An overview of national transfer accounts

National Transfer Accounts provide an accounting of economic flows to and from residents of a country classified by their age. The accounts are comprehensive in that all economic flows that arise as a consequence of the production of goods and services during the year are incorporated into the accounts. The aggregate values are broadly consistent with those found in national accounts, as detailed in the System of National Accounts (SNA) methodology maintained by the United Nations (see box 2.1), but there are also important differences discussed in more detail below. National Transfer Accounts are structured to emphasize the generational economy and its key features: the economic life cycle and age reallocations realized by relying on intergenerational transfers and assets. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the accounts, while the remaining chapters in this manual will emphasize account details and the construction of National Transfer Accounts.

Related Subject(s): Economic and Social Development