Accuracy and reliability

Overall accuracy

Regional accounts are subject to the same margins of uncertainty as the annual national accounts and the inaccuracy here relates to the inaccuracy of the various sources used. However, the conceptual consistency and over time uniform adaptation of the sources contribute to reduce the inaccuracy of the national accounts figures. In particular, the combination of the primary sources into a coherent system in many cases reveals errors, which are therefore not reflected in the final national accounts. With regard to the regional dimension the following factors can be mentioned:

• Concerning the regionalisation of each industry, a certain margin of uncertainty, both with respect to concepts and data, is associated with the areas of: Transport, financial intermediation and insurance and pension funding. Conceptually, it is e.g. difficult to determine the location for the production of railway services, and as far as the figures are concerned, the use of quantitative indicators for the regionalisation of economic variables is necessary.
• Regarding price indices the regional accounts are deflated on the basis of the national price indices, which may affect the figures at chained prices to the extent that there are regional differences in prices.
• Furthermore, the convention generally applied by Eurostat in compiling GDP is that taxes less subsidies on products are regionally allocated in proportion with gross value added. It goes without saying that as far as concepts are concerned, it is not possible to establish an objective criterion for this allocation. To a certain extent, this may have an effect on the accuracy of the calculation of growth in each region.

Sampling error

Not relevant for these statistics.

Non-sampling error

Not relevant for these statistics.

Quality management

Statistics Denmark follows the recommendations on organisation and management of quality given in the Code of Practice for European Statistics (CoP) and the implementation guidelines given in the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (QAF). A Working Group on Quality and a central quality assurance function have been established to continuously carry through control of products and processes.

Quality assurance

Statistics Denmark follows the principles in the Code of Practice for European Statistics (CoP) and uses the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (QAF) for the implementation of the principles. This involves continuous decentralized and central control of products and processes based on documentation following international standards. The central quality assurance function reports to the Working Group on Quality. Reports include suggestions for improvement that are assessed, decided and subsequently implemented.

Quality assessment

Regional accounts are subject to the same margins of uncertainty as the annual national accounts and the inaccuracy here relates to the inaccuracy of the various sources used. However, the conceptual consistency and over time uniform adaptation of the sources contribute to reduce the inaccuracy of the national accounts figures. In particular, the combination of the primary sources into a coherent system in many cases reveals errors, which are therefore not reflected in the final national accounts. With regard to the regional dimension the following factors can be mentioned:

• Concerning the regionalisation of each industry, a certain margin of uncertainty, both with respect to concepts and data, is associated with the areas of: Transport, financial intermediation and insurance and pension funding. Conceptually, it is e.g. difficult to determine the location for the production of railway services, and as far as the figures are concerned, the use of quantitative indicators for the regionalisation of economic variables is necessary.
• Regarding price indices the regional accounts are deflated on the basis of the national price indices, except for the production values in non-market education, where regional prices indices have been calculated. The lack of regional prices information may affect the figures at chained prices to the extent that there are regional differences in prices.
• Furthermore, the convention generally applied by Eurostat in compiling GDP is that taxes less subsidies on products are regionally allocated in proportion with gross value added. It goes without saying that as far as concepts are concerned, it is not possible to establish an objective criterion for this allocation. To a certain extent, this may have an effect on the accuracy of the calculation of growth in each region.

There are no measures of margins of uncertainty. In comparison with other European countries the source material is very detailed and with a high degree of coverage - in most cases exhaustive. The compilation system is quite detailed and coherence with the sources of the national accounts is high. Therefore, the regional accounts are probably among the most reliable calculations at the Nuts III level in the EU.

Data revision - policy

Statistics Denmark revises published figures in accordance with the Revision Policy for Statistics Denmark. The common procedures and principles of the Revision Policy are for some statistics supplemented by a specific revision practice.

Data revision practice

Regional accounts are declared final in line with the national accounts. The preliminary regional accounts are thus based on the preliminary national accounts. In addition the sources used to allocate activity to regions can be provisional for the preliminary years. The two latest years in regional accounts are preliminary.