Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union
1.2. Contact organisation unit
Unit C5 – Integrated Global Accounts and Balance of Payments
1.3. Contact name
Restricted from publication
1.4. Contact person function
Restricted from publication
1.5. Contact mail address
Eurostat, 2920 Luxembourg, LUXEMBOURG
1.6. Contact email address
Restricted from publication
1.7. Contact phone number
Restricted from publication
1.8. Contact fax number
Restricted from publication
2.1. Metadata last certified
28 February 2024
2.2. Metadata last posted
28 February 2024
2.3. Metadata last update
28 February 2024
3.1. Data description
This dataset comprises the European Union’s inter-country supply, use and input-output tables (EU IC-SUIOTs), also referred to as FIGARO tables – Full International and Global Accounts for Research in Input-Output analysis. The FIGARO tables depict in matrix format how goods and services are supplied and used within the global economy. Countries explicitly covered are the 27 EU Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, and Sweden), 18 main EU trading partners (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States), and a ‘Rest of the world’ region. The tables are broken down by 64 products and industries (see Section 3.2). All transactions are expressed in million Euro and basic prices (i.e. price of the good or service excluding trade and transport margins and taxes less subsidies). FIGARO tables are valued for the time being in current prices; additional tables in previous year’s prices are under preparation. The tables are compiled following the concepts and definitions of the European System of Accounts - ESA 2010.
The FIGARO tables have been developed by Eurostat and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC). Since 2021, they are produced annually, covering the period from 2010 up to year T-2, with T being the year of the most recent data release. The following tables are available: (1) inter-country supply table, (2) inter-country use table, (3) product-by-product inter-country input-output table, and (4) industry-by-industry inter-country input-output table. The compilation of these tables requires data from a variety of sources including national supply and use tables, national accounts main aggregates, statistics on the international trade in goods and services, and balance of payments statistics. Input data are obtained from Eurostat’s own data production as well as from international organisations such as the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), UNSD (United Nations Statistics Division), UN-ECLAC (United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean), and the websites of National Statistical Institutes.
3.2. Classification system
FIGARO tables follow the principles, concepts, and definitions of the European System of Accounts – ESA 2010 (see Section 3.4).
Products are classified according to the Classification of Products by Activity (CPA version 2.1) and industries are classified according to the Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community (NACE Revision 2). The breakdown into 64 products and industries follows the two-digit level of these classifications.
3.3. Coverage - sector
The data cover the global economy, that is, the total economy of each of the 27 EU Member States, the 18 main EU trading partners, and a ‘Rest of the world’ region.
Several breakdowns are presented in the tables. Two of the most important are the breakdown by institutional sector and the breakdown by NACE Rev. 2 economic activity. Concerning the institutional sector breakdown, final consumption expenditure is presented for the following mutually exclusive domestic institutional sectors: (1) general government, (2) households, and (3) non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH). Regarding the economic activity breakdown, ESA 2010 applies NACE Rev.2 (see Section 3.2), and activities in the FIGARO tables are broken down into 64 sectors of economic activity.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
Supply and use tables are matrices that depict the supply of goods and services (rows) by domestic industries and imports (columns) and the use of these products (rows) for intermediate purposes by industries (columns) and final purposes, including exports (columns). Input-output tables are product-by-product or industry-by-industry matrices that depict supply and use relationships of an economy in a single table. Inter-country supply, use and input-output tables capture the supply-use relationships of goods and services within and between countries. The extension from national to inter-country SUIOTs requires, among others, the splitting of exports by country of destination and type of use (intermediate or final).
The FIGARO tables combine data from various statistics, whose main building blocks are: (1) national supply and use tables, (2) a complete and globally consistent set of national accounts main aggregates for 64 industries, and (3) a balanced view of international trade in goods and services.
The FIGARO tables adhere to the statistical concepts and definitions of the European System of Accounts - ESA 2010. This applies, e.g., to the valuation principles, statistical units, and the definition of:
institutional sectors (e.g., households, general government, non-profit institutions serving households);
accounting items (e.g., output, intermediate consumption, gross value added, compensation of employees, operating surplus, final consumption, gross fixed capital formation, changes in inventories and valuables, imports, exports, taxes less subsidies, trade and transport margins).
Of particular relevance are differences in how imports and exports are defined in international trade statistics versus national accounts. Whereas trade statistics track the physical movements of goods across borders, ESA 2010 considers imports and exports as transactions between residents and non-residents due to a change in ownership. The FIGARO tables follow the definition in ESA 2010 and consequently do not always require that imported or exported goods physically cross a country border. However, adopting the ESA 2010 definition requires several modifications before data from trade statistics can be used for the compilation of the FIGARO tables (see Sections 15 and 18).
3.5. Statistical unit
Following the ESA 2010 guidelines, two types of units and two corresponding ways of subdividing the economy are used for national accounts purposes: (1) institutional unit; (2) local kind-of-activity unit (local KAU). The first type is used for describing income, expenditure, output 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 four-digit class level of NACE Rev. 2.
An institutional unit comprises one or more local KAUs; a local KAU belongs to one and only one institutional unit.
3.6. Statistical population
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 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.
3.7. Reference area
The FIGARO tables capture the global economy. Explicitly included are the 27 EU Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, and Sweden), 18 main EU trading partners (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States), and a ‘Rest of the world’ region.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Data are released annually and cover the period from 2010 to year T-2, with T being the current year.
3.9. Base period
The concept of 'base period' is not applied in national accounts.
Data are presented in million Euro and basic prices (i.e. price of the good or service without trade and transport margins and taxes less subsidies on products). FIGARO tables are valued for the time being in current prices; additional tables in previous year’s prices are under preparation. Imports and exports of the underlying balanced view of trade in goods and services are valued ‘Free On Board’ (FOB), excluding international trade and transport margins.
Reference period is the calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
While Eurostat produces national supply, use and input-output tables under Regulation (EU) No 549/2013, there is no regulation mandating the production of EU inter-country SUIOTs.
Preserving confidentiality is an issue for supply and use tables received from EU Member States, countries of the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA), and EU Candidate Countries. Any data flagged as confidential enter the compilation of FIGARO tables. However, in the final compilation of dissemination tables, confidential data are replaced by averages. This approach does not lead to a grouping of products and industries and, hence, does not change the number of products and industries in the published FIGARO tables.
8.1. Release calendar
The release of the FIGARO tables is announced in Eurostat’s release calendar a few weeks before publication.
8.2. Release calendar access
Eurostat’s release calendar is available on the Eurostat website under the tab ‘News’. Direct access to the release calendar is also available here.
The FIGARO tables are released annually. The actual release date may vary, depending on the publication of source data and the necessity for data revisions and methodological improvements.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
Since 2023, FIGARO tables are released in a dissemination package consisting of the actual data, a Eurostat ‘News’ release, and two Statistics Explained articles for the two FIGARO applications on EU employment and value added related to exports to non-EU countries.
Following the ESA 2010 guidelines, two types of units and two corresponding ways of subdividing the economy are used for national accounts purposes: (1) institutional unit; (2) local kind-of-activity unit (local KAU). The first type is used for describing income, expenditure, output 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 four-digit class level of NACE Rev. 2.
An institutional unit comprises one or more local KAUs; a local KAU belongs to one and only one institutional unit.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
The FIGARO tables are not featured in dedicated publications. However, the data serve as basis for estimating EU employment and value added related to exports to non-EU countries. The publication of these indicators is typically accompanied by Statistics Explained articles.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
The FIGARO tables are available in Eurostat’s online database under the tabs ‘Data navigation tree’ > ‘Detailed datasets’ > ‘Economy and finance’ > ‘National accounts’ > ‘Supply, use and input-output tables’ > EU inter-country supply, use and input-output tables (FIGARO) (naio_10_f).
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Not applicable.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
The FIGARO tables are also available in the Eurostat’s thematic section for supply, use and input-output tables, where users can download the complete time series as independent files in: (1) CSV flat format, (2) CSV matrix format, or (3) Excel format. While all FIGARO supply, use and input-output tables are available in formats (1) and (2), only input-output tables (industry by industry) are available in format (3). In addition, the coverage in format (3) is reduced from 64 to 21 industries.
The quality management of Eurostat is documented in the European Statistics Code of Practice, which defines 16 principles for the statistical data production. The quality requirements for supply, use and input-output tables as well as national accounts main aggregates are documented in the ESA 2010 – Handbook on Data Validation. Eurostat’s quality assessment of national accounts data transmitted by EU Member States, Iceland and Norway is available in annual quality reports.
11.1. Quality assurance
Eurostat applies a solid quality assurance procedure. Overall, data quality is ensured by the strict application of the concepts and definitions in the European System of Accounts – ESA 2010. In each compilation step, the quality of input data and the intermediate and final results are verified, and corrections are applied, if needed. Most relevant are the following checks:
standardised data validation of supply and use tables received from EU Member States, EFTA Countries, and EU Candidate Countries;
mapping of supply and use tables from non-EU countries to the product and industry classifications of the FIGARO tables, based on established correspondence tables; plausibility checks against earlier data vintages;
benchmarking of globally consistent national accounts main aggregates against earlier data vintages for all relevant data aggregation levels;
benchmarking of balanced view of trade against earlier data vintages;
GRAS procedure to reconcile supply and use tables with globally-consistent national accounts main aggregates; consistency checks for all tables;
plausibility and consistency checks of final inter-country tables.
Eurostat records all assumptions used to fill data gaps and correct implausible values. The final FIGARO tables are checked for consistency with the main accounting identities across all products, industries, and countries, that is: (1) total supply must equal total use, (2) total use must equal the sum of intermediate consumption, final consumption, gross capital formation and exports, and (3) total output must equal the sum of total intermediate consumption and value added.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Eurostat assesses the quality of source data, intermediate and final results in all production stages (see also Section 11.1). Visualisation dashboards are used to detect data gaps, outliers, implausible values, and statistical inconsistencies.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Users of EU inter-country SUIOTs include researchers, policy makers, and statisticians who require insight into the supply and use structure of the global economy. User needs are related to a range of possible applications, including:
economic and econometric analyses, such as general equilibrium modelling to project the impacts of policy intervention, technological innovation, or environment effects on the global economy;
development of global value chain indicators to capture economic linkages across sectors and countries;
consistency checks of official statistics, including national accounts main aggregates, national supply, use and input-output tables, and international trade in goods and services statistics;
global harmonisation of data and methodologies for consistent inter-country SUIOTs as aspired by the GIANT network under the umbrella of OECD’s Regional and Global Trade in Value Added initiatives;
development of extended input-output tables and satellite accounts for specific purposes.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Eurostat obtains regular user feedback through: (1) bi-annual meetings of the Expert Group on Integrated Global Accounts, (2) bi-annual meetings of the National Accounts Working Group, (3) collaboration with international organisations under the GIANT initiative, which aims to harmonise international data sources and methodologies for globally-consistent inter-country SUIOTs, and (4) collaboration with international stakeholders and the International Input-Output Association (IIOA). Users are invited to provide feedback through the following mailbox: ESTAT-FIGARO@ec.europa.eu.
12.3. Completeness
FIGARO tables provide a detailed breakdown of global production, consumption, investment, and income for 64 products and industries. The data cover >99.1% of the global population and >99.8% of global GDP.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Not available.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
The FIGARO tables are produced annually with a time delay of T-2, where T is the year of data publication. The data release in 2023 consequently covers the period of 2010-2021.
14.2. Punctuality
There is no specific publication deadline. Eurostat intends to release data in the second quarter of each year. However, the actual publication date may vary depending on the availability of input data and methodological developments.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
The FIGARO tables cover the global economy. Geographical comparability of source data is achieved and ensured mainly through: (1) mapping of statistical classifications, (2) compiling of a globally-consistent set of national accounts main aggregates, and (3) establishing a balanced view of international trade where global exports match global imports valued in FOB.
Statistical classifications
The EU Member States, the EFTA countries, the EU candidate countries and the United Kingdom, follow in their national SUTs the same product and industry classifications as used for the FIGARO tables. However, mapping of classifications is required for the remaining non-EU countries to ensure comparability of supply and use data as well as trade data with the European classifications. Most important is to ensure the correspondence between:
Ensuring geographical comparability of input data is not always straightforward because countries may use dated or adapted versions of international classifications.
Globally consistent national accounts main aggregates
Global consistency of national accounts main aggregates is ensured through a stepwise data collection and calculation procedure. Starting point is the collection of gross domestic product (GDP) for 205 economies. The GDP data are summed up to establish global GDP but they are not adapted or changed in the subsequent steps. Instead, the main aggregates are benchmarked against GDP, and adapted where needed, starting with expenditure and then moving to production and income:
At the expenditure side, global GDP must equal the sum of final consumption, gross capital formation, and exports less imports of goods and services.
At the production side, global GDP must equal total output minus intermediate consumption plus taxes less subsidies on products.
At the income side, global GDP must equal compensation of employees plus taxes on production and imports less subsidies, gross operating surplus and mixed income of the total economy.
After ensuring global consistency of main aggregates, their components are benchmarked, e.g., final consumption expenditure by government (P3_S13), households (P3_S14), and non-profit institutions serving households (P3_S15) are benchmarked against total final consumption expenditure (P3). In the end, this stepwise procedure generates a final data set of national account main aggregates that align fully with each country’s GDP and the overall global GDP.
Balanced view of international trade
Geographical compatibility of trade data is achieved by balancing international trade so that global exports match global imports valued in FOB. Balancing international trade is a complex procedure, which involves separate work streams for goods and services. Both work streams reconcile trade data for 205 countries at six-digit CN product level through:
consistent valuation of exports (typically valued FOB) and imports (typically valued CIF) in terms of FOB;
assigning non-allocated trade using plausibility methods;
removing trade asymmetries by balancing bilateral trade flows;
harmonising trade data with national accounts, which requires correcting trade statistics for goods that are sent abroad for processing, re-exports, merchanting activities, quasit-transit trade, direct purchases abroad by residents, and domestic purchases by non-residents.
The FIGARO tables provide a consistent annual data series from 2010 up to year T-2, with T being the year of the most recent data release. Comparability over time is ensured by: (1) applying a consistent methodology, and (2) using similar data sources from official statistics across all years. Before each FIGARO release, national accounts main aggregates and balanced international trade data are checked against previous data vintages in order to detect potential inconsistencies. Likewise, Eurostat checks the final FIGARO tables against data from the previous release.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Cross-domain coherence is ensured by reconciling supply and use tables with national accounts main aggregates. Row and columns totals are adjusted by a bi-proportional GRAS procedure to match globally consistent national accounts main aggregates. Moreover, a balanced view of international trade in goods and services is established by adjusting data from trade statistics (which capture cross-border flows) to the definitions and concepts used in national accounts (which record transactions between residents and non-residents following a change of ownership). This requires correcting trade statistics for goods sent abroad for processing, re-exports, merchanting activities, quasit-transit trade, direct purchases abroad by residents, and domestic purchases by non-residents.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Eurostat ensures internal data coherence throughout the compilation process, which includes: (1) establishing globally consistent national accounts main aggregates, (2) balancing international trade in goods and services, (3) reconciling supply and use tables with national accounts main aggregates, and (4) compiling final inter-country supply, use, and input-output tables. Validation dashboards are used to identify internal inconsistencies.
The FIGARO tables are compiled by Eurostat based on available statistical data. The compilation process does not incur any additional burden for National Statistical Institutes.
Eurostat releases annually: (1) new estimates for year T-2, with T representing the year of publication and (2) revised data for at least years T-3 and T-4. Revisions of the entire time series from 2010 onwards are foreseen only to incorporate major methodological updates or to take account of major data revisions, for example the 2024 benchmark revision of national accounts. Metadata for FIGARO tables were established for the first time in 2023; they are to be reviewed annually after each data release.
17.2. Data revision - practice
Reported errors are assessed for seriousness to determine whether they should trigger a correction of already disseminated data. Reported errors that are deemed to be significant, e.g., implausible values or breaks in the time series of country totals, are corrected in the disseminated data. Corrections for other errors are carried out annually during the compilation of FIGARO tables. FIGARO tables are only published once the input data are deemed to be sufficiently complete. New data are only used to update disseminated data in the case of reported errorsz.
Since the first publication of FIGARO tables in 2021, the entire time series was revised each year, covering the period 2010 to year t-3 (with t being the year of dissemination). Revisions for the 2022 FIGARO edition encompassed: (1) incorporating globally consistent national accounts main aggregates, (2) updating supply and use data for selected non-EU countries, and (3) breaking down products and industries into 64 categories for the period 2010-2019. Revisions for the 2023 FIGARO edition included: (1) incorporating updated supply and use data for several non-EU countries, (2) implementing new data sources for, e.g., direct purchases abroad, trade in services data obtained from the Balanced Trade in Services dataset (BATIS) of the OECD and the OECD dataset on International Transport and Insurance Costs (ITIC) and (3) enhanced adjustments linked to the balancing of discrepancies between trade statistics and national accounts.
Eurostat intends to limit future revisions to years t-3 and t-4, unless more complete and reliable data sources become available or major errors are detected.
Aggregates and components are revised at the same time. Disseminated data may be revised in the future. There is no point at which data are final. There is also no revision calendar for FIGARO tables. Routine revisions occur as part of the annual data dissemination and are documented in the metadata. The impact of major revisions is analysed during the data compilation, e.g., through benchmarking analysis and visualisation tools. Eurostat tries to provide break-free data and back-calculate FIGARO tables, if feasible. Time series breaks caused by major revisions are flagged. Major revisions are documented in the metadata. They are discussed and pre-announced to stakeholders, e.g., in the bi-annual meetings of the Integrated Global Accounts Expert Group.
18.1. Source data
The compilation of FIGARO tables relies on several data sources, including:
All input data are collected from official statistical sources. The following ones are the most relevant:
National supply and use tables
Data for the 27 EU Member States, Norway, and Türkiye are delivered by National Statistical Institutes to Eurostat according to the ESA 2010 Transmission Programme. Data for the United Kingdom and the United States are obtained from the OECD. For the other non-EU countries, including Switzerland, data are obtained from the webpages of the respective National Statistical Institutes. Data gaps are filled based on: (1) supply, use and input-output tables published by the OECD, and (2) earlier FIGARO releases by Eurostat.
National accounts main aggregates
Data for the 27 EU Member States, Norway, Switzerland, and Türkiye are delivered by National Statistical Institutes to Eurostat according to the ESA 2010 Transmission Programme. Data for other non-EU countries are obtained from the OECD, IMF and UNSD, and are available, to some extent, on the Eurostat website following a data sharing agreement between these institutions and Eurostat (see: National accounts - international data cooperation (naid_10). The data collection includes the following parameters: output (P1), intermediate consumption (P2), final consumption expenditure (P3), final consumption expenditure by government (P3_S12), final consumption expenditure by households (P3_S13), final consumption expenditure by non-governmental organisations serving households (P3_S14), Gross capital formation (P5), Gross fixed capital formation (P51g), changes in inventories (P52), acquisitions less disposals of valuables (P53), exports (P6), imports (P7), compensation of employees (D1), consumption of fixed capital (P51c), mixed income (B3g), gross value added (B1g), gross operating surplus (B2g), total final use, and total use.
International trade in goods and services
Data for international trade in goods are obtained from Eurostat’s International Trade in Goods Statistics (ITGS), the Comext database, as well as from the UNSD’s COMTRADE database. Data for international trade in services are obtained from Eurostat’s International Trade in Services Statistics (ITSS), Balance of Payments (BoP) statistics, and OECD’s Balanced Trade in Services (BaTIS) dataset.
These principal data sources are complemented with data and information from international partners, most importantly National Statistical Institutes, OECD, UN-ECLAC, ADB, and IMF.
Supply and use tables for EU Member States, Norway and Türkiye are validated by Eurostat as part of the data production under the ESA 2010 Transmission Programme. Supply and use tables for the United Kingdom and the United States are validated by the OECD before being transmitted to Eurostat. The supply and use tables of other countries were obtained, as far as available, from the website of the National Statistical Institutes (published data). Similarly, validated input data for national accounts main aggregates and international trade in goods and services are obtained from official sources such as Eurostat, OECD, IMF, UNSD, or National Statistical Institutes.
The compilation of FIGARO tables involves six principal steps:
estimation of missing supply and use tables to obtain a complete data set, comprising: use table at basic prices (T1610), use table for domestic output at basic prices (T1611), use table for imports at basic prices (T1612), table of trade and transport margins (T1620), and table of taxes less subsidies on products (T1630);
gap-filling and estimation of missing national accounts main aggregates;
use of a GRAS procedure to reconcile national supply and use tables with global national accounts main aggregates;
gap-filling and balancing of international trade in goods and services; aligning trade data with the definitions of national accounts to establish a globally consistent and balanced set of trade data where global exports match global imports;
final compilation of inter-country tables to establish: (1) inter-country supply tables, (2) inter-country use tables, (3) product-by-product inter-country input-output tables, and (4) industry-by-industry inter-country input-output tables;
conducting quality checks and replacing confidential data with averages.
Data adjustments are necessary at multiple stages of the FIGARO compilation process mainly due to: (1) the variability in the definitions and classifications of source data obtained from various countries and statistical domains, and (2) the focus of the source data on the domestic economy, which causes inconsistencies when integrating data at global scale.
The following data adjustments are the most important:
mapping classifications of supply and use tables from several non-EU countries to the 64 products (CPA version 2.1) and industry classification (NACE Revision 2) of FIGARO;
employing a GRAS procedure to reconcile national supply and use tables with globally consistent national accounts main aggregates;
balancing international trade of goods and services to equate global exports with imports; this entails valuing imports and exports consistently in terms of FOB (Free On Board), assigning non-allocated trade, and balancing remaining trade asymmetries;
aligning international trade with the definitions of national accounts; this requires data corrections regarding goods sent abroad for processing, re-exports, merchanting activities, quasit-transit trade, direct purchases abroad by residents, and domestic purchases by non-residents.
The EU inter-country supply, use and input-output tables, i.e. the FIGARO tables, represent a new and relatively complex statistical product, requiring input data from various statistical domains. Eurostat is still fine-tuning their methodology and integrating new data sources as these become available.
This dataset comprises the European Union’s inter-country supply, use and input-output tables (EU IC-SUIOTs), also referred to as FIGARO tables – Full International and Global Accounts for Research in Input-Output analysis. The FIGARO tables depict in matrix format how goods and services are supplied and used within the global economy. Countries explicitly covered are the 27 EU Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, and Sweden), 18 main EU trading partners (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States), and a ‘Rest of the world’ region. The tables are broken down by 64 products and industries (see Section 3.2). All transactions are expressed in million Euro and basic prices (i.e. price of the good or service excluding trade and transport margins and taxes less subsidies). FIGARO tables are valued for the time being in current prices; additional tables in previous year’s prices are under preparation. The tables are compiled following the concepts and definitions of the European System of Accounts - ESA 2010.
The FIGARO tables have been developed by Eurostat and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC). Since 2021, they are produced annually, covering the period from 2010 up to year T-2, with T being the year of the most recent data release. The following tables are available: (1) inter-country supply table, (2) inter-country use table, (3) product-by-product inter-country input-output table, and (4) industry-by-industry inter-country input-output table. The compilation of these tables requires data from a variety of sources including national supply and use tables, national accounts main aggregates, statistics on the international trade in goods and services, and balance of payments statistics. Input data are obtained from Eurostat’s own data production as well as from international organisations such as the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), UNSD (United Nations Statistics Division), UN-ECLAC (United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean), and the websites of National Statistical Institutes.
28 February 2024
Supply and use tables are matrices that depict the supply of goods and services (rows) by domestic industries and imports (columns) and the use of these products (rows) for intermediate purposes by industries (columns) and final purposes, including exports (columns). Input-output tables are product-by-product or industry-by-industry matrices that depict supply and use relationships of an economy in a single table. Inter-country supply, use and input-output tables capture the supply-use relationships of goods and services within and between countries. The extension from national to inter-country SUIOTs requires, among others, the splitting of exports by country of destination and type of use (intermediate or final).
The FIGARO tables combine data from various statistics, whose main building blocks are: (1) national supply and use tables, (2) a complete and globally consistent set of national accounts main aggregates for 64 industries, and (3) a balanced view of international trade in goods and services.
The FIGARO tables adhere to the statistical concepts and definitions of the European System of Accounts - ESA 2010. This applies, e.g., to the valuation principles, statistical units, and the definition of:
institutional sectors (e.g., households, general government, non-profit institutions serving households);
accounting items (e.g., output, intermediate consumption, gross value added, compensation of employees, operating surplus, final consumption, gross fixed capital formation, changes in inventories and valuables, imports, exports, taxes less subsidies, trade and transport margins).
Of particular relevance are differences in how imports and exports are defined in international trade statistics versus national accounts. Whereas trade statistics track the physical movements of goods across borders, ESA 2010 considers imports and exports as transactions between residents and non-residents due to a change in ownership. The FIGARO tables follow the definition in ESA 2010 and consequently do not always require that imported or exported goods physically cross a country border. However, adopting the ESA 2010 definition requires several modifications before data from trade statistics can be used for the compilation of the FIGARO tables (see Sections 15 and 18).
Following the ESA 2010 guidelines, two types of units and two corresponding ways of subdividing the economy are used for national accounts purposes: (1) institutional unit; (2) local kind-of-activity unit (local KAU). The first type is used for describing income, expenditure, output 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 four-digit class level of 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 of a country when it has a centre of predominant economic interest on the economic territory of that country, that is, when it engages for an extended period (one year or more) in economic activities on this territory.
National accounts are exhaustive. This means that all resident statistical units are covered.
The FIGARO tables capture the global economy. Explicitly included are the 27 EU Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, and Sweden), 18 main EU trading partners (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States), and a ‘Rest of the world’ region.
Reference period is the calendar year.
Not available.
Data are presented in million Euro and basic prices (i.e. price of the good or service without trade and transport margins and taxes less subsidies on products). FIGARO tables are valued for the time being in current prices; additional tables in previous year’s prices are under preparation. Imports and exports of the underlying balanced view of trade in goods and services are valued ‘Free On Board’ (FOB), excluding international trade and transport margins.
The compilation of FIGARO tables involves six principal steps:
estimation of missing supply and use tables to obtain a complete data set, comprising: use table at basic prices (T1610), use table for domestic output at basic prices (T1611), use table for imports at basic prices (T1612), table of trade and transport margins (T1620), and table of taxes less subsidies on products (T1630);
gap-filling and estimation of missing national accounts main aggregates;
use of a GRAS procedure to reconcile national supply and use tables with global national accounts main aggregates;
gap-filling and balancing of international trade in goods and services; aligning trade data with the definitions of national accounts to establish a globally consistent and balanced set of trade data where global exports match global imports;
final compilation of inter-country tables to establish: (1) inter-country supply tables, (2) inter-country use tables, (3) product-by-product inter-country input-output tables, and (4) industry-by-industry inter-country input-output tables;
conducting quality checks and replacing confidential data with averages.
The FIGARO tables are released annually. The actual release date may vary, depending on the publication of source data and the necessity for data revisions and methodological improvements.
The FIGARO tables are produced annually with a time delay of T-2, where T is the year of data publication. The data release in 2023 consequently covers the period of 2010-2021.
The FIGARO tables cover the global economy. Geographical comparability of source data is achieved and ensured mainly through: (1) mapping of statistical classifications, (2) compiling of a globally-consistent set of national accounts main aggregates, and (3) establishing a balanced view of international trade where global exports match global imports valued in FOB.
Statistical classifications
The EU Member States, the EFTA countries, the EU candidate countries and the United Kingdom, follow in their national SUTs the same product and industry classifications as used for the FIGARO tables. However, mapping of classifications is required for the remaining non-EU countries to ensure comparability of supply and use data as well as trade data with the European classifications. Most important is to ensure the correspondence between:
Ensuring geographical comparability of input data is not always straightforward because countries may use dated or adapted versions of international classifications.
Globally consistent national accounts main aggregates
Global consistency of national accounts main aggregates is ensured through a stepwise data collection and calculation procedure. Starting point is the collection of gross domestic product (GDP) for 205 economies. The GDP data are summed up to establish global GDP but they are not adapted or changed in the subsequent steps. Instead, the main aggregates are benchmarked against GDP, and adapted where needed, starting with expenditure and then moving to production and income:
At the expenditure side, global GDP must equal the sum of final consumption, gross capital formation, and exports less imports of goods and services.
At the production side, global GDP must equal total output minus intermediate consumption plus taxes less subsidies on products.
At the income side, global GDP must equal compensation of employees plus taxes on production and imports less subsidies, gross operating surplus and mixed income of the total economy.
After ensuring global consistency of main aggregates, their components are benchmarked, e.g., final consumption expenditure by government (P3_S13), households (P3_S14), and non-profit institutions serving households (P3_S15) are benchmarked against total final consumption expenditure (P3). In the end, this stepwise procedure generates a final data set of national account main aggregates that align fully with each country’s GDP and the overall global GDP.
Balanced view of international trade
Geographical compatibility of trade data is achieved by balancing international trade so that global exports match global imports valued in FOB. Balancing international trade is a complex procedure, which involves separate work streams for goods and services. Both work streams reconcile trade data for 205 countries at six-digit CN product level through:
consistent valuation of exports (typically valued FOB) and imports (typically valued CIF) in terms of FOB;
assigning non-allocated trade using plausibility methods;
removing trade asymmetries by balancing bilateral trade flows;
harmonising trade data with national accounts, which requires correcting trade statistics for goods that are sent abroad for processing, re-exports, merchanting activities, quasit-transit trade, direct purchases abroad by residents, and domestic purchases by non-residents.
The FIGARO tables provide a consistent annual data series from 2010 up to year T-2, with T being the year of the most recent data release. Comparability over time is ensured by: (1) applying a consistent methodology, and (2) using similar data sources from official statistics across all years. Before each FIGARO release, national accounts main aggregates and balanced international trade data are checked against previous data vintages in order to detect potential inconsistencies. Likewise, Eurostat checks the final FIGARO tables against data from the previous release.
