One result of the Enlightenment was the marriage of the nation state and (official) statistics. The establishment of nation states required reliable statistics, as well as necessitating political decisions within said states. Similarly, the emergence of international (e.g. UN) and supra-national (EU) institutions has been accompanied by the development of statistical infrastructure. Systems of official statistics were designed to measure national economies and economic activities, with the exception of international trade in goods. With the increasing importance of globalisation, these conditions and the requirements for official statistics systems have changed fundamentally. These changes affect all levels (basic statistics, accounts, indicators) and all statistical processes (design, production, communication). They require new methods of cooperation between national statistical institutions and new conventions between users and producers concerning the priorities and quality requirements set for statistical components. Last but not least, these changes also require close and trust-based cooperation between the actors at the national and interor supranational statistical levels. Meeting these challenges requires more than just a technical and methodological approach. Rather, it is necessary to understand and manage the effects of further developments and modernisation as part of the overall system of official statistics.

The national accounts and balance of payments are both standardised in terms of their methodology in coordinated sets of rules. These are currently the System of National Accounts 2008 for the national accounts, and the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual 2009 for the balance of payments.

In keeping with these methodological guidelines (which, in the case of the national accounts, are fleshed out further in the European System of Accounts 2010 for the European Union), the Federal Statistical Office and the Deutsche Bundesbank cooperate closely in producing their results based on mutually supplied data.

These concern imports and exports, which are made up of cross-border flows of goods and services. In an open economy, what is known as the external balance (that is to say, exports less imports) is needed to calculate gross domestic product (GDP), the key indicator of an economy’s growth.

Similarly, gross national income is likewise an important variable for the national accounts, and can only be computed by cooperating with the Bundesbank in the field of the balance of payments. Gross national income is obtained from gross domestic product by adding primary incomes received by resident units from the rest of the world and subtracting primary incomes paid to the rest of the world.

To obtain gross national disposable income from gross national income, secondary incomes received from the rest of the world (taxes, social contributions and benefits, and other transfers) are added and secondary incomes paid to the rest of the world are deducted. Balance of payments statistics provided by the Bundesbank are important inputs for these cross-border transactions as well.

This contribution delves into the intricate relationship between monetary policy and the Balance of Payments in an open market economy. It underscores the indispensable value of BOP as the flagship and conceptional anchor for an entire family of external statistics and as an essential pillar in an integrated system of macroeconomic statistics and international accounting standards.

To be most effective, the monetary objectives and the analytical background have to be clearly defined and comprehensive data sets fit for purpose should be at hand.

Normative issues concerning BOP are put to the test.

A glance into the "engine room of external statistics" reveals important necessary conditions in order to meet the expectation of high-quality and up to date services of the various user groups in a rapidly changing "global village".

This contribution outlines the methods used by the European Central Bank (ECB), in cooperation with the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) to compile statistics on the euro area balance of payments and international investment position (BOP/IIP). It describes the key principles for compiling these statistics, including the treatment of the euro area as a single economic territory and the focus on transactions and positions with non-euro area residents. It also presents the main data sources, primarily national contributions from euro area countries, emphasizing the importance of data quality and harmonization for accurate euro area aggregates. Additionally, the chapter discusses euro area specific compilation practices. It also highlights the analytical value of BOP/IIP statistics for ECB policymaking, particularly in assessing the euro area’s exposure to external shocks and the international impact of ECB policies. The contribution also presents recent advancements in the development of euro area BOP/IIP statistics, including more detailed breakdowns for special-purpose entities and enhanced sectoral and geo-graphic information.

This contribution covers the multifaceted role of balance of payments (BOP) statistics in providing a basis for shaping European Union (EU) policies and monitoring their impact. It starts by describing the process of preparing and collecting BOP data, explaining the importance of sound methodology and the efforts taken by Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, to ensure the high quality of the data. Subsequently, the contribution outlines various uses of BOP statistics, from detecting macroeconomic imbalances to analyzing the potential economic impacts of specific trade and customs policies, from enhancing transparency to strengthening accountability, from monitoring and evaluating, to informing the public. The contribution also details the specific case of the accounts of the EU institutions in BOP.

Official statistics institutions aim to collect data of high quality. In general, guidelines are available that help in achieving a high quality of data and, as a result, a high quality of statistics. However, in times of rising rates of non-response, alternative data collection methods come into play. This raises the question of whether statistics drawn from data collected via alternative methods still fulfil sufficient standards of quality. A related question concerns quality standards that are to be measured with regard to specific content. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of modern challenges in the use of data while taking consideration of high quality standards. This is especially important in the context of data used as evidence for policy purposes or legislative processes. Special emphasis is placed on raising awareness of quality considerations as well as data and statistical literacy and its integration into education and life-long learning.