8. Things you need to know about this release

UK National Accounts following the UK’s exit from the European Union

As the UK leaves the EU, it is important that our statistics continue to be of high quality and are internationally comparable. During the transition period, those UK statistics that align with EU practice and rules will continue to do so in the same way as before 31 January 2020.

After the transition period, we will continue to produce our national accounts statistics in line with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Statistics and in accordance with internationally agreed statistical guidance and standards.

The Withdrawal Agreement outlines a need for UK gross national income (a fundamental component of the national accounts, which includes gross domestic product (GDP)) statistics to remain in line with those of other EU countries until the EU budgets are finalised for the years in which we were a member. To ensure comparability during this cycle, the national accounts will continue to be produced according to European System of Accounts (ESA) 2010 definitions and standards.

Identifying recessions

Early estimates of GDP are subject to uncertainty, with more mature estimates leading to revisions as we receive more comprehensive data from a wide range of survey and administrative sources. On 16 April we will be publishing an article in the Economic review, which will outline our latest thinking and analysis on how we communicate the uncertainty associated with changes in the economy. Typically, most interest in the uncertainty associated with estimating GDP comes around turning points in the economy – as such this will be an important focus of the article.