Course on National Accounts and Base Year Update

The course was held from June 24 to 28, 2024 at the CEMLA facilities with the cooperation of the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI) of Mexico. The main objective of the course was to present the tasks involved in updating the base year in the national accounting system, including the methodological aspects and the information requirements involved in its preparation.

The event began with the outline of the phases that were carried out in the planning of the update of Mexico's national accounts system, moving from a 2013 base to a new 2018 base, including programming, the formation of the legal framework, alignment with international standards and commitments and carrying out different public consultations.

The course continued with a description of the evidence registration system followed by the INEGI and the systematization of Mexico's national accounts system, framed within the statistical and geographical process model of Mexico. Subsequently, it was emphasized that the economic censuses, which are carried out every five years, constitute the main source of information for preparing the production accounts, which in turn constitute the starting point for the rest of the economic accounts (distribution, accumulation and financing accounts). It was highlighted the need to compare the data obtained from economic censuses with other sources of information.

The steps to follow for the integration of the new 2018 supply and use tables for the Mexican economy were also highlighted, as well as the new input-output matrix, both from industry to industry and from product to product. An exercise was carried out with the input-output matrix to show its usefulness in economic analysis due to various disturbances.

Additional topics were presented whose behavior was modified in the Mexican economy as a result of the update of the base year, such as the digital economy and the formation of capital stocks, as well as measurements of the distribution of disposable income and consumption and savings. of homes. In subsequent sessions, the satellite accounts or thematic accounts prepared by INEGI were addressed: satellite accounts of non-profit institutions, unpaid household work, culture, the health sector, tourism, etc. Finally, it was stated that work has already begun to prepare the 2023 base change of Mexico's national accounts system, which will be published within four years.

The course was attended by 42 participants from central banks and statistical institutions from 7 countries, in addition to speakers from INEGI.