Australian System of National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Methods

Latest release

This publication outlines the major concepts, definitions, data sources and methods used to prepare the National Accounts estimates

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Reference period
Edition 8
Release date and time
23/10/2026 11:30am AEDT

Preface

The Concepts, Sources and Methods (CSM) manual is a guide to the Australian System of National Accounts (ASNA), which measures, classifies and aggregates economic transactions. The ASNA CSM manual:

  • outlines the major concepts and definitions used in the ASNA
  • describes the data sources and methods used to prepare estimates for the National Accounts
  • discusses the accuracy and reliability of those estimates.

The manual is designed for:

  • intensive users such as economic and financial analysts
  • less intensive users looking to gain a better understanding of the National Accounts or the Australian economy in general.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the highest profile estimate in the ASNA. Other components include:

  • balance sheets
  • productivity estimates
  • reconciliation accounts
  • supply-use (S-U) tables
  • input-output (I-O) tables
  • satellite and thematic accounts
  • national, state and territory estimates
  • a full set of flow accounts (income, capital and financial).

Editions

The current manual is the eighth edition of Australian System of National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Methods. The chapters released in this edition have been updated to reflect changes to the sources and methods used to compile the ASNA since the release of the seventh edition.

This manual is consistent with the following ABS publications:

This manual is also consistent with the following thematic accounts: 

The ABS has released several other versions of the CSM manual in the previous five decades. Each version reflects the various standards and classifications used in the ASNA at the time. An example is the the System of National Accounts (SNA), which is the international standard for compiling national accounts.

Australia's national accounts are compiled in accordance with the international standard. The ASNA, however, departs from the recommendations of the SNA in selected areas. Australia's application of these standards is described in Chapter 7 and Appendix 2 of this manual.

The following section discusses each version of the CSM manual under the relevant edition of the SNA.

1968 SNA

In 1981, the ABS launched the first manual in hard copy. The Australian National Accounts:  Concepts, Sources and Methods manual reflected the use of the following standards and classifications:

This main themes of this edition included:

  • reconciliation accounts
  • flow-of-funds financial analysis
  • input-output production analysis
  • balance sheets of national wealth
  • estimates of national income and expenditure in constant prices.

The next printed version of Australian National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Methods was published in 1990. The chapters in this edition were updated to reflect changes to sources and methods during the previous decade.

1993 SNA

The ABS launched the first web-based version of the CSM manual in November 2000 with a revised title. The Australian System of National Accounts:  Concepts, Sources and Methods manual reflected the introduction of new standards and classifications into the accounts:

This edition added new themes consistent with revisions to international frameworks, including:

  • productivity measures
  • national and sectoral balance sheets
  • the replacement of constant price estimates with chain volume measures
  • the integration of input-output tables with the national income, expenditure and product accounts.

2008 SNA

In 2012, the CSM manual was updated to reflect implementation of the following standards and classifications in the ASNA:

Three editions of the manual were released that year. The first edition (July 2012) was released following a major rewrite of the previous edition (November 2000). The second edition (September 2012) included a new chapter on Australia's input-output tables. The third edition (December 2012) included five additional chapters and two additional appendices covering:

  • state accounts
  • analytical measures
  • productivity measures
  • the quality of the national accounts
  • satellite accounts (including environmental-economic accounts).

The next four editions (December 2013 to July 2021) reflected changes to the sources and methods used to compile the Australian System of National Accounts. None of them included new chapters. The following appendices were removed from the seventh edition (July 2021):

  • non-observed economy
  • GDP, well-being and sustainability.

All seven editions were released in a portable document format (pdf) from 2012 before the ABS relaunched a web-based version of this publication in 2022. There were two minor updates to the manual in March and October 2024 before the release of the eighth edition.

The eighth edition contains significant updates to chapters 9 and 10. Those updates reflect the latest sources and methods used to compile GDP based on the production and expenditure approaches. Chapters 21 and 23 have been restructured with the introduction of new information. There have also been minor updates to other sections of the manual.

The current edition was first updated in January 2026. The latest update (October 2026) coincides with the release of the following ABS publications:

Grace Kim

Program Manager, National Accounts

Updates

In 2024, the ABS embarked on a program to update the web-based version of this manual on a more frequent basis. This strategy ensures that users have access to the most up-to-date concepts, data sources and methods used to compile the National Accounts.

The specific details of content changes for Edition 8 are provided below.

January 2026

October 2026