1. WORKING PARTY ON NATIONAL ACCOUNTS Paris, 4-6 November 2009
The situation of QUARTERLY NATIONAL ACCOUNTS data transmission to the OECD
Document STD/CSTAT/WPNA(2009)1
Jiemin GUO
The aim of this presentation is to inform national accounts delegates on the situation of QUARTERLY NATIONAL ACCOUNTS data transmission to the OECD and also ongoing developments in this topic.

2. The OECD QNA database Characteristics Content
Full scope of QNA data produced by National Statistical Offices
Accuracy and timeliness
Comparability: PPPs, SA, OECD reference year
Content
Set of tables of the OECD/Eurostat SNA93/ESA95 questionnaire
Other series not covered by the questionnaire
The OECD maintains an internal database containing the quarterly national accounts produced by OECD member countries. The QNA database is used by many people in the OECD Secretariat, particularly those in the Economics Department. The requirements of internal users of the quarterly national accounts database are: full scope of what is published by the national statistical offices (NSO), accuracy, comparability and timeliness.
Therefore, sets of tables of the OECD-Eurostat common questionnaire are supplemented by other series not covered by the questionnaire (some institutional sectors accounts, domestic use, final domestic demand, …)
It is worth noting that during the past years the QNA database has become more homogeneous and complete, and this is especially true for European countries.

3. The OECD QNA outputs Regular quarterly QNA publication
Paper and electronic publications, CD-ROM (Q+120 days)
QNA news release
Preliminary estimate of the OECD real GDP growth (Q+50 days)
Ongoing updates
Intermediate monthly update of the electronic publication
Standard set of QNA released in OECD.Stat with daily refreshed data available to subscribers
More detailed data are available to all users in OECD.Stat Extracts
A homogeneous set of selected series for each country from the QNA database is published in the OECD publication Quarterly National Accounts.
QNA news release
Based on European flash estimates and non-European data available at that time.
Ongoing updates
intermediate monthly update of the electronic publication
Standard set of QNA corresponding to the tables SNA93/ESA95 questionnaire
Subset=
GDP by expenditure for zones aggregates and OECD member countries
Volume/price indices
Growth rates for GDP in volume

4. Data transmission to the OECD
All countries announce on Internet, in advance, the release day of their QNA.
OECD database is updated
within 24 hour of the release for Major Seven countries
within 48 hour for other countries.
New OECD QNA dissemination calendar
The timeliness of the data published by the OECD is largely determined by the timeliness of the data it receives from the contributing national statistical offices. Punctuality implies the existence of a publication schedule and reflects the degree to which data are released in accordance with it.
New OECD QNA dissemination calendar to provide external users with QNA NSOs release dates as well as the update dates in OECD.Stat
It centralizes the information regarding OECD member countries and also provides clear communication to users.
It helps internal users to plan their work based on the release dates and also external users to make timely use of OECD statistics.

5. Country updates on: Chain volume estimates FISIM Allocation
29 of 30 OECD member countries adopted
Mexico: 2011
FISIM Allocation
26 of 30 OECD member countries allocated
except Japan (2010), Mexico(2011), New Zealand(?) & Turkey(?).
Two of the major changes recommended in the 1993 SNA are: chain volume estimates and the allocation of FISIM (financial intermediation services indirectly measured) to using industries/sectors.
Table 4 gives the state of play regarding both, and also the expected date of changes if scheduled. Could delegates precise/confirm these planned dates ?

6. Data Collection for New accession countries
Five accession countries: Chile, Estonia, Israel, Russia & Slovenia.
All five accession countries started sending their QNA to the OECD through the standard questionnaire on a regular basis
Improvement of data and time coverage since 2008: the GDP by expenditure account is provided since 1995Q1
In May 2007, OECD countries agreed to invite Chile, Estonia, Israel, Russia and Slovenia to open discussions for membership of the Organisation. As part of the overall roadmap of the accession process, the Statistics Directorate of the OECD was asked to assess the characteristics of the national accounts as well as the overall all national statistics systems of the five accession countries.
See Tim Davis presentation the day before
See table 3 for data and time coverage

7. OECD general requests to NSOs
TIMELINESS : data transmission to OECD as soon as they are available on the day of release.
METADATA : providing brief note appended to the data transmission to signal any important change.
Member countries are reminded that the principle governing the transmission of data and metadata is:
- transmit data to OECD (and Eurostat) as quickly as possible on the day of release by the NSO.
- provide information about methodological changes as soon as possible

8. OECD specific requests to NSOs
The OECD would welcome any developments that lead to:
Longer time series
More seasonally adjusted data
Population & employment data - compensation of employees & employment broken down by main industries
See table 3

9. Ongoing QNA plans Quarterly sector accounts
QNA questionnaire (data and sources & methods) for non-European countries
QNA project with China

10. Questions to delegates
OECD would welcome non-European delegates considering the possibility
of using the standard questionnaire for data transmission?
of completing the questionnaire on QNA Sources and Methods?
Could delegates provide any information on the points addressed in the preceding slides?
The OECD QNA team is following the pilot project developments on the National Accounts World Wide Exchange (NAWWE) system with a view to future implementation for the quarterly data. At the moment, specific routines have to be used for each non-European country (see Table 2), which need to be modified each time the structure of the website/file changes. Could non-European delegates consider the possibility of using the standard questionnaire for data transmission with a view of NAWWE implementation ?
The OECD Secretariat plans to update its manual on ‘QNA Sources and Methods’ and seeks close collaboration with its member countries.
OECD economists are interested in knowing if member countries have made any progress on the dissemination of QSA and seasonally adjusted data.

11. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION !