (ESA 2010 based) for 2014 and 2015
(As percentage of GNI (ESA95 based) from the 2016 Questionnaire)

The detail information on revisions undertaken in calendar year 2017 is described within the Quality report 2017 of the Slovak Republic, please see here:

https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/0fdf7a1b-81ff-4e58-aae7-cf82f829d53d/Sprava_o_kvalite_2017.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=lYUCIWi&CVID=lYUCIWi

Furthermore, the SO SR has been compiling the brief review of Quality reports related to transmission tables T6, 7 and 8 for several years on the voluntary basis.

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 main data sources used for the compilation of NA data are mentioned in the GNI Inventory-SK within the chapter 10 in more detail, please see here:

https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/23cbfc47-0bf5-4d04-bff0-392c1328ef03/GNI_Inventory_EN_ESA_2010.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=lohNVZW&CVID=lohNVZW

 Further information on data sources are mentioned in the ASA Inventory within the part “C”, please see here:

https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/356ec7b8-e524-4055-82cf-7e205757623f/ASA_INVENTORY_SK_Rocne_sektorove_ucty.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=kIL-Llq&CVID=kIL-Llq

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.

The information on frequency of data collection (statistical surveys and administrative data sources) is mentioned in the ASA Inventory within the part “C”, please see here:

https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/356ec7b8-e524-4055-82cf-7e205757623f/ASA_INVENTORY_SK_Rocne_sektorove_ucty.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=kIL-Llq&CVID=kIL-Llq

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.

The data sources needed to compilation of NA data are obtained from both statistical surveys (Business Statistics, Demography and Social statistics, Trade statistics) and administrative data sources of which we have information on financial and non-financial transactions and stocks of all economy. All of administrative data are obtained on the basis of signed agreements and technical cooperation protocols with external institutions (e.g. National Bank of Slovakia, Ministry of Finance, State Treasury, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, Financial Administration, DataCentrum, Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Authority of Slovak Republic, National Health Information Centre, etc.).

The standard structure of these agreements consists of general information related to versions of updating the agreement, definition of the specification and characteristics of provided data between two institutions, form and method of data transmission and contact persons from both institutions responsible for providing data within the bilateral exchange data.

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.

The technical IT tools for validation checks are ensured on the Eurostat side in terms of structural validation (called STRUVAL) and of content validation (called CONVAL).

SO SR provides metadata to support the validation process with respect to revisions and outliers. Within the internal management processes we perform the data validation checks related to transmission tables ESA2010 before sending the final data to Eurostat.

The results from these validation checks are the subject of Quality reports (via ESS Metada Handler).

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.

Production approach is the main approach for the compilation of annual national accounts for the Slovak Republic. The expenditure approach is applied as an independent method of compilation of GDP estimates. These methods are used for balancing because of the income approach is not the independent one.

The same approach is used for the compilation of quarterly national accounts.

 The methodology of the compilation of NA main aggregates is described within the GNI Inventory-SK in more detail, please see here:

https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/23cbfc47-0bf5-4d04-bff0-392c1328ef03/GNI_Inventory_EN_ESA_2010.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=lohNVZW&CVID=lohNVZW

 The SO SR ensures the data consistency of the transmission tables according to methodology ESA2010 within the revision policy as it is mentioned in the section 10.6 and 17.1.

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.

The seasonal adjustment of QNA time series of Slovakia does not include calendar adjustment because there are strong users´ requirements for consistency of seasonally adjusted quarterly data with unadjusted annual totals (according to the  ESS guidelines on SA, when using calendar adjustment, the quarterly seasonally and calendar adjusted data should be constrained only to the calendar adjusted, not original annual data).  Thus the seasonally adjusted data are further adjusted by benchmark tool Ecotrim to match the unadjusted annual totals.

The additivity of seasonally adjusted set of quarterly time series is ensured by applying the indirect approach on the aggregate series or alternatively by using direct approach for all series and distributing the discrepancies among one or more component series.  For some set of time series (e.g. components of GDP) the discrepancies are quantified as a separate time series.

QNA data are seasonally adjusted by the TRAMO-SEATS method implemented in the software tool JDemetra+ version 2.0.0. For most of the series the logarithm transformation is applied (multiplicative decomposition).  All the series are tested on the presence of outliers (all three types – additive, transitory change, level shift) and if the outlier is statistically significant and economically plausible it is fixed and introduced into model.

According to the revision policy for seasonally adjusted data the partial concurrent adjustment is applied, i.e. the model, filters and outliers are re-identified only once a year (usually after the annual revision of quarterly NA) while the respective parameters and factors are re-estimated every time the figures for new quarter are added.

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