Document STD/CSTAT/WPNA(2006)6 MEETING OF THE WORKING PARTY ON NATIONAL ACCOUNTS Paris, 10-12 October 2006 The situation of QUARTERLY NATIONAL ACCOUNTS data transmission to the OECD Document STD/CSTAT/WPNA(2006)6

The OECD QNA database Requirements of OECD internal users Full scope of what is produced by National Statistical Institutes Accuracy, comparability and timeliness Content of the database Set of tables of the OECD - Eurostat questionnaire Plus most of the other accounts produced by countries Data dissemination of a selection of aggregates Paper publication and CD-ROM released on a quarterly basis Electronic publication released monthly Extract of the electronic publication updated daily in OECD.Stat Internet table showing quarterly growth rates for GDP at constant prices, updated weekly Quarterly news release on GDP volume growth for the OECD area

Data transmission to the OECD (1) All countries announce on Internet, in advance, the release day of their QNA. OECD users expect the database to be updated within 24 hours of the release. Table 1 of Document 6 gives information on data release and data transmission by OECD Member countries. Most countries now send their data on their release day. However, some of them have sent their data with a small delay for Q1 or Q2 2006 (Australia, Greece, Ireland and the United Kingdom for Q1, Austria and Greece for Q2).

Data transmission to the OECD (2) OECD requirements: A brief note appended to the data transmission to signal any important change. Transmission of national press releases and GDP flash estimates as soon as available. When a major methodological change is made, we would prefer countries to send only data with the new methodology.

Chained volume estimates Table 2 gives information on country practices regarding implementation of chained volume estimates and the method used to link their QNA. Most European countries have chain-linked their QNA and remaining countries are expected to do so by the end of 2007. The majority of European countries have opted for the annual overlap method among the 3 methods for chain-linking QNA. Joint OECD-Eurostat questionnaire on best practices for compilation and presentation of growth contributions: proposes that countries supply contributions to growth data for the major expenditure and output aggregates (see Item 21 of the agenda). In the meantime, OECD asks countries to supply the contributions to GDP growth of changes in inventories and net exports, which are more problematic to chain-link.

Allocation of FISIM Table 3 gives information on the state of play regarding the allocation of FISIM by OECD Member countries. Several non-European countries have been allocating FISIM to all sectors for many years. Over the past two years, most European countries have implemented it in their quarterly accounts and the remaining countries plan to do so by next year.

Quarterly Sector accounts Eurostat Regulation 1161/2005 on the compilation of EU quarterly non-financial accounts by institutional sector: to provide a comprehensive overview of the euro area/EU25 as a single economy and to allow for a wide-ranging analysis of the interactions among the institutional sectors. Table 4 gives the state of play of the 2nd data transmission due on April 2006. Eurostat plans to publish quarterly sector accounts for the euro area and EU25 from the spring of 2007. Quarterly sector accounts are also available for some non-EU countries (see Table 5).

Conclusion Principle governing the transmission of data: transmit data to the OECD (and Eurostat) as early as possible on the release day of the data by the NSI. Chain-linking (Table 2): Could Member countries amend or confirm the planned dates and particularly could France, Korea, Mexico and Turkey indicate if and when they expect to introduce quarterly chain-linked data? FISIM allocation (Table 3): Could Member countries amend or confirm the planned dates and specifically could Mexico, New Zealand and Turkey indicate if and when they expect to allocate FISIM?

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