National accounts data concern all data produced and disseminated for an economy according to the definitions and guidelines of the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010). Data are compiled, disseminated and transmitted to Eurostat according with breakdowns and deadlines defined in the amended ESA 2010 transmission programme.

National accounts provide data for the total economy, but may also include breakdowns of the total economy (into sectors, industries, products, regions, etc.). National accounts provide data for several domains : annual and quarterly national accounts (main aggregates), sector accounts, financial accounts, supply, use and input-output tables, regional accounts and government finance statistics.

One of the main aggregates of national accounts is the change rate of the price-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP), which indicates the economic development of a country of region and is also referred to as economic growth rate.

In Eurobase, countries' data are presented following the usual data structure.

At national level, data are commonly available for :

• annual and quarterly national accounts : 'main aggregates'

• annual and quarterly sector accounts

• annual financial accounts and balance sheets

• annual non-financial balance sheets

• supply, use and input-output tables

• annual and quarterly government finance statistics data: 'main aggregates', quarterly financial government accounts and government debt

• regional breakdowns of main national accounts variables and household accounts

• industry breakdowns of main national accounts variables

• industry by asset breakdowns (stocks and transactions)

• detailed data on taxes, social contributions and government expenditure by function

• pension entitlements in social insurance

The ESA 2010 provides a methodology on common standards, definitions, internationally harmonised classifications and accounting rules that are used for compiling national accounts on comparable bases.

The ESA 2010 defines classifications to be used for : institutional sectors, transactions in products, transactions in non-financial non-produced assets, distributive transactions, transactions in financial assets and liabilities, other changes in assets, balancing and net worth items, balance sheet entries, non-financial assets, financial assets and liabilities.

In addition, for several breakdowns ESA 2010 makes use of other classifications: NACE Rev. 2 for economic activities, CPA 2014 for products by economic activities, COFOG for the functions of government, COICOP for individual consumption by purpose, COPNI for classification of the purposes of non-profit institutions serving households, NUTS 2013 for regional breakdowns.

A full overview of classifications is available in :

• ESA 2010 Chapter 23 Classifications

• Eurostat's classification database

National accounts describe the total economy of a country. All units that have their centre of predominant economic interest in the economic territory of that country are covered.

In addition, several breakdowns of the total are described. Two of the most important breakdowns are the breakdown by institutional sector and the breakdown by NACE Rev. 2 activity. Exhaustiveness is required for each of the breakdown items.

Concerning the institutional sector breakdown, ESA 2010 distinguishes five mutually exclusive domestic institutional sectors : (a) non-financial corporations ; (b) financial corporations ; (c) general government ; (d) households ; (e) non-profit institutions serving households. The five sectors together make up the total domestic economy. Each sector is also divided into subsectors.

Regarding the activity breakdown, ESA 2010 applies NACE Rev.2. Activities can be broken down into several levels of detail, for example into 3, 10, 21, 38, 64 or 88 activities. At the 'highest' level a breakdown into 3 categories is defined : (a) agriculture, forestry and fishing ; (b) mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity gas steam and air conditioning supply, water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities, construction ; (c) services.

The classification used in the production approach is basically the Nace rev.2, i.e. the one given in ESA 2010.

More precisely, production accounts by homogenous branch of activity are elaborated at the A129 Nace rev.2 level. The only deviation to standard aggregate levels of Nace rev.2 is that French national accountants choose to distinguish market and non-market branches within A 129 levels given different principles of valuation of output for market and non-market activities. This is relevant only for ten A129 branches (the ones where there is a significant non-market activity). Hence, in practice, production accounts are elaborated for 139 branches (A 139 level in national classification). In the specific case of households’ consumption the compilation level is far more detailed (between groups and classes of Nace rev.2). Annual production accounts are typically published at the A88 and A38 levels that are defined at the international level. Quarterly accounts are published at a less disaggregated level since they rely on less detailed data sources: however they do not use the internationally-defined A21 level, but a national aggregate level in 17 branches (A17) that seem more appropriate for economic analysis given the structure of the French economy.

All statistical concepts and definitions to be used in national accounts are described in Annex A of the ESA 2010 Regulation (link to blue book on ESA2010 methodology). The two main sets of tables concern : (a) the institutional sector accounts ; (b) the input-output framework, and the accounts by industry.

The sector accounts provide, by institutional sector, a systematic description of the different stages of the economic process : production, generation of income, distribution of income, redistribution of income, use of income and financial and nonfinancial accumulation. The sector accounts also include balance sheets to describe the stocks of assets, liabilities and net worth at the beginning and the end of the accounting period. The variables/concepts described in the sector accounts include transactions in products, transactions in non-produced non-financial assets, distributive transactions, transactions in financial assets and liabilities, other changes in assets, non-financial and financial assets and liabilities.

The input-output framework, through the supply and use tables, sets out in more detail the production process (cost structure, income generated and employment) and the flows of goods and services (output, imports, exports, final consumption, intermediate consumption and capital formation by product group). These variables are broken down by industry (NACE Rev. 2) and product (CPA 2014).

ESA 2010 also encompasses concepts of population and employment. Such concepts are relevant for the sector accounts, the accounts by industry and the supply and use framework.

Regional accounts provide regional breakdowns for major aggregates such as gross value added by industry, gross fixed capital formation and household income. Regional breakdowns are based on the NUTS classification. National accounts concepts are also used for regional accounts.

In addition Annex A of the ESA 2010 Regulation addresses and defines numerous other concepts and definitions, such as the definition of : statistical units and their groupings, flows and stocks, accounting rules (valuation, time of recording, consolidation and netting). The main features and principles for the compilation of national accounts can be found in Chapter 1.

The French product nomenclature (CPF Rev. 2.1) is an adaptation of the statistical classification of products associated with activities in the European Union (CPA). The structure and titles of CPF rev. 2.1 and the CPA are identical.

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.

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.

National accounts data are usually compiled for years and quarters. In general, the ESA 2010 transmission programme requires data starting in 1995 (years) and 1995Q1 (quarters) but some series start later. If backwards data exist, they may have been compiled according to earlier versions of ESA and can present conceptual breaks with those compiled under ESA2010. Annual national accounts data starting : Table 1 (GDP from production, expenditure and income approaches), Table 1 (employment) : 1949 ; Table 1 (population) : 1990 ; Table 1 (final consumption expenditure of households by durability), Table 5 : 1959 ; Table 1 (exports and imports) : rest of the world = 1949 ; B0, U2, U3, D0 =1990 ; Table 2 and 3 : 1978 Table 8 (Annual) : 1949 (most of the data ) Table 9, NTL, 1100 : 1995 2000, 2200, 2600, 1978 2900 : 2015