Sector accounts

Sector accounts present a breakdown of economic activity for all resident institutional sectors in a complete and consistent set of quarterly data.

They provide comprehensive information not only on the economic activities of households, non-financial corporations, financial corporations and government, but also on the interactions between these sectors and the rest of the world.

For the euro area as a whole, the ECB, in close cooperation with Eurostat, compiles the quarterly euro area accounts.

Sector accounts consist of financial and non-financial accounts. They link financial and non-financial statistics, thereby allowing for an integrated analysis of non-financial economic activities (such as gross fixed capital formation) and financial transactions (such as the issuance of debt). The euro area accounts also contain consistent financial balance sheets, as well as major components of non-financial assets.

For euro area as well as for non-euro area EU countries, the ECB disseminates a similar set of quarterly financial accounts as for the euro area as a whole, supplemented by a set of key variables from the non-financial accounts.

Press releases

• Euro area accounts, all institutional sectors (quarterly, with charts and tables)

Data

• Euro area accounts: Overview, datasets, publications and dashboards, methodology
• Release calendar for euro area accounts statistics

Report sheets

• Euro area accounts report
• Household sector report
• Financing and investment dynamics

Sources and methods

The concepts and definitions used are in line with the following international statistical standard:

European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA 2010)

Additional methodological information

• Financial accounts for other financial institutions by subsector

• NFC financing via financing conduits

• Looking through household investment in investment fund shares in quarterly financial accounts
  
• Life insurance and pension entitlements by investment risk
• Securities Holdings Statistics (SHSS)-Quarterly Sector Accounts (QSA) comparison
• Report on developing a common approach to improve vertical consistency
• Vertical reconciliation - Summary table of statistical practice
  
• Extension of the who-to-whom presentation to insurance and pension assets
• Impact of Covid-19 on the Quarterly Financial Accounts statistics
• Estimating quarterly non-financial assets and household housing wealth for the euro area: a methodological update, April 2021
• Debt of non-financial corporations – Explanation of alternative measurement concepts, October 2019
• Explanatory note accompanying the Eurosystem balance sheet in the Financial Accounts, October 2023
  
• Implementation and impact of the European System of Accounts 2010

Quality Report

The Quality Report on euro area and national quarterly financial accounts is published biennially. The report focuses on the collection, compilation and dissemination of the statistics.

• Euro area and national quarterly financial accounts - 2022 Quality Report
  
• Euro area and national quarterly financial accounts - 2020 Quality Report
• Quality reporting under the Macroeconomic Imbalances Procedure (MIP) Scoreboard

Legal basis

The legal basis for collecting quarterly financial accounts statistics is laid down in Guideline ECB/2013/24.

Related content

European sector accounts

Statistics explained: Sector accounts

Sequence of accounts (includes quarterly sector accounts)

Understanding Financial Accounts