European accounts

EU countries transmit national accounts data in their national currency. For EU members which are not part of the euro area (EA), as well as for current EA members before their accession, transactions have been converted into euro. This is done using the average exchange rates for each quarter of the reference period.

Therefore, transaction growth rates for the EU are affected by movements in exchange rates and should be interpreted with caution. These fluctuations have almost no effect on ratios like entrepreneurial income shares or saving rates. Exchange rate movements have little impact on the euro area accounts.

Several steps are needed in order to compile the European aggregates of non-financial sector accounts.

National data, which were converted into euro, are aggregated together with the transactions of European institutions. In addition, further adjustments are performed for the removal of intra EU/euro area flows (see explanation under the section on rest of the world). Finally, the overall balancing of the European accounts is ensured.

The EU institutions and other European bodies are part of the EU economy's domestic sectors and have to be taken into account when compiling the European accounts.

The European Central Bank (ECB), the European stability mechanism (ESM), and the European financial stability facility (EFSF) are included in both the euro area and EU accounts.

All other European institutions are treated as resident in the EU accounts and as non-resident in the euro area accounts. This is because their administrative competence goes beyond the euro area.

The rest of the world accounts, as compiled by EU members, record transactions and financial balance sheets between the national economy and all non-resident units, including those in other EU countries.

To measure the external transactions and financial balance sheets of the euro area/EU, it is necessary to remove cross-border flows and financial claims within the area concerned.

For this, European accounts use statistics from national and European balance of payments and international investment positions. These provide the necessary geographical detail, which is not available from sector accounts.

However, the following may have an impact on the sector accounts aggregates:

• cross domain inconsistencies between national accounts and balance of payments statistics
• asymmetries present in the bilateral data used for the elimination of the intra EU/euro area flows.

This may result in differences with other national accounts publications for which cross border flows within the area concerned have not yet been removed.

The annual European non-financial sector accounts are calculated as sum of 4 quarters based on the European aggregates of the quarterly non-financial sector accounts.

The European aggregates for annual financial accounts are the sum of the EU countries. They are calculated only if data are available for all countries and not confidential. Please also consult our  specific country metadata.

Eurostat re-publish the euro area aggregates for the quarterly financial accounts, which are compiled by the ECB. No data are available for the EU aggregate at quarterly level.

The compilation of integrated non-financial and financial accounts for the euro area and European Union is the outcome of a close collaboration between Eurostat, the European Central Bank (ECB), the national statistical institutes and the national central banks.

Eurostat publishes seasonally adjusted data, corrected for calendar effects, for the key indicators for the euro area and the European Union. For details, please consult our  methodological note on seasonal adjustment of the euro area and the European Union.

Please also consult our explanation on the parameters of the  seasonally adjusted data for the production of 2023Q3.