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SUBJECTIVE ACCURACY RATINGS

Accuracy is concerned with the proximity of an estimate to the 'true' but unknown value of the component being measured. It is concerned with the degree of precision associated with the estimate. As already discussed, the complex nature of the national accounts makes it extremely difficult to produce a tangible benchmark against which to measure accuracy. Consequently the accuracy of the national accounts is in practice evaluated by considering the potential sources of error discussed in this Chapter and considering whether they have been minimised to the greatest extent possible. One approach that can be used to tie all the information related to data quality together is to assign subjective accuracy ratings to each series.

Subjective accuracy ratings are published by the ABS for the principal national accounts aggregates in the Concepts, Sources and Methods publication. The ratings are not derived by a particularly rigorous process, but represent an intuitive assessment by national accounts compilers. A consensus was reached taking into account knowledge about the standard errors on key survey inputs, impressions about the coverage and reliability of administrative data sources and revisions to initial estimates of growth.

The next two tables contain an assessment for the initial quarterly estimates of movement for the current price and chain volume estimates of expenditure, income and production components of GDP. These have been chosen as they are generally the most anticipated of the national accounts estimates. Each component has been assigned one of the following grades:

A good
B fair
C poor
D very poor

Accuracy ratings, Expenditure and Income components of GDP - Initial quarterly estimates of movements
				Current price estimates	Chain volume estimates
Expenditure components
	Government final consumption expenditure			B	C
	Household final consumption expenditure			A	A
	Total final consumption expenditure			A	A
	Gross fixed capital formation
		Private
			Dwellings	B	B
			Other buildings and structures	B	B
			Machinery and equipment	B	B
			Livestock	C	C
			Intangible fixed assets	C	C
			Ownership transfer costs	A	B
			Total private gross fixed capital formation	B	B
		Public
			Public corporations	B	B
			General government	B	B
			Total public gross fixed capital formation	B	B
	Domestic final demand			A	A
	Changes in inventories
		Private non-farm		C	C
		Farm		D	D
		Public authorities		C	C
		Total changes in inventories		C	C
	Gross national expenditure			A	A
	Exports of goods and services			A	A
	Imports of goods and services			A	A
	GDP			A	A
Income components
	Compensation of employees			A	. .
	Gross operating surplus
		Non-financial corporations
			Private	A	. .
			Public	B	. .
			Total non-financial corporations	A	. .
		Financial corporations		C	. .
		General government		A	. .
		Dwellings owned by persons		A	. .
		Total gross operating surplus		A	. .
	Gross mixed income			C	. .
	Total factor income			A	. .
	Taxes less subsidies on production and imports			A	. .
	GDP			A	. .
. . not applicable

Accuracy Ratings, Industry gross value added - Chain volume measures: Initial quarterly estimates of movement
A	Agriculture, forestry and fishing	B
B	Mining	B
C	Manufacturing	B
D	Electricity, gas and water supply	A
E	Construction	B
F	Wholesale trade	B
G	Retail trade	B
H	Accommodation, cafes and restaurants	B
I	Transport and storage	D
J	Communication services	B
K	Finance and insurance	C
L	Property and business services	C
M	Government administration and defence	C
N	Education	C
O	Health and community services	C
P	Cultural and recreational services	B
Q	Personal and other services	C
..	Ownership of dwellings	A
	Gross value added at basic prices	A
	Taxes less subsidies on products	A
	GDP	A