The Annual National Accounts (ANA), formerly known as the National Income and Expenditure (NIE) is an annual CSO publication that shows the state of the Irish economy as a whole. While there are many economic indicators available, the National Income and Expenditure is the definitive macroeconomic picture. Published in early summer each year, it shows Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the previous year and all years back as far as 1995.
It also provides the details that show what is driving changes in GDP. In Ireland we calculate GDP by three Methods: Output, Income and Expenditure, and the Annual National Accounts breaks down GDP as it is calculated by these three methods. For example, Household Final Consumption Expenditure is a large part of GDP calculated by the Expenditure Method and in the ANA Household Final Consumption Expenditure is broken down into around twenty parts so you can see how much a change in GDP is driven by rent, how much by food and so on.
The Annual National Accounts is given in Current and Constant Prices, so that the price effect is removed from changes in GDP. It also provides indicators that are unique to Ireland like Modified GNI which remove the distorting effect of Globalisation on GDP.
The Annual National Accounts shows yearly figures for the economy and is published six months after the latest year has ended. The Quarterly National Accounts show the growth of the economy over a three-month period and are published around nine weeks after the latest quarter has ended.