Compilation of Flash estimate of GDP

For two decades, Statistics Finland has been producing the Monthly Indicator of GDP, which is used to anticipate monthly the development of the subsequently published quarterly gross domestic product. As far as possible, the same basic data published monthly in Finland are used for the main industries of the Monthly Indicator of GDP as in the calculation of quarterly GDP. More extensive data are available for calculation of quarterly national accounts. The objective of Flash estimate of GDP is to produce a first preliminary view of the development of domestic production in the quarter.

To attain the scheduled target of the EU's Flash GDP, GDP data on the third month of the quarter are produced exceptionally fast with the help of source statistics within 45 days. Finland's Flash GDP is thus based entirely on the data of the Monthly Indicator of GDP. When calculating the quarter, monthly observations for three months are summed up. Quarterly national accounts with a wider information content and more detailed data are released within 70 days.

Use of output data in Flash estimate of GDP: One way to calculate the Gross Domestic Product is to calculate the output (or sales) of producers and extract the intermediate consumption bought from other producers from the output. In the short term (monthly, quarterly), the share of intermediate consumption does not change quickly especially on the industry level of the whole economy. For that reason, the development of GDP can be approximated by using the volume of output (or sales e.g. in trade) in the economy. This method is used in the Monthly Indicator of GDP and Flash GDP of Finland.

Last update 13.2.2004