OECD iLibrary: Reader's Guide

Government at a Glance 2011

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Reader's Guide

In order to accurately interpret the data found in Government at a Glance, readers need to be familiar with the following methodological considerations which cut across a number of indicators. The "Glossary" at the end of the publication, as well as the "Methodology and definitions" section for each indicator, offer additional important information.

Calendar year/fiscal year in National Accounts data

Unless specified, data from the OECD National Accounts are on the basis of calendar years.

Data for Australia and New Zealand refer to fiscal years: 1 July of the year indicated to 30 June for Australia and 1 April of the year indicated to 31 March for New Zealand. For Japan, data regarding certain sub-sectors of general government and expenditures by COFOG refer to fiscal years.

The data based on the System of National Accounts (SNA) were extracted from the OECD National Accounts Database on 28 February 2011.

Composite indicators

The publication includes several descriptive composite indexes in narrowly defined areas related to human resources management (HRM). These composite indexes are a practical way of summarising discrete, qualitative information. The composites presented in this publication adhere to the steps identified in the Handbook on Constructing Composite Indicators (Nardo et al., 2008).

Details about the variables and weights used to construct the HRM indices are available in Annex E.. While the composite indicators were developed in co-operation with member countries and are based on theory and/or best practices, the variables composing the indexes and their relative weights are based on expert judgements and, as a result, may change over time. In some instances, composite indicators from Government at a Glance 2009 may not be comparable with those of the 2011 edition.

Country coverage

Government at a Glance includes data for all 34 OECD members countries based on availability of data. This is the first year where data are presented for the four new OECD member countries that joined the Organisation in 2010: Chile, Estonia, Israel and Slovenia. The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law.

Some additional countries, such as the Russian Federation (currently in the process of accession to the OECD) and others that have observer status to the Public Governance Committee of the OECD (Brazil, Ukraine and Egypt) also supplied data for several indicators. Data for non-member countries are presented separately at the end of tables and figures.

Country codes (ISO codes)

OECD member countries
Australia	AUS	Poland	POL
Austria	AUT	Portugal	PRT
Belgium	BEL	Slovak Republic	SVK
Canada	CAN	Slovenia	SVN
Chile	CHL	Spain	ESP
Czech Republic	CZE	Sweden	SWE
Denmark	DNK	Switzerland	CHE
Estonia	EST	Turkey	TUR
Finland	FIN	United Kingdom	GBR
France	FRA	United States	USA
Germany	DEU
Greece	GRC	OECD accession country
Hungary	HUN	Russian Federation	RUS
Iceland	ISL
Ireland	IRL	Other major economies
Israel	ISR	China	CHN
Italy	ITA	India	IND
Japan	JPN	Indonesia	IDN
Korea	KOR	South Africa	ZAF
Luxembourg	LUX
Mexico	MEX	Observers to the Public Governance Committee, OECD
Netherlands	NLD	Brazil	BRA
New Zealand	NZL	Egypt	EGY
Norway	NOR	Ukraine	UKR

OECD averages and totals

Averages

In figures and text, the OECD average refers to the unweighted, arithmetic mean of the OECD member countries for which data are available. It does not include data for non-member countries.

OECD# refers to the average for the number of OECD member countries listed and/or found in the corresponding figure or table. Notes indicate the countries for which data are unavailable.

In instances in which one or more years are depicted in a figure, the OECD average is a fixed composition of countries that includes all member countries for which data are available. For example, an OECD average for the year 2007 includes available data for that year for all current member countries, even if they were not an OECD member in that year.

Totals

OECD totals are most commonly found in tables and represent the sum of data in the corresponding column for the OECD countries for which data are available. Totals do not include data for non-member countries.

Total OECD# refers to the number of OECD member countries listed and/or found in the corresponding table. Notes indicate the countries for which data are unavailable.

Online supplements

Several indicators include online supplemental tables and figures that present country-specific data. When available, these are noted in the "Methodology and definitions" section of the indicator. Government at a Glance 2011 also offers access to StatLinks, a service that allows readers to download the corresponding Excel files of the data featured. StatLinks are available at the bottom right-hand corner of the tables or figures and can be typed into web browsers or, from an electronic version of the publication, clicked on directly.

In addition, country notes that present key data by country compared with the OECD average are available on line. Both the country notes and supplemental data are available at: www.oecd.org/gov/indicators/govataglance.

Per person indicators

Some indicators (e.g. expenditures, revenues and government debt) are shown on a per person basis. The underlying population estimates are based on the System of National Accounts notion of residency. They include persons who are resident in a country for one year or more, regardless of their citizenship, and also include foreign diplomatic personnel, and defence personnel; together with their families and students studying and patients seeking treatment abroad, even if they stay abroad for more than one year. The "one year" rule means that usual residents who live abroad for less than one year are included in the population, while foreign visitors (for example, vacationers) who are in the country for less than one year are excluded. An important point to note in this context is that individuals may feature as employees of one country (contributing to the GDP of that country via production), but residents of another (with their wages and salaries reflected in the Gross National Income of their resident country).

Purchasing Power Parities

Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) are the rates of currency conversion that equalise the purchasing power of different countries by eliminating differences in price levels between countries. When converted by means of PPPs, expenditures across countries are in effect expressed at the same set of prices, enabling comparisons across countries that reflect only the differences in the volume of goods and services purchased.

2000 and 2007: PPPs for all European countries are annual benchmark results provided by Eurostat. PPPs for non-European countries are OECD estimates.

2008: PPPs for all OECD countries are triennial benchmark results jointly calculated by the OECD and Eurostat.

2009: PPPs for all European countries are preliminary annual benchmark results provided by Eurostat. PPPs for non-European countries are OECD estimates. Estimates and preliminary results should be interpreted with caution as they are subject to revision.

More information is available on the OECD PPP Internet site: www.oecd.org/std/ppp.

Signs and abbreviations

. . Missing values.

n.a. Not applicable (unless otherwise stated).

EUR Euros.

USD US dollars.