News 29 May 2024
National accounts time series will become revised in the autumn
Statistics Finland will publish revised time series of national accounts and balance of payments statistics in September 2024. As a result of the time series revision, the figures become revised starting from 2010. Revised national accounts data will be released on 18 September 2024. At the same time, the database tables of quarterly national accounts are updated. Financial accounts data will be published on 30 September 2024.
Methodological changes and revisions with an impact on gross domestic product and its sub-items are made to the statistics set of national accounts in connection with the time series revision. In addition to GDP, other national accounts data are also updated.
Due to the methodological revision, special attention should be paid to the comparability of data on wages and salaries and taxes when using the statistics. The changes have not been extended to years before 2010, apart from the revision of industry series on compensation of employees, which has been made to the whole time series.
For general government, items caused by intra-general government trade are removed. At the same time, the industrial classification will be revised so that items in the category of general administration services are divided into more accurate industries. The classification of real estate tax is also updated, and in future, the tax will be included in taxes on production.
Other key changes are related to the calculation of the grey economy and private consumption, for example.
Time series revisions improve the comparability of EU country data
Time series revisions are made in all EU countries at five-year intervals in a jointly selected year. They help maintain the timeliness and international comparability of the national accounts. Information about the plans of other countries can be found on Eurostat's website (pdf file).
A majority of the changes to be made in 2024 are connected to international cooperation that aims to harmonise the calculation of the gross national income and steers general government compilation requirements in EU countries. National needs for changes are also included.
More detailed information about the effects of the time series revision will be published in the autumn.
Further information: Senior Statistician Tapio Kuusisto tel. +358 29 551 3318