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.
In Belgium, national accounts (with some exceptions) are compiled by the central bank (the National Bank of Belgium or NBB) on behalf of the National Accounts Institute.
In the NBB, national accounts are produced by the National & Regional Accounts Statistics Division which is part of the General Statistics Department.
Regional accounts are compiled by the team specialised in the following domains: households sector accounts, employment statistics and estimates for compensation of employees, distributional accounts and regional accounts.
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
National Bank of Belgium
General Statistics Department - National & Regional Accounts and Short-term Statistics
Boulevard de Berlaimont 14
1000 Brussels
Belgium
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
31 October 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
31 October 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
31 October 2025
3.1. Data description
Regional accounts are a regional specification of the national accounts and therefore based on the same concepts and definitions as national accounts. The main specific regional issues are addressed in chapter 13 of ESA 2010, but not practically specified. For practical rules and recommendations on sources and methods see the publication "Manual on regional accounts methods".
The ESA 2010 transmission programme establishes which variables from the national accounts require the development of a regional dimension. These variables are published annually through the Eurostat and NBB web portals.
Data by industry
Code
List of variables
B.1g
Gross value added at basic prices (current prices and previous year’s prices)
D.1
Compensation of employees (current prices)
P.51g
Gross fixed capital formation (current prices)
EMP
Total employment (in thousands of persons and in thousands of hours worked)
SELF
- Self-employed persons (in thousands of persons and in thousands of hours worked)
EEM
- Employees (in thousands of persons and in thousands of hours worked)
Available on voluntary basis via the NBB website
P.6
Regional distribution of exports of goods and services (current prices)
P.7
Regional distribution of imports of goods and services (current prices)
Sector accounts (in current prices)
Account
List of variables
Allocation of primary income account(S.14)
Uses
Property income (D.4), balance of primary income, net (b.5n)
Resources
Property income (D.4), compensation of employees (D.1), operating surplus, net/mixed income, net (B2.n/B3.n)
Secondary distribution of income account (S.14)
Uses
Current taxes on income, wealth, etc. (D.5), Net social contributions (D.61), Other current transfers (D.7), Disposable income, net (B.6n)
Resources
Balance of primary income, net (B.5), Social benefits other than social benefits in kind (D.62), Other current transfers (D.7)
Available on voluntary basis via the NBB website
P.3
Final consumption expenditure of households (S.14), government (S.13) and NPISH’s (S.15)
P.51c
Consumption of fixed capital (S.14)
B.6g
Gross disposable income (S.14)
D.63
Social transfers in kind by sector (S.13, S.14, S.15)
D.8
Saving (S.14)
P.4
Actual final consumption (S.13, S.14, S.15)
Finally, the GDP is also calculated at the regional level. Gross domestic product (GDP) at market prices is the final result of the production activity of resident producer units. In Belgian’s regional accounts it is calculated using the output approach: GDP is the sum of gross value added of the various institutional sectors or the various industries plus taxes and less subsidies on products (which are not allocated to sectors and industries). The different measures for the regional GDP are absolute figures in euro (€), millions of chained euro (€) and figures per inhabitant.
3.2. Classification system
The standard followed is the European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA 2010). This is the newest internationally compatible EU accounting framework for a systematic and detailed description of an economy. The ESA 2010 was published in the Official Journal on 26 June 2013. From September 2014 the data transmission from Member States to Eurostat follows ESA 2010 rules.
Regional classification
Regarding the regional accounts, the Eurostat NUTS nomenclature applied in Belgium leads to the following breakdown:
NUTS 1: 3 regions + extra region
NUTS 2: 10 provinces + 1 region (Brussels) + extra region
NUTS 3: 44 arrondissements (districts) + extra region
Economic activity
ESA2010 uses aggregation levels of the NACE Rev.2 classification to define industry breakdowns (NACE stands for Nomenclature générale des Activités économiques dans les Communautés Européennes). NACE Rev.2 is a classification of economic activities widely used in statistics and in other domains. Requirements for the transmission of NACE Rev.2 series have been specified in the Commission Regulation (EC) No 715/2010 of 10 August 2010.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Regional Accounts are also available by institutional sectors. The sector accounts are compiled regionally for the household sector, as well as some transactions for the government sector and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH). Results for value added, compensation of employees, employment and gross fixed capital formation are also available by region and sector.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
All statistical concepts and definitions to be used in national accounts are described in Annex A of EU regulation 2023/734 amending the European system of regional and national accounts.
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.
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 Belgian business register for national and regional accounts is based on the concept of legal unit (which coincides in Belgium with the concept of enterprise). This concept is used through the whole set of national and regional accounts as well as in the business surveys, thus guaranteeing a high degree of consistency. The choice of this form of statistical unit is closely linked to the fact that a crucial high-quality data source used to build national accounts, i.e., the business accounts filed with the Central Balance Sheet office of the National Bank of Belgium, also relies on the legal form.
Every legal unit is characterized by one institutional sector code and one activity code (reflecting the principal activity of the unit). For the specific purposes of regional accounts, the statistical unit used is the local unit (LU). The transition from the legal unit to the local unit is done on the basis of employment data stemming from social security offices. Legal units with different establishments in more than one district are identified as such in the register (label ‘MA’ or multiregional).
3.6. Statistical population
The national accounts population of a country consists of all resident statistical units. A unit is a resident unit of a country when it has a center 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.
The Belgian population of individuals and households is determined by calculating the average of the population on January 1 of two consecutive years.
National accounts are exhaustive. This means that all resident statistical units are covered.
Details on how exhaustiveness is organised in the Belgian national accounts are described in the "GNI inventory".
3.7. Reference area
The reference area for national accounts is the total economy of a country. The total economy of a country can be broken down into regions. The NUTS classification provides a single, uniform breakdown of the economic territory of the member states of the EU.
The reference area in the Belgian national accounts is the territory of the Kingdom of Belgium.
Regarding the regional accounts, the international NUTS nomenclature applied in Belgium leads to the following breakdown:
NUTS 1: 3 regions + extra region
NUTS 2: 10 provinces + 1 region (Brussels) + extra region
NUTS 3: 44 arrondissements (districts) + extra region
3.8. Coverage - Time
Regional accounts according to ESA2010 is available as from the reference year 2000. Data for the period 2000-2002 is considered non-publishable by the country due to quality concerns.
3.9. Base period
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 period and the previous year. This is done by deflating both production and intermediate consumption for each sector using national price indices, since regional price indices are not available. For most activities, the same price index is used across all regions. For non-market education, physical indicators like student-hours are used, and for public administration, employment changes drive the volume estimates. The results are chain-linked to create consistent time series.
The base year for the chain linked volume is currently 2020. It is updated every five years. This is in line with the European best practises.
Depending on the variable values are shown in Euros, thousands of persons and thousands of hours worked, growth rates (base year 2020).
The usual reference period for presenting Belgian national and regional accounts data is the calendar year for annual data. Regional data cover the period from 2003 to T-1 year for GDP, total Value Added, compensation of employees, gross fixed capital formation and total employment for NUTS 2 regions. For NACE breakdowns, NUTS 3 and other variables the reference period is from 2003 to T-1/2 year(s), depending on the variable. For the household income account the reference period is from 1995 to T- 1 year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
In Belgium, the National Accounts Institute (NAI) was established by the Law of 21 December 1994, title VIII, on social and other provisions, with a view to reforming the federal statistical and economic forecasting system.
This Law has been amended several times: by the Law of 8 March 2009 (published on 30 April 2009), the Law of 28 February 2014 (published on 4 April 2014) and the Law of 18 December 2015 (published on 29 December 2015). The consolidated Law is available here.
Different institutions make up the NAI of which the partners are involved in the production of the European statistics. The partners are: the National Bank of Belgium (NBB), the Federal Planning Bureau (FPB), the National Statistical Office (Statbel) and, since 2009, the Price Observatory (run by the Ministry of Economy). According to the NAI Law, each of these institutions, except for the price observatory, is responsible for a domain of national accounts or for a contribution to their compilation.
The NSO collects basic statistical data (except external trade) necessary for the NAI’s tasks.
The NBB is responsible for producing:
Non-financial national accounts (including the institutional sector accounts);
Financial national accounts;
Quarterly national accounts;
Regional accounts;
Annual and quarterly accounts of general government (in close collaboration with the FPB);
External trade statistics.
The FPB is responsible for producing:
The economic forecasts required for budgeting (economic budget);
Input-output tables;
environmental economic accounts;
complementary indicators to GDP.
The FPB is also in charge of compiling the accrued-to-date pension entitlements relating to the statutory pension schemes (table 29 not recorded in the core accounts), in cooperation with the NBB.
The Law of 4 July 1962 on Statistics was amended by the Law of 22 March 2006. It constitutes the national legal framework for the functioning of Statbel (current official name of the national statistical office). The 2006 revision had three objectives:
to explain the principles underlying public statistics (i.e., the lawfulness and loyalty, the purpose, the proportionality and the impartiality, the objectivity and the professional independence);
to give preference to the secondary collection of data from administrative databases over direct surveys;
to bring the legislation on statistics into line with national and European legislation in the field of privacy protection.
The Law of 2006 also governs the administrative simplification and the exchange of data for scientific purposes.
A cooperation agreement was signed on 15 July 2014 to strengthen collaboration between the various departments of the federal State and the federated entities (Regions and Communities) in the development of public statistics.
The cooperation agreement formally recognises Statbel and the regional statistical offices as "statistical authorities" which carry out their missions in accordance with the guidelines of the European Statistics Code of Practice of the EU (Eurostat). In accordance with this Cooperation Agreement, the Interfederal Institute of Statistics (IIS) was set up on 1 January 2016. The IIS should make it possible to continuously improve the quality of public statistics. Each year, the IIS publishes an integrated statistical programme, which includes agreements on public statistics to be drawn up collectively or actions to increase the quality of statistics and reduce the overall response burden.
The 17 July 2013 protocol between the NAI, the Federal government and the Communities and Regions regulates the relationship between the public authorities and the NAI at two levels: the provision of sources data to the NAI for the compilation of ESA 2010 and the EDP statistics and the NAI’s obligations to inform the public authorities.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
The Belgian regional accounts data are used by regional, national and international organisations, policymakers, analysts and researchers. The national accounts are reported to the European Commission (Eurostat) within the ESA 2010 Transmission Programme.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164) stipulates in recital 24 and Article 20(4) 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 first reference legislation is the Statistics Law of 4 July 1962, which has been modified several times. In particular, by the more recent Belgian Statistics Law of 22 March 2006 which contains provisions in the field of privacy protection, administrative simplification and the exchange of data for scientific purposes. This Law will be revised shortly to bring it into line with Regulation (EU) 2016/679. In accordance with this Law, the Royal Decree of 13 June 2014 describes the technical, organisational and legal measures that Statbel must take in order to guarantee statistical confidentiality.
Following the publication of EU Regulation 2016/679, the Belgian legislative framework has been considerably revised. There are several references for the statistical framework applicable to public authorities:
The Law of 3 December 2017 establishing, under the auspices the House of Representatives, the Data Protection Authority (Autorité de protection des données - gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit). This authority replaces the previous Commission for the Protection of Privacy and is responsible for monitoring compliance with the fundamental principles of the protection of personal data.
The Law of 30 July 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and in particular, Articles 186 to 206 which extend the protection provided by the GDPR and specifies the rules when personal data are processed by public authorities such as statistical authorities. This law replaces the Law of 8 December 1992.
The Law of 5 September 2018 establishing the Information Security Committee (Comité de sécurité de l’information - Informatieveiligheidscomité) and amending various laws implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/679, in particular Chapters 8 and 9.
Since the 2006 Statistics Law, the institutional context of Belgium has changed with extended statistical competences transferred to the Regions and Communities (the so called "Federated Entities"). The cooperation agreement signed on 15 July 2014 between the federal State and the federated entities (see section 6.1) pays particular attention to statistical confidentiality. In the Interfederal Institute of Statistics (IIS, see also section 6.1), a working group entitled Security in the Exchange of Confidential Data between Partners of IIS was set up in 2016 to set the rules and best practices on data protection, statistical confidentiality and communication of confidential data between statistical authorities within the IIS.
In Belgium, responsibility for the national accounts was delegated to the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) by the Law of 21 December 1994. All the statistical rules concerning confidentiality and protection of the privacy are applicable to the NBB. In addition to the legislation in force, staff members are subject to compliance with the code of ethics and the rules of procedure on the classification and processing of information.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
The technical transmission standard SDMX allows countries to specify the confidentiality status of data. Confidential data (Flags ‘C’ and ‘D’) appear in Eurobase as a ‘C’ flag.
8.1. Release calendar
The National Bank of Belgium releases on its website a schedule for all its statistical publications and press releases. This 'advanced statistical release calendar' covers the NAI’s publications and press releases in the domains that are carried out by the NBB for the account of the NAI. Regarding national accounts specifically, the calendar for one year is published around the end of October of previous year. Any amendment to the calendar is made as soon as it is known, and a new release date is published.
8.2. Release calendar access
The Belgium release calendar is published on the website: Calendar | nbb.be. A selection function to focus on national and regional accounts is proposed.
8.3. Release policy - user access
The NBB releases statistics on its website, allowing anybody to have access to the information. The website is updated twice a day at 11:00 and 15.00. To prepare their articles, press agencies have access under strict embargo to the press releases half an hour before the public release.
Press releases include a direct link to the related domains in the online database.
Results are shared on the day of publication with national partners, such as the Federal Planning Bureau.
The transmission requirements for each dataset are defined in Annex B of EU regulation 2023/734 amending the European system of regional and national accounts, applying from 1 September 2024.
Regional accounts are released based on data transmissions by Member States at the end of December of each year. Data are published in January of each year.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
The most important results of national and regional accounts are issued in news releases published by the National Bank of Belgium. New key national and regional 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 National Bank of Belgium publishes press releases relating to each release of regional accounts data. They often have a fixed structure and are published on the NBB website. New regional accounts data are never presented in press conferences nor press briefings, with very few exceptions relating to major changes such as the major benchmark revisions.
Press releases are available in French and in Dutch. In many cases, they are also available in English.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
In addition to press releases and the dissemination of statistics through its online database, national accounts data for Belgium are also generally released in a series of specific statistical publications. These publications include standard tables and a short comment on the main figures. Methodological improvements and adaptations can also be explained in those publications. In the event of major methodology changes (as is the case with benchmark revisions), there is a dedicated additional publication.
The publications are available as an electronic document (PDF format) and a print version can be ordered against payment.
Publications are available in French and in Dutch. English publications are very exceptionally available.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
All the Belgian national accounts data are available in the NBB public database, called NBB.Stat. The platform is identical to the one used by the OECD. National accounts data are gathered in main domains, including national accounts, regional accounts, public finance, labour market and financial accounts.
The platform proposes a dynamic construction of tables allowing the combination of different dimensions. Exports/downloads are proposed in various formats: excel, CSV, PC-Axis, XML.
Some metadata information is also presented next to each table (sources, contact person and, if relevant, link to a reference documents on methodology).
The regional accounts data are available via the following link : NBB Statistics
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Not applicable.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
In addition to news releases and other publications (see sections 10.1 and 10.2), information on regional accounts are posted using social media.
The National Bank of Belgium makes use of X and LinkedIn as social media. The "news" regarding national accounts which is released on the NBB website is also spread through this information channel.
The general methodological framework for the compilation of national accounts in the EU is ESA 2010.
The National Accounts Institute publishes its own documentation regarding the compilation of national accounts in Belgium. This documentation, which is generally available in French and Dutch and in some cases in English, is accessible from the NBB website and more especially from the statistics page, under "National/Regional Accounts - Methodology".
The GNI inventory available in English and publicly available on the NBB website. This document is devoted to the sources and methods to estimate gross national income under ESA2010.
The importance of national and regional accounts requires that documentation should be available on the procedures applied for quality management and quality assessment. Examples of such documentation are national accounts quality reports, quality studies and reports on revision analysis.
The quality (accuracy/consistency) checks carried out by Eurostat on the received country data are described in a validation handbook. From 2017 onwards also annual quality reports are available. They describe several dimensions of the quality of countries' national accounts data transmissions.
GNI Inventories contain very relevant information on the quality of the data underlying the GNI data transmitted by countries to Eurostat. The GNI Inventory contain also information about the estimation of household final consumption expenditure: GNI inventory.
At the time being, Belgium does not publish documentation or reports on quality management regarding the compilation of national and regional accounts.
Nevertheless, within the National Accounts Institute (see section 6.1.), there are currently four scientific committees competent for the subjects assigned to them. One of these is the Scientific Committee on National Accounts. This committee is composed of 19 members: 6 academics from the different Belgian universities, 6 members of the NAI (2 from Statbel, 2 from the Federal Planning Bureau and 2 from the NBB) and 7 members from the regional statistical institutes. Chair and secretariat are held by the NBB. The committee usually meets at least three times a year. However, more meetings are organized whenever methodological changes have to be implemented. The role of this committee is to express an opinion on the scientific value and objectivity of the methods adopted by the NAI and the results of its work. The material underlying the committee’s work on national accounts is not public.
The National Accounts Institute annually publishes an annual activity report on the work of the different committee’s.
11.1. Quality assurance
Quality 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 Belgian NAI ensures the quality of national data by systematically applying validation checks throughout the national accounts production process. The results of these checks are not formally documented.
There are a number of supervisory and control systems put in place to minimise risks concerning the timeliness and reliability of the statistics produced.
Several actions have been taken such as:
The designation of 'responsible of sources’: every source is monitored by a statistician. This guarantees that changes in content and/or format can be detected at an early stage.
Validation rules have been laid down for the annual repertory and for the different sources.
Standardised IT applications are used where possible. This approach guarantees a harmonised and transparent treatment of sources (annual accounts of companies and non-profit institutions, VAT declarations, social security declarations, structural business survey) and an explicit view of how primary data are converted into national accounts aggregates. IT application specifications are well documented every year.
A regular procedure to assess the statistical sources and products is applied. As regards sources, an interna report on the quality of the business register and all related data sources (social security, balance sheets, VAT, etc.) is produced every year. In particular, comparisons are made with the previous versions, in order to spot any irregularities. A colour analyser can also be used to highlight level shifts and outliers.
Successive internal controls are foreseen within the production chain (head of groups, general coordinator and Head of Service).
Main users of national accounts aggregates (Research Department within the NBB, Federal Planning Bureau, regional authorities) exert de facto external controls.
Institutional controls exist (thorough assessment of sources and methods by the scientific committee on national accounts – see section 10.7. – which implies the need for detailed methodological descriptions).
National accounts data are also monitored before publication by evaluating revisions to the previous estimates.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
National and regional accounts data provide key information for economic policy monitoring and decision making, for forecasting, for administrative purposes, for informing the public about economic developments (directly or indirectly via news agencies), and as input for economic research.
At national level, national and regional accounts data are used mainly by federal and regional Ministries but also by research institutes. Inside the National Bank of Belgium, the Research Department makes wide use of national accounts data, as well as the Federal Planning Bureau. Rating agencies are also frequent users. National and regional accounts data are mainly used to assess the actual state of the economy, to monitor economic policy and to build forecasting models, as is the case in the National Bank of Belgium or in the Federal Planning Bureau. Journalists are also frequent users of national accounts data as well as professional federations.
At international level, the Belgian national and regional accounts data are also widely used by different international institutions such as Eurostat, the ECB or the OECD. Eurostat and the ECB use national data compiled by the European countries to build the European national accounts aggregates.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Views and opinions of users of national and regional accounts statistics can be collected and analysed as one of the tools to 'measure' the relevance of national accounts data.
The Belgian NAI is attentive to the interest perceived from users, but has no formal measure of user satisfaction.
12.3. Completeness
Completeness rates of ESA data transmissions are assessed in annual quality reports.
In the recent years, the overall completeness of Belgian national and regional accounts data as required by the ESA2010 transmission programme was one of the highest in the European Union according to the quality reports issued by Eurostat. Belgium also publishes substantial information on a voluntary basis.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Overall accuracy increases with the size of the region concerned, e.g. NUTS2 data is more accurate than NUTS3 data.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable as regional accounts consist of aggregated data only.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable as regional accounts consist of aggregated data only.
14.1. Timeliness
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.
Belgian national accounts data are transmitted to Eurostat according to the deadlines set out in the European transmission programme. The deadline for the transmission of basic data to Eurostat is at the moment T + 12, for NUTS 2 data for total Value Added, total employment and population, and T + 24 months, for all the other data.
14.2. Punctuality
Good practice requires that the dates on which regional accounts data become available are pre-announced and that the pre-announced publication dates are met.
Regional 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 on the day of release at national level, whatever comes first.
The geographical comparability of regional accounts in Member States of the EU is generally insured by the application of common definitions laid out in the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010). Worldwide geographical comparison is also possible as most non-European countries apply the SNA 2008 guidelines, and ESA 2010 is consistent with SNA 2008.
As the Belgian regional accounts are produced according to the common definitions of the European System of Accounts ESA 2010, they should be considered as comparable to their equivalent in other countries as long as those are also produced according to these definitions. However, comparability cannot always be fully ensured as data sources and compilation methods may differ strongly across countries.
15.2. Comparability - over time
As the data for all reference periods are compiled according to the requirements of the ESA 2010, regional 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.
Regional accounts data should be comparable over time. However, it is not always possible to avoid a break in the series. The Belgian NAI aims to produce homogeneous series over time. Time series breaks can nevertheless take place but in general they can be regarded as small and should not alter economic analyses made on the basis of national accounts.
For national accounts there is break in time series in 2009 with the implementation of the benchmark revision of 2024 in the national accounts. The revision focused on the period 2009-2023, in order to ensure temporal homogeneity of the series over the entire post-financial crisis period. However, this choice resulted in breaks in the time series between 2008 and 2009.
In general, small breaks can also take place in years not subject to benchmark revisions, when improvements are limited to the data for the most recent years (see section 17.1). The improvement is then made to the whole time series during the next benchmark revision. Once again, to meet the need for comparability over time, these temporary breaks are of limited scope.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Regional data is broadly coherent with national accounts figures when they are released. However national data is revised throughout the year, mainly between May and October, whereas regional accounts are revised only once per year. As a result the revisions of national data that occur after the regional release lead to differences between the data in domain nama10_r and nama_10 and nasa_10.
More specifically, the regional accounts are published 12 months after the end of the calendar year, while the detailed national accounts are available after 9 months. This means that there is a period of incoherence for the revised years between mid-October and the end of January of the following year. When a benchmark revision is integrated, this incoherence can persist for the historical series for up to 15 months after the publication of the national accounts.
Additionally, the national aggregates are also updated throughout the year (quarterly national accounts), which can result in incoherence with the detailed national accounts and regional accounts.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Regional data are coherent between NUTS0, NUTS1, NUTS2 and NUTS3 levels.
Annual national and regional accounts are produced from a large variety of data sources with varying degrees of timeliness, taking up to three years or more in the case of structural sources. As users need national and international data as fast as possible, particularly on certain key aggregates, data are produced using data sources that are more readily available. When more complete source data are obtained, the statistics are updated to incorporate the new information.
National and regional 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.
Revisions are also published when changes of the NUTS classifications are implemented. When a new NUTS classification is implemented, new back data is transmitted within two years following the changes.
For Belgium, the last benchmark revision took place in 2024. The next methodological revision is planned in 2029. Yearly current revisions are done of the most recent years. No major revisions are expected until the next Benchmark revision.
17.2. Data revision - practice
The revision practice effectively corresponds to the revision practice of the domain listed under sub‑concept 17.1 (data revision – policy).
While revisions should be seen as a process to progressively improve the quality of regional accounts as e.g., better sources and/or methods become available, the availability of metadata on revisions is a key element for understanding regional 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. When benchmark revisions are implemented in Belgium, they are extensively quantified and explained. All revisions (benchmark revisions as well as routine revisions) are submitted to the Scientific Committee on National Accounts.
18.1. Source data
National and regional accounts compilation is based 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.
The Belgian GNI inventory (see section 10.6) contains details on the sources of data used to compile national and regional accounts in Belgium.
The main data sources used in Belgium are (non-exhaustive list):
Business register/repertory (Statbel – NBB)
Annual business accounts for corporations and NPIs (NBB)
Accounting schemes for banks and insurances (NBB)
Aggregate data for investment funds and pension funds (Financial Services and Markets Authority)
National Social Security Office declarations / National Social Security Office for Provincial and Local Authorities declarations
VAT declarations (Statbel)
Personal income tax declarations (Ministry of Finance via Statbel)
Biannual Household Budget survey (Statbel)
Quadrennial labour cost survey (Statbel)
Structural Business Survey for Corporations, self-employed and NPIs (Statbel)
Structural Business Surveys for banks and insurances (NBB)
Specific survey on R&D activity (federal public planning Service science policy)
Balance of payments and external trade statistics (NBB)
Detailed data transmitted by public authorities (federal, local and social security)
Interest rate data (NBB)
Financial accounts data (NBB)
Accounting data for hospitals (Federal Public Service Health)
Number of buildings started, number of building permits issued (Statbel)
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Regional accounts are usually compiled on an annual 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). Population censuses are mostly collected every decade.
The frequency and timing of the compilation of national and regional accounts are not necessary aligned with the frequency and timing of (all) primary statistics data collections.
National accounts departments typically receive/collect information in relation to their compilation schedule, i.e., for their annual estimates.
In Belgium, some sources are obtained automatically and at fixed points in time for the compilation of national and regional accounts (social security data, VAT data, annual business accounts, etc.). Other sources are requested by statisticians at the start of each production round.
18.3. Data collection
NBB gathers data through its own data department (for example annual accounts, surveys) and also receives information from other institutions.
With some institutions (Ministry of Finance, Social Security Offices), service-level agreements (SLA) are concluded stipulating what data should be made available, at what time, in which format, etc. For information received from Statbel, no specific formalities are necessary in the framework of the institutional context of the NAI. This is also the case for information coming from the NBB. To obtain information concerning some public authorities (part of the general government sector), SPOCs (single points of contact) are used. Some information is also collected in the form of yearly repeated requests. The NBB has a specific data collection unit responsible for collecting source data.
18.4. Data validation
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 and regional accounts, which is a key dataset for economic analysis and policy decisions.
Matching data from different sources is an integral part of compiling the national accounts. In Belgium, external data are checked before and during the whole production process of national and regional accounts. For the validation of national and regional accounts data, Belgium applies minimum validation rules agreed with Eurostat and provides metadata to support the validation process with respect to revisions and outliers. Data validation in the Belgian regional accounts is a continuous, multi-layered process. It involves systematic cross-checks between multiple data sources, regular assessment of allocation keys, correction for missing or biased data, and careful handling of classification changes.
18.5. Data compilation
The compilation process for regional accounts starts from the national accounts, which are prepared according to the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010). The national totals for key economic variables (such as value added, employment, investment, and household income) are then broken down to the regional level. This breakdown uses administrative boundaries defined by the NUTS classification (regions, provinces, and districts). The process relies on the best available data, using direct information from enterprises or households whenever possible. When direct regional data are not available, allocation keys (such as the number of employees or payroll shares) are used to distribute national totals across regions. The aim is to ensure that regional accounts are fully consistent with national accounts.
Regionalization is the process of assigning national economic aggregates to specific regions. For production-related variables (like value added and employment), the allocation is based on the location of the production unit—where the economic activity physically takes place. For household income accounts, the allocation is based on the place of residence of the household. Several methods are used:
Bottom-up (ascendant): Using detailed data at the unit level (enterprise or household).
Pseudo-bottom-up: For multi-regional enterprises, using allocation keys such as the number of employees per site.
Top-down (descendant): Distributing national totals using the most relevant available indicator.
Mixed methods: Combining the above, depending on the variable and data availability. The choice of method depends on the quality and availability of data, with the goal of reflecting the true economic reality of each region.
Regional GDP is calculated by summing the gross value added of all production units located within a region, plus taxes on products (such as VAT), minus subsidies on products. The calculation follows these steps:
Gross value added is assigned to regions based on the location of production, using enterprise-level data where possible.
For enterprises with multiple locations, value added is distributed across regions using allocation keys (typically payroll or employment shares).
Taxes and subsidies on products are allocated to regions in proportion to their share of value added, as a common approach across EU countries.
The sum of gross value added and net taxes/subsidies gives the regional GDP at market prices. This process ensures that regional GDP figures are consistent with national totals and comparable across regions and over time.
18.6. Adjustment
Belgian yearly national and regional accounts are not adjusted for calendar days, except for the variable 'number of hours worked’.
There is no need for a final balancing since the methods were developed so that the national total must be respected in the calculation process. When discrepancies arise between detailed data and national totals, the differences are proportionally allocated to maintain coherence with national accounts. This ensures that regional aggregates sum up to the national figures.
No further information.
Regional accounts are a regional specification of the national accounts and therefore based on the same concepts and definitions as national accounts. The main specific regional issues are addressed in chapter 13 of ESA 2010, but not practically specified. For practical rules and recommendations on sources and methods see the publication "Manual on regional accounts methods".
The ESA 2010 transmission programme establishes which variables from the national accounts require the development of a regional dimension. These variables are published annually through the Eurostat and NBB web portals.
Data by industry
Code
List of variables
B.1g
Gross value added at basic prices (current prices and previous year’s prices)
D.1
Compensation of employees (current prices)
P.51g
Gross fixed capital formation (current prices)
EMP
Total employment (in thousands of persons and in thousands of hours worked)
SELF
- Self-employed persons (in thousands of persons and in thousands of hours worked)
EEM
- Employees (in thousands of persons and in thousands of hours worked)
Available on voluntary basis via the NBB website
P.6
Regional distribution of exports of goods and services (current prices)
P.7
Regional distribution of imports of goods and services (current prices)
Sector accounts (in current prices)
Account
List of variables
Allocation of primary income account(S.14)
Uses
Property income (D.4), balance of primary income, net (b.5n)
Resources
Property income (D.4), compensation of employees (D.1), operating surplus, net/mixed income, net (B2.n/B3.n)
Secondary distribution of income account (S.14)
Uses
Current taxes on income, wealth, etc. (D.5), Net social contributions (D.61), Other current transfers (D.7), Disposable income, net (B.6n)
Resources
Balance of primary income, net (B.5), Social benefits other than social benefits in kind (D.62), Other current transfers (D.7)
Available on voluntary basis via the NBB website
P.3
Final consumption expenditure of households (S.14), government (S.13) and NPISH’s (S.15)
P.51c
Consumption of fixed capital (S.14)
B.6g
Gross disposable income (S.14)
D.63
Social transfers in kind by sector (S.13, S.14, S.15)
D.8
Saving (S.14)
P.4
Actual final consumption (S.13, S.14, S.15)
Finally, the GDP is also calculated at the regional level. Gross domestic product (GDP) at market prices is the final result of the production activity of resident producer units. In Belgian’s regional accounts it is calculated using the output approach: GDP is the sum of gross value added of the various institutional sectors or the various industries plus taxes and less subsidies on products (which are not allocated to sectors and industries). The different measures for the regional GDP are absolute figures in euro (€), millions of chained euro (€) and figures per inhabitant.
31 October 2025
All statistical concepts and definitions to be used in national accounts are described in Annex A of EU regulation 2023/734 amending the European system of regional and national accounts.
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.
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 Belgian business register for national and regional accounts is based on the concept of legal unit (which coincides in Belgium with the concept of enterprise). This concept is used through the whole set of national and regional accounts as well as in the business surveys, thus guaranteeing a high degree of consistency. The choice of this form of statistical unit is closely linked to the fact that a crucial high-quality data source used to build national accounts, i.e., the business accounts filed with the Central Balance Sheet office of the National Bank of Belgium, also relies on the legal form.
Every legal unit is characterized by one institutional sector code and one activity code (reflecting the principal activity of the unit). For the specific purposes of regional accounts, the statistical unit used is the local unit (LU). The transition from the legal unit to the local unit is done on the basis of employment data stemming from social security offices. Legal units with different establishments in more than one district are identified as such in the register (label ‘MA’ or multiregional).
The national accounts population of a country consists of all resident statistical units. A unit is a resident unit of a country when it has a center 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.
The Belgian population of individuals and households is determined by calculating the average of the population on January 1 of two consecutive years.
National accounts are exhaustive. This means that all resident statistical units are covered.
Details on how exhaustiveness is organised in the Belgian national accounts are described in the "GNI inventory".
The reference area for national accounts is the total economy of a country. The total economy of a country can be broken down into regions. The NUTS classification provides a single, uniform breakdown of the economic territory of the member states of the EU.
The reference area in the Belgian national accounts is the territory of the Kingdom of Belgium.
Regarding the regional accounts, the international NUTS nomenclature applied in Belgium leads to the following breakdown:
NUTS 1: 3 regions + extra region
NUTS 2: 10 provinces + 1 region (Brussels) + extra region
NUTS 3: 44 arrondissements (districts) + extra region
The usual reference period for presenting Belgian national and regional accounts data is the calendar year for annual data. Regional data cover the period from 2003 to T-1 year for GDP, total Value Added, compensation of employees, gross fixed capital formation and total employment for NUTS 2 regions. For NACE breakdowns, NUTS 3 and other variables the reference period is from 2003 to T-1/2 year(s), depending on the variable. For the household income account the reference period is from 1995 to T- 1 year.
Overall accuracy increases with the size of the region concerned, e.g. NUTS2 data is more accurate than NUTS3 data.
Depending on the variable values are shown in Euros, thousands of persons and thousands of hours worked, growth rates (base year 2020).
The compilation process for regional accounts starts from the national accounts, which are prepared according to the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010). The national totals for key economic variables (such as value added, employment, investment, and household income) are then broken down to the regional level. This breakdown uses administrative boundaries defined by the NUTS classification (regions, provinces, and districts). The process relies on the best available data, using direct information from enterprises or households whenever possible. When direct regional data are not available, allocation keys (such as the number of employees or payroll shares) are used to distribute national totals across regions. The aim is to ensure that regional accounts are fully consistent with national accounts.
Regionalization is the process of assigning national economic aggregates to specific regions. For production-related variables (like value added and employment), the allocation is based on the location of the production unit—where the economic activity physically takes place. For household income accounts, the allocation is based on the place of residence of the household. Several methods are used:
Bottom-up (ascendant): Using detailed data at the unit level (enterprise or household).
Pseudo-bottom-up: For multi-regional enterprises, using allocation keys such as the number of employees per site.
Top-down (descendant): Distributing national totals using the most relevant available indicator.
Mixed methods: Combining the above, depending on the variable and data availability. The choice of method depends on the quality and availability of data, with the goal of reflecting the true economic reality of each region.
Regional GDP is calculated by summing the gross value added of all production units located within a region, plus taxes on products (such as VAT), minus subsidies on products. The calculation follows these steps:
Gross value added is assigned to regions based on the location of production, using enterprise-level data where possible.
For enterprises with multiple locations, value added is distributed across regions using allocation keys (typically payroll or employment shares).
Taxes and subsidies on products are allocated to regions in proportion to their share of value added, as a common approach across EU countries.
The sum of gross value added and net taxes/subsidies gives the regional GDP at market prices. This process ensures that regional GDP figures are consistent with national totals and comparable across regions and over time.
National and regional accounts compilation is based 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.
The Belgian GNI inventory (see section 10.6) contains details on the sources of data used to compile national and regional accounts in Belgium.
The main data sources used in Belgium are (non-exhaustive list):
Business register/repertory (Statbel – NBB)
Annual business accounts for corporations and NPIs (NBB)
Accounting schemes for banks and insurances (NBB)
Aggregate data for investment funds and pension funds (Financial Services and Markets Authority)
National Social Security Office declarations / National Social Security Office for Provincial and Local Authorities declarations
VAT declarations (Statbel)
Personal income tax declarations (Ministry of Finance via Statbel)
Biannual Household Budget survey (Statbel)
Quadrennial labour cost survey (Statbel)
Structural Business Survey for Corporations, self-employed and NPIs (Statbel)
Structural Business Surveys for banks and insurances (NBB)
Specific survey on R&D activity (federal public planning Service science policy)
Balance of payments and external trade statistics (NBB)
Detailed data transmitted by public authorities (federal, local and social security)
Interest rate data (NBB)
Financial accounts data (NBB)
Accounting data for hospitals (Federal Public Service Health)
Number of buildings started, number of building permits issued (Statbel)
The transmission requirements for each dataset are defined in Annex B of EU regulation 2023/734 amending the European system of regional and national accounts, applying from 1 September 2024.
Regional accounts are released based on data transmissions by Member States at the end of December of each year. Data are published in January of each year.
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.
Belgian national accounts data are transmitted to Eurostat according to the deadlines set out in the European transmission programme. The deadline for the transmission of basic data to Eurostat is at the moment T + 12, for NUTS 2 data for total Value Added, total employment and population, and T + 24 months, for all the other data.
The geographical comparability of regional accounts in Member States of the EU is generally insured by the application of common definitions laid out in the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010). Worldwide geographical comparison is also possible as most non-European countries apply the SNA 2008 guidelines, and ESA 2010 is consistent with SNA 2008.
As the Belgian regional accounts are produced according to the common definitions of the European System of Accounts ESA 2010, they should be considered as comparable to their equivalent in other countries as long as those are also produced according to these definitions. However, comparability cannot always be fully ensured as data sources and compilation methods may differ strongly across countries.
As the data for all reference periods are compiled according to the requirements of the ESA 2010, regional 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.
Regional accounts data should be comparable over time. However, it is not always possible to avoid a break in the series. The Belgian NAI aims to produce homogeneous series over time. Time series breaks can nevertheless take place but in general they can be regarded as small and should not alter economic analyses made on the basis of national accounts.
For national accounts there is break in time series in 2009 with the implementation of the benchmark revision of 2024 in the national accounts. The revision focused on the period 2009-2023, in order to ensure temporal homogeneity of the series over the entire post-financial crisis period. However, this choice resulted in breaks in the time series between 2008 and 2009.
In general, small breaks can also take place in years not subject to benchmark revisions, when improvements are limited to the data for the most recent years (see section 17.1). The improvement is then made to the whole time series during the next benchmark revision. Once again, to meet the need for comparability over time, these temporary breaks are of limited scope.
