Social contributions

Data on taxes and social contributions are collected by Eurostat on the basis of the European system of national accounts transmission programme (ESA 2010), table 9 “Detailed tax and social contribution receipts by receiving subsector”. The data relate to the general government sector, including subsectors for central government, state government (where applicable), local government, social security funds (where applicable) and taxes collected on behalf of the EU institutions. The data are consistent in terms of methodology with the annual GFS data on government revenue (dataset: GFS). However, differences between the two datasets may arise owing to data vintages. Further information is available on the Eurostat website (link) and the "Economic analysis of taxation" page of the European Commission website managed by the DG for Taxation and Customs Union (link).

In national accounts, general government expenditure is also classified by function according to the international Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG). The COFOG classification describes government expenditure according to the following ten major functions or purposes: General public services Defence Public order and safety Economic affairs Environmental protection Housing and community amenities Health Recreation, culture and religion Education Social protection The expenditure according to these ten major functions is presented in an interactive table with charts. More detailed information on the type of expenditure is available for each function, i.e. compensation of employees (labour costs), intermediate consumption (expenses on goods and services) and gross fixed capital formation (investments). The data are transmitted to the ECB by Eurostat and are defined with reference to the European System of Accounts 2010 (ESA 2010). Eurostat's Manual on sources and methods for the compilation of COFOG Statistics (link) provides detailed information on the methodological background for the compilation of COFOG data. The data are consistent in terms of methodology with the annual GFS data on government expenditure (dataset: GFS). However, differences between the two datasets may arise owing to data vintages.

Government finance statistics (GFS) provide a comprehensive overview of fiscal developments in the euro area, the European Union, and individual EU Member States. Data for Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States are also available, although with less detail.

The Main aggregates in the national accounts (MNA dataset) include gross domestic product (GDP), value added by main economic activity, main expenditure components and aggregated income statistics. These data are collected and disseminated by the European Commission (Eurostat) and the national statistical authorities. The MNA dataset also includes additional indicators calculated by the ECB, such as implicit GDP deflators, contributions to growth, unit labour costs and its components (compensation per employee and labour productivity), as well as business investment. Data for the euro area, EU and the EU Member States are available.

Unemployment rates published by the European Commission (Eurostat) and conform to International Labour Organisation (ILO) guidelines. They refer to persons actively seeking work as a share of the labour force, using harmonised criteria and definitions.

The IDCM dataset covers publicly available selected national accounts data (gross domestic product and main aggregates, population and employment) as published by Eurostat, the IMF, the OECD and the UN.  It is the result of a regular data exchange set up by the International Data Cooperation (IDC) initiative under the Inter-Agency Group on Economic and Financial Statistics (IAG), which is chaired by the IMF. The aim is to develop a set of commonly shared principles and working arrangements for data cooperation that could be implemented by the participating international organisations, leading to the improved timeliness and accuracy of published data (link).

The labour cost indices are published by the European Commission (Eurostat) and national statistical authorities and measure the changes in labour costs per hour worked in industry (including construction) and market services. A breakdown of hourly labour costs for the euro area is available by labour cost component (wages and salaries, other labour costs) and by economic activity (NACE sections).

The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) for the euro area is published by the European Commission (Eurostat) and generally available from 1996 onwards. Euro area results are obtained by aggregating indices for individual countries. The HICP is broken down following the European classification of individual consumption according to purpose (ECOICOP) and by goods and services special aggregates derived from it. The HICP covers monetary expenditure on final consumption by resident and non-resident households on the economic territory of the euro area. The seasonally adjusted HICP data are compiled by the ECB.

Eurostat started to collect quarterly frequency job vacancy data in 2003. The data are also included as part of the Principle European Economic Indicator (PEEI) data set. The series were, until 2009, collected on the basis of a “gentlemen"s agreement” basis and, as such, were not fully harmonised or complete. From 2010 the reporting of quarterly data is under Regulation (EC) No 453/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on quarterly statistics on Community job vacancies. Job vacancy statistics are compiled on the basis of data provided by the Member States. At the request of some countries, some national data are received but not published by Eurostat. These data are used only for the calculation of European aggregates but are available to the ESCB for strictly internal use only. A quarterly press release containing the data was first released with the publication of Q1 2014 results.