DS Euro indicators REVAMP > Information on data > EN

Background

Euro indicators provide general economic information on the euro area, the European Union, and individual members. They contain timely, high-quality, monthly or quarterly indicators. They are published according to our release calendar.

Euro indicators are linked to the principal European economic indicators (PEEIs).

PEEIs represent a comprehensive set of macroeconomic statistics, which are essential for the co-ordination of economic policies, the assessment of convergence, and the conduct of monetary policy. They describe the state of the euro area and the EU's economies and labour markets, as well as price developments.

The Commission and the European Central Bank use the PEEIs to analyse the economy of the euro area. Economic journalists and the financial markets are especially interested in them as well.

The list of PEEIs and their timeliness targets were defined in the 2002 Commission communication towards improved methodologies for eurozone statistics and indicators, amended in the 2008 status report of the Economic and Financial Committee.

Data producers

Eurostat produces most Euro indicators. They are complemented by certain monetary and financial indicators produced by the European Central Bank and by data from economic tendencies surveys produced by the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission.

Data dissemination

Euro indicators are released monthly or quarterly. Data are presented on the basis of the relevant economic classifications, depending on statistical topic, and different data treatments, such as seasonal adjustment.

DS Euro indicators > Information on data > Vintages EN REVAMP

Vintages

Definition and scope 

Eurostat publishes high-quality statistics. Statistical data can be revised after they have been published to incorporate new and more accurate information. When data are revised, the new data replace those previously published, which are then permanently lost.

Vintages address this situation by storing data published at different dates. A vintage is a snapshot of a time series as published at a certain point in time. It is saved together with its release date in a vintage database.

Vintages of main economic indicators are of interest to users because:

  • they are an essential tool for revision analysis;
  • they can be used by data producers to monitor and improve data quality as well as by users to analyse the impact of data revisions;
  • they are relevant for testing econometric models or statistical estimates;
  • they provide access to historical data as they were available to policy makers when they were making policy decisions, offering valuable insights into the statistical context of those decisions. 

The main aspects of vintages, vintage databases, and revision analysis are presented in the European Statistical System guidelines on revision policy for Principal European Economic Indicators.

Information available in the database

Eurostat publishes vintages for 3 main economic and social indicators:

  • unemployment rate
  • index of industrial production 
  • gross domestic product.

The vintage datasets are updated monthly. They will include new vintages approximately 2 months after the first release of a vintage. For example, if a time series is released for the first time in March, it will appear in the vintage database in May, with the release date of March.

When looking at vintages over several years, dimensions can change over time, for example when a time series is expressed as an index and the index has been rebased. For more information on the evolution of dimensions in published vintages, the available metadata available can be consulted.