Statistical presentation

Data description

Households final consumption expenditure (HFCE) accounts households’ purchases of goods and services in Denmark and is a central component of the functional accounts in the national accounts. HFCE is compiled both current and in chain -linked volumes, making it possible to assess both levels and real growth.

The statistics are broken down by goods and services categories in accordance with COICOP18 (Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose), including food, alcohol and tobacco, clothing and footwear, housing, transport, communication, health, education, recreation and culture, as well as other goods and services. HFCE is compiled as part of the functional accounts in the national accounts, alongside other components such as fixed capital, employment and wages, productivity developments, input-output tables, financial accounts, etc. These breakdowns make it possible to analyze consumption patterns across different types of consumption and contribute to a better understanding of developments in the economy.

The data transmitted to Eurostat include HFCE compiled in accordance with ESA2010, broken down by COICOP categories, in both current and chain-linked volumes.

On Statistics Denmark’s website, additional information is available, including quarterly time series and methodological documentation.

Classification system

In the national accounts, several different classifications are used, sometimes with Danish adaptations or subdivisions, including for household consumption.

Consumption groups:

Household consumption expenditure is classified according to the Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP18). IIn the Danish national accounts, COICOP is applied at a more detailed level than the standard international publication level through additional national subdivisions to better reflect specific consumption patterns, national user requirements and data sources. These adaptations mainly concern further breakdowns of selected COICOP groups at the 5-digit level while remaining fully consistent with the international classification at higher levels (4-digit and above).

HFCE is compiled at the 4-digit COICOP level, with additional national detail at the 5-digit level used for compilation purposes. For transmission to Eurostat, data are reported at the 4-digit level in accordance with international reporting requirements. At national level, more detailed breakdowns are published in StatBank to provide additional analytical detail. These national subdivisions are fully consistent with the transmitted data and are derived from the same compilation system, but they are not part of the standard international reporting. Data transmitted via the transmission program are aggregated to higher COICOP levels.

More information on the national accounts’ consumption groups can be found at Consumption groupings in the national accounts.

Sectors:

Institutional sectors follow ESA 2010.

Another dimension in the national accounts, including HFCE, is the product dimension, which specifies consumption distributed by products. In Denmark, product numbers are used based on an adapted version of the Statistical Classification of Products by Activity (CPA). The final national accounts consist of approximately 2.350 reconciled product balances. Although these product breakdowns are not published in detail in StatBank, they support the calculations and ensure consistency in the estimation of household consumption.

Sector coverage

Households’ final consumption expenditure (HFCE) covers private households (S14) and is compiled according to both domestic and national concepts.

Under domestic concept, HFCE includes consumption expenditure taking place within Denmark, regardless of whether it is carried out by resident or non-resident households.

Under the national concept, HFCE covers consumption expenditures by resident households (S14), including their expenditure abroad, while excluding expenditure in Denmark by non-resident households. The rest of the world (S2) is thus reflected indirectly as an adjustment for cross-border consumption, such as tourist expenditures in Denmark and residents’ consumption abroad.

Statistical concepts and definitions

Chained-linked volumes: Volume measure expressed in prices of a reference period that is updated annually, and linked over time to produce a consistent time series of volume growth in accordance with ESA 2010.

Current prices: The prices or price levels prevailing in the reference period, expressed in purchasers’ prices, i.e. the price paid by the purchaser including taxes less subsidies on products, and including trade and transport margins where applicable.

Statistical unit

The units used in the estimation of household consumption expenditure are resident households, which are capable of making independent economic decisions and engaging in transactions with other units. Other units, such as enterprises, public institutions, or the rest of the world, are included only indirectly through prices, imports, exports, and adjustments for cross-border consumption.

Statistical population

Household final consumption expenditure (HFCE) covers all resident households characterized by their ability to make independent economic decisions and engage in economic transactions with other resident or non-resident units.

The definition of resident household follows ESA 2010 residence principle. Cross-border workers and seasonal workers are treated as resident households in their country of residence, regardless of where they work. Tourists and other short-term visitors are not considered resident households in Denmark; their expenditure in Denmark is therefore not included in national HFCE but is recorded under the domestic concept. Conversely, expenditure by Danish residents abroad is included in the national HFCE.

Reference area

The Danish national accounts, including household consumption expenditure, cover Denmark excluding the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The national accounts do not capture all economic activity taking place geographically within Denmark; instead, they record the activity of Danish resident units, regardless of where the transactions occur.

Time coverage

Data on household consumption expenditure (HFCE) are available on both a quarterly and an annual basis. The quarterly national accounts for HFCE, only available in Statbank, cover the period from Q1 1990, while the annual national accounts cover the period from 1966 onwards.

Base period

Chained-linked volumes are calculated using annual chain-linking with previous-year prices, and 2020 is applied as the reference year. A fixed base period is not applied in the national accounts.

Unit of measure

Household final consumption expenditure (HFCE) is the national publications in DKK million. In addition, HFCE is compiled in previous year's prices and in chain-linked volumes. The same HFCE series are also available in euro, as current prices, previous year's prices and chain-linked volumes in the databases provided by Eurostat. In Statistics Denmark's national databases, annual and quaterly HFCE series are disseminated in DKK.

Reference period

Household final consumption expenditure (HFCE) covers transactions carried out by households during the quarter or the year.

Frequency of dissemination

Quarterly figures are published eight times a year. Annual figures are published three times a year. Details on data types (provisional, revised and final) are describes in section 14.1 (6.01).

Legal acts and other agreements

The national accounts, including household final consumption expenditure, are compiled in accordance with the following regulations.

The Danish Statistics Act § 6 and §§ 8-12:

The Danish Statistics Act designates Statistics Denmark as the national authority and provides the legal basis for the collection, compilation and dissemination of official statistics. It establishes the obligation for respondents to provide data and sets out the rules on statistical confidentiality.

Regulation (EU) No. 549/2013 of 21 May 2013 on the European System of National and Regional Accounts in the European Union (ESA2010) (OJ L 174 26 June 2013, p. 1):

This regulation defines the common European methodological framework, including concepts, definitions, classifications, and accounting rules for the compilation of national and regional accounts in the European Union.

The Commission Decision of 17 December 2002 further clarifying Annex A to Council Regulation No. 2223/96 as regards the principles for measuring prices and quantities in the national accounts:

This decision provides further guidance on the implementation of the principles for measuring prices and volumes in national accounts, in order to ensure harmonized and comparable constant-price estimates.

Cost and burden

The estimation of household consumption expenditure (HFCE) is based on information collected by Statistics Denmark for the compilation of other statistics. Therefore, there is no direct reporting burden associated with this statistics. Questionnaires for surveys, such as the Household Budget Survey (FU), which subsequently form the source basis for the national accounts, are often prepared in consultation with the national accounts to ensure that the data also meet the needs for compiling the HFCE.

Comment

Additional information can be found the subject page or obtained by contacting Statistics Denmark.