Revision of national accounts, ESA 2010
Statistics Finland collects the material related to the revision of national accounts, ESA 2010 to this page. The site includes statistics-specific transition timetables, the new codes of the publication tables and the training material related to the revision.
1. General information about the revision and its impacts
2. New handbooks for national accounts
4. Statistics-specific transition timetables
5. New publication codes and headings
1. General information about the revision and its impacts
The system of national accounts currently in use in the Member States of the European Union ESA 95, which is based on the worldwide SNA 93 recommendation, was mainly adopted in 1999. Since then, globalisation and new economic phenomena have caused needs for reviewing national accounts. The review of the worldwide SNA system started in 2002 and at the same time, the revision work for the ESA system began within the European Union. The new SNA 2008 was approved in 2009, after which many countries have initiated the transition process towards the new system.
The European Union will move to the new system (ESA 2010) at the end of September 2014, when the data transmission programme included in the ESA 2010 regulation enters into force. The national accounts data will then be compiled based on the new methodological manual for ESA 2010. The data of the national accounts released in Finland in July 2014 are already in line with the new system. New time series for GDP and sector accounts were also published at that time. Several sets of statistics will start to use the new system at the end of September, when the new time series of government debt, for example, will be published. A precise transition timetable of different statistics can be seen below in the statistics-specific transition timetable.
The new ESA 2010 will extend the concept of assets to cover research and development expenditure and weapon systems, give clearer instructions on how to handle global production methods and extend and speed up the reporting demands of data to some extent. In addition, the line between general government and the private sector will change and the Member States will be obliged to produce data on liabilities related to pension systems.
In connection with the revision, several changes will be made to the main classifications used in national accounts. This is particularly true for the classifications of sectors, assets and transactions, where content and structural changes will be made. Smaller changes may also occur in other classifications concerning codes, for example.
The GDP level in Finland rose on account of the methodological changes connected to the adoption of ESA 2010 by approximately four per cent, on average, over the 2000s. In connection with the revision, Statistics Finland made other time series revisions to national accounts that had an impact on GDP. In addition to the gross domestic product, the ESA 2010 revision has an impact on government deficit and debt, for example.
Impacts on key figures in 2011: GDP, government deficit and debt
| GDP level shift, % - Impact of R&D capitalisation - Impact of capitalisation of weapon systems - Other time series changes (updated source data and methods and error correction) |
4,3 3,7 0,2 0,4 |
| Government deficit, change in GDP ratio 1) | -0,3 |
| Level shift of government debt (preliminary estimate) 2), % Change in GDP ratio of government debt (preliminary estimate) 1) |
2,4 -0,8 |
1) Difference between the new GDP ratio and the old GDP ratio. For deficit, a negative figure means that the deficit has grown relative to GDP.
2) Relation of change in debt to old debt data in euros
The impacts pertain to the year 2011 and they include both the effect of the introduction of ESA 2010 and that of other time series changes. Data concerning government debt may differ from these preliminary estimates. New time series for government debt will be published on 30 September.
In connection with the ESA 2010 revision, changes were also made to the balance of payments statistics. Balance of payments standards have been renewed together with the ESA 2010 and SNA 2008 systems. The aim has been to harmonise the compilation of the balance of payments statistics and the system of national accounts both in terms of content and terminology. In the future, current account, for example, will be presented in a harmonised manner in the balance of payments and the national accounts. The changes made to the balance of payments statistics are presented on the pages of the balance of payments renewal.
2. New handbooks for national accounts
National accounts in the European Union are based on the ESA 2010 manual, which is part of the ESA 2010 Regulation approved by the European Parliament and the Council.
ESA 2010 regulation and methodological manual
ESA 2010 is based on the global recommendation of national accounts, SNA 2008 ratified by the UN.
SNA 2008 methodological manual
In connection with the ESA 2010 revision, the Classification of Sectors was also reviewed and the related handbook was updated.
Classification of Sectors 2012
3. Eurostat's ESA 2010 pages
Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, has opened a website related to the revision, where plenty of material on the revision is available.
Eurostat's ESA 2010 pages
4. Statistics-specific transition timetables
The table contains information on the preliminary first publication dates of ESA 2010 accordant data of statistics belonging to the National Accounts and the length of the time series.
| Name of statistics | Time series | Publication date |
Note |
| Annual national accounts | 1975 - 2013 | 11.7.2014 | |
| Quarterly national accounts | 1990 1st quarter – 2014 1st quarter |
11.7.2014 | |
| Quarterly sector accounts | 1999 1st quarter – 2014 1st quarter |
11.7.2014 | |
| General government revenue and expenditure by quarter | 1999 1st quarter – 2014 1st quarter |
11.7.2014 | |
| Taxes and tax-like payments | 1975 - 2013 | 11.7.2014 | |
| Trend indicator of output | 1996 January – 2014 May |
15.7.2014 | |
| Financial accounts, annual | 1995 - 2013 | 15.9.2014 | No separate annual data release in the summer of 2014 |
| General government deficit and debt | 1975 - 2013 | 30.9.2014 | |
| Financial accounts, quarterly | 1997 4th quarter – 2014 2nd quarter |
30.9.2014 | |
| General government financial accounts | 2000 1st quarter – 2014 2nd quarter |
30.9.2014 | |
| General government debt by quarter | 1998 1st quarter – 2014 2nd quarter |
30.9.2014 | |
| Regional accounts | 2000 - 2012 | 11.12.2014 | |
| Input-output (supply and use tables) | 2012 | 18.12.2014 | Years 2010 and 2011 will be published in 2015 |
| General government expenditure by function | 1990 - 2013 | 22.1.2015 | |
| Productivity surveys | 28.11.2014 | ||
| Regional input-output tables | will be announced later | ||
| Culture satellite accounts | will be announced later | ||
| Tourism account | will be announced later | ||
| Historical time series (annual) | will be announced later |
5. New publication codes and headings
A summary is available in Finnish on the classification changes related to the classifications of sectors, transactions and assets.
Inquiries: national.accounts@stat.fi; Paula Koistinen-Jokiniemi +358 29 551 3362; Olli Savela +358 29 551 3316
Last updated 27.8.2014