Sector accounts; seasonally adjusted data, NA, 1999-2017

Table explanation

Description topics

Total domestic sectors

The domestic sectors consist of non-financial corporations, financial corporations, general government, households and non-profit institutions (NPI) serving households. The breakdown into institutional sectors is based on international rules.

Gross domestic product

Gross domestic product (GDP) is a quantity that expresses the size of an economy. The volume change of GDP during a reference period expresses the growth or shrinkage of the economy. Gross domestic product at market prices is the final result of the production activity of resident producer units. It can be defined in three ways:

- production approach: GDP is the sum of gross value added of the various institutional sectors or the various industries plus taxes and less subsidies on products (which are not allocated to sectors and industries). It is also the balancing item in the total economy production account;
- expenditure approach: GDP is the sum of final uses of goods and services by resident institutional units (final consumption and gross capital formation), plus exports and minus imports of goods and services;
- income approach: GDP is the sum of uses in the total economy generation of income account (compensation of employees, taxes on production and imports less subsidies, gross operating surplus and mixed income of the total economy).

Net domestic product at market prices (NDP) can be obtained by deducting consumption of fixed capital from GDP.

Gross operating surplus

The surplus that remains after compensation of employees and taxes less subsidies on production and imports have been subtracted from the sum of value added at basic prices. For the self-employed (who are part of the sector households) the surplus is called mixed income, it is partly a reward for their entrepreneurship compensation for their labour.

In the system of national accounts gross means that consumption of fixed capital (depreciation) has not been subtracted. When it has, net is used. Depreciation must be paid for from the gross operating surplus.

Gross national income

Total primary income received by resident institutional units: compensation of employees, operating surplus / mixed income (gross), net property income and net taxes on production and imports less subsidies. Incomes flowing from one domestic sector to another have no effect on net national income. Gross national income (at market prices) equals GDP minus primary income paid by resident institutional units to non-resident institutional units plus primary income received by resident institutional units from the rest of the world. The division of payments by member states to the European Union is largely based upon differences in gross national income.

National income is not a production concept but an income concept, which is more significant if expressed in net terms, i.e. after deduction of consumption of fixed capital.

Gross disposable income

The sum of the gross disposable incomes of the institutional sectors. Gross national disposable income equals gross national income (at market prices) minus current transfers (current taxes on income, wealth et cetera, social contributions, social benefits and other current transfers) paid to non-resident units, plus current transfers received by resident units from the rest of the world. Because disposable national income is not a production concept but an income concept, it is usually expressed in net terms, i.e. after deduction of depreciation (consumption of fixed capital).

Gross saving

The portion of national disposable income that has not been used for final consumption expenditure.

Net lending (+) or net borrowing (-)

Net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) is the balancing item on the current and the capital account. This balancing item equals the balance of transactions on the financial account; a deficit on the current and capital account is financed by new liabilities and/or the sale of financial assets. In case of a surplus, liabilities are repaid and/or financial assets acquired.
Net lending or net borrowing for the total economy is equal to the balance on the current and the capital account of all institutional sectors. The balance of the financial account for the total economy shows the amount of net lending to or borrowing from the rest-of-the-world.

Non-financial corporations

The non-financial corporations sector consists of institutional units which are independent legal entities and market producers, and whose principal activity is the production of goods and non-financial services.
Non-financial corporations include:
- all corporations, quasi-corporations and co-operative organisations which do not belong to the financial corporations.
- all non-profit institutions which do not pertain to the other sectors. Examples are old people's homes, hospitals and housing corporations.
- public enterprises, which are fully or partly owned by the government, like Dutch Rail-ways (NS).

Value added

The value of all goods and services produced (production value or output), minus those that have been intermediately used upon production (intermediate consumption). Value added is rated at basic prices: purchaser's prices minus trade and transport margins and taxes on products paid and plus subsidies on products received. Intermediate consumption is rated at purchaser's prices minus non-deductible VAT.
Included is the output by all kind-of-activity units residing in the Netherlands, also those that are held by foreign owners.

Gross operating surplus

The surplus that remains after compensation of employees and taxes less subsidies on production and imports have been subtracted from the sum of value added at basic prices. For the self-employed (who are part of the sector households) the surplus is called mixed income, it is partly a reward for their entrepreneurship compensation for their labour.

In the system of national accounts gross means that consumption of fixed capital (depreciation) has not been subtracted. When it has, net is used. Depreciation must be paid for from the gross operating surplus.

Gross fixed capital formation

Expenditure on produced assets that are used in a production process for more than one year. This may concern a building, dwelling, transport equipment or a machine. This in contrast with goods and services which are used up during the production process, the so-called intermediate use (e.g. iron ore). Fixed capital does lose value over time as a result of normal wear and tear and obsolescence. This is called consumption of fixed capital (also called depreciation). The value of fixed capital formation in which the consumption of fixed capital is not deducted is called gross fixed capital formation. Deduction of the consumption of fixed capital results in net fixed capital formation.

The following types of fixed assets exist: dwellings and other buildings and structures, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, weapon systems (included in machinery and equipment), computers, software, telecommunication equipment, research and development, cultivated biological resources, mineral exploration and evaluation, and costs of ownership transfer on non-produced assets, like land, contracts, leases and licences.

Compensation of employees

The compensation of employees is the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable by an employer to an employee in return for work done by the latter during an accounting period. The compensation of employees is equal to the sum of wages and salaries and employers' social contributions.