- Methods and Projects
- Standards and Classifications
Standardised Methodological Report
Quarterly Non-financial Accounts for the Institutional Sectors
- 1Contact
- 1.1Contact organisation
National Statistics Institute of Spain
- 1.5Contact mail address
Avenida de Manoteras 50-52 - 28050 Madrid
- 1.1Contact organisation
- 2Metadata update
- 2.1Metadata last certified
03/04/2023
- 2.2Metadata last posted
31/03/2023
- 2.3Metadata last update
03/04/2023
- 2.1Metadata last certified
- 3Statistical presentation
- 3.1Data description
The Quarterly Non-Financial Accounts for the Institutional Sectors (QNFAIS) quantify the economic relations that occur each quarter among the institutional units that are part of the national economy (households and non-profit institutions serving households, non-financial corporations, financial institutions and public administrations) and among these units and the rest of the world in an organised series of accounts that describe each stage of the economic process (production and income generation, distribution and redistribution, final consumption, savings and accumulation of assets).
- 3.2Classification system
- Clasificaciones utilizadas
The classifications established in the European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA 2010) are followed. In this way, the following institutional sectors are differentiated in the national economy:
Non-financial corporations(S.11).
Financial corporations (S.12).
General Government (S.13).
Households (S.14)
Non-profit institutions serving households (S.15)
In addition, the "sector"Rest of the World(S.2) is also considered, which is not a proper sector for which a full set of accounts is prepared, but is included to reflect the economic relations that the national economy has with the rest of the world.
- Clasificaciones utilizadas
- 3.3Sector coverage
The non-financial economic operations of the entire national economy and the institutional sectors into which it is divided are recorded. The economic operations between the national economy and the rest of the world are also recorded.
- 3.4Statistical concepts and definitions
- 3.5Statistical unit
The units usually used in the statistical research are not always suitable for national accounts purposes, as they are generally based on traditional criteria of a legal, administrative or accounting nature. Firstly, it is necessary to bear in mind the definitions of units of analysis used in the ESA.
The basic unit of analysis is the institutional unit. The institutional unit is an economic entity capable of owning property and assets, incurring liabilities and participating in economic activities and operations with other units on its own behalf. The institutional units are grouped into five institutional sectors, which are mutually exclusive: Non-financial Corporations, Financial Institutions, Public Administrations, Households and Non-profit Institutions Serving Households. Each sector is, in turn, divided into sub-sectors.
- 3.6Statistical population
The target population of the study is all resident units in the national economy. A unit has residence in a country when its predominant centre of economic interest is in the country's economic territory.
To have a predominant centre of economic interest means that the unit carries out economic activities and operations of a certain size for a sufficiently long period of time (for a year or more).
Economic national territory is understood as:
a. The area (geographic territory) under the effective administration and economic control of a single government
b. Other free trade zones, including warehouses and factories under customs control.
c. The national airspace, territorial waters and the continental shelf lying in international waters over which the country enjoys exclusive rights
d. Territorial enclaves, these being geographic territories situated in the rest of the world and used, under international treaties or agreements between states, by general government agencies of the country (such as embassies,consulates, military bases, scientific bases, etc.)
e. Deposits of oil, natural gas, etc. in international waters outside the continental shelf of the country, worked by units resident in the territory as defined inthe previous points.
The resident units carry out operations with non-resident units (resident units of other economies). These are operations external to the economy and they are grouped in the rest of the world's accounts. Thus, the rest of the world fulfils a similar role to that of an institutional sector, although this includes non-resident units inasmuch as they carry out operations with resident institutional units.
- 3.7Reference area
This is comprised of the economic national territory:
a. The area (geographic territory) under the effective administration and economic control of a single government
b. Other free trade zones, including warehouses and factories under customs control
c. The national airspace, territorial waters and the continental shelf lying in international waters over which the country enjoys exclusive rights
d. Territorial enclaves, these being geographic territories situated in the rest of the world and used, under international treaties or agreements between states, by general government agencies of the country (such as embassies, consulates, military bases, scientific bases, etc.)
e.Deposits of oil, natural gas, etc. in international waters outside the continental shelf of the country, worked by units resident in the territory as defined in the previous points.
- 3.8Time coverage
From the first quarter of 1999.
- 3.9Base period
2015.
- 3.1Data description
- 4Unit of measure
- 4.1Unit of measure
Millions of euros.
- 4.1Unit of measure
- 5Reference period
- 5.1Reference period
The calendar quarter.
Data referred to the period: Trimestral A: 2024 TRI: II
- 5.1Reference period
- 6Institutional mandate
- 6.1Legal acts and other agreements
The compilation and dissemination of the data are governed by the Statistical Law No. 12/1989 "Public Statistical Function" of May 9, 1989, and Law No. 4/1990 of June 29 on “National Budget of State for the year 1990" amended by Law No. 13/1996 "Fiscal, administrative and social measures" of December 30, 1996, makes compulsory all statistics included in the National Statistics Plan. The National Statistical Plan 2009-2012 was approved by the Royal Decree 1663/2008. It contains the statistics that must be developed in the four year period by the State General Administration's services or any other entity dependent on it. All statistics included in the National Statistics Plan are statistics for state purposes and are obligatory. The National Statistics Plan 2021-2024, approved by Royal Decree 1110/2020, of 15 December, is the Plan currently implemented. This statistical operation has governmental purposes, and it is included in the National Statistics Plan 2021-2024. (Statistics of the State Administration).
Regulation (EU) 549/2013, of 21 May, on the European System of National and Regional Accounts, establishes a reference accounting framework and determines the Transmission Programme of the results of the National Accounts to Eurostat and, in particular, of the Quarterly Non-Financial Accounts for the Institutional Sectors.
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/ES/TXT/HTML/?uri=OJ:L:2013:174:FULL&from=ES
This also results from the application of Regulation (EU) 479/2009, of 25 May, on the application of the Protocol on the Excessive Deficit Procedure, annexed to the treaty establishing the European Community.
- 6.2Data sharing
The exchanges of information needed to elaborate statistics between the INE and the rest of the State statistical offices (Ministerial Departments, independent bodies and administrative bodies depending on the State General Administration), or between these offices and the Autonomic statistical offices, are regulated in the LFEP (Law of the Public Statistic Function). This law also regulates the mechanisms of statistical coordination, and concludes cooperation agreements between the different offices when necessary.
.
- 6.1Legal acts and other agreements
- 7Confidentiality
- 7.1Confidentiality - policy
The Statistical Law No. 12/1989 specifies that the INE cannot publish, or make otherwise available, individual data or statistics that would enable the identification of data for any individual person or entity. Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society
- 7.2Confidentiality - data treatment
INE provides information on the protection of confidentiality at all stages of the statistical process: INE questionnaires for the operations in the national statistical plan include a legal clause protecting data under statistical confidentiality. Notices prior to data collection announcing a statistical operation notify respondents that data are subject to statistical confidentiality at all stages. For data processing, INE employees have available the INE data protection handbook, which specifies the steps that should be taken at each stage of processing to ensure reporting units' individual data are protected. The microdata files provided to users are anonymised.
In particular, the Quarterly Non-Financial Accounts for the Institutional Sectors constitute a synthesis statistic whose results are prepared from aggregated data from other statistical or administrative sources, and it is not possible to identify the information related to the individual units in these.
- 7.1Confidentiality - policy
- 8Release policy
- 8.1Release calendar
The advance release calendar that shows the precise release dates for the coming year is disseminated in the last quarter of each year.
- 8.2Release calendar access
The calendar is disseminated on the INEs Internet website (Publications Calendar)
- 8.3User access
The data are released simultaneously according to the advance release calendar to all interested parties by issuing the press release. At the same time, the data are posted on the INE's Internet website (www.ine.es/en) almost immediately after the press release is issued. Also some predefined tailor-made requests are sent to registered users. Some users could receive partial information under embargo as it is publicly described in the European Statistics Code of Practice
- 8.1Release calendar
- 9Frequency of dissemination
- 9.1Frequency of dissemination
Quarterly.
- 9.1Frequency of dissemination
- 10Accessibility and clarity
- 10.1News release
The results of the statistical operations are normally disseminated by using press releases that can be accessed via both the corresponding menu and the Press Releases Section in the web
- 10.2Publications
This operation is disseminated on the website of the National Statistics Institute.
At the end of the last month of quarter t+1, the results of quarter t are published along with the updated results of each one of the previous quarters of the same calendar year.
In addition, the updated results for each quarter of the three years prior to the current year are published once the updated corresponding results for these years of the annual accounts of the institutional sectors of the Spanish National Accounts are available.
- 10.3On-line database
INEbase is the system the INE uses to store statistical information on the Internet. It contains all the information the INE produces in electronic formats. The primary organisation of the information follows the theme-based classification of the Inventory of Statistical Operations of the State General Administration . The basic unit of INEbase is the statistical operation, defined as the set of activities that lead to obtaining statistical results on a determined sector or subject based on the individually collected data. Also included in the scope of this definition are synthesis preparation.
The results of the Quarterly Non-Financial Accounts for the Institutional Sectors can be found at:
- 10.4Micro-data access
A lot of statistical operations disseminate public domain anonymized files, available free of charge for downloading in the INE website Microdata Section
This operation is a synthesis statistic, prepared with aggregated data from other statistical or administrative sources of information, for which there are no microdata.
- 10.5Other
In general, the published results correspond to those required by Regulation (EU) 549/2013, of 21 May, on the European System of National and Regional Accounts as well as compulsory transmission to Eurostat. In addition, in general, information requests will not be dealt with inasmuch as they go beyond the contents of the publication.
- 10.6Documentation on methodology
This operation is carried out according to the accounting principles established in the European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA 2010):
http://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=DOUE-L-2013-81250
The implementation project of the ESA 2010 for the Spanish National Accounts submitted to the Higher Statistical Council for its opinion in February 2014 can also be consulted at:
https://www.ine.es/proyectos/proyecto_conta_nacional_base2010.pdf
Technical project of Benchmark Revision 2019 of the Spanish National Accounts:
https://www.ine.es/normativa/leyes/cse/cambio_meto_Revisi%C3%B3nContabilidad2019.pdf
- 10.7Quality documentation
This standardised methodological report contains all the elements of what is considered a "User-oriented Quality Report" for this operation.
- 10.1News release
- 11Quality management
- 11.1Quality assurance
Quality assurance framework for the INE statistics is based on the ESSCoP, the European Statistics Code of Practice made by EUROSTAT. The ESSCoP is made up of 16 principles, gathered in three areas: Institutional Environment, Processes and Products. Each principle is associated with some indicators which make possible to measure it. In order to evaluate quality, EUROSTAT provides different tools: the indicators mentioned above, Self-assessment based on the DESAP model, peer review, user satisfaction surveys and other proceedings for evaluation.
As a synthesis statistic, the quality of this is derived, firstly, from the multiple base sources that it uses: surveys, administrative registers, etc. An attempt has been made to obtain the most accurate information from these, minimising the various types of errors that could affect them.
Furthermore, the general balance process of the national accounts allows for the verification and improvement of the coherence and completeness of estimates, apart from possible gaps and inconsistencies in the base data sources.
- 11.2Quality assessment
Eurostat carries out an exhaustive analysis of the data submitted by Spain on its National Accounts, in general, and of the results of the Quarterly Non-Financial Accounts for the Institutional Sectors, in particular, within the framework of what is established in Regulation (EU) 549/2013 on the European System of National and Regional Accounts, as well as in the application of Regulation (EU) 479/2009 on the Harmonisation of Gross National Income at Market Prices and of Regulation (EU) 479/2009 on the application of the Protocol on the Excessive Deficit Procedure.
This operation is an essential instrument for monitoring economic activity and its result in each type of economic agent and, therefore, for decision-making in the most diverse areas.
In addition, new developments have recently been added, such as the dissemination of the main operations and balances of the national economy and the household sectors, non-financial corporations and public administrations adjusted for seasonality and calendar effects, or the simultaneous dissemination of the operation. with the main quarterly aggregates of the national economy (Quarterly National Accounts of Spain: main aggregates), which facilitates the analysis of the evolution of the economy, both in the measurement of its productive activity and in the behavior of each one of the agents that make up the system.
- 11.1Quality assurance
- 12Relevance
- 12.1User needs
This operation could be used to analyse and evaluate the circumstances of the Spanish economy as a whole and of its different economic agents and, in turn, to carry out comparisons with the other economies.
Furthermore, the results of this operation are fundamentally important to the Spanish Government and for the EU and its Member states when formulating and supervising its social and economic policies. In particular, it should be highlighted that the following of European monetary policy, the concession of European grants and the calculation of EU own resources are based on data from the Spanish National Accounts and, in particular, from the Quarterly Non-Financial Accounts for the Institutional Sectors.
Amongst the main users of the results of this operation, it is worth noting the Spanish Government itself, the European Commission, the European Central Bank, OECD, IMF and all kinds of research services and financial analysts.
- 12.2User satisfaction
The INE has carried out general user satisfaction surveys in 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019 and it plans to continue doing so every three years. The purpose of these surveys is to find out what users think about the quality of the information of the INE statistics and the extent to which their needs of information are covered. In addition, additional surveys are carried out in order to acknowledge better other fields such as dissemination of the information, quality of some publications...
On the INE website, in its section Methods and Projects / Quality and Code of Practice / INE quality management / User surveys are available surveys conducted to date.(Click next link)
- 12.3Completeness
This operation complies with all the information requirements established by Eurostat's Data Transmission Programme determined in Regulation(EU) 549/2013, of 21 May, on the European System of National and Regional Accounts and in Regulation (EU) 479/2009, of 25 May, on the application of the Protocol on the Excessive Deficit Procedure.
Thus, the available compulsory statistical results rate, calculated as the quotient between the amount of data provided and the amount of data required by the applicable regulation, is R1=100%.
- 12.1User needs
- 13Accuracy and reliability
- 13.1Overall accuracy
This operation is a synthesis statistic, meaning that its accuracy largely depends on the sources of information used in its production. However, the general balance process of the national accounts allows for the verification and improvement of the coherence and completeness of estimates, apart from possible gaps and inconsistencies in the base data sources.
- 13.2Sampling error
This operation is a synthesis statistic, meaning that the issue of sampling errors does not apply. However, the operation is affected indirectly by such errors, due to the fact that surveys are amongst the information sources . However, the identities established by the National Accounts in the supply and use tables, by branch of activity and product, and the general balance process of the national accounts allow for the verification and improvement of the coherence and completeness of estimates.
- 13.3Non-sampling error
This operation is a synthesis statistic, meaning it is indirectly affected by all the errors that exist in its information sources. However, the identities established by the system in the supply and use tables, by branch of activity and by product, and the general balance process of the national accounts allow for the verification and improvement of the coherence and completeness of estimates, reducing the impact of these kinds of errors.
- 13.1Overall accuracy
- 14Timeliness and punctuality
- 14.1Timeliness
The results of quarter t are published at the end of the final month of quarter t+1.
TP1 = 1 quarter, being TP1 the opportunity of the first results
TP2 = 3 years, with TP2 being the opportunity for definitive results
- 14.2Punctuality
Data dissemination is carried out according to the short-term statistics availability calendar that INE develops and publishes each year.
- 14.1Timeliness
- 15Coherence and Comparability
- 15.1Comparability - geographical
One of the objectives of the ESA is the harmonisation of the methodology and the precision and rigour of the concepts, definitions, classifications and accounting rules that are necessary to apply in order to obtain a comparable description of the economies of European Union countries. Thus, the data collected in the Quarterly Non-Financial Accounts for the Institutional Sectors are comparable with those of EU member states.
They are also compatible on the international level as ESA concepts are fully consistent with those that appear in existing international guidelines on national accounts, which are contained in the System of National Accounts (developed under the joint responsibility of the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, Eurostat, the OECD and the World Bank).
- 15.2Comparability - over time
The disseminated quarterly results are completely comparable to each other, as they are developed according to the same accounting methodology (ESA 2010) and pursuant to homogeneous statistical sources and processes.
The number of periods of the comparable time series is, therefore, 96.
- 15.3Coherence - cross domain
The ESA 2010 is completely consistent with the principles established in the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (6ª edition), which is why the results of the Quarterly Non-Financial Accounts for the Institutional Sectors are largely consistent with those of Spain's Balance of Payments.
On the other hand, the General Government Accountsprepared by the General Comptroller of the State Administration (IGAE) are completely consistent with the accounts of the General Government sector included in the Quarterly Non-Financial Accounts for the Institutional Sectors.
In addition, as this is a synthesis statistic, the results of this operation are generally coherent with the statistical and administrative sources used in its production, although it is not fully consistent with these due to the existing conceptual and methodological differences.
- 15.4Coherence - internal
The accounting methodology established in the ESA 2010 guarantees the compliance in the Quarterly Non-Financial Accounts for the Institutional Sectors of all the identities that are established in this and, with this, the coherence of all the established measures to describe different parts of the economic process, allowing the joint and consistent analysis of its situation and of the evolution of behaviours of the different economic agents, including their relations with the rest of the world.
- 15.1Comparability - geographical
- 16Cost and burden
- 16.1Cost and burden
This statistical operation does not entail any burden to informants. As this is a synthesis statistic, it uses data already available in the administration.
The estimate of the budgetary credit necessary to finance this statistical operation foreseen in the Annual Program 2023 is 231.51 thousand euros.
- 16.1Cost and burden
- 17Data revision
- 17.1Data revision - policy
The INE of Spain has a policy which regulates the basic aspects of statistical data revision, seeking to ensure process transparency and product quality. This policy is laid out in the document approved by the INE board of directors on 13 March of 2015, which is available on the INE website, in the section "Methods and projects/Quality and Code of Practice/INE’s Quality management/INE’s Revision policy" (link).
This general policy sets the criteria that the different type of revisions should follow: routine revision- it is the case of statistics whose production process includes regular revisions-; more extensive revision- when methodological or basic reference source changes take place-; and exceptional revision- for instance, when an error appears in a published statistic-.
In general, the Spanish National Accounts are a structural statistical product by which the estimates of the different operations and aggregates are subjected to revision and disaggregation processes before they become final. This process is determined by the dependence of the national accounts on statistical information, in the sense that the more short-term and aggregated the base information, the more provisional the estimation of national accounts.
The revision of the estimates is limited to a period of three years. Throughout this period, four different versions of the same accounting exercise will be carried out until the estimate of a given year t becomes final.Consistent with the above, the Quarterly Non-Financial Accounts for the Institutional Sectors
series follows the same revision policy. In addition to the above, every quarter, the information from the last quarter is disseminated and the results of previous quarters of the same calendar year are revised. - 17.2Data revision - practice
In general, the Spanish National Accounts are a statistical structural product by which the estimates of the different operations and aggregates are subjected to revision and disaggregation processes before they become final. This process is determined by the dependence of the national accounts on statistical information, in the sense that the more short-term and aggregated the base information, the more provisional the estimation of national accounts.
The revision of the estimates is limited to a period of three years. Throughout this period, four different versions of the same accounting exercise will be arranged until the estimate of a given year becomes final.
Consistent with the above, the Quarterly Non-Financial Accounts for the Institutional Sectors series follows the same revision policy. In addition to the above, every quarter, the information from the last quarter is disseminated and the results of previous quarters of the same calendar year are revised.
The measures of the size of revisions MAR and RMAR for the household savings rate are: A6-MAR = 0.88 and A6-RMAR = 8.13%. The size of revisions are calculated over the values of the three previous years, using data from the first and second publication.
- 17.1Data revision - policy
- 18Statistical processing
- 18.1Source data
This operation incorporates different sources of economic information. In general, these sources are statistics produced by the INE, statistics from other public and private organizations and administrative data of various kinds. We can highlight, among many others:
Statistics on Foreign Trade in Spain (AEAT)
Accounts of Public Administrations (IGAE)
Balance of Payments (Bank of Spain)
Economic information on financial institutions (Bank of Spain)
Economic Information on insurance entities and pension funds (Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness)
Structural Statistics of Companies: Industrial Sector (INE)
Structural Statistics of Companies: Services Sector (INE)
Construction Structure Survey (Ministry of Development)
Survey on the Structure of Farms (INE)
Active Population Survey (INE)
Financial Accounts of the Institutional Sectors (Bank of Spain)
- 18.2Frequency of data collection
The collection of data is dependent on the dissemination of information from the different sources used in this operation The information included is monthly, quarterly and annual.
- 18.3Data collection
The data used are statistics prepared by the INE itself or by other bodies. The data collection differs according to the type of source and method of disseminating information (database, electronic publication, etc.). Generally, the different bodies that provide information for the preparation of the Quarterly Non-Financial Accounts for the Institutional Sectors send this to the INE's National Accounts Department. On other occasions, the necessary information is published on web pages, allowing for direct access to the corresponding publication or database.
- 18.4Data validation
To correctly record operations in accordance with the ESA 2010 methodology, it is necessary to carry out certain corrections and estimates to adapt the information obtained in surveys and other sources to the criteria established in the ESA.
The ESA includes many specific agreements. For example, the valuation of the output of public administrations, the valuation of the output of insurance and financial intermediation services, the recording of public services as final consumption expenditure, etc. In these cases, it is necessary to evaluate the different operations from the base information according to the criteria established in the ESA and to carry out the corresponding estimates and corrections to the base information.
- 18.5Data compilation
In the preparation of the Quarterly Non-Financial Accounts for the Institutional Sectors, the base is the estimated aggregates of the national economy in the Quarterly Spanish National Accounts. With this, the preparation of accounts of the institutional sectors is carried out. This is carried out in the following stages:
1. Integration of the General Government Accounts, prepared by the General Comptroller of the State Administration (IGAE).
2. Compilation of the accounts of the rest of the world and of the Financial Corporations.
3. Compilation of the accounts of the Non-financial Corporations and Households and Non-profit Institutions Serving Households: estimate, considering the necessary revenue-expenditure balance, and both sectors' sequence of accounts (current accounts and capital accounts).
- 18.6Adjustment
Results are disseminated, adjusted for seasonality and calendar effects, of the main aggregates of the national economy and of the rest of the world and of the main balances and operations of the Non-financial Corporations, General Government and Households sectors.
The preparation of the results, adjusted for seasonality and calendar effects, include both the signal extraction process, which includes the seasonal and calendar adjustment process, as well as the procedures that guarantee the necessary annual consistency between the raw data and the non-seasonal data and between operations and the balances of the accounts system.
The procedures applied are those described in the general methodology of the series of main aggregates of the Spanish Quarterly National Accounts (SQNA). These therefore conform to the recommendations published in the manuals of quarterly accounts (Eurostat, 1999/2013 and the International Monetary Fund 2001/2016) and of seasonal adjustment (ESS guidelines on seasonal adjustment, 2015 and with the INE Standard for the correction of seasonal and calendar effects in short-term series, 2013).
In this way, the seasonal adjustment procedures are implemented with a parametric focus, based on regression models with ARIMA errors, identifying and evaluating a model a priori that adequately adjusts to the observed series and deriving appropriate models from this for each of the series components (cycle-trend, seasonal and irregular). The latest version of the TRAMO-SEATS software is used (Gomez and Maravall 1994).
It should be taken into account that the ARIMA model is chosen once a year when the annual series are also revised. Such models remain fixed during the rest of the year. However, these are monitored in every quarter. In addition, the parameters of the ARIMA model are recalculated whenever a new observation is available.
The consistency between raw data and seasonally adjusted data is also maintained, that is, the annual total of the seasonally adjusted series coincides with the annual total of the original series. This preference for consistency in optimality in the sense of seasonal adjustment must be understood in the context of the coherence which should exist in all national accounts systems, which is indispensable for the analysis of both short- and long-term economic developments. For this, use is made of methods based on models for the disaggregation of time series and the adjustment of total quarterly data.
On the other hand, some of these CNTFSI results series are arithmetic balances of others. If these balance series are directly adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects, the result would not be identical to the balance obtained through the seasonally adjusted elements, mainly due to their differing seasonal pattern and to the number of non-lineal operations involved in the process of adjustment for seasonal effects. Given the need for coherence in the balances with the previously seasonally adjusted series, an indirect estimate of these series is performed as a result of the operations or flows involved.
Finally, an exhaustive check is performed to verify that there is no residual seasonality in the seasonally adjusted series, a check that is especially important as the indirect method applies to some series, as indicated previously.
Ajuste estacional en CTNFSI_en.xls
- 18.1Source data
- 19Comment
- 19.1Comment
- 19.1Comment