Belgium - Real Gross Domestic Product

For Belgium, the quarterly national accounts, including the detailed expenditure, income, and product (GVA) approaches to gross domestic product (a.k.a. GDP(E), GDP(I), GDP(O)).

Quarterly economic accounts form an integral part of the system of national accounts. The quarterly economic accounts constitute a coherent set of transactions, accounts and balancing items, defined in both the non-financial and financial domains, recorded on a quarterly basis.

Active:

• Framework: ESA 2010
• Activity classification: NACEBEL 2008, the localization of NACE Rev. 2
• Measurements:
  • Millions of euros at current prices (Mil. EUR)
  • At chained year-2015 prices (Mil. Ch. 2015 EUR)
  • Deflators, chained volume indexes relative to 2015 (Ch. Vol. Index 2015=100)
• Adjustments:
  • Working day adjusted and seasonally adjusted (WDASA)
  • Calendar day adjusted and seasonally adjusted (CDASA)
  • Not seasonally adjusted (NSA)
• Native frequencies:
  • Quarterly
  • Annual
• Start date: Uniformly 1995Q1

Predecessors:

• 2016 prices - 1995 to 2019
• 2015 prices - 1995 to 2018
• ESA 95 and 2011 prices - 1995 to 2014
• 2011 prices - 1980 to 2011
• 2010 prices - 1980 to 2012
• 2009 prices - 1995 to 2011
• ESA 79 and 95, 2008 prices - 1980 to 2011
• 2007 prices - 1995 to 2010
• 2006 prices - 1995 to 2009
• 2004 prices - 1980 to 2007
• 2000 prices - 1995 to 2006
• 1995 prices - 1980 to 2003

There are three ways, usually called approaches, of calculating GDP:

• Output approach
• Expenditure approach
• Income approach.

Each approach is based on a different view of the economic system using and measuring different aggregates. Together they give a summary of the logical relationships within the system of national accounts, and they should all give the same result for GDP if each item is estimated correctly.

The output approach is based on the calculation of output and intermediate consumption of the various industries of the economy. Gross value added of an industry is defined as the difference between output (basic prices) and intermediate consumption (basic prices).

Gross value added (basic prices) = Output (basic prices) - Intermediate consumption

GDP at market prices is then calculated as the sum of gross value added (basic prices) of all industries/branches plus taxes on products less subsidies on products.

Gross value added (market prices) = Gross value added (basic prices) + Taxes on products - Subsidies on products

The expenditure approach is based on estimates of the components of final demand:

GDP = Final consumption expenditure (by households, non-profit institutions serving households -NPISHs- and the government, in purchasers. prices) + Final consumption expenditure by the government + Gross fixed capital formation (purchasers. prices) + Changes in inventories (purchasers. prices) + Exports (f.o.b.) - Imports (c.i.f.)

The income approach calculates GDP from separate estimates of the components of the value added of industries, branches or sectors:

GDP = Compensation of employees + Gross operating surplus/mixed income + Taxes on production and imports - Subsidies.

30 days after the end of the quarter: A first estimate of economic growth (the "flash estimate") consisting of percent changes (compared to the last quarter and compared to the same quarter of the last year)

60 days after: Second estimate, with detailed statistics on the composition of GDP and on the labor market.

120 days after: Final values.

Until 2019, Statistics Belgium annually re-referenced its chained year series. The currency reference year is  two years prior (t-2) and is denoted in the unit-descriptor metadata.

Starting 2019, its plan is to re-reference every five years (2015, 2020, ...), to synchronize with Eurostat.

Definitional breaks

The 2008-base series have a framework break (ESA 79 to ESA 95) from 1995.

Further reading

At IMF (SDDS):

• Real sector - National accounts