Explanatory Notes on Main
Statistical Indicators
Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) refers
to the final products at market prices produced by all resident units in a
country (or a region) during a certain period of time. Gross domestic product
is expressed in three different forms, i.e. value, income, and products
respectively. GDP in its value form refers to the total value of all goods and
services produced by all resident units during a certain period of time, minus
the total value of input of goods and services of the nature of non-fixed
assets; in other term, it is the sum of the value-added of all resident units.
GDP in the form of income includes the income created by all resident units and
distributed to resident and non-resident units. GDP in the form of products
refers to the value of all goods and services for final consumption by all
resident units minus the net exports of goods and services during a given
period of time. In the practice of national accounting, gross domestic product
is calculated with three approaches, i.e. production approach, income approach
and expenditure approach, which reflect gross domestic product and its
composition from different aspects.
Three Industries
Classification
of economic activities into three branches of industries is a common practice
in the world, although the grouping varies to some extent form country to
country. In
Primary
industry: refers to agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery.
Secondary industry: refers to mining and quarrying, manufacturing,
production and supply of electricity, water and gas, and construction.
Tertiary
industry: refers to all other economic activities not included in primary or
secondary industry.
Labourers Remuneration refers
to the whole payment of various forms earned by the labourers
from the productive activities they are engaged in. It includes wages, bonuses
and allowances the labourers earned in monetary form
and in kind. It also includes the free medical services provided to the labourers and the medicine expenses, traffic subsidies and
social insurance, housing fund paid by the employers. As the individual economy
is concerned, since the labourers remun-
eration is not easily distinguished from the
operating profit, both are treated as labourers
remuneration.
Net Taxes on Production refers
to the difference of the taxes on production
minus the subsidies on production. The taxes on production refers to the
various taxes, extra charges and fees levied on the production units on their
production, sale and business activities as well as on the use of some factors
of production, such as fixed assets, land and labour
force in the production activities they are engaged in. In contrast to the
taxes on production, the subsidies on production refer to the unilateral
government transfer to the production units and are therefore regarded as
negative taxes on production. They include subsidies on the loss due to
implementation of government policies, price subsidies, etc.
Depreciation of Fixed Assets refers
to the depreciation of fixed assets of a given period, drawn in accordance with
the stipulated depreciation rate for the purpose of compensating the wear loss
of the fixed assets or the depreciation of fixed assets calculated in a
fictitious way in accordance with the stipulated unified depreciation rate in
the national economic accounting system. It reflects the value of transfer of
the fixed assets in the production of the current period. The depreciation of
fixed assets in various enterprises and institutions managed as enterprises
refers to the depreciation expenses actually drawn. In government agencies and
institutions not managed as enterprises which do not draw the depreciation
expenses, as well as for the houses of residents, the depreciation of fixed
assets is the imputed depreciation, which is calculated in accordance with the
stipulated unified depreciation rate. In principle, the depreciation of fixed
assets should be calculated on the basis of the re-purchased value of the fixed
assets. However, there is no actual condition to re-evaluate all the fixed
assets in
Operating Surplus refers to the balance of the value added
created by the resident units deducting the labourers
remuneration, net taxes on production and the depreciation of fixed assets. It
is equivalent to the business profit of the enter- prises plus subsidies on production, but the wages and
welfare expenses paid from the profits should be deducted.
GDP by Expenditure
Approach refers to the method of measuring
the final results of production activities of a country (region) during a given
period from the perspective of final use. It includes final consumption, total
capital formation and net export of goods and services, i.e.:
GDP
by expenditure approach = final consumption + total capital formation + net
export of goods and services
Final Consumption refers
to the total expenditure of resident units for purchases of goods and services
from domestic economic territory and abroad
to meet the require-ments of material,
cultural and spiritual life. It excludes the expenditure of non-resident units
on consumption in the econo- mic
territory of the country. The final consumption is broken down into household
consumption and government consum- ption.
Households Consumption refers
to the total expenditure of resident
households on the final consumption of goods and services. In addition to the
consumption of goods and services bought by the households directly with money,
the households consumption also includes expenditure on goods and services
obtained by the households in other ways, i.e. the so-called imputed
consumption expenditure, which includes the following: (a) the goods and
services provided to the households by the employer in the form of payment in
kind and transfer in kind; (b) goods and services produced and consumed by the
households themselves, in which the
services refer only to the owner- occupied
housing and domestic and individual services provided by the paid
household workers; (c) financial intermediate services provided by financial
institutions; (d) insurance services provided by insurance companies.
Government Consumption refers
to the expenditure on the consumption of the public services provided by the
government to the whole society and the net expenditure on the goods and
services provided by the government to the households free of charge or at low
prices. The former equals to the output value of the government services minus
the value of operating income obtained by the government departments. The
latter equals to the market value of the goods and services provided by the
government free of charge or at low prices to the households minus the value
received by the government from the households.
Total
Capital Formation refers to the fixed assets acquired minus those disposed of and
the net value of inventory, including the total fixed capital formation and the
increase in inventory.
Total Fixed Capital Formation refers to the value of fixed assets
acquired minus those disposed of during a given period. Fixed assets are the
assets produced through production activities with specified unit value which
could be used for over one year, excluding natural assets. Total fixed capital
formation can be categorized into total tangible capital formation and total
intangible capital formation. The total tangible capital forma- tion include the value of the construction projects,
installation projects completed and the equipment, apparatus and ins- truments purchased as well as the value of land improved,
the value of draught animals, breeding stock, animals for milk, wool and for
recreational purpose, and the newly increased forest with economic value during
a given period. The total intangible capital formation includes the prospecting
of minerals, the acquisition of computer software minus the disposal of them.
Increase in Inventory refers to the market value of
the change in inventory of resident units during a given period, i.e. the
difference of value between the beginning and the end of the period minus the
current gains due to the change in prices. The increase in inventory can be
positive or negative. A positive value indicates the increase in inventory
while a negative value indicates the decrease in stock. The inventory includes
the raw materials, fuels and reserve materials purchased by the production
units as well as the inventory of finished products, semi-finished products,
work-in-progress, etc.
Net Export of Goods and Services refers to the difference of the
exports of goods and services minus the imports of goods and services. The imports include the value of various
goods and services sold or gratuitously transferred by the resident units to
the non-resident units. The imports include the value of various goods and
services purchased or gratuitous- sly acquired by the resident units from the
non-resident units. Because the provision of
services and the use of them happen simultaneously, the acquisition of
services by the resident units from abroad is usually treated as import while
the acquisition of services by non-resident units in this country is usually
treated as export. The export and import of goods are calculated at FOB..