Institution

Eurostat

Year

2004

Level

Intermediate

Abstract

Given that foreign trade is treated exactly the same way in the NA and BoP, the discussion in this document on the differences between the BoP and FTS are pertinent also in the context of NA compilation. Both the BoP/NA and the FTS provide data for the external trade in goods of a given country, but the two data sets generally do not show the same figures. This is because the two data sources have very different detail, serve different users' needs and are compiled using different methodologies. This paper provides a summary of the main methodological differences between the two data sets and describes all the adjustments that have to be made by BoP/NA compilers to go from FTS to BoP/NA data. The results of a recent survey of the main adjustment practices in EU member states and candidate countries are also provided.