From time to time the idea of devising a simplified SNA has been floated for developing countries. With this background the World Bank has undertaken the preparation of two handbooks to help extend the implementation of the SNA in countries such as these. This is one of the new handbooks. It is not only strictly consistent with the full text of the 2008 SNA, but uses that text. However, by setting aside some aspects of limited (or possibly no) relevance to many small developing countries, such as a description of sophisticated financial instruments and some possible elaboration of links to other systems, the 600 pages of the full text of the 2008 SNA is reduced to one third of this. The document carefully enumerates what has been omitted so that the reader is aware of these and able to turn to the more extended volume if required.

From time to time the idea of devising a simplified SNA has been floated for developing countries. With this background the World Bank has undertaken the preparation of two handbooks to help extend the implementation of the SNA in countries such as these. This is one of the new handbooks. It suggests that the way to extend the range of implementation of the whole system, however, is not a simplification of the basic theory of the SNA but a simplification of compilation practices. Ideally this should be a first step towards a more extensive coverage of the accounts but even the simplified accounts should serve to make users aware of the potential of the whole system and give the compilers courage to build on these first steps.

The “Guidelines on Statistical Business Registers” (SBR), published by ECE in 2015, provide practical guidance and recommendations on the establishment and maintenance of statistical business registers. The Guidelines consist of 12 chapters – an introductory chapter followed by substantive chapters dealing with the roles of the SBR; coverage; statistical units and their characteristics; data sources; maintenance; frame methodology; dissemination; quality; organizational, database and other IT issues; and topics for further work and research. The Guidelines include also a number of annexes on methodological issues and country examples, and an extensive glossary.

The “Guide on Measuring Global Production”, which follows on a previous publication entitled The “Impact of Globalization on National Accounts”, was finalized and published by the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) in 2015. The new Guide provides comprehensive recommendations to compilers of national accounts, balance of payments and related economic statistics on the collection, production and analysis of data related to global production arrangements. It presents the experience of different countries in producing statistics on global production and also identifies a number of unresolved conceptual challenges and emerging globalization phenomena that have to be addressed in future. The Guide can also be downloaded from UNECE at the following link (http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/stats/publications/2015/ECE_CES_38.p…)

The principle of the change of economic ownership required by 2008 SNA / ESA 2010 and BPM6 presents particular challenges in the case of recording foreign trade reported by non-residents. Recommendations for compilers of national accounts and balance of payments statistics were elaborated, with a focus on practical steps to identify and measure the different possible cases. These recommendations are published in a note on Eurostat's website. The Guide can also be downloaded from Eurostat at the following link (http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/4187653/7102126/ESA-2010-note/34…)

The “Compilation Guide on Land Estimation” provides conceptual and practical guidance to statisticians concerning the estimation and valuation of land and to increase international comparability. The guide clarifies theoretical concepts and proposes a breakdown of land into categories so that international comparisons can be more easily made. It also discusses possible data sources, elaborates direct and indirect estimation methods and addresses several special estimation cases. The guide presents (an elaboration of) the information that is available on this topic in the 2008 SNA and in the European System of Accounts 2010 (ESA 2010) in a systematic and accessible way. The Guide can also be downloaded from Eurostat at the following link:(http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/3859598/6893405/KS-GQ-14-012-EN-…)

This Handbook is part of a series of handbooks in support of the implementation of the 1993 System of National Accounts. This handbook attempts to cover the conceptual and practical aspects of linking business accounts to national accounts through countries' experiences. From the Handbook, one learns how to read financial statements of corporations, the similarities and differences between concepts in business accounts and economics and the necessary adjustments to be made to business accounts to obtain national accounts for economic analysis. The main target audience for this handbook is staff responsible for the compilation of national accounts and survey specialists.

This handbook focuses on household sector accounts and their possible extensions as described in the System of National Accounts 1993. It describes the experiences of countries with regard to conceptual and compilation issues of household sector and satellite accounting. Volume 1 focuses on the concept of the informal sector, presents country and case studies on the compilation of household sector accounts, and describes the links of the household sector with other selected sectors.

This handbook focuses on household sector accounts and their possible extensions as described in the System of National Accounts 1993. It describes the experiences of countries with regard to conceptual and compilation issues of household sector and satellite accounting. Volume 1 focuses on the concept of the informal sector, presents country and case studies on the compilation of household sector accounts, and describes the links of the household sector with other selected sectors.

This technical report,based on the 1993 System of National Accounts, provides a general framework in which the multitude of worldwide experiences in the field of national accounts compilation can be incorporated and thus can be compared and discussed for the benefit of political and technical decision makers. It discusses the national compilation approach, the statistical requirements and analytical features of alternative options, and the concept of national accounts and supporting data compilation cycles. In addition, the report includes two annexes. Annex I presents a summary of practical experiences acquired during the tests of the compilation approach carried out by the United Nations Statistical Department in a number of country projects. Annex II presents, in an illustrative manner, some types of statistical discrepancies that may emerge. It also shows how a reconciliation strategy may be defined to eliminate these discrepancies.