The NIPAs and the System of National Accounts

HE increased integration of the world’s monetary, fiscal, and trade policies has led to a growing need for the international harmonization of economic statistics. Accordingly, the System of National Accounts 1993 (SNA) was developed by the international community in order to facilitate international comparisons of national economic statistics and to serve as a guide for countries as they develop their economic accounting systems.1 The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) actively participated in preparing the 1993 revision of the SNA, and after the revision was approved by the United Nations Statistical Commission, BEA has moved its accounts toward improved consistency with the SNA, which now serves as the internationally accepted set of guidelines for the compilation of national accounts.2 The SNA provides a comprehensive framework for recording all of the stocks and flows that are defined as part of a nation’s economy. Its accounts are organized to measure production, income, saving, investment, and financial and nonfinancial wealth; it also encompasses input-output tables, international transactions, financial accounts, and balance sheets. The SNA is designed to be an integrated system; that is, the accounts use consistent definitions, classifications, and accounting conventions. Furthermore, the SNA is almost completely harmonized with other international guidelines, such as the International Monetary Fund’s Balance of Payments Manual (fifth edition). Since 1993, BEA has continued to improve its national income and product accounts (NIPAs) and its other economic accounts to incorporate most of the major SNA guidelines that affect gross domestic product (GDP), investment, and saving. ● In the 1996 comprehensive NIPA revision, chaintype indexes were adopted for measuring changes in real GDP and prices, and government fixed investment was recognized. ● In the 1999 comprehensive revision, investment in software was recognized, the treatment of government employee retirement plans was changed, and certain transactions were reclassified as capital transfers.