Lascaris
Il-Belt Valletta VLT 2000
Malta
+356 25997000
Relevance
The regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 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, Regulation (EU) No. 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 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
The Regional and Geospatial Statistics unit publishes annual regional accounts, at NUTS 3 level, based on the production approach. The Gross Value Added (GVA) of the general government sector is computed directly based on the sum of costs while a top-down approach is used for the sectors that produce market output. The national estimates of output, intermediate consumption and GVA of the latter sectors at NUTS 1 and 2 levels, as provided by the National Accounts Unit, are allocated to a region (NUTS 3 level) by using the indicator of full-time equivalent labour demand (employment in jobs) as per the location of the producer unit in accordance with the ‘residence principle’. The industry classification is based on NACE Rev. 2.
The reference area for national accounts is the total economy of a country which can be broken down into regions. The Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) classification provides a single, uniform breakdown of the economic territory of the Member States of the EU and which is the territorial classification used for the compilation of regional accounts. The economic territory of a country can be divided into regional territories and the extra-regio territory. For the purpose of regional accounts, MALTA is divided as follows:
| NUTS 0 | NUTS 1 | NUTS 2 | NUTS 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MALTA | MT | MT0 | MT00 | |
| Malta | MT001 | |||
| Gozo and Comino | MT002 | |||
| Extra-regio | MTZ | MTZZ | MTZZZ |
The main source of employment data used to determine the number of full-time equivalent jobs is Jobsplus. It provides a detailed overview of the number of jobs in both private and public sectors at enterprise level by region. Furthermore, to derive employment by place of work, that is, where the producer unit is resident, an annual exercise is carried out whereby headquarter companies with a presence in the region of Gozo and Comino are contacted directly to provide the exact place of work of their full-time and part-time employees, whether being employed in the Malta region or in the Gozo and Comino region. In addition, data derived from the Departmental Accounting System, Financial Data Reporting System and the Treasury’s Financial Statements are used to determine the GVA of the general government sector and of the extra-regio territory.
Regional GDP is valued at market prices by adding taxes less subsidies on products, to regional GVA at basic prices. In effect, taxes and subsidies on products are allocated between regions proportionately based on the relative size of each region’s GVA in relation to national.
Accuracy and reliability of data
The quality of the regional accounting calculations is continuously checked during the calculation process so that possible shortcomings or errors can be detected and eliminated. Major elements of this quality assurance procedure include checks for completeness and plausibility, comparison of the source statistics used and reconciliation with national accounting results.
Timeliness and punctuality of data
Regional accounts are available from 2000 onwards at current prices. 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
A regular news release is published with annual regional GDP data from the output approach which is freely available online on the NSO website.
Coherence and comparability / consistency of data
Geographical comparability with other regions within the European Union is ensured by the application of common concepts and definitions as prescribed in the European System of Accounts, ESA2010. Furthermore, comparability between regions is ensured by the NUTS classification.
Regional accounts data using a specific methodological framework are comparable over time. Agreed methodological changes are implemented in a coordinated way and include the estimation of back series. Regional annual data without breaks according to NACE Rev. 2 industry classification and ESA 2010 are provided for MALTA at NUTS 3 level from 2000.
Lascaris
Il-Belt Valletta VLT 2000
Malta
+356 25997000
