This publication presents information using an "indicator" approach, focusing on cross-country comparisons; the aim being to make the accounts more accessible and informative, whilst, at the same time, taking the opportunity to present the conceptual underpinning of, and comparability issues inherent in, each of the indicators presented.

The publication is broken down into six chapters: The first provides a general introduction focusing on indicators of GDP. The second focuses on income and presents a number of important indicators such as savings and net lending/net borrowing rates. The third chapter looks at indicators related to the expenditure approach to GDP estimation, with information on the key components of demand and imports. The fourth chapter looks at indicators from a production perspective. Fifth and sixth Chapters focus on General Government and Capital respectively. Finally the annex provides important reference indicators, important in their own-right but also because they are used in the construction of many of the indicators presented elsewhere in the publication. It also provides further background on the new 2008 System of National Accounts, which will eventually be the basis of data published here. Indeed the indicators presented for Australia follow the 2008 SNA. For all other countries indicators are presented on the basis of the 1993 System of National accounts.It's important to note however that differences between the 2008 SNA and the 1993 SNA do not have a significant impact on the comparability of indicators presented in this publication. The annex at the end of this publication describes the key changes from the 1993 SNA that impact on the indicators presented here and, for Australia, it also provides an indication of the size of the impact for the most important changes.