System of National Accounts

The System of National Accounts or SNA (until 1993 known as the United Nations System of National Accounts or UNSNA) is an international standard system of concepts and methods for compiling national accounts. The system is nowadays used by almost all countries in the world. SNA-type national accounts are among the world's most important sources of macroeconomic statistics. They provide essential data for empirical macroeconomic models and economic forecasting.

When governments use SNA standards to guide the construction of their country's national accounts, it results in much better data quality and data comparability (between countries and across time). In turn, that helps to form more accurate judgements about economic situations, and to put economic issues in correct proportion — nationally and internationally.

The first international standard was published by the United Nations in 1953. Additions and revisions were published in 1960, 1964, 1968, 1993 and 2008. After five years of work, including global consultation with a thousand experts, the pre-edit version for the SNA 2025 revision was adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission at its 56th Session in March 2025, together with the new Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual ("BPM7"). The finalized version of SNA 2025 will be published in 2026, and will be made available in all six official UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). Behind the accounts system, there is also a system of people: the people who are cooperating around the world to produce the statistics, for use by government and international agencies, businesspeople, media, academics, political parties and interest groups from all nations.

SNA guidelines have now been adopted in more than 200 separate countries, territories and areas, although in many cases with some adaptations for local circumstances. Whenever people in the world are using macroeconomic data, they are most often using information sourced (partly or completely) from SNA-type accounts or from economic data sets "strongly influenced" by SNA concepts, designs, data and classifications. Economists and officials across the world depend on timely SNA data, to monitor economic activity, evaluate policy options, and make strategic decisions.

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