EFTA and UNECE co-organise National Accounts Workshop in Brussels for fifth consecutive year

The workshop focused on helping countries to prepare for the implementation of the new macroeconomic statistical standards – the 2025 System of National Accounts (SNA) and the seventh edition of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM7). The workshop was organised for EFTA partner countries included in the EU Enlargement Policy and European Neighbourhood Policy in East and Central Asia, and in close cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Statistics Norway, the European Central Bank (ECB), Eurostat, national statistical institutes (NSIs) and central banks. 

The SNA provides the conceptual framework for compiling internationally comparable and consistent macroeconomic statistics. It supports policymakers by offering a common basis for understanding and comparing economic developments across countries. Compared to previous versions, the 2025 SNA is broader and, to a larger extent, comprises new policy-relevant areas such as well-being and sustainability. It is also better adapted to measure new emerging phenomena in the areas of globalisation and digitalisation.

In parallel, the BPM7 has been updated and closely aligned with the 2025 SNA to strengthen the consistency of international and national accounts and their analytical usefulness.

While the 2025 SNA and BPM7 frameworks were largely supported by the international statistical community, countries recognised the significant implementation challenges and the need for capacity building and support. The United Nations Statistical Commission therefore endorsed an implementation strategy for the 2025 SNA, and several international organisations have since provided coordinated assistance in accordance with this strategy. The EFTA–UNECE workshop for participating EFTA partner countries was a useful contribution to that implementation effort. 

87 participants from 20 countries attended the workshop in person or online. The event brought together 2025 SNA and BPM7 experts from NSIs and central banks, together with several key international organisations.  

Day one of the workshop focused on implementation planning, with an overview of the main changes introduced by the 2025 SNA and BPM7 frameworks, available implementation tools, and specific country experiences with strengthening national accounts and balance of payments production. The following days were dedicated to the implementation of specific 2025 SNA components, such as digitalisation and globalisation, measuring natural capital and distributional accounts. The participants received hands-on training on recording certain transactions that affect the full sequence of accounts, and on methods to improve the consistency and quality of data. They were also informed about the forthcoming update of the European System of Accounts and the corresponding transmission programme, the ECB medium-term strategy for financial accounts and government finance statistics, and the outcomes of the UN-led project on measuring illicit financial flows.  

The EFTA Secretariat remains committed to promoting capacity building and strengthening technical cooperation in the field of statistics, including key macroeconomic statistics such as national accounts. The overall objective of this cooperation is to promote the development, production and dissemination of internationally comparable official statistics, especially in EFTA’s partner countries. This work is embedded in an Administrative Arrangement for the years 2026 to 2028 between the EFTA Secretariat and Eurostat, as well as in annual work programmes submitted by the Secretariat to the EFTA Council for approval at the beginning of each year. The EFTA–UNECE workshop was part of the EFTA technical cooperation work programme in the field of statistics for 2026 as approved by the EFTA Council at the beginning 2026. Read more about the EFTA Statistical Office’s statistical cooperation here and visit the UNECE website for a detailed programme of this year’s workshop.  

The EFTA Secretariat wishes to thank its co-organisers at UNECE, the speakers and the participants for their time, engagement, efforts and curiosity that made this workshop happen. A special extension of gratitude is directed to Emmanuel Manolikakis from the IMF who has made invaluable contributions to these SNA workshops over the years. EFTA and UNECE wish you a happy retirement. 

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