Supply, use and input-output tables: documentation of statistics
The documentation of the statistics describes how the statistics were compiled and what methods were used in the compilation. The data help interpret the figures of the statistics and evaluate their reliability and comparability. The quality report is based on the EU's SIMS model. The documentation also contains change releases describing changes in the statistics and possible specifying methodological descriptions.
If you are looking for statistical figures for these statistics, go to the statistics page: Supply, use and input-output tables
Quality report
Data description (SIMS 3.1)
Supply, use and input-output tables statistics are part of national accounts and describe product flows in the national economy. The data can be used to analyse the structure of production activity and interdependencies between industries. The data are collected from a dozen sources and published once a year.
Sector coverage (SIMS 3.3)
The supply, use and input-output tables describe the economy as a whole.
Statistical unit (SIMS 3.5)
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.
Finland uses (1) an institutional unit used in sector accounts, (2) an establishment that corresponds to a local KAU; this unit is used in production accounts, investments and supply, use and input-output tables.
Statistical population (SIMS 3.6)
The national accounts population of a country consists of all resident statistical units (institutional units or local KAUs, see Section 3.5). A unit is a resident unit of a country when it has a centre of predominant economic interest on the economic territory of that country, that is, when it engages for an extended period (one year or more) in economic activities on this territory.
National accounts are exhaustive. This means that all resident statistical units are covered.
The population of the supply, use and input-output tables is the same as for national accounts.
Reference area (SIMS 3.7)
The reference area for the supply, use and input-output tables is the economy of the whole of Finland.
Time coverage (SIMS 3.8)
Starting from the statistical reference year 2021, the supply, use and input-output tables are consistent with the annual national accounts data published on 18 September 2024 or later.
Since the statistical reference year 2010, the tables have complied with ESA 2010. The tables for the statistical reference years 2000 to 2009 comply with ESA 95.
Starting from the statistical reference year 2008, the tables have been compiled according to the TOL 2008 Standard Industrial
Classification and the classification of products based on CPA 2008. The tables for the statistical reference years 2000 to 2007 have been compiled according to the TOL 2002 Standard Industrial Classification and the classification of products based on the CPA 2002 classification of products.
The tables for 2000 to 2007, 2008 to 2009, 2010 to 2014, 2015 to 2020 and from 2021 onwards are therefore not comparable.
Base period (SIMS 3.9)
The supply, use and input-output tables present the supply table at basic prices and the use table at purchasers’ prices at the previous year’s prices.
Unit of measure (SIMS 4)
Under the ESA 2010 system, all flows and stocks are measured in monetary terms, either in euro or in national currencies. Only some demographic-related and labour-related variables, expressed in terms of persons, hours or jobs, are exempted.
Reference period (SIMS 5)
In supply, use and input-output tables, the reference period is the calendar year.
Concepts and definitions (SIMS 3.4)
At current prices
At nominal prices prevailing at each point.
Basic price
Basic price is a price concept in the national accounts. The basic price is the price receivable by the producers from the purchaser for a unit of a good or service produced as output, minus any tax payable on that unit as a consequence of its production or sale (i.e. taxes on products), plus any subsidy receivable on that unit as a consequence of its production or sale (i.e. subsidies on products). It excludes any transport charges invoiced separately by the producer. It includes any transport margins charged by the producer on the same invoice, even when they are included as a separate item on the invoice. (subsidies on products).
Exports of goods and services
Exports of goods and services consist of transactions in goods and services (sales, barter, gifts or grants) from residents to non-residents.
Final consumption expenditure
Final consumption expenditure consists of expenditure incurred by resident institutional units on goods or services that are used for the direct satisfaction of individual needs or wants, or the collective needs of members of the community. Final consumption expenditure may take place on the domestic territory or abroad. Final consumption expenditure is incurred by households, non-profit institutions serving households and general government. Non-financial corporations, financial and insurance corporations do not have final consumption expenditure.
Gross domestic product
GDP, gross domestic product at market prices is the final result of the production activity of resident producer units. It can be defined in three ways: as the sum of gross value added of the various institutional sectors or the various industries plus taxes and less subsidies on products; as the sum of final uses of goods and services by resident institutional units (final consumption, gross capital formation, exports minus imports); as the sum of uses in the total economy generation of income account (compensation of employees, taxes on production and imports less subsidies, gross operating surplus and gross mixed income). (ESA 1995 8.89.)
Gross fixed capital formation
Gross fixed capital formation consists of resident producers' acquisitions, less disposals, of fixed assets. Fixed assets are tangible or intangible assets produced as outputs from processes of production that are themselves used repeatedly, or continuously, in processes of production for more than one year.
Imports of goods and services
Imports of goods and services consist of transactions in goods and services (purchases, barter, gifts or grants) from non-residents to residents.
Intermediate consumption
Intermediate consumption consists of the value of the goods and services consumed as inputs by a process of production, excluding fixed assets whose consumption is recorded as consumption of fixed capital. The goods and services may be either transformed or used up by the production process. Products used for intermediate consumption should be recorded and valued at the time they enter the process of production. They are to be valued at the purchasers’ prices for similar goods or services at that time.
Output at basic prices
Output at basic prices consists of the products which have been produced in the accounting period. Three categories of output are distinguished: market output, output for own final use, and other non-market output. Output is to be recorded and valued when it is generated by the production process.
Purchasers' price
The purchaser’s price is the price the purchaser actually pays for the products; including any taxes less subsidies on the products (but excluding deductible taxes like VAT on the products); including any transport charges paid separately by the purchaser to take delivery at the required time and place; after deductions for any discounts for bulk or off-peak-purchases from standard prices or charges; excluding interest or services charges added under credit arrangements; excluding any extra charges incurred as a result of failing to pay within the period stated at the time the purchases were made.
Subsidies
Subsidies (D.3) are current unrequited payments which general government or the institutions of the European Union make to resident producers, with the objective of influencing their levels of production, their prices or the remuneration of the factors of production. Other non-market producers can receive other subsidies on production only if those payments depend on general regulations applicable to market and non-market producers as well. Subsidies granted by the Institutions of the European Union cover only current transfers made directly by them to resident producer units. Subsidies are classified into: a) subsidies on products (D.31) (1) import subsidies (D.311) (2) other subsidies on products (D.319) b) other subsidies on production (D.39).
Taxes on production and imports
Taxes on production and imports (D.2) consist of compulsory, unrequited payments, in cash or in kind which are levied by general government, or by the Institutions of the European Union, in respect of the production and importation of goods and services, the employment of labour, the ownership or use of land, buildings or other assets used in production. These taxes are payable whether or not profits are made. Taxes on production and imports are divided into: a) taxes on products (D.21) (1) value added type taxes (VAT) (D.211) (2) taxes and duties on imports excluding VAT (D.212) – import duties (D.2121) – taxes on imports excluding VAT and import duties (D.2122) (3) taxes on products, except VAT and import taxes (D.214) b) other taxes on production (D.29).
Trade margins
The output of wholesale and retail services is measured by the trade margins realised on the goods they purchase for resale. A trade margin is the difference between the actual or imputed price realised on a good purchased for resale and the price that would have to be paid by the distributor to replace the good at the time it is sold or otherwise disposed of.
Value added
Value added (gross) refers to the value generated by any unit engaged in a production activity. In market production it is calculated by deducting from the unit's output the intermediates (goods and services) used in the production process and in non-market production by adding up compensation of employees, consumption of fixed capital and possible taxes on production and imports.
Institutional mandate (SIMS 6)
The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. The Statistics Act contains provisions on collection of data, processing of data and the obligation to provide data. Besides the Statistics Act, the General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities are applied to processing of data when producing statistics.
Statistics Finland compiles statistics in line with the EU’s regulations applicable to statistics, which steer the statistical agencies of all EU Member States.
Further information: Statistical legislation
Data sharing (SIMS 6.2)
National accounts data are key economic data used and published by many international organisations
to improve data consistency and exploit synergies for data collection and validation. An initiative to improve data sharing for National Accounts was launched in 2016 by the Inter-Agency Group on Economic and Financial Statistics (comprising representatives of the Bank for International Settlements, the European Central Bank, Eurostat, the IMF, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United Nations, and the World Bank) under the G20 Data Gap Initiative.
Data are transmitted via Eurostat to other international organisations.
Quarterly financial accounts, balance of payments data and general government accounts are also transmitted directly to the ECB.
Source data (SIMS 18.1)
The compilation of supply, use and input-output tables is largely based on the same source data as the compilation of other national accounts. Supply, use and input-output tables also use more detailed product data than other national accounts.
The compilation of national accounts is based on statistics collected mainly 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.
In addition to the common source data sources used in the compilation of national accounts and the supply, use and input-output tables, the data sources for the supply, use and input-output tables also include data in the statistics on industrial production, data on industrial raw materials and data of various business services. The data in the supply, use and input-output tables at the previous year’s prices are mainly compiled from producer price indices, producer price indices for services, and consumer price indices.
Methodological descriptions provided to Eurostat usually include information on the main data sources used.
Frequency of data collection (SIMS 18.2)
National accounts are usually compiled on an annual or quarterly basis from other primary statistics. The frequency of data collection of primary statistics varies according to the nature of the data source. For example, business statistics are typically available on a monthly (and quarterly) basis. Some households’ surveys are available on quarterly or annual frequency (sometimes even less frequent). The availability of administrative data varies by country. Population censuses are collected in some EU countries mainly every ten years; in some countries, population data are available in registries.
The frequency and timing of the compilation of national accounts are not necessary aligned with the frequency and timing of (all) primary statistics data collections.
National accounts typically receive/collect quarterly and annual data according to their compilation schedules. Statistical offices of countries can provide a description of the time of receiving external data.
Data collection (SIMS 18.3)
The data collection is very country specific and also varies according to the nature of the data source, e.g. administrative data, tax and car registers, surveys, accounting statements. Guidance can be found in the ESS Handbook of Recommended Practices for Questionnaire Development and Testing Methods in the ESS.
National accounts departments typically do not collect data themselves, but receive them from other departments or institutions. Countries can provide a more detailed description of the channels by which external data are collected.
The ESS guidelines suggest that the methods used for data collection should be described. It can also be appropriate to complete the section with the following issues: (i) an NSI usually signs an agreement and technical protocol for cooperation with other institutions on what, when, how, etc. the data would be delivered; (ii) the national accounts department also participates in the development of the questionnaires of statistical surveys of other departments.
Data sources are described in methodological descriptions of the statistics.
Data validation (SIMS 18.4)
The purpose of data validation is to ensure that the selected data content has gone through an approval. It is a key task in all fields of statistics and particularly important in national accounts, whose data are used to support economic analysis and political decision-making.
The aim of the European Statistical System (ESS) is currently to harmonise validation methods to improve the overall quality of data and the efficiency of data flows. This includes the definition of common standards and tools and support for implementation (see the ESS validation website at https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/data-validation). National accounts are a pilot in this area. The ESA 2010 Validation Task Force was set up in 2015 to agree and document validation rules in an ESA 2010 validation handbook and progressively implement them in a pre-validation service for national accounts data.
The comparison of data from different sources is an integral part of the national accounts compilation. Source data used in national accounts undergo a sequence of checks at Statistics Finland.
Data compilation (SIMS 18.5)
Data sources, methods and compilation techniques are country specific, but they should be employed in such a way that the definitions and concepts in ESA 2010 are met. Many guidance documents on general and specific national accounts compilation issues are available. See for more details section Accessibility and clarity.
In thesupply, use and input-output tables, the supply and use data are balanced at product level. No comprehensive and reliable product-level source data are available for all use data. If this is the case, product distributions of previous years or product distributions of supply data are used for the estimation of use data.
Overall accuracy (SIMS 13.1)
Only one release is published per statistical reference year on the isupply, use and input-output tables. For the most recent years, the tables will only be revised in connection with the time series reviews of national accounts.
Quality assurance (SIMS 11.1)
Quality management requires comprehensive guidance of activities. The European Statistics Code of Practice forms the basis for the common quality system of the European Statistical System.
The Code of Practice is based on 16 principles that concern statistical authorities' independence, accountability and the quality of the processes and data to be published.
The principles are in line with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics approved by the United Nations Statistics Commission and are supplementary to them. The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice.
Further information: European Statistics Code of Practice | Statistics Finland and Recommendations of the Advisory Board of Official Statistics of Finland | Statistics Finland
Data revision - policy (SIMS 17.1)
Revisions – i.e. improvements in the accuracy of statistical data already published – are a normal feature of statistical production and result in improved quality of statistics. The principle is that statistical data are based on the best available data and information concerning the statistical phenomenon. On the other hand, the revisions are communicated as transparently as possible in advance. Advance communication ensures that the users can prepare for the data revisions.
The reason why data in statistical releases become revised is often caused by the data becoming supplemented. Then the new, revised statistical figure is based on a wider information basis and describes the phenomenon more accurately than before.
Revisions of statistical data may also be caused by the calculation method used, such as annual benchmarking or updating of weight structures. Changes of base years and used classifications may also cause revisions to data.
Timeliness (SIMS 14.1)
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 (information on the structure of an economy or on conjuncture developments) and an adequate balance between accuracy and timeliness.
The ESA 2010 transmission programme defines the required timeliness for all national accounts tables. In Finland, some statistics of national accounts are produced faster than the transmission programme. These include annual supply, use and input-output tables, which are usually delivered with a delay of 24 months instead of the delay of 36 months applied in the transmission programme.
Punctuality (SIMS 14.2)
Good practice requires that the dates on which national accounts data become available are pre-announced and that the pre-announced publication dates are met.
National accounts data transmissions in the framework of the ESA 2010 transmission programme should be punctually delivered to Eurostat on the date set out in the transmission programme (or before).
Statistics Finland frequently transmits data to Eurostat ahead of the legal deadlines.
Comparability - geographical (SIMS 15.1)
The geographical comparability of national accounts in Member States of the EU is ensured by the application of common definitions of the European System of Accounts ESA 2010. Worldwide geographical comparison is also possible as most non-European countries apply the SNA 2008 guidelines, and SNA 2008 is consistent with ESA 2010.
Comparability - over time (SIMS 15.2)
As the data for all reference periods are compiled according to the requirements of ESA 2010, national accounts data are fully comparable over time. Also, in the case of fundamental changes to methods or classifications, revisions of long time series are performed, usually going far back into the past.
Thesupply, use and input-output tables are revised in connection with the time series reviews of national accounts, but usually only for the most recent years.
Coherence – cross domain (SIMS 15.3)
Within the system of national accounts, there is full consistency between the domains: annual and quarterly national accounts, government accounts, sector accounts, financial accounts, regional accounts, and supply, use and input-output tables. However, in practice full consistency may not always be possible and temporary discrepancies might occur. The differences are usually caused by different release lags in different sub-areas.
Primary statistics like structural business statistics (SBS), short term statistics (STS) and labour force statistics (LFS) are widely used as input for national accounts. However, there is no full consistency between these statistical domains and national accounts. Main reasons are differences in concepts or definitions and in coverage. Balance of payments is also used as an important source for national accounts. The definitions and coverage of balance of payments, as defined in the BPM6 manual, are fully harmonised with those in ESA 2010. Therefore, balance of payments variables are in principle fully coherent with the corresponding national accounts variables.
The discrepancies between supply, use and input-output tables and national accounts relate only to the last observations, and are due to delays in the compilation and delivery schedules. The production systems of the supply, use and input-output tables and national accounts are integrated, and the data for the most recent statistical reference years are coherent.
Release calendar (SIMS 8.1)
Statistics Finland publishes new statistical data at 8 am on weekdays in its web service. The release times of statistics are given in advance in the release calendar available in the web service. The data become public after they have been updated in the web service.
Further information: Publication principles for statistics at Statistics Finland
Release calendar access (SIMS 8.2)
Statistics Finland's release calendar Future publications
Future publications of the statistics can be found on the page of the statistics at: Future publications of the statistics
User access (SIMS 8.3)
The data are released to all users at the same time. Statistical data may be processed at Statistics Finland and information on them may be given before release only by persons involved in the production of the statistics concerned or who need the data of the statistics concerned in their own work before the data are published.
Further information: Publication principles for statistics
Unless otherwise specifically stated in connection with the product, data or service concerned, Statistics Finland is the producer and copyright owner of the data. The terms of use for statistical data.
Frequency of dissemination (SIMS 9)
The supply, use and input-output tables are published annually in t+24 months.
The isupply, use and input-output tables are revised in connection with the time series reviews of national accounts, but only for the most recent years. In connection with the 2024 time series review, the input-output statistics were revised from the statistical year 2021 onwards.
All data are published and transmitted to Eurostat always when they become updated. Data are published both as a statistical release and as a statistical database update.
Practices of Statistics Finland when changes are made to statistical data are described at: http://tilastokeskus.fi/org/periaatteet/revisiokaytannot_en.html
News release (SIMS 10.1)
The release is published monthly/annually/quarterly on the home page of the statistics.
Online database (SIMS 10.3)
The database tables of the statistics can be found in the StatFin database.
Confidentiality - policy (SIMS 7.1)
The data protection of data collected for statistical purposes is guaranteed. The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. Alongside the Statistics Act, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and the Finnish Data Protection Act are applied to the processing of personal data. Provisions on the confidentiality of data collected for statistical purposes are laid down in the Act on the Openness of Government Activities.
The data are processed only by persons who need the data in their work. The use of data is restricted by usage rights. All persons employed by Statistics Finland have signed a pledge of secrecy, where they have obliged to keep secret the data prescribed as confidential by virtue of the Statistics Act or the Act on the Openness of Government Activities.
Further information: Data protection | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)
Confidentiality - data treatment (SIMS 7.2)
In a statistical sense, ‘confidential data’ means data which allow statistical units to be identified, either directly or indirectly, thereby disclosing individual information. To determine whether a statistical unit is identifiable, account shall be taken of all relevant means that might reasonably be used by a third party to identify the statistical unit. Although national accounts data are usually highly aggregated, there may be possible cases for detailed breakdowns of aggregates and/or small economies. In these cases measures should be taken in order not to disclose data of a separate statistical unit. Guidance on how to prevent disclosure can be found in the Handbook on Statistical Disclosure Control.
The data submitted are flagged either by ‘N= not for publication before embargo date’ or ‘F=free’