Statistical presentation

Data description

The national accounts describe the Danish economic flows. Two general perspectives are considered in the national accounts: one functional and one institutional.

In the functional national accounts, detailed information on product flows is available in the shape of production, import and export, intermediate consumption, final consumption expenditure and gross fixed capital formation, including information about the incomes generated in the process. Information is also available about the factors of production in the form of labour and capital goods that have participated in the production process. The functional national accounts are calculated in both current and previous year’s prices. This means that the country's economic situation can be assessed both in terms of level and real growth.

The institutional national accounts highlight the distributive and financial transactions. Sectoral breakdown is done in non-financial corporations, financial corporations, public administration and services, households and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH).

Classification system

In the national accounts, several different international classifications are used - in some cases with Danish adaptations or subdivisions.

Industries

The industry classification used in the national accounts is based on Danish Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities 2007 [(DB07)]((Dansk Branchekode DB07). This national classification is based on NACE 2. In the national accounts, the following aggregation levels are used for industries: 10a3, 19a2, 36a2, 69 and 117. • Preliminary annual national accounts: 10a3, 19a2, 36a2 and 69. • Final annual national accounts: 10a3, 19a2, 36a2, 69 and 117.

Find more about the aggregation levels: Branchegrupperinger i nationalregnskabet (in Danish).

DB25, which is the national version of NACE 2 rev.1, will be implemented in the national publications in 2028 and implemented in transmissions to Eurostat in 2030.

Investment types

Investments in the national accounts are compiled in a Danish adjustment to a classification recommended in SNA2008. • Fixed assets • Dwellings • Buildings other than dwellings • Other structures and land improvements • Transport equipment • ICT equipment, other machinery and equipment and weapon systems • Cultivated biological resources • Intellectual property products

Groups of consumption

The consumption of households is classified by Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP). Government consumption is classified by Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG).

Find more about the aggregation levels under Consumption groups in NA Forbrugsgrupperinger i nationalregnskabet.

Sectors

Institutional sectors ESA 2010.

One dimension in the national accounts is the product dimension. In Denmark, an adjusted version of Statistical Classification of Products by Activity (CPA) is used for product numbers. The final national accounts consist of approximately 2,350 product balances.

Sector coverage

The national accounts cover all sectors of the economy with breakdowns by economic activity and type of non-financial assets.

Statistical concepts and definitions

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): Gross domestic product, GDP, indicates the size of a country's economy. GDP can be calculated in three ways:

• Gross domestic product (GDP) in market prices is calculated from the production side by subtracting from production at market prices the total value of intermediate consumption at buyer prices.
• It can also be calculated from the income side as compensation of employees plus the surplus of production and mixed income plus taxes on production, net.
• Finally it can be calculated from the application side as the sum of all final uses in buyer prices minus the import of goods and services.

Statistical unit

The units in the national accounts are resident enterprises, households or other units characterised by economic decision-making autonomy and their ability to enter into economic transactions with other resident or non-resident units.

Statistical population

The annual national accounts cover all resident enterprises, households or other units characterised by economic decision-making autonomy and their ability to enter into economic transactions with other resident or non-resident units. The calculation of National accounts indicators requires the integration of data from many statistical sources. The concept of statistical population is not applicable in a national accounts’ context.

Reference area

Denmark excl. Faroe Islands and Greenland. The Danish national accounts cover the activity carried out by Danish resident entities and is thus not defined by where the activity takes place geographically.

The economic area is understood as:

• The geographical area managed by a government within which persons, goods and services, and capital move freely. Faroe Islands and Greenland is not covered by Danish national accounts. • Duty-free zones. • The national airspace, territorial waters, and the part of the continental shelf that lies within the international waters under the sovereignty of the country. • Territorial enclaves (e.g. Danish embassies and consulates abroad). • Deposits of oil, natural gas, etc. in international waters outside the country's continental shelf, which are utilized by resident entities.

Time coverage

National accounts figures are available on a quarterly and annual basis. The quarterly national accounts cover the period from the first quarter of 1990 and onwards. The annual national accounts cover the period 1966 and onwards.

Base period

Not applicable. The volume estimates are calculated with 2020 as the reference year.

Unit of measure

DKK million. GDP and its components can also be expressed in previous year’s prices, chain-linked values, percentages, per capita and in percentage points.

Reference period

The national accounts cover transactions that have happened within the year.

Frequency of dissemination

Annual numbers are published 3 times annually. The first version of the preliminary annual national accounts is published at the end of February the following year. The annual national accounts are then revised in March and June of the same year, as well as in June of the following year. The final annual national accounts are published annually 2 and a half years after the year the data is collected for.

Legal acts and other agreements

The Danish Statistics Act § 6 and §§ 8-12.

Regulation (EU) No. 549/2013 of 21 May 2013 on the European System of National and Regional Accounts in the European Union (ESA2010) (OJ L 174 26. June 2013, p. 1).

The Commission Decision of 17 December 2002 further clarifying Annex A to Council Regulation No. 2223/96 as regards the principles for measuring prices and quantities in the national accounts.

Cost and burden

The statistics are based on information collected by Statistics Denmark for the compilation of other statistics. As such, there is no direct reporting burden in the compilation of the national accounts. Often, questionnaires for statistics included in the national accounts have been prepared in consultation with the national accounts to ensure sufficient data to meet the needs of the national accounts as well.

Comment

The most recent major revision of the national accounts took place in 2024. Major revisions of macro economic statistics take place every 5 years. It is an opportunity to incorporate improved sources and methods that cannot be incorporated as part of current revisions. In this version of the statistics has been revised back to 1966.