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
remuneration 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 enterprises 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 Expenditure refers to the total expenditure of resident units for purchases of
goods and services from domestic economic territory and abroad to meet the
requirements of material, cultural and spiritual life. It excludes the
expenditure of non-resident units on consumption in the economic territory of
the country. The final consumption is broken down into household consumption
and government consumption.
Households
Consumption Expenditure 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 Expenditure 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 instruments 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 Valued at free on
board(f.o.b) prices.