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 during a certain period of time.
Gross domestic product is expressed in three different perspectives, namely
value, income, and products respectively. GDP in its value perspective refers
to the balance of 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 words, it is
the sum of the value-added of all resident units. GDP from the perspective of
income includes the primary income created by all resident units and
distributed to resident and non-resident units. GDP from the perspective of
products refers to the value of all goods and services for final demand by all
resident units plus the net exports of goods and services during a given period
of time. In the practice of national accounting, gross domestic product is
calculated from three approaches, namely production approach, income approach
and expenditure approach, which reflect gross domestic product and its
composition from different angles.
For a region, it is called as Gross Regional
Product(GRP) or regional GDP.
Three
Strata of Industry Classification of economic
activities into three strata of industry is a common practice in the world,
although the grouping varies to some extent from country to country. In
Primary industry refers to agriculture,
forestry, animal husbandry and fishery industries.
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 the primary or secondary industries.
Compensation
of Employees refers to the total payment of various
forms to employees for the productive activities they are engaged in. It
includes wages, bonuses and allowances, which the employees earn in cash or in
kind. It also includes the free medical services provided to the employees and
the medicine expenses, transport subsidies and social insurance, and housing
fund paid by the employers.
Net
Taxes on Production refers to taxes on production
less 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 in the production activities they are
engaged in. In contrast to taxes on production, 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 in a given period, drawn in
accordance with the stipulated depreciation rate for the purpose of
compensating the wear-and-tear loss of the fixed assets or the depreciation of
fixed assets imputed 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,
currently the conditions in
Operating
Surplus
refers to the balance of the value added created by the resident units
after 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 to 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 uses. It includes final consumption expenditure, gross capital formation
and net export of goods and services. The formula for computation is.:
GDP by expenditure approach = final
consumption expenditure + gross 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 both the
domestic economic territory and abroad to meet the needs of material, cultural
and spiritual life. It does not include the expenditure of non-resident units
on consumption in the economic territory of the country. The final consumption
expenditure is broken down into household consumption expenditure and
government consumption expenditure.
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 expenditure 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 households by 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 to the owner-occupied
housing and services offered by paid family employees; (c) financial
intermediate services provided by financial institutions.
Government
Consumption Expenditure refers to the consumption
expenditure spent for the provision of public services provided by the
government to the whole country and the net expenditure on the goods and
services provided by the government to households free of charge or at reduced
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 reduced prices to the households minus the value
received by the government from the households.
Gross
Capital Formation refers to the fixed assets
acquired less disposals and the net value of inventory, thus including gross
fixed capital formation and changes in inventories.
Gross
Fixed Capital Formation refers to the value of acquisitions
less those disposals of fixed assets during a given period. Fixed assets are
the assets produced through production activities with unit value above a
specified amount and which could be used for over one year. Natural assets are
not included. Gross fixed capital formation can be categorized into total
tangible fixed capital formation and total intangible fixed capital formation.
Total tangible fixed capital formation includes the value of the construction
projects and installation projects completed and the equipment, apparatus and
instruments purchased (less those disposed) as well as the value of land
improved, the value of draught animals, breeding stock and animals for milk,
for wool and for recreational purposes and the newly increased forest with
economic value. Total intangible fixed capital formation includes the
prospecting of minerals and the acquisition of computer software minus the
disposal of them.
Changes
in Inventories refers to the market value of the change in the physical volume of
inventory of resident units during a given period, i.e. the difference between
the values at the beginning and at the end of the period minus the gains due to
the change in prices. The changes in inventories can have a positive or a
negative value. A positive value indicates an increase in inventory while a
negative value indicates a decrease in inventory. The inventory includes raw
materials, fuels and reserve materials purchased by the production units as
well as the inventory of finished products, semi-finished products and
work-in-progress.
Net Export of Goods and Services refers to the exports of goods and services subtracting the imports of goods and services. Exports include the value of various goods and services sold or gratuitously transferred by resident units to non-resident units. Imports include the value of various goods and services purchased or gratuitously acquired resident units from non-resident units. Because the provision of services and the use of them happen simultaneously, the acquisition of services by 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 exports and imports of goods are calculated at FOB.