Digitalisation has fundamentally altered the production and consumption of goods and services worldwide over the past two decades. The increasing digitalisation of our economies creates challenges for compilers of official economic statistics, who are tasked with ensuring that the digital transformation is both accurately measured and visible.
In response, in 2017 the OECD Committee on Statistics and Statistical Policy established the Informal Advisory Group (IAG) on Measuring GDP in a Digitalised Economy to progress the measurement of digitalisation within economic statistics, particularly in the System of National Accounts. The IAG helped to develop the Digital Supply and Use Tables (Digital SUTs) framework and this handbook.
The Handbook on Compiling Digital SUTs is designed to serve two purposes:
To define clearly the various concepts used, list the high priority indicators, and set out expectations for compilers and users of Digital SUTs.
To document and share the work currently being undertaken by national and international organisations to make digitalisation more visible in macroeconomic statistics, helping countries in their efforts to populate the Digital SUTs.
The Handbook on Compiling Digital SUTs reflects the outcome to date of the IAG’s efforts. While significant progress has been made in a relatively short space of time, practical implementation of the framework is still in its initial stages. The handbook aims to highlight the importance of consistent definitions and concepts that cover a rapidly evolving phenomenon, while also providing statistical compilers the tools and encouragement to produce more estimates.
The handbook was produced by John Mitchell, Sarah Barahona and Jorrit Zwijnenburg (OECD). It was produced under the auspices of the IAG on Measuring GDP in a Digitalised Economy, chaired by Erich H. Strassner (IMF; formerly United States Bureau of Economic Analysis) and benefitted greatly from discussions at the 2022 and 2023 meetings of the IAG. Drafts were made available to all members of the IAG, many of whom provided useful feedback. Special thanks go to those members that provided specific contributions included within the handbook, including Hussein Charara, Connor Franks, Tina Highfill, Jessica Nicolson (United States BEA); Yvonne Hayden (CSO Ireland); Ziad Ghanem (Statistics Canada); Melker Pettersson Loberg (Statistics Sweden); Nicky Kuijpers, Sjoerd Hooijmaaijers, Joram Vuik (Statistics Netherlands); Brent Moulton, James Tebrake, Martha Tovar (IMF); Daniel Ker (UNCTAD) Luke Michaelides, Daniel Robinson, Cliodhna Taylor (ONS, United Kingdom) and Ina Tobiassen (OECD). Additional thanks go to Antonella Liberatore and David Brackfield (OECD) who assisted in ensuring consistency between the Digital SUT and digital trade frameworks.
The final version of the report was formatted by Chloe Acas (OECD).