Eurostat, (2016), “Consistency between national accounts and balance of payments statistics“, Statistical working papers 2016 edition, Publications Office of the European Union, 25 February.
In the light of full consistency of the methodological standards in national accounts and balance of payments statistics an assessment of the consistency between the two appears justified. This paper presents the results of a recent study of consistency between the quarterly sector accounts and quarterly balance of payments statistics, and is complemented with aspects of internal consistency, which address statistical discrepancies. For better interpretation, explanations were incorporated which were available from a survey exercise in 2015 conducted by Eurostat (‘the BOP/ROW survey’). It will be shown that although methodological standards are consistent, both statistics are up to now still exposed to discrepancies to some greater or lesser extent. The reasons for this rigid development is identified in the heterogeneous organisation of compilation processes in European statistics and the lack of share information and data sources at national, as well as international levels. At the same time it also can be shown that in some specific areas more coordination among national compilers actually has improved consistency. The paper further points at the conceptual differences in both statistics, which have also contributed to this situation, and which require to be addressed by international bodies for follow-up. It is concluded that a continuation of strictly autonomous compilation practices in European statistics will hamper European compilers ability to adapt to the challenges of compiling statistics in a globalised world. Further work will follow as regards the analysis of external asymmetries and their impact on national consistency.
Relevant Posts
- Micossi, Stefano, (2016), “Balance-of-Payments Adjustment in the Eurozone”, CEPS publications, 22 January.
- OECD (2014) “National Accounts at a Glance 2014”, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 29 April.