Understanding National Accounts Second Edition

This is an update of OECD 2006 "Understanding National Accounts". It contains new data, new chapters and is adapted to the new systems of national accounts, SNA 2008 and ESA 2010.

This manual explains what GDP and GNI and their components are, and what they mean. It shows how they are used and what they are used for. And it uses practical examples and exercises to clearly explain these notions.

Understanding Financial Accounts seeks to show how a range of questions on financial developments can be answered with the framework of financial accounts and balance sheets, by providing non-technical explanations illustrated with practical examples.

National income estimates date back to the late 17th century, but only in the half-century since the Second World War have economic accounts developed in their present form, becoming an indispensable tool for macroeconomic analysis, projections and policy formulation. Furthermore, it was in this period that the United Nations issued several versions of a system of national accounts (SNA) to make possible economic comparisons on a consistent basis. The latest version, SNA 1993, published in early 1994, occasioned this collection of essays and commentaries. The three chief objectives of the volume are: to enhance understanding of socioeconomic accounts generally and of SNA 1993 in particular; to offer a critique of SNA 1993, including constructive suggestions for future revisions of the system, making it even more useful for its national and international purposes; and to serve as a textbook, or book of readings in conjunction with SNA 1993, for courses in economic accounts.

This Manual provides guidance to compilers of national accounts on the concepts, data sources, and compilation methods required for development of a system of quarterly national accounts. More and more countries are recognizing that quarterly national accounts are an essential tool for management and analysis of their economy. The Manual is intended particularly for compilers who already have a knowledge of annual national accounting concepts and methods, and provides techniques for the development of a consistent time series of annual and quarterly accounts. It serves as acomplement to the System of National Accounts 1993, which has only a limited discussion of quarterly accounts, and will also prove useful as a tool for sophisticated users of quarterly national accounts.

The contribution of aquaculture and fisheries to gross domestic product (GDP) is one of the most widely used indicators of its economic performance. Despite strong interest in and great efforts made towards assessing the contribution of aquaculture and fisheries to GDP, there is a general lack of understanding or consensus on how to properly measure the sector’s contribution to GDP and effectively use the measures for evidence-based policy and planning for sustainable aquaculture and fisheries development. While a fisheries GDP measure has been included in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (i.e. SDG Indicator 14.7.1: Sustainable fisheries as a percentage of GDP in small island developing states, least developed countries and all countries), it is nevertheless a Tier III indicator for which no internationally established methodology or standards are yet available. This paper contributes to improving the understanding and measurement of aquaculture and fisheries’ contribution to GDP by: (i) using input-output models (including mathematical formulas and numerical examples) to formulate and clarify a set of measures of aquaculture and fisheries’ contribution to GDP; (ii) discussing alternative methods to estimate the measures under data-poor environments; (iii) suggesting an empirical methodology and general guidelines on the estimation and reporting of the measures; and (iv) exploring how to utilize the measures for evidence-based policy and planning. The conceptual framework and empirical methodology suggested in the paper will help move towards internationally established methodology, standards and guidelines on measuring aquaculture and fisheries’ economic contribution.