Quarterly National Accounts Manual – 2017 Edition

The Quarterly National Accounts Manual (the Manual) provides conceptual and practical guidance for compiling quarterly national accounts (QNA) statistics. The Manual offers a comprehensive review of data sources, statistical methods, and compilation techniques to derive official estimates of quarterly GDP. The new edition—which upgrades the first edition, published in 2001—improves and expands the previous content based on recent methodological advances, best country practices, and suggestions received from QNA compilers and experts. The Manual also benefits from technical assistance missions and training courses conducted by IMF staff and IMF Statistics Department experts in well over 100 countries since 2001.

The Manual provides an internationally accepted framework for producing QNA data. It is fully consistent with the System of National Accounts 2008 (2008 SNA). Countries should consider the Manual a companion guide to the 2008 SNA regarding specific aspects of quarterly GDP compilation. The methodology and concepts described in the Manual are also consistent with those of other statistical manuals produced by the IMF Statistics Department, including the sixth edition of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014, and the Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual and Compilation Guide.

Full QNA Manual – 2017 Edition Text (also availble in French, Spanish, and Russian)

• System of National Accounts 2008 (2008 SNA)
• Strengthening Sectoral Position and Flow Data in the Macroeconomic Accounts
• Guide to Analyze Natural Resources in the National Accounts