National Statistical Institute

Accounts and Prices in Agriculture and Forestry Department

Zornitsa Ivanova

Head of department

2, P. Volov Str.; 1038 Sofia, Bulgaria

[email protected]

+359 2 9857 646

Economic accounts for agriculture are satellite accounts of the National Accounts, which provide complementary information and use concepts specially adapted to the specific nature of the sector. The architecture of the accounts consists of three accounts for current operations - "Production Account", "Generation of income Account", "Entrepreneurial income Account" and one account for accumulation - "Capital Account" as their consistency and completeness is provided in accordance with ESA '2010. The data on satellite economic accounts are developed under the basic methodology of Eurostat, published in the "Manual on the economic Accounts for Agriculture and Forestry EAA / EAF". Their main purpose is to provide baseline information for the development of the Gross Domestic Product, and in particular the contribution of the sector "Agriculture" in the national economy. Secondly, they are intended to measure the level of income of the agricultural holdings and to reflect trends in it over the years.

· Classification of Economic Activities - 2008 (CEA-2008, for international use NACE.BG-2008);

· Nomenclature of agriculture, forestry and fishing products (PRODAGRO).

The data include the following economic activities:

01.1 Growing of annual crops

01.2 Growing of perennial crops

01.3 Activity of nurseries (excluding forest nurseries)

01.4 Livestock

01.5 Combined agricultural holding

01.6 Support activities for agriculture

01.7 Hunting, trapping and related service activities.

The "Output of Agricultural Industry" represents the sum of the value of output produced by all agricultural activities (crop, livestock and agricultural services). The "Output of Agricultural Industry" includes also the value of goods and services produced in inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities (processing of farm products, agro-tourism, crafts, etc.). These activities are closely related to agricultural production for which information on output, intermediate consumption, compensation of employees, labor input or gross fixed capital formation can not be separated from the main agricultural activity. The "Output of Agricultural Industry"  is valued at the basic price. The basic price is the price receivable by the producers from the purchaser for a unit of a good or service produced, minus any tax (i.e. taxes on products) payable on that unit plus any subsidy (i.e. subsidies on products) receivable on that unit.

The calculated data refer to the final output, which according to the methodology for the compilation of the Economic Accounts for Agriculture includes the value of:

· sales of agricultural products and livestock (excluding sales of livestock between farms);

· change in inventories;

· production of investment goods for own account (production of propagating material for perennials in crop and livestock productivity);

· final consumption of agricultural products in farm (fresh consumption of agricultural products produced on the farm);

· processed products in agricultural holdings (in inseparable activities);

· agricultural products consumed on farms, but in different economic activities - for example, plant products (forage) used for feeding of animals. The Final Output from Agricultural Industry does not include the value of:

· output produced and consumed in the same economic activity (seeds used for sowing, which are self-produced, milk for animal feed);

The "Intermediate consumption in Agriculture" includes the value of all goods and services used as inputs in the production process, excluding fixed assets whose use is recorded as consumption of fixed capital. These goods and services are processed, or entirely consumed during the manufacturing process. The detailed breakdown of the various categories of intermediate consumption shows the connection which the purchased inputs, fertilizers and products establish between the Agriculture and other sectors of the economy.  The main components of intermediate consumption:

· Seeds and planting stocks;

· Energy, Fuels;

· Fertilizers and soil improvements;

· Plant protection products;

· Veterinary expenses;

· Feeding-stuffs;

· Maintenance of equipment and facilities;

. Maintenance of buildings

· Support services;

· Agricultural Services;

. FISIM

· Other goods and services.

Goods and services - intermediate goods are valued at purchase price, operating at the time of their inclusion in the process. The purchase price is the amount actually paid by the purchaser at the time of purchase of the products. This price includes taxes on products less subsidies on products (excluding VAT) and transportation costs separately paid by the purchaser to the acquisition of the desired products in its own time and place. The price also reflects discounts made for purchasing of quantities or at reduced prices.

The "Value added in Agriculture" is the balancing item in the "Production Account" of satellite economic accounts. It measures the value created by agricultural holdings within the calendar year and is a key element in measuring the productivity of the sector "Agriculture". Depending on whether it includes or not includes the value of consumption of fixed capital, it is defined as gross or net value added.

The "Consumption of Fixed Capital in Agriculture" measures the wear and tear of aging fixed capital goods. The foreseeable wear and tear and obsolescence of fixed capital goods during the accounting period is indirect cost until their replacing with new ones. The Consumption of Fixed Capital in Agriculture is calculated for all tangible and intangible fixed assets, improvements to non-produced assets and costs associated with the transfer of ownership. Consumption of fixed capital is not calculated for stocks, work in progress and for non-produced assets such as land, underground deposits and patented assets.

The "Income at factor cost in Agriculture" or "Net value added at Factor Cost" is the value (calculated at basic prices) generated within the calendar year of all agricultural units involved in production, less other taxes on production plus other subsidies on production. Thus, the index measures the remuneration of all factors of production (land, capital and labor).

The "Net Operating Surplus/Net Mixed Income in Agriculture" measures the yield from land, capital and non-salaried labor in agriculture. The indicator is calculated by excluding from the net value added the compensation of employees and other taxes on production and adding other subsidies on production. The "Net operating surplus/net mixed income" is part of the balancing item of the Generation of income Account. The "Net Entrepreneurial income in Agriculture" measures the compensation of non-salaried labour, remuneration from land belonging to the units and the yeild, araising from the use of capital. The indicator is calculated by adding the value of the received by farms organized as companies interests to the value of the net operating surplus/mixed income and deducting interest and rents paid by farms.

Agricultural Holdings - legal and physical persons.

Agricultural Census - an exhaustive structure survey. Enumerated holdings represent the framework for compilation of the Economic Accounts for Agriculture.

· Bulgaria (NUTS 0);

· 6 statistical regions (NUTS2).

From 1995 onwards

The data are calculated in constant prices at base previous year.

Million BGN

Calendar year

. Law on Statistics;

· Regulation EC/138/2004;

· Memorandum of Understanding between the National Institute of Statistics and the Ministry of Agriculture, which distributes the responsibilities for the production of statistical information on agriculture;

· Agreement between the National Institute of Statistics and the Ministry of Agriculture for information exchange and strategic partnership;

· National Statistical Programme.

Agreement between the National Statistical Institute and the Ministry of Agriculture for data exchange and strategic partnership.

· Law on Statistics;

· Regulation (EC) 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20 (4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p 164) foresee that for that purpose it is necessary to establish common principles and guidelines, ensuring data confidentiality of data used for production of European Statistics and access to those confidential data with account for technical developments and requirements of users in democratic society.

The data for the first estimate of the indicator, as agreed between the Member States and Eurostat, embargo is applied and data are publishing after strictly specified date.

The schedule for dissemination of statistical information is published in the Release Calendar presenting the results of the statistical surveys carried out by the National Statistical Institute.

The calendar is available on the NSI website: http://www.nsi.bg/en/node/480

Data are published on the NSI website, under the heading " Agriculture",  according to the Chapter 5 of the Law on Statistics and European Statistics Code of Practice, considering professional independence and with aim of impartiality and transparency, where all users are treated equal.

Statistical information for this indicator is published three times in the year:

· first estimate for the year - in December of the current year;

· second estimate for the year - in April of the next year;

· final data for the year - in October of the next year. In October data at statistical region level (NUTS2) are published

Press releases for the first estimate of agricultural income and for the final data for agricultural income in Bulgarian and English are published regularly. Press releases are published on the website of NSI:

. Press release for the first estimate of agricultural income is published in December of the current year, together with data on the first estimate.

. Press release for the final data for agricultural income is published in October of the current year, together with data for the previous year.

· Statistical Reference Book;

· Statistical Year Book.

Data for the indicator "Output of the Agricultural Industry" are available to all users of the NSI website under the heading Domain statistics - Agriculture: http://www.nsi.bg/en/node/4275

http://www.nsi.bg/en/node/4277

http://www.nsi.bg/en/node/4279

http://www.nsi.bg/en/node/4281

Not applicable.

· Annual Report of the Ministry of Agriculture for the development of Agriculture in Bulgaria;

· Annual Report on the implementation of the Program for Rural Development in Bulgaria.

· Manual on the Economic Accounts for Agriculture and Forestry, 1997, Rev.1.1;

· Regulation EC 138/2004 - Annex I - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:02004R0138-20220502&from=BG

. National Report on the quality of data on Economic Accounts for Agriculture, sent to Eurostat in 2018.

. Inventory, describing compilation methods and practises, sent to Eurostat in 2022.

. Inventory, in which the methods and procedures for data compiling are described and data compliance with the EU methodology is documented is periodically elaborated.

. During the meetings of Eurostat WG "Agricultural accounts and prices" methodological issues are discussed and examples for good practices for data calculation are provided from Member States.

. Update of metadata, if it is necessary.

. The comparative analysis of the data with previous years is done.

Quality management assessment is according to the standard criteria for - relevance, accuracy, reliability, timeliness and punctuality, comparability and coherence, by preparing a quality report over a period of time, determined by a legal act.

· NSI - National Accounts;

· Eurostat;

· Public Administration - Ministry of Agriculture and other department;

· Scientific and Research Institutes;

· Business Structures; · Individuals.

No surveys have been conducted to the satisfaction of the needs of users of information about the Economic Accounts for Agriculture. Informal contacts with data users shows a needs for data at lower territorial level and more detailed data, especially in relation to the elaboration of operational programmes, plans for the development of territorial units, e.t.c. Needs for this kind of information has been established after data requests sent to the NSI by post or e-mail.

The data are fully harmonized with the EU Regulation.

Accuracy/quality of data are closely linked to the quality of information produced within the surveys/administrative sources used for data compilation.

Not calculated

Not calculated

The data are submitted as follows:

. First estimate - data are sent to Eurostat by 30 November of the current year and are published 20 days after the deadline of submission;

. Second estimate - data are sent to Eurostat by 31 March of the following year and published within 20 days after the deadline of submission;

. Final data - data are sent to Eurostat by 30 September of the following year and published 20 days after the deadline of submission;

Not delays in the deadlines for submission of data to Eurostat and in the Release Calendar presenting the results of the statistical surveys carried out by the National Statistical Institute were admitted.

Data are geographically comparable for the entire period for which they are available (since 1995).

Data are comparable over time for the entire period since 1999.

There is consistency ensured between the data on this indicator and data within the National Accounts, Agricultural Census, crop and livestock statistics and data from the statistics on the agricultural prices.

There is consistency ensured between the data on the items of agricultural output - crop output, animal output, agricultural services output and output of secondary non-agricultural activities (inseparable) and between national and regional data.

The costs (budget) of the studies are published in the National Statistical Programme on the NSI website. As basic criteria for response burden at this stage the time required for filling-in the questionnaire is used. Each form includes such section that respondents must complete. The time needed for filling-in the form includes also the time for data preparation. Based on this information, the burden on respondents can be defined as relatively high.

There is no established policy on revisions.

Routine revisions are carried out regularly in order to incorporate the most current information.

· Annual Report of agricultural enterprises;

· Statistical surveys in the domain of Crop Statistics and Livestock Statistics, Farm Structure Survey, carried out by Ministry of Agriculture - an Agro-Statistics Department;

. Producer prices in agriculture;

. Administrative data - State Fund "Agriculture" - Paying Agency;

· Annual Report of non-financial enterprises (ISBS)

· Foreign Trade Statistics (ISVT).

Yearly

Data collection is in accordance with a Calendar for data collection, data processing and data dissemination of the NSI.

Data are colected by off-line electronic questionaires. If there is a need, data can be collected by statistical paper form, which is sent to respondents by regular mail.

The data from the statistcal surveys carried out by MAFF are provided to the NSI by virtue of agreement on data exchange and partnership.

Administrative data are submitted by the State Fund "Agriculture after request for information in official letter sent to the management of the fund.

The validation of data is done by using developed software for this purpose. Data processing is performed at two levels: at the regional level - from experts of the RSOs, and at national level - from the experts in the NSI.

Data compilation is carried out in accordance with a Calendar for data collection, data processing and data dissemination of statistical survey carried out by the NSI. Data processing is performed by using developed software for this.  Data processing is performed at two levels: at regional level - from the experts of the RSO's and at national level - from the experts of the NSI.

At regional level, the process includes data control, data editing, data validation and establishment of a regional data base.

At the national level, the process includes, data editing, data validation, establishment of a national data base, estimates for the non-observed units (units under threshold of Farm Structure Surveys) and calculation of the data on the indicator at current and constant prices.

Not applicable.