1. ESA 2010 TP Table 29 first mandatory data transmission
Pension Expert Group meeting
05 April 2019
Tatjana Smõkova, Eurostat C2

2. CONTENTS First transmission of Table 29 and issues encountered
First transmission of Table 29: results
Arrangements for voluntary transmissions in

3. 1. First mandatory transmission of Table 29: timeliness and punctuality
Deadline: /12/2017
Coverage: EU MS + NO, IS, CH
Punctuality: countries
2 countries (STRUVAL issues)
1 country
Periods: only – 25 countries
2012, 2015 – DE EL LT
– MT, CH SE

4. 1. First mandatory transmission of Table 29: accuracy and data flagging
Accuracy: no significant issues
Data flagging – observation status flags:
purpose – to indicate to users situations, which are different from normal, standard expectations
SDMX for national accounts:
- DSD (data structure definition), Excel
- guidelines, Word

5. 1. First mandatory transmission of Table 29: data flagging
Most relevant observation status flags:
A = normal default value = standard methodology = data provider assigns sufficient confidence to the value, the value is not expected to be dramatically revised;
E = estimated = deviation from standard methodology/ expectations=other solutions applied (e.g. top-down allocation, residual estimation, ad-hoc methods)
I = imputed NB! Not to be used by countries, reserved to international organisations!!!

6. 1. First mandatory transmission of Table 29: data flagging
Observation status flags:
D = Definition differs = deviation from established methodology in terms of coverage (breaks excluded)
e.g. not able to separate column B from column E. All values recorded in column B (flag D), column E is flagged L, not available
P = Provisional = while calculations are based on standard methodology, data provider considers that the data certainly are expected to be notably revised

7. 1. First mandatory transmission of Table 29: data flagging
Observation status flags:
L = Data exist but were not collected (e.g. data exist but not separable from other scheme; data exist but no data sources available)
M = Data cannot exist = pension scheme does not exist in a country
N = Value which is not a "real" zero (e.g. a result of rounded to zero)

8. 1. First mandatory transmission of Table 29: data flagging
Observation status flags - rare:
B = Different methodology has been applied to latest observations as compared with the preceding ones: no back casting ≈ level shifts
U = Unreliable, users should be aware of the low quality assigned, e.g. very rough estimate

9. 1. First mandatory transmission of Table 29: data flagging
NB! Any observation status flags different from A "Normal value"
– should be explained in the factsheets under the respective columns of Table 29!
B, D, E, L, M, P, U !

10. 1. First mandatory transmission of Table 29: data consistency
Pensions in social insurance should be recorded consistently in all relevant ESA TP tables – Tables 6-7, 8, 29!
Transactions/ stocks
Table 6
Table 7
Table 8
Table 29
Validation check
D.61 (incl. break- down), D.62, D.8
S.11+S.12+S.1M
Columns C+E
T29 ≤ T8
D.8
S.13
Columns D+F
T29 ≤ T8
D.611, D.613, D.62
Columns D+F+G+H
T29 < T8
F.63, L
Columns C+E, D.8+D.81+D.82
T29 = T6
Columns D+F, D.8+D.81+D.82
AF.63, A
S.1M (adj. For S.2)
Columns C+E+D+F
T29 = T7

11. 1. First mandatory transmission of Table 29: data consistency
Validation results: inconsistencies observed in
most countries!
Reasons for inconsistencies:
Diverging interpretation of social insurance boundaries
Different sources and methods for DB schemes transactions
Expected actions:
Tables 6-8 compilers: data revisions
Table 29 compilers: sharing expertise with other domains

12. Pay-out phase as annuities in insurance company
1. First mandatory transmission of Table 29: other comparability issues
Diverging recording of annuities
ESA 2010 AF.63: Financial assets that both existing and future pensioners hold against their pension manager (employer, a scheme designated by employer or insurer) =
Investment phase in
pension fund
Pay-out phase as annuities in insurance company
Recorded in Table 29
Not separable from other insurance policies; not recorded in Table 29
But in practice:
See also specific Q&A on website!

13. 1. First mandatory transmission of Table 29: other comparability issues
Pension entitlements in social insurance of existing pensioners are missing from Table 29 in some cases! Data are not comparable across countries!
At least 2 countries estimated and recorded annuities of pensions in social insurance in Table 29 in column B:
Latvia – introduced a survey of insurance companies combined with estimations;
United Kingdom – estimations;
More information in pension fact sheets!
More countries ????

14. 2. First mandatory transmission of Table 29: results
29 countries published Table 29 in the course of 2018
EL to publish soon, LU ?
Eurostat published Table 29 in December 2018:
- Eurobase
- Metadata file with national fact sheets attached - Webpage "Pensions in national accounts"

15. 2. First mandatory transmission of Table 29: 2015 results

16. 2. First mandatory transmission of Table 29: 2015 results
Share of pension entitlements recorded in core accounts in Table 29 by country, % of total

17. 3. Voluntary transmissions of Table 29 in 2018-2020
Voluntary transmissions are encouraged but not expected necessarily in December
ESA 2010 TP: data should be transmitted to Eurostat no later than the day they are published by the national authority
Voluntary transmissions received: LV, LT, NL, SE, CH
NB! Eurostat validation feedback may take longer – priority to mandatory data transmissions!
Early info on forthcoming voluntary transmissions is welcome!
Next mandatory transmission – end of December 2020 for the reference year 2018

18. 3. Voluntary transmissions of Table 29 in 2018-2020
Any CONVAL developments are not expected for Table 29 before 2020
Consult ESA 2010 Handbook on data validation
Changes of Edamis validation messages VNAPENS = NAPENS:
NEW: File forwarded for validation by Eurostat's domain experts, no pre-validation messages found
= OLD: Content validation successful
NB! VNAPENS remains for testing purposes only! Data are not considered transmitted!
SDMX compliance
Valid SDMX-ML file
Coded according to the DSD
Mandatory fields present
Correct data types
Dataflow definition
Basic logical checks
Sender ID and REF_AREA
Table ID is present
Value "NaN" and OBS_STATUS
EMBARGO_DATE and CONF_STATUS
PRICES and REF_YEAR_PRICE
Basic content checks
Missing or unexpected series
Hole in series
Zero values
Negative values
General plausibility and consistency (within file)
Additivity of breakdowns
Outliers
Consistency between prices
Unadjusted and adjusted series
Advanced plausability and consistency (across files)
Revisions
Quarterly versus Annual
Same series across tables
Cross-domain or source checks
Balance of Payments
Trade statistics
Labour market statistics
Data pulished by NSI or IO
STRUVAL
CONVAL
Content outline:
Review of ESA 2010 validation rules
Validation services architecture
Implementation of STRUVAL and CONVAL
Guidance on frequent errors and data flagging
Domains specific information (Tables 1, 3, 5 as a pilot)

19. Any other issues to discuss?
Questions? Comments ?
Any other issues to discuss?