Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat)

National Accounts Department (NAD)

Devlet Mah. Necatibey Cad. No:114  Pk 06420  Çankaya /ANKARA   TURKEY

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.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the most important and focused of the main aggregates estimated in the system of national accounts. GDP is the standard measure for the value added occurring due to goods and services produced at the certain period in a country. GDP is estimated by three approaches:

1. Production approach
2. Expenditure approach
3. Income approach.

Gross Domestic Product, by production approach, is the value obtained by deducting the inputs used in the production of the goods and services from the total value of these goods and services produced by all institutional units resident in an economy in the certain period.

Gross Domestic Product, by expenditure approach, consists of the expenditures for consumption and investment in an economy in the certain period and export less import. The main components of this approach are the final consumption of households, the final consumption of government and fixed capital investment and net exports.

Gross Domestic Product, by income approach, consists of the wages and salaries, and operating surplus of the producing units in the economy and the various tax revenues of the government. It is the sum of the values that the units appear in the production process of the goods and services in the each activity pay to production factors.

Data compiled by TurkStat, administrative data and sectoral reports are used in the estimation of institutional sector accounts. Some of the institutions other than TurkStat from which data obtained are Ministry of Finance General Directorate of Public Accounts and Revenue Administration, Ministry of Interior, Central Bank of Republic of Turkey, Undersecretariat of Treasury, Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, etc.

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

At national level, data are commonly available for :

- annual and quarterly national accounts: 'main aggregates'

- annual  sector accounts

- supply and use and input-output tables

- annual and quarterly government finance statistics data: 'main aggregates', quarterly financial government accounts and government debt

- regional breakdowns of main national accounts variables 

- industry breakdowns of main national accounts variables

- data on taxes

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 2008 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 for regional breakdowns.

A full overview of classifications is available in:

- ESA 2010 Chapter 23 Classifications

- Eurostat's RAMON classification database

The estimates by the production, expenditure and income approaches are given at the level expressed by European System of Accounts (ESA) and United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA).

Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community, NACE Rev 2 is used at the production approach.

 The classification used at the estimates by the production approach;

-          NACE Rev.2 economic activities

The classification used at the estimates by the expenditure approach;

-          Classification of individual consumption by purpose (COICOP),

-          Classifications of the Functions of Government (COFOG),

-          Classification by Broad Economic Categories (BEC),

-          Common Customs Tariff Nomenclature (GTIP),

-          Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS),

-          Classification of the Purposes of Non-Profit Institutions Serving Households (COPNI)

The classification used for the estimates by income approach;

Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community, NACE Rev. 2 is used for the estimates on compensation of employees and consumption of fixed capital. The classification of subsidies and taxes is the same of ESA classification used for supply/use table.

Analytical budget code is used in General Government Accounts in Turkey.

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.

The annual national accounts publication detail of GDP is NACE Rev. 2. at A21. Quarterly national accounts are disseminated according to NACE Rev. 2. A10.

Institutional sectors are the grouping of the institutional units together. Institutional units are the following:

Non-financial corporations are institutional units that are principally engaged in the production of market goods and non-financial services.

Financial corporations are institutional units that are principally engaged in financial services including financial intermediation.

General government are institutional units that, in addition to fulfilling their political responsibilities and their role of economic regulation, produce services (and possibly goods) for individual or collective consumption mainly on a non-market basis and redistribute income and wealth.

Households are institutional units consisting of one individual or a group of individuals. The principal functions of households are to supply labour, to undertake final consumption and, as entrepreneurs, to produce market goods and non-financial (and possibly financial) services.

Non-profit institutions serving households (NPISHs) are legal entities that are principally engaged in the production of non-market services for households or the community at large and whose main resources are voluntary contributions.

Institutional Sector accounts are made up of current accounts, accumulation accounts and balance sheet and rest of the world accounts. Here the focus is the current accounts.

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 2008).

2012 SUTs are compiled at a level of detail of 262 product groups and 268 industries.

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. 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.

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.

Turkey national accounts are not fully exhaustive.

In Turkey illegal activities are not included in the GDP estimations. Since the illegal activities are not calculated, there is not any estimation for smuggling, drug or human trafficking, etc. related to export and import of goods and services.

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.

Table. Territorial units in Turkey:

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 Turkey data in line with ESA 2010 starting in 1998 (years) and 1998 Q1(quarters) for GDP. Household final consumption expenditure and gross fixed capital formation and GDP by income approach are available 2009 onwards.

Regional Gross Domestic Product data starting in 2004 to 2014 by Kind of Economic Activity with ESA 2010.

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.

Turkey currently uses 2009 as reference year for the compilation of chain-linked volumes (for annual and/or quarterly national accounts differentiate if needed). The method to compile quarterly chain-linked volumes is the 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.

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).

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 2008, COFOG, COICOP, NUTS.

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

The compilation and dissemination of the data are governed by the Turkish Statistical Law No. 5429 of November 10, 2005.

The purpose of this law is to determine basic principles and standards concerning the production and organization of official statistics; and to regulate the formation, duties, and authorities of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) which is to compile and assess data and information, produce, publish, and disseminate statistics on the areas that country needs, and to ensure coordination among institutions and organizations that are involved in the statistics process prescribed in the Official Statistics Programme(Article 1).

The Official Statistics Programme (OSP) establishes the framework for official statistics that shall be produced on subjects required at national and international level. Censuses and surveys are carried out within the framework of this Programme. Taking into account the existing resources, the burden on the respondents and the cost-benefit analysis, the Programme covers statistics needed to determine and monitor the situations of the country in the fields of economy, social issues, demography, culture, environment, science, technology and any other required areas(Article 3).

The Presidency, institutions and organizations taken part in the Programme shall take the measures to ensure the easy and equal access to the official statistics by all users by obeying the standards and release calendar specified in the Programme.

Documentation on methodology  are followed in general.

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.

Because of being a candidate country National Accounts data have been sent after publication.

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 compilation and dissemination of the data are governed by the Turkish Statistical Law No. 5429 of November 10, 2005. With respect to this law;“The statistical information compiled by the Institute cannot be given to any person or authority before this information is made open to public (Article 12)." TurkStat share confidential data with Eurostat with flagging the data as confidential.

The regional figures at NUTS level 3 in A*10 industry breakdown by NACE Rev.2 for the period 2004 - 2014 were sent as confidential data at the beginning of 2017.

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.

Confidential data can be accessed only by those involved in the production of official statistics, to the extent that they need for performing their duties properly. If the number of the statistical unit in any cell of the data table formed by aggregating the individual data is less than three or one or two of the statistical units are dominant even if the number of units is three or more, the data in the concerned cell is considered confidential. The confidential data are compiled, processed and preserved for the production of official statistics cannot be delivered to any administrative, judiciary or military authority or person, cannot be used for purposes other than statistics or as an instrument of proof. Civil servants and other staff in charge of compiling and processing these data are obliged to comply with this rule. This obligation continues after the related personnel leave their duties and positions. The rulers of the institutions and organizations producing official statistics shall take all measures to prevent any illicit access, use or revelation of the confidential data. Data or information obtained from sources that are open to all people shall not be deemed confidential (Article 13).

Data confidentiality ceases when a statistical unit gives written approval for the revelation of confidential data concerning itself.

Principles and procedures related to data confidentiality and security shall be regulated through statutes to be issued in line with national and international principles and by soliciting the opinion of relevant institutions and organizations.

Use of individual data

Individual data may be given with the written permission of the Presidency after obscuring those parts which may lead to direct or indirect identification and on the condition that such data is used in scientific studies without any reference to distinct statistical units. People who are entitled to use individual data cannot give these data to third parties (Article 14).

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.

Annual National Accounts are disseminated under the national calendar in September.

Quarterly GDP press release is announced;

1st quarter: 10 June

2nd quarter: 10 September

3th quarter: 10 December

4th quarter: 31 March

The regional accounts release cycle has one publication date each year. Regional gross domestic product (GDP) and population data are published at NUTS level 2 and level 3 at the end of each year (in December), as well as transmitted to Eurostat. The regional GDP figures are released at t + 24 months.

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

The link to national calendars for TurkStat releases is given below.

http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/ingtakvim/tkvim.zul#tb1

A year-ahead calendar that gives precise release dates is disseminated on the Turkish Statistical Institute website at http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/arastirmaveprojeler/turcat/body/sdds.htm

Press release is announced at 10.00 am in TurkStat website. The link of the website of TurkStat is given below:

http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/Start.do

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.

Advance release calendar

A year-ahead calendar that gives precise release dates is disseminated on the Turkish Statistical Institute website at http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/arastirmaveprojeler/turcat/body/sdds.htm

Simultaneous release

The data are released simultaneously to all interested parties by issuing the press release Quarterly Gross Domestic Product Results. The press release is prepared and kept secure under locked conditions until the specified time of release, at which time it is made available to the media and all interested parties.

Simultaneously, the press release is posted on the TurkStat's website www.turkstat.gov.tr.

Dissemination on request

A tailor-made service is available for the specific requests that are not available on the TurkStat's website.

In TurkStat, the press releases are announced before the year begins. In addition to this in the web site of TurkStat there is a calendar monitoring the press releases by date.

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).

Dissemination media and format

Hard copy

Press Bulletin: Gross Domestic Product Results is available in TurkStat website. Bilingual tables (Turkish and English) are also disseminated in the press release.

The press release Gross Domestic Product Results publishes quarterly data for the current year showing: (1) GDP broken down by kind of economic activity (in current and chain linked volume index prices); (2) GDP broken down by expenditure category (in current and chain linked volume index prices); and (3) GDP broken down by cost components (in current prices).

Hard copy - Quarterly bulletin

Economic Indicators is available in Turkish and English for a fee. Ordering information is available from the contact person above.

Hard copy - Other

The annual Gross Domestic Product is available in Turkish and English for a fee. Ordering information is available from the contact person above.

Electronic - On-line bulletin or data

The GDP data published in the news release and time series tables are available in both Turkish and English at www.turkstat.gov.tr.

Electronic - Other

Diskette/CD: GDP results are available for a fee. Ordering information is available from the contact person webmaster@tuik.gov.tr.

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 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.

This is called as MEDAS:

https://biruni.tuik.gov.tr/medas/?kn=88&locale=tr

The link of the website is given below:

http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/PreTablo.do?alt_id=1105

Regional GDP of Turkey for the years 2004 - 2014 can be found in Official Press Release on TurkStat’s website:

http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/PreHaberBultenleri.do?id=24920

It is available in Turkish and English. The release contains data for the reporting year on regional GDP (in thus. TRY) at NUTS level 2 and NUTS level 3 at current prices and also regional GDP per capita (in TRY and $) at NUTS level 2 and NUTS level 3.

Moreover, on the same website, estimates of previous and reporting years can be found in the tables listed below:

×   Gross Domestic Product by Provinces by Kind of Economic Activity, NUTS Level 3, (A*3)

×   Gross Domestic Product Per Capita by Provinces, NUTS Level 3

×   Regional Gross Domestic Product by Kind of Economic Activity, NUTS Level 2, (A*3)

×   Gross Domestic Product Per Capita, NUTS Level 2

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, facebook, etc. are used as social media.

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.

Explanations about Implementation of SNA-208/ ESA-2010 Main revision in the National Accounts of Turkey documentation can be accessed from this link:

http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/HbGetir.do?id=24921&tb_id=11

Explanatory Notes" are published in each quarterly news release Quarterly Gross Domestic Product Results. The metadata are available at http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/PreTablo.do?alt_id=1045.

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).

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).

There is no quality report published for public, but every quarter, the revisions are analysed by sectors and by groups of sectors. These analyses are used for improving data sources and estimates. In December 2015, Eurostat was prepared a ‘peer review report on the compliance with code of practice and the coordination role of TurkStat’. In this report national accounts data and sources were also examined and they were appreciated.

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 usually the entities who most use national and regional accounts data. Please complete if appropriate.

The use of MS national accounts by international institutions should also be added here. International institutions can be considered as “clients” of NSI.

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.

There is a user survey on TurkStat web for all statistics.

 https://biruni.tuik.gov.tr/mem_pro_en/index.jsf

The national practice could be filled in.

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 Turkey National Accounts data from 1998 as required by the ESA2010 transmission programme is high.

Turkey has provided datasets for main tables for quarterly and annual accounts.

TurkStat has also provided substantial information on voluntary basis. This holds particularly for Government Finance Statistics, Regional Accounts, Non-Financial Sector Accounts and Supply Use Input Output Tables.

The regional figures at NUTS level 3 in A*10 industry breakdown by NACE Rev.2 for the period 2004 - 2014 were sent as confidential data at the beginning of 2017.

Revision analysis is an important issue. National accounts department of TurkStat is working on the revision analysis by making vintage tables for quarterly GDP to improve quality of the estimates

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.

Annual Accounts are published and transmitted each year after end of the reference year in September . Supply and use tables were only transmitted for benchmark year 2012.

At the moment, there are no direct transmissions to international institutes other than Eurostat. After the national accounts revision, the new total regional GVA figures at NUTS level 2 by NACE Rev.2 for the years 2004 - 2014 were sent to Eurostat. The regional figures at NUTS level 3 in A*10 industry breakdown by NACE Rev.2 for the period 2004 - 2014 were sent as confidential data at the beginning of 2017.

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 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.

The GDP series coherent with ESA-2010 are available from 1998. Before 1998 the GDP series are available according to the requirements of the ESA 1995.

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 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. 

Revision policy regarding statistics produced within Turkish Statistical Institute

For reliable, comparable, compatible and consistent production of the current statistics by ensuring data integration; strategies have been developed regarding revisions in published data. On the other hand sharing the revision policies of statistics produced in accordance with Code of Practice is directly relevant with the transparency policies of producers of statistics. In this context as a policy document that draws the general framework with regard to which statistics are to be revised, why, how long and how deep;“Instruction on Methods and Principles Regarding Revisions on Statistical Data Produced by Turkish Statistical Institute” has been published.

In addition to the forementioned instruction "Revision Handbook" is prepared in order to ensure the efficient implementation of the framework defined in the instruction by producers of statistics and to ensure standardization in implementing revisions

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.

Current revision plan of TurkStat can be accessed from this link

http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/UstMenu.do?metod=metabilgiic&prm=1

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.

TurkStat has prioritized the use of administrative data for statistical production.  Administrative data were integrated into the NA system in 2016 and have been used effectively afterwards. 

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. Short Term Business statistics are  available on a monthly  basis. Households' surveys are available on monthly frequency . Administrative data is available three weeks earlier for quarterly estimates.

Under the cooperation and data exchange agreements between TurkStat and administrative authorities and for the purpose of increasing and expanding the use of administrative data in business statistics, records from Turkish Revenue Administration (TRA) and Social Security Institution (SSI) have been shared with TurkStat.

The administrative data are compared with other data sources for investigation for the inconsistencies. As regards the relationship between administrative records and other data sources; concepts, definition and variables, scope and timeliness of the data are compared. Also quarterly trends and consistency are investigated. The results from other data sources are analysed. If some inconsistencies are found, micro data are analysed again and investigate the reason for inconsistencies. The coherence between price and volume changes and comparability of time series in the estimates are the important points in the validation. In particular sectors much more detailed analysis are done for instance, transportation and construction.

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.

Key approaches and techniques for the compilation of national accounts in Turkey can be summarised as follows:

The leading approach to compile GDP in the framework of  quarterly and annual national accounts in Turkey is  the production approach. Consistency is obtained via balancing process. Notably, changes in inventories and valuables or gross operating surplus and mixed income are derived as residuals. The same approach is used for the compilation of quarterly national accounts. Sector accounts are compiled together with main aggregates.

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.

Seasonal adjustment:

Seasonal adjustment was conducted by using TRAMO-SEATS method based on ARIMA model, recommended by Eurostat. The 2.0.0 version of the JDemetra + software, developed by Eurostat, was used to implement the method. Seasonally adjusted series enables comparison of consecutive quarters, while calendar adjusted series enables comparison of the same quarter of the previous year.

ESA 2010 was implemented in 2016 for the years 1998-2016. 2017 estimates will be published in September.