1. Introduction

The system of national accounts provides a comprehensive quantitative reflection of the economic process within the Netherlands, as well as economic relations with other countries. The national accounts are reviewed at regular intervals as more – and more complete – source material becomes available over time. These accounts use common indicators such as gross domestic product (GDP) and gross national income (GNI). This document details the revisions made to CBS’ national accounts for the 2021 and 2022 reporting years.

Every year in June, following the second calculation of the first quarter, CBS publishes revised annual figures for the previous two years. This year, the revisions are more striking than usual. The balance of payments and the international investment position for these periods have also been revised by De Nederlandsche Bank.

Significant revisions to GDP and GNI in 2021 and 2022

The average revision to GNI over the reporting years from 2015 to 2020 was 5.4 billion euros. This year, the upward revision to GNI is 48.2 billion euros for the 2021 reporting year and 46.4 billion euros for the 2022 reporting year. Of these amounts, 15.1 billion euros and 17.4 billion euros respectively were caused by a revision to GDP. The remaining revision – 33.1 billion euros and 29 billion euros, respectively – is due to primary income flows both to and from other countries. GDP volume growth in the 2021 reporting year has been revised from 4.9 percent to 6.2 percent. GDP growth for the 2022 reporting year has been revised from 4.5 percent to 4.3 percent.