ECB statistics : a brief overview August 2005 .
Date: 2005-11-15
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: European Central Bank, European System of Central Banks, financial statistics, monetary policy, statistics

EC B  STATIST IC S

A   B R I E F   O V E R V I E W

AU GUS T 2 00 5

EN

The main purpose of European Central Bank (ECB) statistics
is to support the monetary policy of the ECB and other tasks
of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks
(ESCB).

This leaflet briefly describes the statistics which the ECB, assisted
by the national central banks of the European Union, develops,
collects, compiles and disseminates.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

In compiling statistics, the ECB is assisted by the national central
banks, or NCBs. The NCBs (and, in some cases, other national
authorities) collect data from credit institutions and other
sources in their respective countries and calculate aggregates
at the national level, which they send to the ECB. The ECB then
compiles and disseminates the aggregates for the euro area.

The main features of the ECB’s statistics are:

A focus on the euro area. This means that all underlying 
national data have to be based on a common set of definitions
and classifications so that they are sufficiently comparable to
produce a meaningful aggregate.

The legal basis for the development, collection, compilation 
and dissemination of statistics by the ECB is laid down in the
Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the
European Central Bank. The ECB has adopted and published
a number of legal acts addressing a wide range of statistics.

While ensuring that its statistical requirements are met, the
ECB seeks to minimise the burden which statistical reporting
places on credit institutions and other reporting agents and
therefore uses existing statistics wherever possible.

The ECB works closely with the European Community 
institutions. Responsibility for statistics at the European level
is shared between the ECB and the European Commission 
(through Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European 
Communities). The exact division of labour is laid out in the
Memorandum of Understanding on Economic and Financial 
Statistics (March 2003), which can be found on the ECB’s 
website.

The ECB also maintains a close relationship with other 
international organisations in statistical matters. Wherever 
possible, ECB statistics conform to international standards.

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The ECB and NCBs provide lists of financial institutions meeting
the definition. The MFI balance sheet statistics are also used to
calculate the minimum reserve requirements that credit
institutions must fulfil, which is one of the ECB’s monetary policy
instruments.

The ECB also compiles harmonised statistics on interest rates
paid and charged by MFIs in their business with households and
enterprises in the euro area.

WHAT STATISTICS DOES THE ECB PRODUCE?

The main types of statistics published by the ECB are:

Money, banking and financial market statistics
Each month, the ECB compiles and disseminates a wide range
of monetary statistics and indicators, including the broad measure
of the money supply known as “M3”, its components (banknotes
and coins, short-term deposits and short-term marketable
instruments) and its counterparts, notably credit and longer-
term liabilities. It also adjusts the monthly statistics to take
account of seasonal factors, which makes it easier to analyse
trends.

The monetary aggregates and their counterparts are calculated
from the balance sheet of the monetary financial institution
(MFI) sector, which is also published monthly. MFIs are institutions
– such as banks – that receive deposits or issue very short-term
securities and extend credit or invest in securities on their own
account. This definition goes beyond that of “credit institutions”
in European Community law, since it includes money market
funds and some other types of institution.

CHART I
Breakdown of the annual growth rate of M3 by its main components
(cumulated contributions in percentage points; not seasonally adjusted; end of period)

CHART II
MFI interest rates on euro-denominated deposits
(percentages per annum excluding charges; new business rates)

10

8

6

4

2

0

-2

-4

Sep.
1998

Mar.

Sep.

1999

3.5

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0

Mar.
2005

Mar.

Sep.

2003

Mar.

Sep.

2004

Mar.

Sep.

2001

Mar.

Sep.

2002

Mar.

Sep.

2000

currency in circulation
M2-M1

overnight deposits
M3-M2

Source: ECB.

3

Jan.

Apr.

July
2003

Oct.

Jan.

Apr.

July
2004

Oct.

Jan.

Apr.

2005

overnight deposits from non-financial corporations
deposits from households redeemable at notice of up to and including three months
deposits from households with an agreed maturity of up to and including one year
deposits from households with an agreed maturity of over two years

Source: ECB.

Moreover, the ECB produces detailed financial market price and
volume statistics, among them monthly volume data on debt
securities and quoted shares, covering issues, redemptions and
amounts outstanding, and information on the prices of financial
instruments. It continues to develop common methodologies
for calculating comparable and representative statistical indicators
for the euro area’s financial markets. This also helps to monitor
financial integration.

The ECB also publishes information on financial institutions
outside the MFI sector, including non-money market investment
funds, given the close connections between their activities and
MFI business.

Balance of payments and other external statistics
The ECB publishes a monthly balance of payments (b.o.p.) for
the euro area, showing the main transactions between euro area
residents and residents of countries outside the euro area. The
monthly b.o.p. is supplemented by more detailed quarterly and
annual statistics, which give a geographical breakdown. A consistent
methodological framework allows the analysis of monetary and
b.o.p. statistics for the euro area to be integrated. The monetary
presentation of the b.o.p., which the ECB has published since
June 2003, is available on a monthly basis and provides a link
between the foreign transactions of parties other than banks
in the euro area and the money supply in the euro area.

CHART III
MFI interest rates on euro-denominated loans
(percentages per annum excluding charges; new business rates)

CHART IV
Euro area balance of payments: current and capital accounts
(EUR billions; transactions; not seasonally adjusted)

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

Jan.

Apr.

July
2003

Oct.

Jan.

Apr.

July
2004

Oct.

Jan.

Apr.

2005

bank overdrafts to households
loans to non-financial corporations of up to €1 million with a floating rate and 
an initial rate fixation of up to one year 
loans to non-financial corporations of over €1 million with a floating rate and 
an initial rate fixation of up to and including one year
loans to non-financial corporations of over €1 million with an initial rate fixation of over five years
loans to households for house purchase with an initial rate fixation of over five and
up to and including ten years

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
-10
-20
-30
-40
-50

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

2001

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2
2002

Q2
2003

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2004

goods
income
services
current transfers
capital account
total

Source: ECB.

4

Source: ECB.

In addition, the ECB publishes monthly statistics on its and the
Eurosystem’s international reserves and foreign currency liquidity,
and quarterly and annual statistics on the international investment
position (i.i.p.) of the euro area, which provide an overall picture
of the euro area’s claims on and liabilities to the rest of the
world, giving a geographical breakdown (in the annual i.i.p.).

The aggregates covering the euro area include credits and debits
and assets and liabilities separately. In contrast to national
b.o.p./i.i.p., which cover all transactions and positions of a national
economy, i.e. including those vis-à-vis other residents of the euro
area, the euro area b.o.p. and i.i.p. contain only transactions and
positions with residents in countries outside the euro area.

The ECB also compiles statistics on the international role of
the euro and effective exchange rate indices for the euro, in
nominal and real terms, using various deflators.

CHART V
Euro area balance of payments: foreign direct investment (FDI) by main
counterparts
(EUR billions; transactions)

FDI by resident units abroad

FDI by non-resident units in the euro area

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

-10

Financial accounts
The ECB requires quarterly financial and non-financial accounts
for the euro area. The financial accounts present financial
transactions as well as financial balance sheets for all economic
sectors in the euro area. They therefore show the financial
interrelationships among the different sectors and between
them and the rest of the world. This broad presentation of the
economy also provides a comprehensive view of the indebtedness
of households, corporations and governments. Of specific interest
are the interactions between the financial and non-financial
transactions, in particular with respect to analytical balancing
items such as saving, government deficit and gross domestic
product.

The accounts follow the integrated approach outlined in the
European system of national and regional accounts (ESA 95).
Based on harmonised accounting principles, quarterly euro area
financial accounts are also very useful for cross-checking the
consistency of the high-frequency data provided by money and
banking, balance of payments, capital market and government
finance statistics.

CHART VI
Financing of euro area non-financial sectors
(annual growth rates; contributions in percentage points)

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2003

2004

2003

2004

Q4
1998

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
1999

Q1

Q2 Q3 Q4
2000

Q1

Q2 Q3 Q4
2001

Q1

Q2 Q3 Q4
2002

Q1

Q2 Q3 Q4
2003

Q1

Q2 Q3 Q4
2004

EU (25) outside the euro area
United States

offshore financial centres
other

total

Source: ECB.

5

households
general government

non-financial corporations
non-financial sectors

Source: ECB.

At present, quarterly data on financial transactions and amounts
outstanding for the non-financial sectors and for insurance
corporations and pension funds are published in the tables on
financing and investment in the ECB’s Monthly Bulletin. Work
is in progress to provide more detail by sector and by financial
instrument, and to compile integrated quarterly financial and
non-financial sector accounts for the euro area.

Government finance statistics
To carry out the analysis required for monetary policy, the ECB
and the ESCB need comprehensive and reliable government
finance statistics based on the ESA 95. Government finance
statistics form an important part of the integrated system of
sectoral non-financial and financial accounts for the euro area.
The annual government finance data are given in three major
tables showing euro area time series on i) revenue and
expenditure, ii) government debt and iii) the relationship between
the government deficit and the change in government debt. The
government deficit and debt for the individual euro area countries
are also shown. To compile the euro area aggregates, additional
information is needed on transactions between the Member
States and the European Community institutions. Quarterly
government finance data showing revenue and expenditure for
the euro area are also published.

CHART VII
General government revenue, expenditure and deficit in the euro area
(as a percentage of GDP)

55

50

45

40

35

30

-6

-5

-4

-3

-2

-1

0

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

revenue (left-hand scale)
expenditure (left-hand scale)

deficit (right-hand scale)

Source: ECB.

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Statistics on the HICP, other prices, costs, output and the 
labour markets
The ECB defines price stability, its primary objective, in terms
of the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) for the
euro area. It also regularly uses and disseminates a wide range
of statistics on prices and costs, national accounts, the labour
markets, external trade and various other general economic
statistics. The prime responsibility for this type of statistics lies
with the European Commission.

The ECB works closely with the Commission (Eurostat) in order
to develop harmonised statistical concepts and achieve regularly
available, good quality euro area statistics. It also compiles and
disseminates various derived indicators for the euro area, such
as measures of residential property prices, employment and
productivity, and calculates seasonally adjusted results.

CHART VIII
Euro area inflation (Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices)
(annual percentage change; contributions to annual percentage change)

2.5

2

1.5

1

0.5

0

-0.5

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

overall
services
processed food

unprocessed food
non-energy industrial goods
energy

Note: From 2001 data include Greece. 
Components do not add up to the aggregate due to rounding.

Sources:  Eurostat and ECB calculations.

MEDIUM-TERM PLANS

WHERE CAN THE STATISTICS BE FOUND?

A major objective for euro area statistics is the integration of
the different economic and financial statistics in a comprehensive
framework of quarterly accounts by institutional sector. These
accounts will cover financial and non-financial corporations,
general government and households, and will incorporate links
with economic agents outside the euro area. This will improve
the consistency between non-financial and financial variables
and thereby facilitate sectoral analysis. The development of new
and enhanced statistics, for example on non-monetary financial
intermediaries, is also a high medium-term priority. It will also
support this objective and further strengthen the statistical basis
for the monetary policy of the ECB and other ESCB tasks.

A wide range of statistics is published in monthly and quarterly
press releases and in the “Euro area statistics” section of the
ECB’s Monthly Bulletin. Statistics on recent economic
developments in the euro area and the EU Member States are
also summarised in the ECB’s practically sized Statistics Pocket
Book. The Pocket Book also contains various comparisons of
the euro area, the EU, the United States and Japan. To receive
these publications free of charge, please contact the ECB at the
address given on the back of this leaflet.

All statistics can also be found in the statistics section of the
ECB’s website (www.ecb.int). Detailed documentation on
definitions and concepts used for the various statistics (including
all relevant legal acts) is also presented on the website.

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FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information, contact the ECB’s Press and Information
Division (tel.: +49 69 1344 7454 or 7455, fax +49 69 1344 7404)
or send an e-mail to: info@ecb.int.

ADDRESS

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Germany

Postfach 16 03 19
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Germany

ISSN 1725-3837 (print)
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