Comparability

Comparability - geographical

The Danish balance of payments follows international guidelines. Therefore, the statistics is comparable with the balance of payments of other developed countries, if they follow the guidelines stated in the 6th edition of the balance of payments manual (BPM6) published by the IMF or the 2008 edition of the System of National Accounts (SNA) published by the UN.

Comparability over time

The statistics has been compiled since 1934. From 1949, the compilations have been adapted to the form used by the IMF. Until 1997, very long series without significant breaks exist for the main items: goods, services, income, and transfers. From 1988, the compilation exists with the main items adapted to the IMF's 1993 balance of payments manual (the fifth edition). From 2005, the compilation is adapted to the IMF's 2009 balance of payments manual (the sixth edition). In the major revision in 2014 and 2024, data was revised back to 2005.

In September 2014, the balance of payments transitioned to new international guidelines (BPM6). In connection with the implementation of the new guidelines, the questionnaire on International Trade in Services was expanded to include, among other things, the sale of goods abroad after processing abroad. This opened the possibility for a more direct comparison with information reported to other statistics. Based on this, Statistics Denmark conducted a systematic mapping of the foreign activities of selected large Danish enterprises.

The investigation revealed a need to revise the Danish balance of payments statistics. Therefore, a revision of the period 2005-2014 was conducted in October 2016.

Breaks: - The treatment of interest payments in connection with financial derivatives is adapted to new international guidelines from 1997. This results in modest changes to the balance for investment income but significant changes to the gross amounts of investment income, i.e., income and expenses.

• A major investigation of available data sources for the item services resulted in a considerable increase of both import and exports of services as from year 1999, the current account balance remaining unchanged. This change was due to increased detail in the data material for the compilation of services, resulting in some transactions previously netted, now being reported on gross flows.

• From January 2005, a new statistical source and method have been applied to the compilation of the balance of payments. The previous source for the compilation of service trade, Denmarks Nationalbank’s payment statistics, has been discontinued, and the statistics on International Trade in Services have been introduced. Read more about the method for compiling ITSS statistical documentation. The changes in the data source have caused data breaks in virtually all items to a greater or lesser extent. However, it is believed that the surplus on the balance of payments current account is compiled without significant breaks.

A new integrated dissemination of International trade in goods, International trade in services and the balance of payments is used from January 2021. With this new dissemination, the methodological differences due to the border-crossing principle in international trade in goods and the change of ownership principle in the balance of payments have been distributed by the type of goods (see more about the methodological differences in section “Coherence – cross domain”). Previously, the balance of payments did not show which type of goods had been traded. The method for distributing the methodological differences by the type of goods was improved, being now more precise. Therefore, from the publication on February 2021, revised figures for the distribution of commodity types are available in StatBank Denmark back to 2010. The clarifications primarily result from better methods for distributing, especially for freight on import goods for processing and price adjustments on goods that have crossed the border for historical figures. See an overview of the changes in this table of changes due to the new method for the distribution of the balance of payments trade in goods.

Coherence - cross domain

The balance of payments goods concept is methodologically different from the statistics on international trade in goods. The balance of payments operates with the change of ownership principle, while the statistics on international trade in goods operate with the border-crossing principle. Furthermore, the value of goods is calculated at the sender's border (FOB value) in the balance of payments, while the statistics on international trade in goods calculate the import value at the importer's border (CIF value) and the export value at the exporter's border (FOB). The main differences between the statistics on international trade in goods and the goods component of the balance of payments are the purchase and sale of goods not crossing the Danish border, which are not included in ITGS:

• purchase and sale in connection with processing of goods abroad;

• purchase and sale of goods not crossing Danish borders (merchanting);

• Danish vessels' purchase of goods abroad (e.g., Danish ships' purchase of fuel in a foreign port).

In the table BBUHV, it is possible to see the transition between the two principles.

The balance of payments compilation of services is identical to the statistics on international trade in services. The quarterly compilations of international trade in services are recalculated every month in connection with the publication of the balance of payments. The balance of payments is identical to the sector rest of the world in the sector account of the national accounts. The balance of payments is included in the calculation of key national accounts’ figures such as the gross domestic product (GDP), the gross national income (GNI) and disposable GNI.

There is full consistency between the balance of payments and the statistics on international trade in services and the compilation of national accounts in the months when these statistics are published. In months when the national accounts are not published, there may be revisions to quarters in the balance of payments that have not yet been incorporated into the national accounts.

Coherence - internal

There is full internal consistency between the monthly, quarterly, and annual publications of the balance of payments.