The 19th October 2011 Istat released the new annual series of national accounts based on the most updated versions of the classification of economic activities (Ateco 2007, the national version of Nace Rev. 2) and of products by activity (CPA 2008). At the same time, as in other European countries, the time series of national accounts have been subjected to an extraordinary revision, exploiting advances in methods and sources (e.g. the new balance of payments estimates issued by the Bank of Italy).

Final consumption expenditure by general government It includes two categories of expenditures: a) The value of the goods and services produced by general government itself other than own-account capital formation and sales; b) Purchases by general government of goods and services produced by market producers that are supplied to households – without any transformation – as social transfers in kind. This implies that general government just pays for goods and services that the sellers provide to households. It provides a breakdown of government expenditure according to their function. To meet this end, economic flows of expenditure must be aggregated according to the Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG).