The Italian Production, Generation, and Allocation of Income Accounts at Current Prices

The System of National Accounts, or National Accounts, was established in the post–World War II period and has expanded significantly over time, following the United Nations’ guidelines and later adopted at the European level by Eurostat.

This system provides a comprehensive representation of a country’s economic activity, covering both income flows (such as GDP) and wealth stocks (such as capital accounts). It is structured as a series of accounts prepared in accordance with the principles of double-entry bookkeeping. This ebook focusses on the first three accounts of the system: (1) the production of goods and services, (2) income generation, and (3) income allocation.

The compilation of National Accounts relies on a wide range of sources, including statistical surveys and administrative archives. These data need to be harmonised according to the definitions and classifications established by Eurostat. The multisource approach, combined with the consistency constraints enforced through supply and use tables, represents a significant strength of National Accounts: it enables cross-checks that assess the quality and accuracy of each aggregate by comparing it with alternative estimates.

National Accounts also include the non-observed economy, namely the economic activities that generate income within the national territory but do not appear in statistical surveys or administrative archives. This category covers the underground economy – transactions concealed from authorities to evade tax and social security obligations – and the illegal economy, which includes income from smuggling, prostitution, and the production and distribution of narcotics. Since these activities cannot be directly observed, they are estimated using specific statistical procedures.

This ebook is intended for experts and scholars who wish to fully understand the informational scope of National Accounts, an essential prerequisite for conducting rigorous and reliable macroeconomic analyses.