National accounts, non-financial sector accounts, Q3 2014

National level.

Quarterly statistics. The first version for quarter k t is published after k+60 days, followed by revisions in the following quarterly publications. The final version is published together with the final annual accounts in August/September year t+2.

Eurostat (from 2006).

Not relevant

The national accounts statistics are designed to provide a consistent and comprehensive survey of the national economy. The national accounts contain national aggregates and give detailed descriptions of transactions between different sectors of the domestic economy and between Norway and the rest of the world. The national accounts also provide information on different types of capital stock.

The first Norwegian national accounts based on modern principles were published by Statistics Norway in 1952. In the beginning only the parts of the national accounts, referred to as the real accounts (see section Production) were published. The non-financial sector accounts were published from 1978.

The annual final non-financial sector accounts data are based on all available economic statistics, and take some time to produce. The purpose of the quarterly sector accounts is to give timely updated information about the economic development.

The quarterly non-financial sector accounts were first published in June 2005, with time series from 2002 onwards. The accounts cover all sectors from publishing of figures for the 3rd quarter 2015, namely, the non-financial and financial corporation sectors, general government, households, non- profit institutions serving households (NPISHs) and the rest of the world. Before this the published accounts  covered only the sectors households and NPISHs. Consistent time series for all sectors are available from the 1st quarter 2002 onwards.

National accounts are used as a tool to compare the economic situation in different countries, and therefore it is important that the national accounts in various countries are based on a common template. Staff involved in elaborating national accounts in Statistics Norway participated actively in developing international recommendations and concepts regarding national accounts. The first international standard for national accounts, 1953 System of National Accounts (1953 SNA), was published by UN in 1953. In the 1970s the Norwegian national accounts were considerably expanded and adapted to the most recent standard 1968 SNA at that time.

From time to time adaptations or changes are made to the common international recommendations for national accounts. This requires corresponding changes in the construction of the Norwegian national accounts. At different time intervals, new source statistics are produced and indicate that parts of the national accounts figures need to be revised. Since one objective of the national accounts is to provide a picture of the development over time as correctly as possible, it is not possible to introduce such changes from one year to another. With different time intervals, it will therefore be necessary to carry out major revisions of the national accounts figures, so-called main revisions, in order to introduce adaptations due to new international recommendations or to introduce new levels based on new statistical sources. As part of these main revisions the time series are also revised so that the revised national accounts can give a consistent picture of the economic development over time.

In recent decades, Statistics Norway has carried out main revisions published in 1995, 2002, 2006, 2011 and 2014. The main purpose of the main revisions published in November 2014 was to incorporate updated international recommendations in 2008 SNA and the European standard ESA 2010.

Changes due to this main revision are described, among others, in the article Main revision 2014. Planned changes in the national accounts statistics.

The publication History of national accounts in Norway. From free research to statistics regulated by law provides more information about the history of national accounts in Norway, including main revisions.

Since the quarterly figures are completely harmonised with the annual national accounts, it is also necessary to revise the quarterly figures once the annual national accounts figures have been revised.

 The national accounts are an important tool for macroeconomic analysis, and Statistics Norway's macroeconomic models are based on the national accounts.

Major users of the national accounts are the Ministry of Finance and other ministries, Norges Bank (the Norwegian central bank), research institutes, financial sector analysts, international organisations, the media etc.

No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on ssb.no at 08.00 am. Prior to this, a minimum of three months' advance notice is given in the Statistics Release Calendar. This is one of Statistics Norway’s key principles for ensuring that all users are treated equally.

The annual and quarterly non-financial sector accounts are fully consistent with other parts of the national accounts statistics, including the annual and quarterly national accounts (the real accounts), and the annual financial sector accounts. The Norwegian Balance of Payments (BoP) is an integrated system in the Norwegian system of national accounts, and the BoP figures are fully consistent with other NA figures, including the annual and quarterly non-financial sector accounts. The regional accounts by county, as well as various satellite accounts (environment, tourism, health, non-profit institutions) are all based on the annual NA, so these accounts are therefore also consistent and compatible with the annual and quarterly non-financial sector accounts. Previous published figures from the regional accounts and various satellite accounts are, however, not revised as a part of main revision of the national accounts, so figures for previous years may not necessarily be compatible with updated national accounts time series.

As mentioned in the chapter "Production: Data sources and sampling", the national accounts are based on various statistical sources. The source statistics may not use the same definitions or groupings as the national accounts. As a result, figures in the source statistics may be adapted or corrected before use in the national accounts. Published figures in the source statistics of certain industries may therefore not correspond to published figures in the national accounts.

Not relevant

Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 (ESA 2010).

The European Parliament and of the council of 21 May 2013 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the European Union (text with EEA relevance).

The scope of the national accounts is defined in international guidelines in the 2008 System of National Accounts (2008 SNA), published by the UN, OECD, IMF, World Bank and the European Commission, and The European System of National and Regional Accounts 2010 (ESA 2010).

The total national economy, and the distinction between the national economy and foreign ones, is defined in terms of resident units. A unit is defined as a resident unit of the country when it has a centre of economic interest in the economic territory of the country - i.e. when it is involved in economic activities on this territory for an extended period of time (one year or more).

The national accounts contain two fundamental types of information: flows and stocks. Flows refer to actions and effects of events that take place within a given period of time, for example the output of an industry in one year. Stocks refer to positions at a certain point of time, for example the value of capital stock or the number of employed persons.  

Institutional units are economic entities that are capable of owning goods and assets, of incurring liabilities and of engaging in economic activities and transactions with other units in their own right. An institutional unit contains one or more local kind-of-activity units (local KAUs).

The national accounts consist of two main sets of tables; supply and use tables (SUT), also described as the real accounts, and the institutional sector accounts. The two sets of accounts are based on two different statistical units: The real accounts are based on local kind-of-activity units (KAUs), while the institutional sector accounts are based on institutional units.

Institutional units are economic entities that are capable of owning goods and assets, of incurring liabilities and of engaging in economic activities and transactions with other units in their own right. Institutional units are capable of providing a full set of accounts. An institutional unit contains one or more local kind-of-activity units (local KAUs).

The local KAUs are classified by type of activity. An activity is characterised by input of products, a production process and output of products. All local KAUs engaged in the same or similar kind-of-activity constitute an industry.

In the institutional sector accounts, the institutional units are grouped in institutional sectors on the basis of their principal economic functions, behavior and objectives; see Section Definition, Classification. The institutional sector accounts consist of the non-financial sector accounts and the financial sector accounts. The non-financial sector accounts describe all economic transactions in the various sectors. The accounts also provide information on the stocks of financial and non-financial capital. The financial accounts provide a survey of institutional sectors assets, liabilities and financial transactions. The financial accounts also provide information on asset relationships between different sectors of the domestic economy and between Norway and the rest of the world.

The non-financial sector accounts are consistent with the real accounts. This description of the national accounts covers the annual and quarterly non-financial sector accounts.

The non-financial sector accounts are based on many different statistical sources, mainly statistics from other Divisions in Statistics Norway.  Se more information in the section Collection of data, editing and estimations.

The national accounts are based on various statistical sources collected by other divisions in Statistics Norway. The source statistics may not use the same definitions or groupings as the national accounts. As a result, figures in the source statistics may be adapted or corrected before use in the national accounts. Published figures in the source statistics of certain sectors and variables may therefore not correspond to published figures in the national accounts.

Since the non-financial sector accounts are based on, and reconciliated with, figures from the annual and quarterly supply and use tables (the real accounts) all statistical sources used in the real accounts are used indirectly also in the non-financial sector accounts, including figures from the Balance of Payments statistics and the labour accounts.

The statistics general government revenue and expenditures, accounting statistics for financial and to non-financial enterprises, tax statistics, income and deduction statistics and balance of payments statistics are also used directly in the calculations.  

Annual process

Figures from the annual national accounts, the Balance of Payments statistics, the labour accounts and the most important source statistics are transferred electronically to the calculation system for the non-financial sector accounts.

The sector accounts are first compiled separately for each sector of the economy. As a first process figures for each institutional sector is calculated, based on independent estimate for various transactions.

The process to establish figures for the household sector deviate from the process to establish figures for other institutional sectors, since there is no direct reporting of most household figures from the households to Statistics Norway. Instead information from other sectors about transactions with the household sector are combined with external sources. like assessment data. Independent estimates for household consumption expenditures, as well as estimates for gross fixed capital formations and export and import are also carried out.

The final step of the compilation process of the sector accounts consists of balancing across sectors and against the real accounts. The transactions are put together in a system where all incomes and expenditures are reconciliated by using supplementing information as well as assumptions about the quality of the various sources. Usually estimates based on statistical sources for the general government, the financial corporations and the sector rest of the world are rarely adjusted. Therefore many corrections will in general be on the non-financial corporation sector.

Figure 1 illustrates the calculation system for the annual non-financial sector accounts.

Figure 1. Calculation system of the annual non-financial sector accounts

Quarterly process

The calculation system for preliminary annual figures is basically the same as for final annual figures. The main difference is that the available data sources for preliminary figures may be more incomplete and uncertain. Preliminary figures for non-financial enterprises are, for example, based on information for other sectors and additional external sources.

Preliminary figures are revised until final annual national accounts figures are available.

Households and Non-Profit Institutions Serving Households (NPISHs)

Quarterly figures for households and NPISHs are to some extent based on information for other sectors (cross-sector information). For example figures for financial incomes and expenditures are based on information for the financial corporation sector. Quarterly figures for revenue and expenditures in the general government are used to calculate social benefits and other transfers from the general government to the household sector and NPISHs, as well as current transfers from the household sector and the NPISHs to the general government. Figures for output, consumption expenditures and gross fixed capital formation, are collected from the supply and use tables in the quarterly national accounts (qna). Other sources are also used.

Financial Corporations

Most financial corporations are obliged to report quarterly figures to Statistics Norway, the Central Bank and the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway. The reports give detailed accounts information for banks and insurance companies that are used to calculate figures for the sector financial corporations.

Non-Financial Corporations

As for the household sector, there exists no single data source that covers quarterly information for the sector non-financial corporations specifically. Figures for production income, as well as consumption expenditures and gross fixed capital formation, are collected from the supply and use tables in the quarterly national accounts (qna). Figures for financial incomes and expenditures are based on information for the financial corporation sector and the rest-of-the-world (cross-sector information). To some extent the figures are also influenced by balancing the transfers of incomes and expenditures between all sectors.

General government

Quarterly figures for revenue and expenditures in the central government and in the local general government are used as data source to calculate figures for the general government in the quarterly sector accounts (qnri), as well as in the quarterly national accounts supply and use tables (qna). For common variables (output, intermediate consumption and gross fixed capital formation), the same computed figures are used in qnri and qna. The data sources also give financial information that are used in the qnri.

The Rest-of-the-World

Figures for the sector the rest-of-the-world are transferred from the quarterly Balance of Payments (BoP).

After establishing independent accounts of the different sectors based on data sources as described, the production process takes a step further by balancing the transfers of incomes and expenditures between all sectors.

After establishing independent accounts of the different sectors based on data sources as described, the production process takes a step further by balancing the transfers of incomes and expenditures between all sectors. The balancing of figures across sectors is mainly based on assumptions of the quality of the various source statistics. 

More about methods and sources for calculation of the households net lending

Net lending in the household sector is net acquisition of financial requirements and liabilities in a period. In principle there are three ways to provide figures for net lending in the household sector:

One may observe directly all financial transactions the households’. In practice this may be an impossible task.

As one alternative net lending may be calculated indirectly as a balance in a macro economic statistical system, either by:

a. calculating all incomes and subtract all expenditures in the period (inclusive consumption expenditures and gross fixed capital formation), or

b. to calculate the difference between the households stock of financial capital by the beginning and end of the period, and in addition correct for price differences and other changes in the stock values not due to purchase and sale of the objects. 

To calculate the non financial sector accoutns we use the first method. However, the financial sector accounts also publish figures net lending in the household sector, but these figures are calculated by using the last mentioned methods. In theory, these two methods should lead to the same figure. In practice, this demands that all the data used are consistent, correct, and in line with the national accounts principles and definitions. 

As mentioned above, the calculations of figures for the households sector is based on various sources. Besides the households’ consumer surveys, the data are not calculated directly from the households. The Norwegian Registry of Securities gives valuable information about transactions in certifications, bonds, shares and primary capital certificates. However it is not possible to control or revise overall account figures for single units within the household sector, so we have to construct a consistent picture on a macro level.

The quarterly national accounts figures may be influenced by different weather conditions, holidays, etc. The effects of conditions that are repeated at the same time every year are referred to as seasonal effects, while effects that are directly connected to changes in the calendar from one year to another are referred to as calendar effects. The increase in household consumption of goods in December is an example of a seasonal effect, while the number of working days in each quarter is a calendar effect. Incidental happenings such as a strike or a production stoppage may also affect the figures. The seasonal adjustment program is supposed to recognise and adjust the figures to seasonal effects and calendar effects, but not incidental effects. In cases where Statistics Norway has information on strikes or other incidental happenings that are assumed to have effect on the figures, these incidents are mentioned when the figures are published.

See About seasonal adjustment for more information about methods and routines used to calculate seasonal adjusted figures.

§ 2-6 of the Statistics Act states that data under no circumstances shall be published in such a way that they may be traced back to the supplier.

§2-4 of the Statistics Act contains provisions regarding professional secrecy for the staff as well as other provisions regarding confidentiality and integrity.

Consistent time series are available from 1. Quarter 2002 onwards.