Publication revision National accounts, reporting period 2021 erratum

The national accounts provide a coherent and consistent overview of the Dutch economy. Key macroeconomic indicators in the national accounts include gross domestic product (GDP), gross national income (GNI), general government balance, government debt, external assets and household disposable income. The national accounts also include figures on consumer spending, investments, imports and exports of goods and services, financial positions (including changes) and employment.

In accordance with the European revision policy, the European Commission recommends that member states revise their national accounts at least every five years and publish the revised outcomes in years ending on a four and a nine. This publication of the revision for reporting year 2021 ensures that the Netherlands is in compliance with this recommendation. A one-off six-year interval has been established between successive revisions to ensure alignment with this recommendation, as the last revision but one (regarding reporting year 2015) was published in 2018. Almost all other European Union (EU) member states will also publish their revised figures between May and October of this year.

The conceptual basis for the national accounts is the System of National Accounts 2008 (SNA 2008) adopted under the auspices of the United Nations and other international organisations. Within the European Union (EU) the European System of Accounts 2010 (ESA 2010) has legal force in the form of a regulation (EU Regulation No 549/2013). ESA 2010 is based on SNA 2008, but in some instances is more specific and more precise in the description of the concepts. ESA 2010 also differs from SNA 2008 in a limited number of respects.

These strict guidelines help ensure that the national accounts are compiled in accordance with the same interpretation of concepts and rules in all EU member states, as far as possible. The legally enshrined agreements on the compilation of macroeconomic statistics reflect the important role that such statistics fulfil in determining member states’ contributions to the EU’s own resources and to the assessment of their government finances. GDP/GNI also play a role in Member States’ contributions to other international organisations (such as the OECD) and serve as a benchmark against which other economic indicators are measured (such as expenditure on development cooperation and defence activities).

Only limited amendments were made in applying the international guidelines in the 2021 revision. These amendments relate to textual clarifications where the existing guidelines lacked clarity, such as on privately owned solar power output and the approach to non-resident drug barons.
Many of the amendments in this revision are a consequence of four overarching themes:

• Recommendations or action points during verification of the figures by Eurostat and the European Central Bank (ECB). Because of the importance of macroeconomic statistics, extensive checks are carried out on the figures. Recommendations or action points can flow from this.
• New sources. Several new sources have become available at CBS and De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) in recent years. These mainly concern sections of the economy in which no direct source was available and where model-based estimates were previously used.
• Alignment with existing sources. Even if no new sources are used for this revision, re-alignment to existing sources may result in adjustments. This often directly or indirectly concerns the requirement for comparability of successive estimates in national accounts. This allows source developments to be included, but sometimes creates differences with the source over time.
• Reclassifications of companies and institutions. There has been a major focus in recent years on improving the classification of enterprises and institutions according to economic activity (such as manufacturing, construction sector and business services) and sector (such as non-financial corporations (NFCs), financial enterprises and the government). This has sometimes resulted in major shifts between economic activities and/or sectors. The impact of this on macroeconomic key figures such as GDP and GNI is usually of limited scope.

Currently, revised data are only available for reporting year 2021. On 24 June 2024, the entire revised time series from 1995 to 2023, including the underlying quarters¹⁾ will be published on StatLine.

In the Netherlands, CBS and DNB collaborate closely in compiling macroeconomic statistics (the national accounts, balance of payments and government finance statistics), through joint use of source material and joint compilation processes. DNB staff members also work directly on compiling the national accounts. As a result, the national accounts key figures and the balance of payments and international investment position prepared by DNB have been fully reconciled since 2018. The revision of these systems also took place jointly. DNB discusses the results of revising the balance of payments and the international investment position in its own publication.

This publication is structured as follows. Chapter 2 provides a statistical overview of the revisions to the key indicators of the national accounts. Chapter 3 covers the background and reason for the revision. Chapter 4 (more detailed interpretation of the guidelines) and Chapter 5 (revisions per sub-system) explain the background to the major revisions. Chapter 6 places the revisions resulting from the 2021 revision in a historical perspective. Chapter 7 sets out the revision publication schedule for 2024 and the revision strategy for the future.

The revision of the national accounts over reporting year 2021 has the following consequences for the most important macroeconomic key figures:

• GDP was revised upwards by €21 billion to a total of €892 billion, an increase of 2.4 percent. GNI²⁾ was revised upwards by €17.9 billion, an increase of 2.0 percent. The external assets position was adjusted downwards by €181 billion to €632 billion;
• The estimate of the number of employed persons was reduced by 83 thousand (0.8 percent) to 9.7 million people. The number of hours worked by these employed persons was actually revised upwards by 224 million hours (1.6 percent). Employee remuneration was revised upwards by €4.5 billion (1.1 percent);
• The government’s balance of receivables remained almost unchanged at -€20 billion (-2.2 percent of GDP). Government debt according to the EMU definition was also hardly revised and amounts to €450 billion. As a result of GDP being revised upwards, government debt, expressed as a percentage of GDP, now amounts to 50.4 percent. Before the revision, government debt was 51.7 percent of GDP;
• Household disposable income³⁾ was revised upwards by €1.3 billion. Household consumer spending was increased by €19.5 billion. As a result, the household savings rate⁴⁾ was revised down by 4.2 percentage points to 19.1 percent.

Chapters 5 and 6 provide more detailed explanations of the most important revisions. The table below provides an overview of the revisions to a number of key indicators.

No large-scale introduction of new international guidelines apply in this revision for reporting year 2021; the statistics are still compiled according to the same European System of Accounts (ESA 2010). However, this revision does introduce some methodological changes that better describe sections of the Dutch economy within the existing guidelines. These are partly due to additional European guidelines on interpreting ESA 2010.
For instance, this revision is in line with an updated version of the European Manual on Government Deficit and Debt (MGDD 2022).

The revision adjustments are spread across all economic activities and across almost all transactions, assets and liabilities. Nevertheless, many of the adjustments can be explained based on four overarching themes: revisions based on recommendations or action points following verification of the figures by Eurostat and ECB, revisions resulting from using new sources, revisions resulting from realignment with existing sources and revisions resulting from reclassifications of enterprises and institutions.

3.1 Data verification by the European Commission (Eurostat and ECB)

Because of the importance of macroeconomic statistics, extensive checks are carried out on the figures. Recommendations or action points can flow from this, which must be implemented during the revision. The national accounts were reviewed extensively recently in the framework of GNI, EDP and MIP verification. These verifications are explained below.

3.1.1 GNI verification

The level of gross national income (GNI) of EU member states is used to determine each member state’s contributions to the EU. The European Commission (Eurostat) therefore conducts extensive verification of the correct use of ESA 2010 to determine GNI. This verification has led to two types of action points to improve the Dutch methodology and calculations.

First, it is possible that areas of the economy are identified in which the methods used by different member states are not sufficiently comparable to enable GNI to be determined. European agreements are made regarding the desired method with respect to these areas, to which all member states are obliged to adhere.

Second, the estimates of individual member states’ national accounts are reviewed extensively in terms of data, methods and calculations used. Part of this review included an information visit by Eurostat to CBS in July 2023.

Together, this resulted in six improvement areas for the Dutch figures. These have been incorporated in this revision.

• The methodology used to determine trading margins on financial assets has been aligned with newly developed guidelines;
• For a select group of multinational companies, the registration of cross-border transactions between divisions of these companies was compared with those of other member states and, where necessary, the registration was brought in line with those of other member states;
• New level estimates have been produced for areas of the economy for which the current estimates are older than five years;
• The remuneration received by Dutch residents as employees of international organisations was added to the remuneration received by employees from abroad;
• In health and welfare, the cost of bank services was added to intermediate consumption;
• Activities undertaken by non-resident leaders of Dutch criminal organisations are no longer included in the Dutch national accounts.

As the previous revision is six years old, the third action point in particular, of updating level estimates older than five years, led to a large number of adjustments. This is partly because these new estimates regularly involve changes of method. This is the case for housing services, software investment and cross-border employment.

3.1.2 EDP verification

European Union member states must meet standards for public deficit and government debt. Deficit and debt are determined in the framework of the national accounts. As these figures are of major importance, Eurostat conducts extensive verifications of government figures. This includes making information visits, known as EDP dialogue visits, to member states once every two years. An information visit may result in a member state adjusting the registration of certain transactions. If the adjustment leads to a significant revision of government deficit and/or government debt, the figures should generally be revised immediately. If the impact on the general government balance and debt are limited, the adjustments can be incorporated in the revision of the national accounts.

This revision included the following adjustments:

• The energy tax credit, in which a fixed amount per electricity connection is no longer netted against taxes, but is recorded separately as a subsidy or income transfer;
• The extraction of natural gas by Energie Beheer Nederland is included as an activity within the government sector;
• The student transport pass is recorded as government consumption;
• The waste management contribution paid by companies is registered as tax;
• Statutory social security contributions deducted from benefits by social security funds were previously netted against benefits. Starting from this revision, the benefits and associated statutory social security contributions will be recorded as gross proceeds;
• The registration of capital contributions to multilateral development banks takes place when the Netherlands commits to an unconditional capital injection;
• Project developers’ contributions to municipalities for public utilities are recorded as an asset tax;
• Various institutions have been included in the general government sector, which has increased government consumption (see also Section 3.4).

With respect to GDP and GNI, particularly the first item on energy taxation led to a major adjustment. Section 4.1 addresses this further.

3.1.3 MIP verification

The macroeconomic imbalances procedure (MIP) is a set of European regulations that aim to prevent and correct risky economic developments in European member states, such as large current account deficits, or high private sector debt. In the framework of this procedure, the ECB and Eurostat conduct analyses of member states’ national accounts and balance of payments. In this context, a visit to DNB and CBS took place in December 2023, during which the used sources and methods were reviewed. Based on action points arising from this visit, the following adjustments were made during the revision:

• All household-owned financial holding companies are included in the figures;
• The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) statistics were used for deposits held by households with foreign banks;
• ECB statistics were used for securities held by households with foreign management companies in other euro area countries.

3.2 New sources

The data sources on which economic figures are based change over time: some cease to exist and new sources are also continuously being added. These new sources are already used to calculate macroeconomic figures wherever possible, especially to determine growth rates. However, in a revision, the new sources are fully incorporated into the national accounts and the figures from the new sources are also incorporated. Updated versions of the sources are also used where available, and the latest statistical insights are applied to the sources to better reflect the concepts used in the national accounts.

In recent years, various new sources have become available to both CBS and DNB. Several of these new sources were used for the first time for this revision. Various other new sources had started to be used to calculate developments in the economy in recent years, but in accordance with the revision policy, these were used for the first time in this revision to determine the new levels.

• European obligations for supplying statistics on companies was expanded as of reporting year 2021. From this reporting year, statistics on all market producers in private education, health and welfare, and culture, sports and recreational services must be provided in accordance with the new European Business Statistics (EBS) regulation. CBS has therefore prepared new statistics, with data on these companies’ profit and loss accounts; the production statistics.
• As part of the collaboration between CBS and DNB, DNB has prepared survey-based statistics over the past few years for various types of financial institutions that, until then, had not yet been collected or had only been collected to a limited extent. This concerns sections of the other financial intermediaries, financial support companies and intra-group financial institutions and lenders sectors, for which annual reports and models were previously used.
• From this revision onwards, corporate tax declarations are used to produce figures for financial and non-financial holding companies for which no proprietary statistics are available within CBS and DNB. As this source was already being used for other statistics within CBS, this concerns and additional use of this source.
• New and improved data have been used with respect to the holding and issuance of securities, such as listed shares and bonds. DNB has removed reporting on securities, which includes listed shares and bonds, from the existing statistics and has established a more comprehensive autonomous survey; Monthly Securities Reporting (MER). Data from the ECB’s Centralised Securities Database (CSDB), a reference database, were also used more extensively for securities. This database provides information on securities issued. This information will also be used to determine the balance sheet value of the issued securities.
• Several adapted CBS and DNB sources were also used, including the updated Statistics of Finances of Enterprises (SFO); a joint CBS and DNB survey for non-financial corporations (NFCs). This combines previous separate CBS and DNB surveys on non-financial enterprises. Another revised source is DNB’s Macroeconomic Statistics Reporting (MESREP), which in parts provides improved monitoring of financial sectors than previous sources.
• One of the external sources used is the Employee Insurance Agency’s (UWV) policy administration. The policy administration includes such things as all payroll tax returns from employers in the Netherlands. Since the previous revision, this source has been expanded to include a variable that enables severance and transition payments to be reported separately. This additional variable replaces a model that was used previously for these remunerations.

3.3 Alignment with existing sources

Even for those parts of the economy where no new sources or methods have been introduced, the revision can sometimes lead to substantial adjustments as a result of realignment with the levels and structure of the source statistics. The main focus when compiling national accounts in the years between revisions is to describe macroeconomic developments, such as GDP growth. This means that it is not always possible to align with the current figures due to, for instance, series breaks, methodological changes, or a new data collection design. Over time, this may result in a divergence between the levels published in the national accounts and the source levels. This has been rectified in this revision.

There are multiple reasons why re-alignment with the source can result in adjustments. First, following further analyses of the definitive economic figures that have already been published, irregularities are sometimes found in the source data in the national accounts, or in the processing of these data. Such minor irregularities that surface after the publication of the final figures of the national accounts and that only have a limited impact on the economic picture, are generally only dealt with during a revision. During Eurostat’s verification of the figures, the rule applies that known errors greater than 0.1 percent of GNI must be adjusted in the interim. For more minor errors, there is an option to wait until the revision. With GNI at around €900 billion in 2021, this means that errors up to approximately €900 million will in some cases only be corrected during the revision.

Second, new insights can emerge regarding how to improve the consistency of various sources. There can be major differences between the sources, even when describing the same phenomenon. This occurs, for example, when output and domestic consumption of goods or services do not match the trade balance derived from international trade statistics. Choices were made during the 2015 revision regarding the corrections that needed to be made to ensure consistency of figures from the various sources.

These are known as integration adjustments and are automatically incorporated in subsequent years to ensure comparability between the years. An integration adjustment in reporting year 2015 will result in a difference between the source and the national accounts until the next revision (reporting year 2021). Alignment with the source takes place as far as possible during a revision.

Finally, for some sections of the economy, the source used is not available in time each year. This is the case for the Budget Study, for instance, which surveys household expenditure. As this statistic is only produced once every five years, an extrapolation method is used for the interim years. Alignment with the source when this becomes available can sometimes lead to major adjustments. This issue is closely related to the action point from the GNI verification, in which the basis for an extrapolation must not be older than five years.

3.4 Reclassifications of enterprises and institutions

The national accounts use two systems to classify enterprises and institutions: one by type of economic activity, known as the NACE Rev 2 classification, and one by institutional sector. Both are maintained in the CBS general business register (GBR). Classification according to economic activity makes a distinction between economic sectors such as manufacturing, trade or business services. Classification according to sector distinguishes between, for example, non-financial corporations (NFCs), government and households (self-employed persons). For example, a company is then classified as a non-financial institution in business services.

There has been a considerable focus in recent years particularly on improving the sector classification in the GBR, partly based on European laws with respect to statistical enterprise registers. These improvements are being implemented in one go in the current revision.

EBS’s new delivery obligation for market producers in several service types (see new sources) has increased the importance of distinguishing between market producers and non-market producers. There is actually no need to provide statistics on non-market producers. In response to this, an improved method was developed to distinguish between market and non-market producers. In this revision, this has resulted in reclassifications between enterprises (market producers) and institutions (non-market producers). During this process, the number of institutions increased on balance. In accordance with international guidelines, as the output of non-market producers is determined based on the sum-of-the-costs rather than market prices, this also affects macroeconomic totals.

As part of the collaboration between CBS and DNB, there has been a major focus in recent years on further alignment of the distinction between financial and non-financial corporations (NFCs). This included research on separate registration of financial business units from the non-financial corporations (NFCs) of which they are part. In some companies, this has led to including financial business units separately in the statistics, while in others, financial business units have instead been merged with the non-financial company to which they belong. Reclassifications of business units between sub-sectors of financial institutions have also been made within the financial institutions themselves.

In the framework of the revision, approximately 400 companies and institutions have been transferred to the government sector. These transfers took place based on analyses of the extent to which these institutions’ income originated from the government and on the government’s control over general policy.

Finally, economic activities were also classified differently in the revision, without changing sectors. This was the case for sheltered employment facilities, for example. Prior to this revision, sheltered employment facilities were accounted for in the manufacturing sector. From this revision onwards, these workplaces are included in general public administration activities.

No new international guidelines have been introduced since the 2010 revision. However, in a few instances, a changed interpretation of the methods and concepts used did lead to adjustments in the 2021 revision. This chapter further clarifies these changes relating to how transactions are recorded.

4.1 Energy tax credit

Households and companies pay energy tax on electricity consumption. A tax credit is applied per electricity connection when calculating this tax. As a result, when energy consumption is low, the tax credit may be higher than the energy tax that was initially payable and the taxpayer will receive money instead of having to pay tax. The increasing number of solar panels installed at households and companies has resulted in this situation occurring ever more often.

Until now, tax credits have been netted against tax revenue in the national accounts. This results in negative energy taxes for the relevant taxpayers. However, ESA 2010 prescribes that such netting is only permitted if the credit does not exceed the tax due, which means that the tax cannot become negative. Whether the tax actually becomes negative does not matter. If it is possible that the tax becomes negative, the credit should not be netted. Under the current rules and for all taxpayers, it is possible that the credit is negative, and therefore netting is not permitted. For this reason and starting from this revision, such netting is no longer applied, resulting in government tax receipts increasing by €3.8 billion, of which €3.4 billion are paid by households.

The energy tax credit for households is currently recorded as an income transfer. For companies, this is recorded as a non-product-related subsidy. Recording the household tax credit as income transfer has had a positive impact of €3.4 billion on GDP, as the energy tax and the non-product-related subsidy are part of GDP while income transfers are not. The changes to the way in which this credit is recorded for companies has no effect on GDP.

4.2 Privately owned solar power

Many households use solar panels to generate solar power for their own consumption. If they generate more solar power than they consume themselves, they supply this power to their electricity company. On a year-on-year basis, households may net this supply against the electricity they consume. This means that, on an annual basis, households only need to pay for the energy they consume above the energy they generate. If they generate more on an annual basis than they consume, the power company pays them for this extra energy.

The value of the additional output for which the energy companies pay, is clear. This output is valued in the national accounts at the price households receive for it. Until recently, the valuation of own use of solar power, both direct and netted consumption, was less straightforward. This could be both valued against the price that energy companies receive for the sale of electricity (the base price) as well as against the price that households would have paid if they had purchased this electricity from the energy company (the market price). As a large proportion of the electricity price comprises taxes, there are major differences between these two valuations. Taxes are not part of the base price, but they are part of the market price.

The increasing use of solar panels by households has resulted in Eurostat increasing its focus on this. Additional European guidelines have been developed regarding how to interpret ESA 2010 on this point. The guidelines stipulate that generation for own use should be valued at base prices. These guidelines were adhered to during the preparation of this revision. Until now, the electricity generated was valued against market prices. This has had a negative impact on GDP of €1.0 billion.

4.3 Drug production and trafficking

According to ESA 2010, drug production and trafficking should be included in the national accounts, along with several other illegal activities. Estimating this is fraught with many uncertainties, as few reliable sources are available. During the revisions, extensive research is conducted regarding the extent of illegal activities in the Netherlands. New sources and insights have become available since the previous revision on reporting year 2015. One of these insights, which relates to accounting for the income of non-resident drug barons, has led to a changes in how drug production and trafficking are recorded.

Much of the production and trafficking of drugs is in the hands of internationally operating criminal organisations. This concerns in particular international cocaine shipments and the production and export of synthetic drugs. The leaders of these criminal organisations almost always live outside the Netherlands in countries where the chances of being caught are lower and where it is easier to spend the money they make. For the purpose of the national accounts, this means they should be considered as being residents of a country other than the Netherlands, even if they have Dutch nationality.

For this reason and starting from this revision, drug barons’ activities are no longer classified as part of the Dutch economy. These activities are classified as part of the economy of the (often unknown) country in which the leader of the organisation is resident. Only the earnings of members of criminal organisations who are resident in the Netherlands are still counted as part of the Dutch economy. For example, for cocaine trafficking, this means that cocaine imports and re-exports are no longer included in the national accounts. Only trafficking within the Netherlands and the services provided by residents for re-export, such as the unloading of cocaine in the Port of Rotterdam, are still included. The earnings of resident drug barons, for example from the production of cannabis, are still classified as part of the Dutch economy.

This change in recording coincides with other changes to methods and sources for estimating drug production and trafficking, which are based in part on consultations with the Netherlands Police regarding the nature of this international crime. This means that is not possible to determine the impact of only recording the drug process differently. The change in the way that activities are recorded together with the new methods and sources have had a negative impact on GDP of €0.5 billion.

Further information about the methods and sources for drug production and trafficking can be found in this article. The article also discusses how illegal activities in the Dutch economy are estimated.

4.4 Commuting by public transport

Some employees commute to work by public transport. Employers often compensate many of these employees for the costs incurred. According to ESA 2010, reimbursements for commuting fall under employee remuneration as long as the journey was made in the employee’s own time. This can be reimbursed in two ways. An employee can be reimbursed in cash for the costs incurred, for example to cover the purchase of a public transport season ticket. This reimbursement was recorded as salary both before and after the revision.

Alternatively, an employer can pay for the transport directly by making a public transport season ticket or a public transport ticket available. These costs were modest during the previous revision, which is why, until now, the way they were recorded in the company accounts provided a good reflection of reality, and they were recorded as the employer’s intermediate costs.

The increasing provision of public transport season tickets has resulted in adjustments to how this is accounted for, and to better reflect ESA 2010 guidelines. For this reason and from this revision, these costs are now recorded as salary (wages in kind). This has a positive impact on GDP of €0.5 billion.

4.5 Waste management contribution

The government expects manufacturers of products that are packaged to contribute financially to the recycling or processing of packaging waste. The contributions are then used for such things as funding waste collection and processing in the Netherlands. The government has delegated the implementation of this mandatory scheme to the business community. Until now, these payments were recorded as intermediate costs for the companies and institutions that pay this contribution.

This revision investigated how this recording takes place in more detail and the decision was taken to record the contribution in the national accounts as a non-product-related tax. The reason for this change is that the contribution has the characteristics of a tax: it is mandatory and is imposed by the government, even though the contribution is not collected by the government itself. In the new recording procedure, the government receives the tax from the companies that pay this, before paying it out as a revenue transfer to the sector in which the costs of implementation are incurred. This new recording procedure has had a positive impact on GDP of €0.3 billion.

4.6 Energie Beheer Nederland production activities

Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN) is a company contracted by the Dutch State to engage in the extraction of natural gas and petroleum. In the national accounts, this company is classified within the government sector. Until this revision, the actual extraction of natural gas and petroleum were registered within the non-financial corporations’ (NFCs) sector. EBN’s revenues were mainly considered as income for making the gas fields available, or income from assets. As a result of the EDP verification, the recording procedure was changed in this revision.

Starting from this revision, in cases where EBN participates as partner with extraction companies to extract natural gas and petroleum, this will be incorporated partly as a production activity within the government sector. Output within the government sector will be incorporated based on EBN’s share in the partnership. The new recording procedure enables a better description of the economic developments that have taken place in recent years, such as the winding down of natural gas extraction, the rising cost of earthquake damage and EBN’s new role in the energy transition. The change was also needed as the previous recording procedure was unable to account for a situation in which expenditure was higher than income.

Extraction is a market activity and this is first time that a market producer has been included within the government sector. This means that the government sector can now record a profit or loss in the national accounts, in the form of a positive or negative net operating surplus. In reporting year 2021 the government sector’s net operating surplus was €1.8 billion. This change to how EBN’s production activities are recorded has had no effect on GDP nor on the government balance.

4.7 Tourist tax

When recording taxes a distinction is drawn between product-related taxes linked to the volume or value of goods and services sold, and non-product-related taxes that are usually linked to the use of production resources. Tourist tax is usually levied based on the number of overnight stays and therefore has the characteristic of a product-related tax. However, until this revision, tourist tax was recorded as a non-product-related tax paid by the accommodation service provider, which passes on these costs to the customer in its service fees.

The way in which tourist tax is booked was changed in this revision. From now on, this tax will be booked as a product-related tax paid by the customer of the relevant accommodation service provider. This change leads to a lower volume of production and value added (at base prices) in the respective sectors. The effect on GDP (at market prices) is zero.

4.8 Student travel product

The student travel product (formerly student public transport card) is part of the student grant. With effect from this revision, this will be recorded as a social benefit in cash and the associated household consumption will be recorded as government consumption. This has no effect on GDP.

We distinguish three main systems within the national accounts: the supply and use tables, the sector accounts and the labour accounts. The supply and use tables describe production, consumption and value added per branch of industry. The various expenditure categories are also estimated based on this system: consumption, investments, stockholding, imports and exports. The sector accounts provide insight into all cash flows and all financial assets and liabilities in the Dutch economy. These are divided into the main sectors of households, enterprises, government and other countries and into further sub-sectors of these. Both systems together describe the entire economy and are fully aligned. What is known as labour accounts is the third main system in which the factor of labour is described according to various characteristics.

This chapter first discusses the respective adjustments at the sector level. The changes made to final expenditures and sector accounts are then discussed in turn. Finally, changes in the labour accounts are then discussed.

5.1 Value added by industries

During the revision, gross domestic product (GDP) was revised upwards by €21.0 billion (see Table 5.1.1). An important part of this adjustment is explained by the upward revision (+€17.2 billion) of value added (gross, base prices) of all industries collectively. Other adjustments to GDP relate to the adjustment of the balance of product-related taxes and subsidies (+€3.7 billion). This can largely be explained by changes in recording the energy tax credit, as described in Section 4.1 of this publication.

The adjustment to the collective value added of all industries of €17.2 billion is the net total of the adjustments in output (+€66.1 billion) and intermediate consumption (+€48.9 billion).

The adjustment of the output of individual industries and intermediate consumption are in general a consequence of the alignment to the levels in the source statistics, the use of new sources, or the use of new methods (see Chapter 3 of this publication). In all industries there are basically two causes for these adjustments, but nowhere is the effect so large that they are identified in the description of individual industries below as being a reason for value added adjustment.

First, compared with the situation before the revision, there is improved insight into severance payments granted by companies. Whereas previously these were erroneously included in part under companies’ intermediate consumption, after this revision they will be included under salaries (see Section 5.4.1). This has resulted in the total consumption of all industries together being revised downwards by €3.1 billion and, therefore, to value added being revised upwards by the same amount.

Second, during this revision, the method used to distinguish between investments in software and intermediate consumption of software was changed (see Section 5.2). The new method has resulted in the total value added of all industries collectively being revised downwards by €4.2 billion.

The final adjustment of value added is the result of a large number of upward and downward adjustments to the underlying value added of sectors. The most important upward adjustments relate to holdings and management consultancies (+€8.4 billion), financial services (+€6.7 billion), renting/leasing of moveable property (+€6.6 billion), the pharmaceutical sector (+€4.5 billion), and the public administration and provision of services to the community as a whole (+€3.0 billion). The biggest downward adjustments occur in real estate activities (-€9.3 billion), healthcare (-€3.2 billion) and the chemicals sector (-€2.8 billion). The changes in value added are explained below for all industries where the upward or downward revision is greater than €1.0 billion.

5.1.1 Agriculture

Value added in agriculture was revised upwards by €1.5 billion. Of this, €1.2 billion is a consequence of realignment with agricultural statistics, such as the agricultural census, farm financial data statistics, harvest estimates, dairy and slaughter statistics and agricultural services production statistics.

The remaining €0.3 billion of the adjustment is explained by the addition of missing units. By comparing the results from agricultural statistics with the data on the income of self-employed persons, which is based on income tax returns, and the statistics on corporate finance, which are largely based on data from corporate tax, it became clear during the previous revision that farms were missing from the agricultural census.

This concerns companies that are classified in the agriculture sector in the General Business Register (ABR) but do not actually carry out agricultural activities and are therefore missing from the agricultural census. During the previous revision, the addition of these units resulted in a major adjustment to the value added of agriculture. After repeating the comparison in this revision, value added needed to be revised upwards by a further €0.3 billion. Including these units also improved consistency with the labour accounts.

5.1.2 Manufacturing

The value added of the manufacturing sector was adjusted downwards by €0.7 billion to €95.9 billion. Some sectors within manufacturing show larger positive or negative adjustments. In general, these adjustments can be explained by realignment to the levels from the source statistics, incorporating new insights from further analysis of source data, and correcting irregularities that had appeared in the figures in the years since the previous revision and were carried through to this revision for reasons of continuity.

The value added of the tobacco sector was revised downwards by €1.8 billion. This is a consequence of the downward adjustment of output by €2.9 billion and consumption by €1.1 billion. This adjustment is almost entirely due to changed insights, sources and methods relating to illegal activities with respect to cannabis cultivation (see Section 4.3 of this revision publication and this article  regarding estimating the illegal economy).

The value added of the chemicals sector was revised downwards by €2.8 billion, mainly due to the upward adjustment of consumption by €3.2 billion. This adjustment is mainly due to alignment with the current levels of the source statistics. In the years between two revisions, the focus is on estimating the correct changes in gross domestic product volumes and the components of this, and less on value levels. In the chemicals sector, the price developments of production and consumption are often high, which means that minor deviations in the price of the volume from the source statistics can lead to major deviations in the level of the value from the source statistics.

In the pharmaceutical sector, where value added was revised upwards by €4.5 billion as a consequence of an adjustment to production of +€6.7 billion and consumption of +€2.2 billion, in addition to alignment with the levels from the source statistics, two other causes play a role. First, a division of a large multinational firm was reclassified from wholesale trade to manufacturing. Second, the reviewed estimate of the illegal economy, particularly the production of synthetic drugs, resulted in an upward revision of €1.5 billion of value added.

For the electrotechnical sector, value added was revised upwards by €1.2 billion. This is partly the consequence of realignment with the source statistics and partly the correction of an error in the figures used before the revision.

The value added of the machinery sector was revised upwards by €1.1 billion as a result of realignment with the levels of the source statistics. The machinery sector has expanded considerably in recent years, which means that minor deviations to the source result in a major deviation over time.

For the other manufacturing sector, value added was revised downwards by €2.4 billion. This is almost entirely explained by the reclassification of sheltered employment facilities to the public administration sector and to the provision of services to the community as a whole.

5.1.3 IT services

The downward adjustment of €2.0 billion in the value added of IT services was the result of realignment with the levels of the source statistics. The more recent figures present a better picture of production and consumption. In this sector, output level was reduced by €0.2 billion, while consumption increased by €1.8 billion. This is mainly a consequence of the use of new figures for one large multinational firm, for which the previous revision did not provide an accurate picture. For recent years, the accurate growth rates were used and, for this benchmark revision, the accurate level estimates were introduced.

5.1.4 Financial services

The reclassification of units has led to adjustments in various financial services sectors and in the non-financial holdings sector (part of business services, see Section 5.1.6). Large financial enterprises were broken up into separate divisions and placed in different sectors. This enabled a more accurate picture across the various financial sub-domains and led to a shift in value added from banks, insurance companies and pension funds to companies auxiliary to financial services and insurance companies and non-financial holding companies.

Due to other adjustments, the value added of the banking and insurance companies and pension funds sector was, however revised upwards.

The value added of banks was revised upwards by €2.5 billion. This adjustment is mainly due to the financial intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM). These are imputed (fees for) banking services, which are determined by differences between interest paid and received. This fee for bank services must be recorded as output in the national accounts.

Since these fees are, in practice, settled implicitly via interest receipts and payments, these flows cannot be observed directly and this is why the FISIM is used for banking services fees. During this revision, information was included from DNB’s balance of payments regarding the type of foreign-owned enterprises and institutions that borrow from Dutch banks. It was found that companies purchase many of these services, and far more than previously thought. Partly because of this, the value of these banking services was revised upwards by €2.7 billion.

Other causes for the adjustments to banks include the reclassifications mentioned above (€1.0 billion downwards) and an adjustment to the revenues from real estate renting/leasing by investment funds (€0.5 billion upwards). The latter resulted in an equal-sized reduction in the output of the real estate renting/leasing sector.

The value added of the insurance and pension funds sector was revised upwards by €1.8 billion, despite a downward adjustment of €1.7 billion due to the reclassifications mentioned above. The realignment with the source led to an upwards adjustment in the value added of insurance institutions of €2.9 billion. This largely relates to the downward adjustment of financial support companies following the use of a new source (see below) whose services are purchased by insurance companies.

For pension funds, output was revised upwards by €0.6 billion due to the inclusion of depreciation of capital from the national accounts rather than from company accounts when calculating output value. The output value is calculated as a sum of the costs, including depreciation. Depreciation is higher according to the national accounts because the national accounts include depreciation on immaterial assets and because these are based on market value. In company accounts, on the other hand, depreciation is often based on a historic cost price.

For pension funds, output and consumption were revised upwards by €5.5 billion due to improved insights with respect to investment costs, mainly relating to foreign investment funds. These administrative costs must be passed on to investors in these funds and had previously been underestimated. Particularly in 2021, administrative costs were relatively high compared with other years due to good investment results and the associated performance-based remuneration for managers of investment funds. As the output of pension funds is determined as a sum of the costs, output increased by the same amount. This means that value added remains unchanged.

The value added for companies auxiliary to financial services and insurance companies was revised upwards by €2.3 billion. The previously mentioned reclassifications resulted in an upward adjustment of €2.4 billion. The GNI action point regarding the trade margin on financial assets (see Section 3.1.1) resulted in a positive adjustment to value added of €1.4 billion. Finally, DNB’s use of a new source for financial intermediaries and financial support companies (see Section 3.2) resulted in a downward adjustment to value added of €1.6 billion. For this revision, the value added of this sector was estimated based on employee remuneration.

5.1.5 Real estate activities

The value added of the real estate activities sector was revised downwards by €9.3 billion. Of this, €3.2 billion concerns home ownership. This is almost entirely due to an adjustment in the rental value of owner-occupied homes (residential services). The rest of the adjustment of the real estate activities sector is due to operating real estate activities.

In calculating the gross domestic product, owner-occupiers produce a housing service for themselves. The output of these housing services is calculated using what is known as imputed rents. This is a model-based estimate of the rent that owner-occupiers would pay if their dwelling were rented instead of owned. This estimate is produced based on variables such as surface area and region.

The method of calculating imputed rents was changed during this revision. The current model is based on a larger number of variables than the model used prior to the revision. For instance, more variables from the BAG (Basic Register of Addresses and Buildings) were used to estimate missing rental values. The use of the new method explains almost the entire downward adjustment of €3.2 billion in the value added of owner-occupied homes.

The estimate of the private renting/leasing of homes, part of the operating real estate sector, has also been revised downwards. Only a limited proportion of private renting/leasing is observed by means of source statistics, which is why the same new method was used during the revision to estimate value added as was used to estimate owner-occupied homes. This explains around €1 billion of the €6.1 billion downward adjustment to the value added of this sector.

The remaining adjustment of the renting and operating of real estate sector is mainly due to the use of new data regarding the operation of commercial buildings. There is also limited direct data available from production statistics to estimate these figures, which is why the estimate is based on the lease payments for commercial buildings in other industries.

Based on new research, it has now become clear that commercial buildings are more often leased from industries other than renting and operating of real estate sectors than previously assumed. This research is based on new links between several registers: the BAG, General Business Register (ABR) and the national provision LVWOZ, which includes the value of buildings in the Netherlands under the Real Estate Valuation Act (WOZ).

A higher share of the renting/leasing of commercial buildings by other industries means a reduction in the value added of the operating real estate sector. The value added of banks and non-financial holding companies (part of business services) was revised upwards as a consequence of this research.

5.1.6 Business services

The value added of a number of business services industries was revised upwards, namely: holding companies and management consultancies (€8.4 billion), research (€1.2 billion), renting/leasing of movable property (€6.6 billion) and temporary employment agencies and job placement services (€1.1 billion).

The upward adjustment of the holding companies and management consultancies by €8.4 billion can largely be explained by the use of new data to calculate the output of holding companies from directors and major shareholders. Until now, these holding companies were assumed to have a limited net operating surplus as most profits are paid out to their owners as salaries. In the current revision, corporate tax data from these companies was used to estimate actual output, value added and operating surplus. The resulted in an upward adjustment of value added of €4.9 billion. It should be noted that part of this upward adjustment relates to a downward revision of the real estate renting/leasing and trade sectors (see above), since part of the additional output comprises real estate renting/leasing. This was previously attributed to the renting/leasing and trade in real estate sector.

The remaining upward adjustment of €3.6 billion for holdings and management consultancies is largely attributable to the realignment with the source (the production statistics) and reclassification of enterprises from, for instance, financial institutions to this sector.

The upward adjustment of €1.2 billion in the added value of the research (research and development) sector is largely due to realignment with the levels from the production statistics. This has resulted in an upward adjustment of output by €1.4 billion, of which €0.4 billion can be explained by improved information regarding the distribution of R&D grants across sectors.

The added value of renting/leasing of movable property was revised upwards by €6.6 billion. This sector mainly produces and uses licences and royalties. Approximately €5 billion of the adjustment can be explained by a more accurate picture of cash flow for certain Dutch subsidiaries of large multinational firms. These were previously not included in the figures or were included in a different way. The rest of the adjustment is attributable to realignment with the level of the source.

The value added of temporary employment agencies and job placement services was revised upwards by €1.1 billion. A large proportion of this adjustment is explained by realignment with the source and improved analysis of source data, including where new forms of secondment or mediation for self-employed persons are concerned. Furthermore, it was not possible to differentiate properly between the remuneration of temporary contract workers on the agency’s own payroll and the remuneration of contracted self-employed persons. This is because the remuneration of temporary contract workers should be included in the value added of temporary employment agencies, while the remuneration of self-employed persons should not. Improvements to the way in which this is recorded in the sources used have now been made.

5.1.7 Public administration and education

The value added of public administration was revised upwards by €3.0 billion during the revision. Of this adjustment, €2.4 billion is the result of transferring sheltered employment facilities to public administration. In the previous revision, sheltered employment facilities were recorded under manufacturing. Employee remuneration was also revised upwards by €0.8 billion in this sector. This is mainly due to reclassifications of units from other sectors to public administration and education, and through an improved estimate of pension contributions (for the latter, see also Section 5.4.1).

For education, value added was revised upwards by €1.5 billion. This adjustment is distributed almost evenly across publicly funded education and private education. In subsidised education, the adjustment is almost always due to an upward adjustment in employee remuneration. The revised remuneration can partly be explained by the revised pension contributions and partly by reclassifications of units that, prior to the revision, were not counted under education.

In private education, as of reporting year 2021 and as a consequence of new European directives, new source statistics became available in the form of production statistics (see Section 3.2 of this publication). Estimates for this sector were previously mainly based on labour figures. The use of this new source explains a large part of this adjustment. Another part can be explained by several units that were previously counted in other sectors but have now been reclassified in private education.

5.1.8 Healthcare

For healthcare, value added was revised downwards by €3.2 billion as a consequence of lower output (-€1.9 billion) and higher intermediate consumption (+€1.3 billion). The majority of these adjustments can be explained by realignment with the source statistics. For both production and value added, this has also led to a shift between the underlying sectors within care, namely from healthcare to care and welfare.

Some €0.8 billion of the downward output adjustment relates to subsidies. Prior to the revision, €0.4 billion in subsidies was wrongly not deducted from output and a further €0.4 billion was wrongly allocated to the R&D sector instead of to healthcare. The higher intermediate consumption is almost entirely explained by an error in the previous revision (see Section 3.1.1 of this publication). The costs of indirectly imputed banking services were not added to intermediate consumption at that time. This has been corrected in this revision.

5.1.9 Culture, sports and recreation

For sectors within culture, sports and recreation, for reporting year 2021 and as a consequence of new European directives, new source statistics in the form of production statistics were introduced as a source (see Section 3.2 of this publication). The estimates for these sectors were previously mainly based on annual reports, labour figures and VAT declarations. The value added of culture, sports and recreation was revised upwards by €1.5 billion, partly due to the use of this new source. The largest proportion of this (€1.1 billion) is accounted for by the creative services, arts and entertainment sector.

5.2 Adjustments to final expenditures

The figures for the various components of final expenditure were also revised in this revision. In Table 5.2.1, the adjustment of gross domestic product is broken down according to the various components of the final expenditure.

The adjustment for each component of final expenditure is explained below.

5.2.1 Household consumption including NPISH

Household consumption including non-profit institutions serving households (NPISHs) was revised upwards by €19.5 billion. A large number of sources are used to estimate household consumption. The most important of these are the annual retail production statistics and the five-yearly Budget Study, which was last conducted in 2020. The retail trade production statistics are used together with a several other production statistics to determine the supply available for consumption. The Budget Study is mainly used to determine the distribution of consumption over the various types of goods and services. Realignment with the sources is generally the most important explanation for the adjustment to household consumption, and the source may differ depending on the component of consumption.

The largest upward adjustment within household consumption, of €6.9 billion, relates to expenditure on insurance and financial services. This adjustment is mainly due to the alignment of the adjusted output of bank and pension services (see Section 5.1.4).

Expenditure on energy was revised upwards by €3.4 billion. This is mainly due to adjustments in how the energy tax credit is recorded, which means it is no longer netted against consumption. Also see Section 4.1 of this revision publication.

Expenditure on means of transport and services was revised upwards by €4.6 billion. This is partly because imports of used vehicles had previously  been underestimated. An improved estimate was also made of the consumption value of the personal use of lease vehicles. Furthermore, expenditure on home furnishings and housekeeping was revised upwards (by €3.2 billion), as was information and communication (by €1.3 billion). These adjustments relate mainly to realignment with the Budget Study and the retail trade production statistics.
The upward adjustment of expenditure on recreation and culture (by €1.8 billion) is a consequence of alignment with new production statistics for the culture, sports and recreation sector (see Section 5.1.9).

The upward adjustment of expenditure on education services (by €1.3 billion) is also largely the result of alignment with new production statistics (see Section 5.1.7).

Consumption of own production by non-profit institutions for households (part of other services n.i.e.) was revised upwards by €1.1 billion. This mainly relates to the reclassification of units between market producers and non-market producers (see Section 3.4).

Items revised downwards included expenditure on private renting/leasing and the imputed rents for owner-occupied housing (by -€4.1 billion). This was due to a change in the method of calculating the imputed rents (see the description of the adjustment in Section 5.1.5).

The downward adjustment of the consumption of social security (by -€1.3 billion) was the result of realignment with the government and care statistics.

5.2.2 Government consumption

Government consumption was revised upwards by €2.1 billion. Government consumption can be divided into in-kind consumption (consumption purchased from market parties) and non-market production consumption (consumption of goods and services produced by the government itself, such as by municipalities, central government ministries and other government organisations). Of the adjustment in public consumption, €1.0 billion is attributable to in-kind consumption, with the remaining €1.1 billion relating to non-market production consumption.

The adjustment of in-kind consumption is largely due to the student travel product now being registered as an in-kind social benefit. Student travel products were previously registered as social benefits in cash and formed part of household consumption.

The adjustment of the consumption of non-market production is due to the hundreds of institutions that were reclassified as government in this revision. During the revision, it was established that the government has control over these institutions. These units are mainly involved in producing non-market goods and non-market services that are largely consumed by the government itself. In the previous revision of the national accounts, these institutions were still part of non-financial public companies or non-profit institutions for households (see also Section 3.4).

5.2.3 Investments in fixed assets

Total investment in fixed assets was revised upwards by only €20 million. Some major adjustments were made within the various types of fixed assets, but in total these offset one another almost entirely. Most adjustments were the result of realignment with the levels from the source statistics, the use of new methods and the use of new source information, and because the investment survey was expanded to include several new sectors.

The largest adjustment involved investment in software. As a consequence of an improved estimation method, this was revised downwards by almost €6 billion. This is due to the use of new source information from the investment survey, supplemented with information from production statistics. The source information from the investment survey first became available during the previous revision, but was not considered suitable for inclusion in the estimation at that time.

Investment in housing was revised upwards by €2.5 billion, mainly following an upward adjustment of output in the construction sector on which the estimate of investment in residential premises is based.

Investment in R&D was also revised upwards by €2.1 billion as a consequence of realignment with the sources and the use of an improved estimation method. Realignment with the sources relates to the alignment of the supply of R&D services, which was revised upwards (+€2.7 billion), including from the statistics for the research sector (+€1.2 billion, see Section 5.1.6), from imports (+€1.1 billion) and from other sectors. Most of this increased supply was allocated to investment, with rest being allocated to exports and research sector consumption. The improved estimation method concerns in-house investment by market producers. A profit mark-up of 8 percent of the cost is now applied for that whereas, prior to the revision, this was calculated without a profit mark-up. The impact of this is approximately +€0.2 billion.

Another significant adjustment is in computer investment, which was revised upwards by €1.1 billion. This is largely due to investment in data centres, which was previously reported by some respondents as investment in machinery and equipment. This is also the most important explanation for the downward adjustment of investment in machinery and equipment. Investment in general fixed assets was also revised upwards by €1.3 billion. This is partly due to improved estimations of investment in solar panels and partly due to the use of new source information from the investment survey. Since 2021, this survey has been expanded to include the healthcare, private education and culture, sports and recreation industries.

5.2.4 Changes in stock

Changes in stock were revised upwards by €10.4 billion as a consequence of the use of new source data. During the revision, a correct source file was used for reporting year 2021 to replace a file with incorrect data that had been used during the original estimate. This correction explains the changes in stock almost entirely. This error was not made in other reporting years.

5.2.5 Imports and exports

The trade balance was revised downwards by €11 billion, from €98 billion to €87 billion. The trade balance in goods was revised downwards by €8.2 billion and that in services by €2.9 billion.

In the international trade in services, imports and exports were revised upwards. This is due to the alignment of trade flows with international trade statistics, which resulted in the upward revision of the import of services by €42.7 billion and the export of services by €39.8 billion. This is largely due to adjustments in imports and exports of royalties and licences and, in the case of imports, also due to an adjustment by pension funds in the import of foreign investment fund services (see Section 5.1.4).

For international trade in goods, source statistics were used that are based on the transfer of goods across borders. In this revision and for the first time, this source statistic was converted in the source section to imports and exports based on the transfer of economic ownership, the concept on which imports and exports should be based in national accounts. This ensures that the source statistics are more closely aligned with the national accounts system, which requires fewer adjustments to trade import and export totals in the source statistics to match the concepts in the national accounts.

The €8.2 billion adjustment in the trade balance in goods is the result of a downward adjustment of exports by €1.3 billion and an upward adjustment of imports by €6.9 billion. The upward adjustment of imports can partly be explained by the adjustment to the changes in stock described in the previous section. The use of incorrect source data on stocks in the original 2021 estimate incorrectly reduced the estimate of goods imports to align these with the incorrect data on stocks. That change was reversed in this revision, resulting in an upward adjustment of goods imports. Another part of the upward adjustment can be explained by the import of second-hand cars (see Section 5.2.1).

The downward adjustment of exports is the balance of an upward adjustment of exports from Dutch output by €23.6 billion and a downward adjustment of re-exports by €24.9 billion. The adjustment to imports is due to a €32.3 billion adjustment of imports for domestic use and the downward adjustment of €25.3 billion in imports that are part of re-exports. This revision saw improvements in identifying the import and export flows associated with Dutch production that takes place abroad. This has led to higher imports and exports related to Dutch production abroad but did not lead to a major revision of the total trade balance.

5.3 Adjustments in the sector accounts

The sector accounts describe the related sub-processes in the economy broken down by sectors. The main sectors are non-financial public companies, financial institutions, government and households⁵⁾. Both the description of the individual sectors and the sectors as a whole comprise various policy-relevant key figures. Gross national income (GNI) is used as the foundation for member states’ contributions to the EU. In addition, key figures on the current account balance, credits to the private sector and external assets within the EU are used to detect macroeconomic imbalances. The general government balance and government debt are relevant in the framework of European budgetary rules.

This section first explains the adjustments made to the key figures for the total domestic sectors and the Netherlands’ relationship with the rest of the world. These cover GNI, available national income, national savings, the national balance of receivables, current account balance, credits to the private sector and external assets. Various sector-specific key figures are then explained for the government and household sectors.

5.3.1 Adjustments to key figures for the total domestic sector

5.3.1.1 Gross national income

Gross national income (GNI) equals the sum of GDP and the primary income balance with the rest of the world. The Netherlands’ primary income balance with the rest of the world comprises transactions that are counted as primary income. This includes employee remuneration, taxes and subsidies related to production, and income from assets.

GNI for the 2021 reporting year was revised upwards by €17.9 billion. This adjustment is the result of the upward revision of GDP (explained in Sections 5.1 and 5.2) and a downward revision of the primary income balance by €3.1 billion.

The following revision changes resulted in adjustments to the primary income balance with the rest of the world:

Balance of remuneration of employees with the rest of the world (+€1.8 billion)

The adjustment to the balance of employee remuneration comprises an upward adjustment of €1.4 billion to the remuneration received by resident employees from abroad and a downward adjustment of €0.4 billion to the remuneration paid by the Netherlands to non-resident employees. The remuneration received from the rest of the world is adjusted first of all because remuneration received from international organisations based in the Netherlands (e.g. the International Court of Justice) was erroneously not included in the receipts. For the purposes of the national accounts, international organisations established in the Netherlands are viewed as part of the rest of the world. This omission was identified in the GNI verification (see Section 3.1.1). Incorporating it in the revision has resulted in an adjustment of €0.5 billion.

The remainder of the adjustment to remuneration received from the rest of the world is due to an additional realignment with the source (which is based on tax returns). A significant part of this adjustment is due to the assumption, prior to the revision, that the source used comprised remuneration including social contributions. As this assumption proved to be incorrect, an estimate of the missing social contributions was added during this revision.

Balance of income from assets with the rest of the world (-€5.2 billion)

The balance of income from assets with the rest of the world was revised downwards by €5.2 billion. Underlying this are several adjustments that largely cancel each other out at the macro level. The most important adjustments are discussed below.

The balance of interest paid to and received from the rest of the world was revised downwards by €4.5 billion. Of this, €2.9 billion was the result of an adjustment to imputed bank services. Interest includes an implicit fee for financial services. This fee is included in the sources as interest, but is booked as output and use of a service in the national accounts. Consequently, an adjustment to the bank service results in an inverse adjustment in interest. The part of interest flows that is recorded as imports and exports of a service was revised by €2.9 billion. This revision is described in more detail in Section 5.1.4. As imports and exports of banking services are counted against the balance of interest, the impact of adjusting bank services according to GNI is much lower than the impact on GDP.

The remaining adjustments to the balance of paid and received interest are mainly a consequence of the mixed use of current source information and new sources. A large proportion of these adjustments (-€2.4 billion) is accounted for by the financial institutions sector and intra-group lenders. This adjustment has a contra entry in profits on foreign direct investment and therefore has no impact on GNI.

The balance of received and paid profits from the rest of the world for the captive financial institutions sector was revised downwards by €1.4 billion. Excluding the contra entry for interest mentioned in the previous paragraph, the downward revision was €3.8 billion, €3.6 billion of which concerns adjustments at financial holding companies with Dutch subsidiaries. An extensive analysis has shown that part of the upward adjustment in value added with regard to non-financial corporations or NFCs (see Section 5.1) is accounted for by foreign-owned enterprises through financial holding companies of this kind. These profits are allocated to foreign shareholders through the financial holding companies, which reduces the balance of profits received and paid from the rest of the world.

The use of DNB’s new sources for the other financial intermediary and financial support company sectors has resulted in a downward adjustment of the balance of income from assets with other countries. The balance of profits received from abroad and distributed abroad was revised downwards by €1.1 billion for these sectors combined.

Income paid by the Netherlands to other countries for foreign-owned Dutch real estate was revised downwards by €1.8 billion. The return on foreign real estate was estimated based on return rates on domestic real estate. This is in line with the lower revenues from the real estate activities sector (renting and trade) that flow from this revision. This is described in Section 5.1.5. The estimate of the volume of foreign-owned real estate was also revised downwards based on land registry data for the purchase and sale of real estate by foreign-owned enterprises.

The income that residents receive from holiday homes abroad was revised downwards by €0.9 billion. This income is determined on the basis of information from the tax authorities on foreign real estate in Dutch ownership. The downward revision in income is partly due to the higher estimate of costs incurred in maintaining these holiday homes, based on improved information on the value of these properties.

Dividends received from foreign investment funds were revised upwards by €0.7 billion due to improved reporting to DNB of gross dividends paid by investment funds. Previously, taxes paid were wrongly netted against dividends received in these reports. As the dividend received is part of the primary income and the tax paid is not, this grossing up results in an upward revision of the balance of income from assets.

5.3.1.2 Disposable national income (gross)

Disposable national income is the sum of gross national income (primary income) and income from redistribution transactions (secondary income). The latter category includes taxes on income and assets, social contributions and benefits, and other current transfers.

The gross disposable national income was adjusted upwards by €15.9 billion. Along with the €17.9 billion GNI revision, this resulted in a downward adjustment of €1.9 billion on the Netherlands’ redistribution transactions with the rest of the world. The adjustment is mainly the result of the change with respect to free shipments in the import and export of goods.

In the statistics on the international goods trade, enterprises record whether shipments are paid or free of charge. Free shipments take place, for example, when medicines and relief goods are shipped to countries in which a humanitarian disaster has occurred, or in the event free test shipments of goods. Such free shipments are recorded in the national accounts as transfers of income to the receiving sector, with import or export fees being paid by this sector. This costs the receiving party nothing on balance, but the shipment is still registered in the national accounts.

However, research has shown that the amounts reported are not actually free shipments, but imports and exports that are simply subject to payment. Both paid and received current transfers associated with these shipments have therefore been removed. The resulting net impact on national disposable income is -€1.5 billion.

5.3.1.3 National savings (gross)

The part of national disposable income that is not used for consumption is counted as national savings. National savings were revised downwards by €5.7 billion. This is considerably lower than the adjustment in disposable income (+€15.9 billion) and is mainly due to an upward adjustment to household consumption of €19.3 billion. When consumption increases, less income is available for savings. Government consumption was also revised upwards by €2.1 billion. Household and government consumption adjustments are detailed in Sections 5.2.1 and 5.2.2.

5.3.1.4 National net lending or net borrowing (balance of receivables)

The national balance of receivables is the balance of funds and expenditure on the current account and capital account. The national balance of receivables was revised downwards by €16.4 billion. As well as the downward adjustment of national savings by €5.7 billion, this was the result of a downward adjustment of inventory movements by €10.4 billion (see Section 5.2.4).

5.3.1.5 Current account balance

The current account balance is an indicator of macroeconomic imbalances in the macroeconomic imbalances procedure (MIP). The MIP verification as described in Section 3.1.3 largely focuses on this variable. The balance on the current account was adjusted downwards by €16.2 billion to €89.3 billion. The adjustment is mainly a consequence of a downward adjustment to government debt of €11.1 billion. This revision is described in more detail in Section 5.2.5. In addition, the primary income and redistributive transaction adjustments (explained in earlier items) together resulted in a downward revision of €5.0 billion.

5.3.1.6 Credits to the private sector

Credits to the private sector were adjusted upwards by 22.8 percentage points (€250 billion) to 246.6 percent of GDP (€2,198 billion). The debts of units in the non-financial corporations (NFCs) sector were revised upwards by €149 billion and those of the households sector by €101 billion.

Over €83 billion of debt adjustment for non-financial corporations (NFCs) concerned loans from foreign entities with a direct investment relationship, or loans from parent, subsidiary or sister companies. This is partly due to reclassifications, which resulted in units being transferred both to and from the financial institutions sector, and intra-group lenders. As financial institutions are not included when determining credit to the private sector, such reclassifications directly affect this key figure. Another contributing factor is the recalibration of the updated Business Finance Statistics (see Section 3.2).

Debt adjustment for the non-financial corporations (NFCs) sector also comprised €73 billion in domestic loans from financial institutions and intra-group lenders. These are loans between an operating company and a company’s holding company. According to international guidelines, holding companies are classified as financial institutions, while the operating companies are regarded as non-financial corporations (NFCs). This means that internal corporate loans count towards private sector debt. This adjustment was a consequence of research into separating these holding companies from the operating company (described in more detail in Section 3.4).

Household debt to financial institutions and intra-group lenders and to non-financial corporations (NFCs) was revised upwards by €90 billion. These are entities such as holding companies in which households have a substantial interest (including as owner-manager). Households borrow money from these companies for tax purposes instead of having it paid out as dividends.

Debt at these types of companies, the assets and liabilities of which were not previously included in the national accounts, has been estimated for the first time based on their corporate tax returns (see also Section 3.2). If no production takes place, these types of enterprises with a relatively large balance sheet are classified as financial institutions and intra-group lenders. When production does take place, these enterprises are included in the non-financial corporations (NFCs) sector.

Increased household debt is offset by an increase in household assets, in the form of participations in these companies.

5.3.1.7 External assets

External assets, or net receivables from the Netherlands, were adjusted downwards by €181 billion to €632 billion. The balance comprises Dutch claims (assets) on other countries, which were revised upwards by €146 billion to €9,809 billion, as well as the Netherlands’ debts (liabilities) to other countries, which were revised upwards by €326 billion to €9,177 billion. The main adjustments are explained below.

New and improved DNB sources on the issuance and holding of securities (MSR and CSDB, see Section 3.2) show that Dutch entities have issued more debt securities than previously estimated, and that a large proportion of these debt securities are foreign-owned. Foreign-owned debt securities were revised upwards by €251 billion. Much of this (€108 billion) is due to intra-group financial institutions and lenders that were not previously included in the national accounts. These debts are matched by equally large receivables from the rest of the world, mostly intra-group loans. This means that for these newly included enterprises, there is no impact on external assets, resulting in a downward revision to the external assets for debt securities of €143 billion.

The balance of receivables and debts of other types of securities has also been reassessed, leading to smaller, upward adjustments to external assets. These include listed shares (up €10 billion), participations in investment institutions (up €27 billion) and other holdings (up €25 billion). Together, they result in an upward revision of €62 billion.

The balance of intra-group loans issued by non-financial corporations (NFCs) to other countries and the borrowings from the rest of the world was revised downwards by €67 billion. This is mainly due to non-financial corporations (NFCs) increasing their borrowing from the rest of the world, as described in Section 5.3.1.6. For the other sectors, alignment with a number of new sources resulted in a downward revision to the balance of intra-group issued loans and borrowings of €49 billion. However, this includes the previously mentioned adjustment for loans issued by financial institutions and intra-group lenders of €108 billion. As described in the previous paragraph, this is offset against the debt securities issued and should therefore be disregarded. For the other sectors, there remains a downward revision to the external assets of €158 billion.

The opposite effect can be seen for non-group loans. Alignment with a number of new sources revealed that Dutch entities issued more out-of-group loans to foreign countries than previously estimated, while taking on less of this type of debt abroad. This led to an upward revision of external assets of €105 billion.

The new sources therefore show that, with regard to the rest of the world, the balance of loans issued and borrowings has been revised upwards for intra-group loans and downwards for extra-group loans. The balance of loans and borrowings with the rest of the world in total (excluding the adjustment for newly listed financial institutions and intra-group lenders) was revised upwards by €120 billion. This resulted in a downward revision of the external assets by the same amount.

DNB discusses these changes in external assets in more detail in its May and June 2024 publications on the results of the benchmark revision for the international investment position.

5.3.2 Sector-specific key figures

5.3.2.1 Government sector

The government balance remained more or less unchanged at -2.2 percent of GDP. There have, however, been underlying changes in the government sector’s revenue and expenditure. These largely cancel each other out. Government revenue and government expenditure as a percentage of GDP were revised downwards by approximately 0.1 percentage point⁶⁾ to 43.7 and 45.9 percent of GDP, respectively. In absolute terms, both government revenue and government expenditure were revised upwards by approximately €8 billion. However, GDP was revised upwards to a greater extent, resulting in a downward adjustment to government revenue and expenditure expressed as a percentage of GDP.

A major contribution to the adjustment of both government revenue and government expenditure comes from the change in how the energy tax credit is recorded. This has resulted in both the income and expenditure being revised upwards by €3.8 billion. On the revenue side, taxes have been revised upwards, and on the expenditure side this mainly applies to income transfers to households. For a more detailed explanation, see Section 4.1.

Another major adjustment to government revenue and expenditure relates to the recording of social security contributions. The statutory social security contributions deducted from benefits by social security funds were previously netted against benefits. Starting from this revision, the benefits and associated statutory social security contributions will be recorded separately. This change has resulted in an upward adjustment of both the contributions and benefits by €2.9 billion.

The adjustment made to government debt in euros was minimal. Due to the upward revision of GDP, government debt as a percentage of GDP was revised downwards by 1.3 percentage points to 50.4 percent of GDP.

5.3.2.2 Households sector (including non-profit institutions for households)

The gross disposable income of households was revised upwards by €1.3 billion to €446.7 billion. The various adjustments underlying this revision largely cancel each other out. The main adjustments are explained below.

The gross operating surplus/mixed income from households was revised downwards by €5.4 billion. This is largely due to the rental value of owner-occupied homes being adjusted downwards by €3.3 billion, following a revision of the calculation method. This revision is described in more detail in Section 5.1.5. There were also downward adjustments in illegal activities (see Section 4.3) and privately owned solar power output (see Section 4.2).

Remuneration of employees was revised upwards by €6.3 billion. This was the result of an upward revision of €4.4 billion relating to employee remuneration paid in the Netherlands (described in Section 5.4.1) and an upward revision of €1.8 billion relating to the balance of employee remuneration received and paid in relation to other countries (described in Section 5.3.1.1). Of this €6.3 billion adjustment, €2.8 billion will accrue mainly to insurance companies and pension funds in the form of statutory social security contributions. This €2.8 billion will therefore have no impact on the disposable income of households, resulting in a positive impact of €3.4 billion.

Profit distributions received by households were revised downwards by €4.5 billion. Realignment with the source (based on tax data) resulted in a downward adjustment of dividends received (-€3.5 billion). Income derived from the ownership of holiday homes abroad was also revised downwards by €0.9 billion (see Section 5.3.1.1).

With respect to disposable income, the adjustment of €5.8 billion is fully explained by an upward revision of consumption of pension services (see Sections 5.1.4 and 5.2.1). Total payments to pension funds are subdivided into compensation for costs incurred by pension funds (consumption) and contributions to pension schemes (social security contributions). As consumption was revised upwards, the amount in social security contributions paid has been revised downwards by the same amount. As contributions paid are deducted from disposable income, this results in an upward revision of disposable income.

Other income transfers received by households were revised upwards by €3.2 billion, due almost entirely to a change in the method of recording energy tax credit, which amounted to a reduction of €3.4 billion. This change is described in greater detail in Section4.1.

The change in recording student travel products resulted in a downward adjustment to household disposable income of €1 billion. The student travel product was previously recorded as a benefit from the government to households, which was then used for the consumption of the student travel product. From now on, this will be recorded as a direct product purchase by the government, resulting in a downward adjustment to household disposable income (and consumption).

Consumer spending was also revised upwards by €19.5 billion to €380 billion. This revision is described in Section 5.2.1. Some of the adjustments in consumer spending relate directly to adjustments in disposable income. These include the rental value of owner-occupied homes, the recording method for the student travel product, imputed income received from pension funds and changes in how energy tax is recorded.

As a result of the upward revision of consumer spending, the free savings of households were revised downwards by €18.2 billion to €66.2 billion. This lowers the savings rate by 4.2 percentage points to 19.1 percent of disposable income.

Residential mortgages were revised upwards by €21.3 billion to €807 billion. Approximately €16 billion of this amount is accounted for by mortgage loans from entities in which the households concerned have a substantial interest (see also Section 5.3.1.6). For these types of units, which were not previously included in the national accounts, the debt was estimated based on information from the units’ corporate tax returns. Mortgage debt owed by households to banks was adjusted by €12.2 billion, following the correction of an amount that had been misreported to DNB.

5.4 Adjustments in the labour accounts

For reporting year 2021, the total number of jobs held by employed persons (employees and the self-employed) was reduced by 49,000 to almost 10.9 million. The number of hours worked by employed persons was revised upwards by 223 million to 14 billion and the number of labour years attributed to employed persons was revised upwards by 16,000 to 7.9 million labour years.

5.4.1 Employees

For the employee component, the figures from the labour accounts are largely based on data from the policy administration of the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV). The policy administration data includes, for example, all payroll tax returns from employers in the Netherlands.

The remuneration of employees was revised upwards by €4.5 billion and comprises employee salaries and the social security contributions charged to employers. At the macro level, no significant adjustment was made to employee salaries (-€10 million), although this is due to a compound effect of underlying positive and negative adjustments. The cost of social security contributions was adjusted upwards by €4.5 billion. The main causes of the adjustments in remuneration of employees are explained below.

Starting from this revision, the amounts involved in severance and transition payments for labour accounts are recorded directly in the policy administration. Previously, these amounts were estimated. The part of the transition payments that employers are legally obliged to pay is counted as social security contributions, and these have been revised upwards by €1.5 billion. Non-statutory benefits relating to severance and transition payments are included in salaries and this amount has been revised upwards by €1.6 billion.

In the national accounts, several items relating to wages in kind have been realigned with the levels of the source statistics. These include adjustments to the consumption value of personal use of leased cars, meal benefits provided to employees and free or discounted travel for the employees of companies in areas such as public transport and aviation. Public transport tickets provided by employers have also been included as a new item under wages in kind in the national accounts. These new and updated amounts resulted in an upward adjustment of salaries by €1.0 billion.

The integration of figures from labour accounts with DNB’s statistics on pension contributions has been revised. The pension contributions comprise employee contributions calculated as part of employee salaries and employer contributions calculated as part of the employers’ social security contributions. As was the case prior to the revision, DNB’s macro total is used as the basis and distributed among the various industries in the Netherlands using a model estimate in the labour accounts. For the total remuneration of employees in the Netherlands, there are therefore no adjustments as a result of the revised integration method, although this may be the case for individual industries.

The revised integration did, however, result in an adjustment in the ratio of employee contributions to employer contributions, and therefore between salaries and social security contributions, compared with the situation prior to the revision: €2.7 billion was transferred from salaries to social security contributions. Previously, the total employee contributions from the labour accounts were considered leading and employer contributions from the labour accounts were revised upwards to match DNB’s macro total of employee and employer contributions combined. Starting from this revision, DNB’s totals for both employee contributions and employer contributions are considered leading.

A limited adjustment was made to the labour volumes of employees. As the estimate of illegal agency jobs was removed, the employee population has been revised downwards by 23,000 jobs. The number of labour years was revised downwards by 15,000 and the number of hours worked was revised downwards by 27 million.

5.4.2 Self-employed persons

Labour accounts data regarding self-employed persons are largely taken from the Labour Force Survey (EBB) and the profit declarations of self-employed persons. The jobs of self-employed persons were adjusted downwards by 26,000 and labour years adjusted upwards by 31,000. The total number of hours worked was adjusted upwards by 251 million.

The Labour Force Survey was redesigned in 2021, including changes to the questions relating to respondents’ duration of work. As a consequence of this redesign, the number of hours worked was revised upwards. This same redesign led to hardly any adjustment to the number of jobs and the number of labour years of self-employed persons.

The new estimate for the black economy and the illegal economy mentioned earlier in this report resulted in downward revisions for self-employed persons of 42,000 jobs, 24,000 labour years and 47 million hours worked.

The remainder of the adjustment to the labour volumes of self-employed persons was due to the use of more up-to-date source data. Some of the source data for self-employed persons became available later than the employee data, resulting in additional adjustments. These additional adjustments were slightly larger than in recent years, as the coronavirus pandemic made it more difficult to estimate preliminary figures for the self-employed population.

The table below shows the effects on GDP and GNI of previous revisions of the Dutch national accounts. The adjustments in the revision for reporting year 1977 were entirely due to the use of new and revised statistics. The revision for reporting year 1987 can also be attributed almost entirely to realignment with source data. The revision for reporting year 1995 was occasioned by the implementation of ESA 1995, a new European regulation with considerable implications for the Dutch national accounting system.

In the revision for reporting year 2001, a limited number of conceptual changes were made, not least the inclusion of Special Purpose Entities (SPEs) in the national accounts and the allocation of financial intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM) to users. The details of this revision can be found in the publication entitled National Accounts 2004, Revision 2001.

ESA 2010 guidelines were implemented during the revision for reporting year 2010. In addition, the increased use of administrative data in economic statistics by CBS fundamentally changed the source situation compared to 2001. This is reflected in the 2010 revision, the details of which can be found in the publication entitled National Accounts Revision 2010.

In the revision for reporting year 2015, full alignment took place between the CBS rest of the world account and the DNB balance of payments. Several new or modified sources were also used in the national accounts and various conceptual changes introduced. Details can be found in the publication entitled National Accounts Revision 2015. 

 On 24 June 2024, in accordance with the standard publication schedule, revised annual figures for 1995 to 2023 will be published on StatLine, the online CBS database, including the revised quarterly figures up to the end of the first quarter of 2024. On 4 July 2024, the set of tables for the 2023 National Accounts will be published in accordance with the outcomes of the 2021 revision.

In accordance with the adopted European policy, the following revision of the national accounts is expected to be published in 2029 and will concern reporting year 2026. This revision will bring the Netherlands into step with the new guidelines issued by the European System of Accounts, which are currently under development. As these guidelines cannot be implemented in the European context without due legislative process, both the publication year and the reporting year of the next revision may be subject to change.

In accordance with the Netherlands’ revision policy, the financial accounts and balance sheets are currently revised on an annual basis. From this revision onwards, primary income and income and capital transfers from non-financial accounts will also be revised annually. If there are grounds to do so, CBS may also decide to carry out interim revisions (on a limited scale) for other parts of the national accounts.

If you have any questions concerning this publication, please contact the CBS Infoservice.

This revision includes a table annex, which is available on the CBS website. The figure ‘Net external assets; market value' was changed on June 24, 2024 compared to the publication of May 23, 2024, as result of correcting an error.