Relevance
The
regional gross domestic product measures and compares prevailing economic
activity across regions. It is the most
important indicator for the selection of regions eligible for support under the
investment for growth and jobs goal, of the EU's regional policy.
Data
are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts - ESA 2010 and
regulation (EU) No. 549/2013 on the European system of national and regional accounts. National accounts provide a set of reliable, consistent,
and comparable macroeconomic indicators intended to meet the needs of
government and private-sector analysts, policy makers and decision takers.
Methodological
description
Regional
GDP is calculated according to the regional breakdown of the economic territory
of the European Union; called the nomenclature of territorial units for
statistics (NUTS).
For the case of the Maltese Islands, regional GDP is computed annually
at NUTS 3 level. The island of Malta is
the first NUTS 3 region (MT001), and the islands of Gozo and Comino are
considered the second NUTS 3 region (MT002).
There is also the Extra-Regio (MTZZZ) component that relates solely to
the national, thus cannot be allocated to the regions.
The
top-down method is the main approach used to calculate Gross Value Added by industry
breakdown A*10/11 and
Gross Domestic Product for Malta, and Gozo and Comino separately. When taxes on products are added to, and
subsidies of products are deducted from Gross Value Added at basic prices, then
Gross Domestic Product is obtained. This
is calculated based on administrative employment data provided by JobsPlus. Concurrently, Government GVA by industry and
at NUTS 3 level is derived from the Departmental Accounting System (DAS) and
the Treasury’s Financial Statements from the Treasury Department.
The
main source for employment data is the JobsPlus. Employment figures by region are used to apportion
Gross Value Added between the regions at NUTS 3 level for almost all industries
except General Government (GG) GVA which is already available by industry A88 and
by region.
As
preparation for Malta’s Regional Accounts is done using the production approach
the final step for the transition from GVA to GDP at market prices is to add
net taxes on products. Taxes and
subsidies on products are allocated between regions using the same ratio as
that for GVA.
Accuracy
and reliability of data
The
accuracy of regional GDP data results from checks carried out with different
sources, especially with national GDP data.
In particular, the sum of the regions (including extra-regio component) must
be equal to the national.
Timeliness
and punctuality of data
A news release on regional GDP is
published annually as
scheduled in the Advance Release Calendar.
Data for a particular reference year t are disseminated in December of
year t+1.
Regional
GDP data at NUTS 3 level is transmitted to Eurostat at t+12 months, even though
regulated at t+24.
Accessibility
and clarity of data
Regional
GDP news releases are available on the NSO’s website.
Coherence
and comparability / consistency of data
Geographical
comparability with other regions within the European Union Member States is
ensured through the use of the standard NUTS classification and by the adoption
of common concepts and definitions from ESA 2010.
Regional
accounts data are available since year 2000.
The time series is not coherent as there is a temporary break in series in the regional computations of Gross Value Added
at basic prices and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at market prices, respectively. Following data revisions published on 22
December 2016, in NR 207/2016, statistics for the period 2010-2015 is not
comparable to past statistics for the period 2000-2009. Statistics for period 2000-2009 are not
strictly in accordance to residence principle.
Longitudinal comparability shall be restored by December 2017; revisions
shall be applied retrospectively till year 2000.
Regional GDP is
coherent with National GDP data as at December of each year (being updated only
once per year in December).