Gross domestic product (GDP) provides a measure of the total economic activity in a region. It is an integral part of the UK national accounts and figures are published on a quarterly basis. GDP is often referred to as one of the main short-term 'summary indicators' of economic activity.
Publications
Contains cost indices (purchase of materials and fuels, earnings and National Insurance, general expenses and combined costs) relating to four aerospace and electronics industries. The data are based on the revised Standard Industrial Classification SIC (92) and are calculated on a base year of 2005=100. The indices are widely used by government and business as an authoritative source of information on inflation, cost adjusting and price variation in trading contracts.
Contains statistics on the UK's economy, industry, society and demography presented in easy to read tables and backed up with explanatory notes and definitions. It covers, among others, the following areas: area; parliamentary elections; defence; population and vital statistics; education; labour market; expenditure and wealth; health; crime and justice; lifestyles; environment, housing; transport and communications; government finance; agriculture, fisheries and food; production; banking and insurance and service industry.
Commentary and tables on investment trends by businesses. Contains capital expenditure data for various sectors of the economy at current prices, constant prices and seasonally adjusted.
Provides information for the national accounts and economists. It is also used to calculate weights for combining appropriate producer price indices for deflating the quarterly capital expenditure survey results and the capital expenditure component of the final economy price index.
The 'shopping basket' of items making up the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) and Retail Prices Index (RPI) are reviewed every year. Some items are taken out of the basket, some are brought in, to reflect changes in the market and to make sure the CPI and RPI are up to date and representative of consumer spending patterns. This article describes the review process and explains how and why the various items in the CPI and RPI baskets are chosen.
The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) and the Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure the changes from month to month in the cost of a representative 'basket' of goods and services bought by consumers within the UK. This involves weighting together price changes in the indices according to household spending patterns for different categories of goods and services so that each takes its appropriate share. At the beginning of each year the weights used to compile both the CPI and RPI are updated using the latest available information on household spending.
This is primarily a dataset release of net capital stock derived from gross capital stock plus gross fixed capital formation (investment) less capital consumption (depreciation). It shows estimates of the non-financial wealth of the primary sectors of the UK economy.
Contains price indices, percentage changes and weights for the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), Retail Prices Index (RPI) and the components that make up these indices. Internationally, the CPI is known as the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP).
Covers the concepts underpinning the indices, differences between CPI and RPI, the methodologies used, collection and validation of prices, calculation of weights, and publication and usage of the different indices.
An analysis of trends in inflation since 1947 as measured by the Retail Prices Index (RPI).
Corporate Services Price Index (CSPI) has been discontinued. Data is now available as the Services Producer Price Index (SPPI), a quarterly survey of prices charged for a range of services provided by businesses to other businesses and government.
This monthly compendium of statistics and articles on the UK economy was been replaced by the Economic and Labour Market Review.
An essential resource for all users of UK economic and labour market statistics. It draws together the expert research and analysis and range of content found in Economic Trends and Labour Market Trends to build an up-to-date, comprehensive and unique statistical picture of the UK economy and labour market.
The purpose of this article is to give the estimated effects on the Consumer Prices Index and Retail Prices Index resulting from duty and taxation changes announced in the Budget. This article is simply a helpful guide to users of the CPI and RPI. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) accepts no liability whatsoever for losses of any kind arising as a result of reliance on this note.
Contains tables of latest figures, average retail prices, CPI data back to 1996, RPI data back to 1987, long run series of consumer price inflation, purchasing power of the pound, EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Price Indices (HICP) back to 1998, seasonally adjusted RPIY and RPI pensioner indices.
Preliminary estimate for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) containing constant price Gross Value Added (GVA) data for the UK. Data is available split by industrial sector.
The Inventory details how UK annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated at current market prices by production, income and expenditure approaches.
Estimates of Gross Value Added (GVA) by industry at current prices
Harmonised Index of Consumer prices
Article on the impact of the recession on the labour market
Monthly index of the output of the distribution sector (SIC 2003 section G), which consists of the motor trades, wholesale and commission trade and retail trade.
The Welsh Index of Distribution is a quarterly index showing short term movements in the output of industries in the motor trade, wholesale and retail sectors in Wales.
Also known as Labour Costs Index (LCI). Measures changes in the average labour costs per hour worked. Labour costs include wages and salaries as well as employer social contributions, maternity, paternity and sick pay and benefits in kind.
Measures the volume of production at base year prices for the manufacturing, mining and quarrying and energy supply industries. These are seasonally adjusted figures on the index of output of the production industries.
Presents data on production and construction for Wales.
Shows the monthly movements in gross value added for the service industries, which overall account for around 75 per cent of UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
ONS international comparisons of productivity (ICP) based on output per worker and output per hour worked are productivity level comparisons of the UK with Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US and the G7 averages.
Presents a summary of the latest economic and labour market statistics for Wales.
Contains time series on Household Expenditure in the UK. It includes annual and quarterly data at current prices, not seasonally adjusted from 1948. A detailed breakdown of goods and services is also provided.
Contains the latest monthly and quarterly business, economic and social data.
Apportions growth in output to growth in the factor inputs of capital and labour, and growth in a residual representing disembodied technical change.
Information on the UK National Accounts, methodology and data sources.
The Personal Inflation Calculator is an online tool that enables users to input their personal spending patterns to obtain an estimate of how their experience of inflation differs from the Retail Price Index.
A business monitor divided into four different tables and containing detailed indices for revaluation of assets and stocks. It is a comprehensive guide to capital replacement costs.
Explains in detail how the expenditure implied deflator derives a single estimate of GDP at constant market prices, and how it is used to compile them under the ESA 95 framework.
A comprehensive selection of data on input and output index series. Contains producer price indices of materials and fuels purchased and output of manufacturing industry by broad sector.
Contains cost indices on UK manufactured products together with the materials and fuel purchased, and the home sales at both broad and detailed industry levels. The data are used throughout business and government.
Contains analysis and data on output per worker, output per filled job and output per hour for the whole economy, and output per filled job and output per hour for production, manufacturing and manufacturing sub-sections.
Estimates of Quality-Adjusted Labour Input (QALI) take into account the fact that the quality of labour input depends on the characteristics of an individual and also of the job they are doing.
Contains estimates and analyses of expenditure in chained volume terms and at current prices.
Gives ONS' estimates of the relative differences in consumer prices between regions.
The Retail Prices Index (RPI) is the most familiar general purpose measure of inflation in the UK. It measures the average change from month to month in the prices of goods and services purchased by most households in the United Kingdom.
This compendium publication presents a range of official statistics relevant to the Scottish economy.
Key indicator of Economic Growth for Scotland, identifying the economic output for the latest quarter.
The Services Producer Price Index (SPPI) are primarily a suite of individual price indices that provide information on price change for a limited range of service industries. Each SPPI captures quarterly changes in the price received for services provided by UK businesses to other UK businesses and Government. These individual price indices are also aggregated together to create a 'service industry' SPPI with limited coverage.
Covers government, international relations, defence, education and training, the labour market, social protection, health, crime and justice, religion, culture, communications and the media, sport, environment, housing, planning and regeneration, transport, the economy, public finance, international trade and investment, science, engineering and technology, agriculture, fishing and forestry, manufacturing and construction, energy and natural resources, and financial services.
Contains estimates and analyses of expenditure in chained volume terms and at current prices, income at current prices, and output in chained volume terms.
Provides detailed estimates of national product, income and expenditure for the UK.
The Blue Book is a key annual publication of National Accounts statistics and the essential data source for anyone concerned with macro-economic policies and studies.
A volume index of capital services (VICS) measures flows of capital services from capital assets, of all types and ages, which exist in an industry, sector, or in the whole economy. The VICS weights together the growth of the net stock of assets using weights that reflect the relative productivity of the different assets that make up the capital stock.
Presents statistics on the Index of Business Services and includes data for Wales and the UK.
Presents statistics on the Index of Hotels and Restaurants and includes data for Wales and the UK.
The Welsh Index of Market Services monitors short term changes in the private sector service industries in Wales.
Presents statistics on the Index of Transport, Storage and Communication and includes data for Wales and the UK.
Overview
Gross domestic product (GDP) is an integral part of the UK national accounts and provides a measure of the total economic activity in a region.
In the UK, three different theoretical approaches (using income, output and expenditure) are used in the estimation of one GDP estimate. The best estimate of GDP is obtained by reconciling the estimates obtained from each of the three approaches by applying 'balancing' or 'coherence' adjustments.
GDP produce three estimates of growth each quarter and are published as:
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preliminary GDP estimate
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UK Income, Output and Expenditure First Release
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quarterly National Accounts
Annual estimates are published as part of the UK National Accounts (The Blue Book).
The output approach to measuring GDP is considered the most reliable in the short-term and drives GDP. It brings together data from the Index of Services (IoS) and Index of Production (IoP) (which account for approximately 75 per cent and 18 per cent of the economy respectively).
The IoS is published eight weeks after the end of the month and disaggregates the service sector into five broad industry categories and 25 2 digit Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) divisions.
The IoP is usually published 26 working days after the end of the month; the earliest official indicator on the performance of UK industry, and disaggregates the production sector into manufacturing, mining and quarrying, and energy supply industries.
Technical Data
In the UK, three different theoretical approaches are used in the estimation of one GDP estimate:
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GDP from the Income approach; GDP(I) measures the total income generated by the production of goods and services within the economy
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GDP from the expenditure approach; GDP(E) measures the total expenditures on all finished goods and services produced within the economy
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GDP from the output approach; GDP(O) measures the sum of the value added created through the production of goods and services within the economy
The best estimate of GDP is then obtained by reconciling the estimates obtained from each of the three approaches. This is done by applying 'balancing' or 'coherence' adjustments to the three series. These adjustments can be applied either annually (using the supply-use tables) or quarterly (as a result of the balancing meeting). More information on the three measures of GDP and the balancing process can be found on the National Accounts page on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) website.
The GDP(O) approach is considered to give the most reliable short-term estimate of change of the three approaches and provides the first estimate of growth in GDP in the Preliminary estimate of GDP First Release.
The second estimate of GDP is based on information from all three approaches and is published as the UK Output, Income and Expenditure First Release.
The third estimate of GDP provides a full set of National Accounts and is published as the Quarterly National Accounts.
Annual estimates are published each year as part of the UK National Accounts (Blue Book).
The GDP(O) element of GDP brings together data from both the Index of Services (IoS) and Index of Production First Releases.
Index of Services
The monthly Index of Services (IoS) First Release shows the monthly movements in gross value added (GVA) for the service industries. Service industries account for around 75 per cent of UK GDP.
GVA is the difference between the value of a service provided, and the value of the goods and services used up in providing that service. More information on measuring GVA in practice can be seen on the Conceptual Basis page on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) website.
More information on the IoS and the processes which occur at each stage of its construction can be seen on the Introduction, Index Construction and the Time Series Methods pages on the ONS website.
The IoS is published eight weeks after the end of the month and disaggregates the service sector into five broad industry categories and 25 2 digit SIC divisions (21 of which are currently published). More information on the IoS can be found on the IoS methodology area of the ONS website.
Index of Production
The Index of Production (IoP) shows the monthly movements in gross value added (GVA) for the production industries. Production industries account for around 18 per cent of UK gross domestic product (GDP).
The IoP First Release disaggregates the production sector into manufacturing, mining and quarrying, and energy supply industries. The manufacturing industries make up approximately 79 per cent of the total IoP and the Index of Manufacturing (IoM) is widely used as a short-term indicator in its own right.
The Government and the Bank of England, among others, monitor the IoP as an important indicator of industrial activity. The IoP is usually published 26 working days after the end of the month; the earliest official indicator on the performance of UK industry.
More information on the IoP can be seen in the following articles:
Measures of Precision for the Index of Production
Planned Methodological Changes to the Index of Production
Impact of Methodological Changes to the Index of Production
A full list of the data feeding into GDP(O) can be seen on the
Source Data
webpage on the ONS website.
Glossary
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Balancing/Coherence adjustments
Typically, the income, output and expenditure figures used to measure Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will show different profiles as the sources on which they are based are subject to statistical error. The best estimate of GDP is therefore obtained by reconciling the estimates obtained from each of the three approaches. This is done by applying 'balancing' or 'coherence' adjustments to the three series. These adjustments are applied both quarterly (as a result of quarterly ‘balancing meetings’ of compilers and key players) and annually (using the supply and use balancing process).
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Gross domestic product (Expenditure) (GDP(E))
Gross domestic product (GDP) from the expenditure approach (GDP(E)) measures the total expenditures on all finished goods and services produced within the economy. It can be defined as the sum of final uses of goods and services by resident institutional units (actual final consumption and gross capital formation), plus exports and less imports of goods and services.
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Gross domestic product (GDP)
Gross domestic product (GDP) is an integral part of the UK national accounts and provides a measure of the total economic activity in the UK. It can be measured using either income, expenditure or output (see below). In the UK all three approaches are measured and the best estimate of GDP is then obtained by reconciling the estimates obtained from each of the three approaches using balancing or coherence adjustments (see above). Use of three different methods which, as far as possible, use independent sources of information, avoids sole reliance on one source and allows greater confidence in the overall estimation process.
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Gross domestic product (Income) (GDP(I))
Gross domestic product (GDP) from the income approach (GDP(I)) measures the total income generated by the production of goods and services within the economy. It comprises the sum of uses in the total economy generation of income account (for example, compensation of employees, taxes on production and imports less subsidies, gross operating surplus and gross mixed income).
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Gross domestic product (Output) (GDP(O))
Gross domestic product (GDP) from the output approach (GDP(O)) measures the sum of the value added created through the production of goods and services within the economy. This approach provides the first estimate of GDP and can be defined as the sum of gross value added (GVA) of the industries plus taxes and less subsidies on products (which are not allocated to sectors or industries). Of the three measures, output is considered the most reliable in the short-term and drives GDP.
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Gross value added (GVA)
Gross value added (GVA) is a measure of the value of goods and services produced in the economy and can be defined as: GVA = Outputs less Inputs (intermediate consumption). GVA is also known as net output. Conceptually, net output for each industry should be estimated by revaluing both the gross outputs and the inputs; then subtracting the latter from the former. This method, however, is very difficult to apply reliably in practice as it requires a great deal of high quality detailed information. Changes in gross output are therefore frequently used as an approximate indicator of changes in net output. This assumes that the relationship between inputs and outputs remains stable over time.
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Index of Manufacturing (IoM)
This is a subsection of the Index of Production (IoP) and covers the 13 subsectors of manufacturing. The IoM is widely used as a short-term economic indicator in its own right. The manufacturing industries account for approximately 79 per cent of the total IoP.
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Index of Production (IoP)
The Index of Production (IoP) shows the monthly movements in gross value added (GVA) for the production industries. Production industries account for around 18 per cent of UK GDP. The IoP First Release disaggregates the production sector into manufacturing, mining and quarrying, and energy supply industries. It is usually published 26 working days after the end of the month; the earliest official indicator on the performance of UK industry.
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Index of Services (IoS)
The Index of Services (IoS) shows the monthly movements in gross value added for the service industries. Service industries account for around 75 per cent of UK gross domestic product (GDP) and include private sector and government services. The IoS, between December 2000 and February 2007, was published as an experimental series while a large-scale development programme to improve the short-term measurement of the service sector was undertaken. The IoS was reclassified from experimental to National Statistic status in March 2007 following a robust evaluation process to determine whether it was now fit for purpose.
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National Accounts
The National Accounts is a central framework for the presentation and measurement of the stocks and flows within the economy. The National Accounts makes sense of the complex activity in the economy by bringing together the participants of the economy and their transactions with one another to provide a simple and understandable description of production, income, consumption, accumulation and wealth.
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Preliminary estimate of GDP
The Preliminary estimate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is published three and a half weeks after the end of the quarter and provides the first estimate of growth in GDP. It is based solely on information from the output or production approach to measuring GDP.
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SIC Divisions (2 Digit)
The categories used for classifying industries in the Index of Services (IoS) and GDP(O) are the UK version of the latest international standard classification of industries, usually abbreviated to the SIC (2003). Using this, industry indicators are combined together according to their relative contribution to total gross domestic product (GDP), based on their gross value added (GVA). The 2 Digit SIC level roughly correspond to the industry level output. This level is also known as the divisional level within GDP. The weights of indicators at this level are updated every year.
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Supply and Use Tables
The supply and use framework brings together components of gross value added (GVA), industry inputs and outputs, product supply and demand, and the composition of uses and resources for the UK economy. Supply and Use tables (SUTs) are in the form of matrices and show the whole economy by 123 industries and 123 products. Producing SUTs allows an examination of consistency and coherency of National Accounts components within a single detailed framework and, by GVA for each industry group, sets the estimate of annual gross domestic product (GDP). GVA measures the contribution to GDP made by an individual producer, industry or sector.
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UK Economic Accounts (UKEA)
This release provides detailed estimates of national product, income and expenditure for the UK. A key source of data on the economy, UKEA contains tables showing the main aggregates of gross domestic product (GDP) and Balance of Payments (BoP), plus Income and Capital Account, Financial Accounts and Financial Balance Sheets by sector.
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UK National Accounts Blue Book
This is a key annual publication for National Accounts statistics and the essential data source for anyone concerned with macro-economic policies and studies. The Blue Book provides detailed estimates of national product, income and expenditure for the UK. It covers value added by industry and full accounts by sector, including financial and non-financial corporations, central and local government and households, and capital formation. The release provides annual figures at a lower level of detail to the first releases produced for preliminary, provisional and full quarterly estimates of national accounts.
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UK Output, Income and Expenditure
This First Release is published seven to eight weeks after the end of the quarter and provides the second estimate of gross domestic product (GDP). The data published in this release are based on information from all three approaches of measuring GDP (that is, the output, income and expenditure measures) and contains estimates and analyses of expenditure in chained volume terms and at current prices, income at current prices, and output in chained volume terms. This release is also known as PN2 within time series data.
Contact Details
For statistical enquiries about this topic, please contact:
Ainsley Smith
Email: ainsley.smith@ons.gsi.gov.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 1633 456734
Office for National Statistics Government Buildings Cardiff Road Newport NP10 8XG
