Resurrecting the UK Historic Sector National Accounts

Abstract

The UK national accounts do not provide a full long-run set of historic data describing the behaviour of the UK's private sector. Although comprehensive figures are available from 1987, the pre-1987 historic sector national accounts are marred by discontinuities, gaps and error. A partial solution is described that enables the compilation of consistent historic figures for sectors' income and expenditure flows, albeit at a high level of sector aggregation. Particular attention is paid to transfer incomes and associated inter-sector flows. To our knowledge, our dataset is the only one freely available that provides a basis, albeit an incomplete one, for a serious examination of Britain's post-war macroeconomic history. Coherent financial flow, balance sheet and volume data and further sector disaggregation are required to complete the picture. An annual dataset is provided as a supplement to the articleUK national accounts, European System of Accounts, data corruption, private sector, Statistics Commission