Economic accounts for agriculture

The aim of the statistical activity is to provide input for the monitoring and evaluation of the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP). Economic accounts for agriculture are a basic tool for analysing the economic situation of a country's agriculture, and more specifically agricultural income, which are also used as the basis for calculating subsidies. Economic accounts for agriculture also make a valuable contribution to the calculation of the national accounts, incl. quarterly and regional accounts. The results of the economic accounts for agriculture are among the indicators of the Agriculture and Fisheries Strategy.

Multisource process

Agricultural output, intermediate consumption, gross and net value added, and fixed capital consumption at basic prices of the corresponding and previous year;
compensation of employees, other taxes and subsidies on production, factor income, operating surplus, rents, interests paid and received, entrepreneurial income at prices of the corresponding year;
unit values for agricultural products at producer and basic prices;
gross fixed capital formation, salaried and non-salaried labour force in annual work units.

Data are published in basic prices of the corresponding and previous year, which allows a separate estimation of changes due to both volume and price.

No classifications are used in the collection, processing or publication of data in this statistical activity.

Agriculture

Annual work unit (AWU) – national or regional average annual working time of adult full-time farm workers employed throughout 12 months (a calendar year) for 1,800 hours, i.e. 225 working days, each day 8 hours

Basic price – the price obtained from the buyer for a unit of goods or services (producer price) less taxes on products plus subsidies for the production or sale of the product

Entrepreneurial income – operating surplus less paid rent and interest plus interest received

Factor income – net value added less other production charges plus other subsidies on production

Fixed capital consumption – the foreseeable wear and tear of fixed capital goods during the accounting period represent a charge which is implicit so long as the item is not replaced by a new acquisition. The consumption of fixed capital is not calculated for stocks and unfinished products, non-produced assets (land, underground deposits and patented assets) and animals providing agricultural production.

Gross fixed capital formation – acquisitions less disposals of fixed assets

Gross value added – the output of agricultural industry less total intermediate consumption

Intermediate consumption – the value of all goods and services used as inputs in the production process, excluding fixed assets whose consumption is recorded as fixed capital consumption

Net value added – gross value added less fixed capital consumption

Operating surplus – factor income less compensation of employees

Output – sales, processing by producers, own final consumption, used for payments in kind, own-account produced fixed capital goods, change in stocks and intra-unit consumption. Within the industry, non-marketable intra-unit consumed products (such as animal feeding stuffs produced in crop production) are included in agricultural output.

Output of agricultural industry – the sum of the agricultural goods and services produced by agricultural units and inseparable non-agricultural goods and services produced by agricultural units

Producer price – price received from the purchaser for a unit of goods or services.

Agricultural holding;

agricultural small unit;

agricultural service enterprise

Economic accounts for agriculture cover all agricultural holdings and agricultural small units, as well as units whose principal economic activity is agricultural service activities.

Estonia as a whole

1995–…

Not applicable

Financial data – euro;

volumes – tonne (t);

employment – annual work unit (AWU)

Year

Official Statistics Act;

Regulation (EC) No 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the council of 5 December 2003 on the economic accounts for agriculture in the Community (Text with EEA relevance).

None

The dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in § 32, § 34, § 35 and § 38 of the Official Statistics Act.

The dissemination of data collected for the production of official statistics is based on the requirements laid down in §§ 34 and 35 of the Official Statistics Act.
The principles for treatment of confidential data can be found here: Data protection (Privacy policy).

Notifications about the dissemination of statistics are published in the release calendar, which is available on the website. Every year on 1 October, the release times of the statistical database, news releases, main indicators by IMF SDDS and publications for the following year are announced in the release calendar (in the case of publications – the release month).

The release calendar is available to consumers on the website Calendar.

All users have been granted equal access to official statistics: dissemination dates of official statistics are announced in advance and no user category (incl. Eurostat, state authorities and mass media) is provided access to official statistics before other users. Official statistics are first published in the statistical database. If there is also a news release, it is published simultaneously with data in the statistical database. Official statistics are available on the website at 8:00 a.m. on the date announced in the release calendar.

Year

News items can be viewed on Statistics Estonia's website in the section agriculture news.

The production of news releases is decided on a rolling basis.

Not published

Data are published in the statistical database under the subject area Economy/Agriculture / Economic accounts for agriculture in the following tables:

PM54: Agricultural output, intermediate consumption, value added, gross fixed capital formation in basic prices of the corresponding year and agricultural labour input and

PM55: Agricultural output, intermediate consumption, value added and gross fixed capital formation in basic prices of the previous year.

Data tables related to the survey were viewed 586 times in 2024, 405 times in 2023, 679 times in 2022, 780 times in 2021, 1,018 times in 2020, 1,130 times in 2019, and 1,029 times in 2018.
Each table view is counted as a separate viewing. This is based on the database URLs, which show that the data have been selected and the table formed.

The dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in § 33, § 34, § 35, § 36, § 38 of the Official Statistics Act.
Access to microdata and anonymisation of microdata are regulated by Statistics Estonia’s procedure for dissemination of confidential data for scientific purposes.

The data are transmitted to Eurostat in accordance with the requirements of EU legislation (see "Legal acts and other agreements"). The data are transmitted along with their publication in the statistical database, i.e. three times: the first estimate in November of the reference year (N), the second estimate in March of the year following the reference year (N + 1), and final data in September of the year following the reference year (N + 1).

The data serve as input for statistical activities 21303 "Government finance", 21408 "Supply and Use Tables", 21401 "National accounts (annual)", 21405 "National accounts (quarterly)", 20405 "Agricultural input price index", 20406 "Agricultural output price index", and 21213 "Supply balance sheets of agricultural products".

The metadata for economic accounts for agriculture were viewed 56 times (1 January 2024 – 31 December 2024). This figure does not represent the number of viewers, as the metadata may have been viewed multiple times by a single user.

Eurostat's manual on the economic accounts for agriculture: Economic accounts for agriculture manual, 2024 edition.

This statistical activity is guided by the European Statistics Code of Practice – revised edition, 2017.

Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, a report is compiled every five years describing the methodology applied and level of precision achieved

To assure the quality of processes and products, Statistics Estonia applies the European Statistics Code of Practice and the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (ESS QAF). Statistics Estonia is also guided by the EFQM Excellence Model and the requirements in section 7 “Principles and quality criteria of producing official statistics” of the Official Statistics Act.

Statistics Estonia performs all statistical activities according to an international model (Generic Statistical Business Process Model – GSBPM). According to the GSBPM, the final phase of statistical activities is overall evaluation using information gathered in each phase or sub-process; this information can take many forms, including feedback from users, process metadata, system metrics and suggestions from employees. This information is used to prepare the evaluation report which outlines all the quality problems related to the specific statistical activity and serves as input for improvement actions.

Quality is managed by the quality manager.

The main representative of public interest in Estonia is the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture. Economic accounts for agriculture are a basic tool for analysing the economic situation of a country's agriculture, and more specifically agricultural income, which are also used as the basis for calculating subsidies.

Economic accounts for agriculture make a valuable contribution to the calculation of the national accounts, incl. quarterly and regional accounts.

Agricultural factor income per annual work unit compared with the EU average, found in the economic accounts for agriculture, is an indicator of the Agriculture and Fisheries Strategy 2030 (AFS 2030).

Factor income, or productivity, found in the economic accounts for agriculture, is an indicator of sustainable development set by the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

The indicators of the economic accounts for agriculture are also among the impact and context indicators of the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP) 2023–2027.

Information on unit prices in the economic accounts for agriculture is also provided to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO).

The economic accounts for agriculture data are used to compile agricultural output and input price indices, and for the accounting of quantities of agricultural products.

Since 1996, Statistics Estonia has conducted reputation and user satisfaction surveys. Surveys conducted at least once a year target both the existing and potential consumers of statistics. All results are available on Statistics Estonia's website in the section User surveys. The survey referred to does not concern a specific statistical activity but is a general satisfaction survey.

The requirements set out in the legislation (see "Legal acts and other agreements"), the handbook (see "Documentation on methodology"), and other Eurostat instructions are fulfilled. All legally required indicators have been collected and transmitted to Eurostat.

All required indicators have been collected and calculated (completeness 100%).

The type of survey and the data collection methods ensure sufficient accuracy.

Not applicable as this is not a sample survey.

Not applicable as this is not a sample survey.

Not applied

Not applicable as the statistical activity is based on administrative data and aggregated data from other activities.

Not applicable as the statistical activity is based on administrative data and aggregated data from other activities.

Not applicable as the statistical activity is based on administrative data and aggregated data from other activities.

Not applicable

Not applied

In accordance with the European Union Common Agricultural Policy Implementation Act, Statistics Estonia compiles the economic accounts for agriculture in cooperation with the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture.

The Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture compiles the preliminary results for the current calendar year by November of the same year and the results of the second forecast for the calendar year by March of the following year (T + 92 days).

Statistics Estonia compiles the final results for the calendar year by September of the following year (T + 273 days).

Preliminary results for the current calendar year are published by November of the same year.

Final results for the calendar year are published by September of the following year (T + 273 days).

The data have been published at the time announced in the release calendar.

100% of the data has been published on time.

The data are comparable with data from other European Union countries because a common methodology is used.

Agricultural income indicators are comparable over time.

The accounts have been specified for individual types of production:
- since 2017, the accounting for potatoes has been revised, which means that the potato data are not directly comparable with those of the previous years;
- since 2015, the accounting methodology of nursery production has changed, which means that the data of nurseries are not directly comparable with those of the previous years;
- until 2014, other crop production includes straw, since 2015 herbs and plants, other industrial crops, etc.

PM54: Agricultural output, intermediate consumption, value added, gross fixed capital formation in basic prices of the corresponding year and agricultural labour input – from 1995. There have been no breaks in the time series, which means that the number of observation periods in the last unbroken time series equals the number of all observation periods.

PM55: Agricultural output, intermediate consumption, value added and gross fixed capital formation in basic prices of the previous year – from 1995. There have been no breaks in the time series, which means that the number of observation periods in the last unbroken time series equals the number of all observation periods.

As the input data for economic accounts for agriculture are data of other agricultural statistical activities, the accounts are coherent with other agricultural statistics. The yield/output data are derived from agricultural production statistics, and labour force data from the Farm Structure Survey and economic indicators of agricultural holdings.
In addition, prices are based on price statistics, exports on foreign trade statistics, intermediate consumption and other costs on economic indicators of agricultural holdings, fixed capital consumption and capital investment on macroeconomic statistics, and subsidies on data of the Agricultural Registers and Information Board (ARIB) received via the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture.

Not applicable as data are not published for periods shorter than one year.

Economic accounts for agriculture serve as input to national accounts and vice versa, therefore, the data are coherent.

The data are internally coherent. The internal coherence is ensured by the use of a common methodology for both data collection and data aggregation. Higher-level aggregate data are calculated based on detailed data according to predefined procedures.

Agricultural income figures are calculated.

As this statistical activity is based on data from administrative sources and other statistical activities, there is no data submission and therefore no burden.
Costs are not calculated separately for different statistical activities.

The data revision policy and notification of corrections are described on Statistics Estonia's website in the section Principles of dissemination of official statistics.

The published data may be revised if the methodology is modified, errors are discovered, new or better data become available.

Not applied

Data from the following statistical activities are used as input in the form of aggregated data:
"Financial statistics of enterprises (quarterly)" (labour force);
"Financial statistics of enterprises (annual)" (agricultural enterprises' turnover by type, costs, labour force);
"Agricultural input price index" (input price indices);
"Agricultural output price index" (output price indices);
"Livestock farming and meat production" (number of animals and all its changes (by number and live weight), including cattle (incl. dairy cows), pigs, sheep and goats, poultry; milk production; egg production, stocks and use; honey and beeswax production; wool production; purchase price of animals);
"Purchase and use of milk" (amount of milk purchased and its price);
"Farm Structure Survey" (labour force);
"Agricultural Census" (labour force);
"Crop farming" (production and area of agricultural crops);
"National accounts (annual)" (data on fixed capital consumption and gross fixed capital formation, FISIM);
"Foreign trade" (import and export of agricultural products);
"Labour Force Survey" (labour force).

Administrative data are also used. Aggregated data on subsidies on products, production and investments are received from the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture. Information on the prices of cereals and oilseed rape is obtained from the Centre of Estonian Rural Research and Knowledge.

Year

Data from other surveys are used (as aggregated data).

Data from the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture and the Centre of Estonian Rural Research and Knowledge are received by email.

Arithmetic and qualitative checks are used in the validation process, including comparison with the data of previous periods or other surveys and with administrative data sources.

The collected data are converted into statistical output. This includes calculating additional indicators. The main indicators used in the analysis are calculated as follows:
value of output at basic prices – the value of a product plus the subsidies on that product;
gross value added – the output of agricultural industry less total intermediate consumption;
entrepreneurial income – operating surplus less paid rent and interest plus interest received ;
gross fixed capital formation – acquisitions less disposals of fixed assets;
net value added – gross value added less fixed capital consumption;
value of the output of agricultural industry – the value of the agricultural goods and services produced by agricultural units and inseparable non-agricultural goods and services produced by agricultural units;
operating surplus – factor income less compensation of employees;
factor income – net value added less other production charges plus other subsidies on production;
the value of output is calculated, where possible, by multiplying the quantity of output by the price. The price is usually found through a price index. The value of output includes sales, processing by producers, own final consumption, used for payments in kind, own-account produced fixed capital goods, change in stocks and intra-unit consumed products. Within the Industry, non-marketable intra-unit consumed products (such as animal feeding stuffs produced in crop production) are included in agricultural output.

Not applied

Not applied

Not applied

None