Market prices and the evolution of corporate leverage in the euro area - 2022 edition

Corporate leverage is an important variable for financial stability. The System of National Accounts provides a solid methodology to monitor aggregated trends. In this framework, the valuation of balance sheet items at market prices implies that both changes in volume and changes in prices define the evolution of corporate leverage over time. To demonstrate how revaluations can also explain the dynamics of corporate leverage, we build time series that only consider transactions in financial assets and liabilities. We find that the trends in corporate leverage in the euro area since 1999 would have been different if revaluations had been excluded. Users of national accounts for financial stability purposes should be aware of the impact that market prices can have on corporate leverage. Besides, ongoing methodological work to improve national accounts should continue, in particular in what regards techniques for the estimation of market values of some financial

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/KS-03-22-176-EN-N.pdf

European system of integrated social protection statistics ESSPROS — Manual and user guidelines — 2022 edition

The European System of integrated Social PROtection Statistics (ESSPROS) was developed in the late 70s by Eurostat jointly with representatives of the Member States of the European Union in response to the need for a specific instrument of statistical observation of social protection in the EU Member States. The new ESSPROS Manual and user guidelines is the updated guide for compiling and using ESSPROS data. It includes amendments and clarifications on the following topics: social contributions reporting basis, distinction between disability pension and early retirement in case of reduced capacity to work, treatment of multifunction benefits.

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/KS-GQ-22-013-EN-N.pdf