Global Consultation — TG-0.2: Overview of Relevant Statistical Standards
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id: TG-0.2 title: Overview of Relevant Statistical Standards badge: Core version: "6.0" status: Draft prerequisites:

  • TG-0.1 toc: false

Overview of Relevant Statistical Standards

Field Value
Circular ID TG-0.2
Version 6.0
Badge Core
Status Draft — Open for Consultation
Consultation closes TBC

1. Outcome

This Circular provides a comprehensive overview of the international statistical standards that underpin Ocean Accounts, establishing the methodological foundations on which the Technical Guidance is built. Readers will gain an understanding of how the System of National Accounts 2025 (SNA 2025), the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Central Framework (SEEA CF), and SEEA Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA) collectively provide the accounting architecture for measuring ocean-economy-society interactions.

Understanding these standards enables critical policy applications. When governments prepare national ocean budgets, they rely on ocean economy statistics compiled following SNA 2025 principles — gross value added, employment, trade, and fish protein supply — to demonstrate the sector's contribution to national income and justify public investment in ocean management. When compiling asset accounts for marine natural resources, compilers apply SEEA CF guidance on physical depletion (catch exceeding sustainable yield) and monetary valuation (net present value of resource rents), translating stock assessment data into balance sheet entries that reveal whether fisheries extraction is sustainable. When measuring ecosystem services from coastal ecosystems, analysts use SEEA EA's spatial accounting framework to quantify mangrove carbon sequestration, coral reef coastal protection, and seagrass nursery habitat services, supporting policy decisions on marine protected area design and blue carbon finance.

The Circular introduces the emerging ocean accounting framework being developed within the SEEA family of standards, and identifies the international classification systems essential for compiling consistent and comparable ocean accounts. By understanding these foundational standards, readers will be equipped to interpret the detailed methodological guidance provided in subsequent Circulars and to situate their accounting work within the broader international statistical architecture.

2. Requirements

This Circular requires familiarity with:

  • TG-0.1 General Introduction to Ocean Accounts — for the conceptual framework and key components of Ocean Accounts, including the relationship between environmental and economic accounting frameworks and the spatial boundaries relevant to ocean accounting.

3. Guidance Material

The international statistical standards described in this Circular form a coherent, hierarchical system. The System of National Accounts (SNA) provides the overarching framework for economic accounting, while the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) extends this framework to measure interactions between the economy and the environment. Within the SEEA family, the Central Framework addresses individual environmental assets and physical flows, while SEEA Ecosystem Accounting provides methodology for measuring ecosystems as integrated spatial units. Ocean Accounts build upon all these standards, adapting their concepts and methods to the marine and coastal domain.

3.1 System of National Accounts 2025

The System of National Accounts (SNA) is the internationally agreed set of standards for measuring economic activity. It provides the conceptual framework, classifications, and accounting rules that countries use to compile their national accounts statistics, including measures such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The 2025 SNA, adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission at its 56th session in March 2025, represents a significant update that strengthens linkages with environmental accounting and introduces new concepts directly relevant to ocean accounts.

The SNA defines a "whole set of standards, including extended/thematic accounts and supplementary items." At its core is the integrated framework of national accounts, which consists of the sequence of economic accounts (recording flows between institutional sectors), supply and use tables (showing how products flow through the economy), and balance sheets (recording stocks of assets and liabilities). This integrated framework provides the foundation upon which environmental accounts — including ocean accounts — are constructed. The 2025 SNA refers to thematic and extended accounts (replacing the earlier "satellite account" terminology used in the 2008 SNA) to better reflect the integrated nature of these compilations within the broader national accounting framework.

Key concepts for ocean accounting

The SNA 2025 provides several concepts that are foundational for ocean accounting applications. The integrated framework of national accounts consists of the sequence of economic accounts, supply and use tables, labour market tables, and the table on capital services. When compiling ocean economy thematic accounts, compilers extract ocean economy sub-matrices from these integrated tables, following the same accounting identities and valuation principles that ensure the national accounts balance.

Institutional sectors and the ocean economy — The SNA classifies economic actors into institutional sectors: households, non-financial corporations, financial corporations, government, and non-profit institutions serving households. Ocean-related economic activities span all sectors. Identifying ocean economy contributions within each sector requires careful delineation of which activities relate to the ocean, based on the spatial and industry scope defined in the ocean accounting framework.

The production boundary and ocean-related outputs — The SNA defines a production boundary that determines which activities are included in GDP. For ocean accounting, this boundary is particularly relevant for understanding: the value of marketed fish production and aquaculture; offshore oil and gas extraction; marine transport and port services; coastal tourism; and marine research and conservation activities.

Balance sheets and natural resource assets — The 2025 SNA includes natural resources such as fish stocks, mineral resources, and water on the balance sheet, valued at their expected future economic returns. This treatment is foundational for SEEA asset accounts and ocean accounts, as it provides the conceptual basis for measuring the stock value of marine natural resources and tracking changes in that stock over time.

3.2 SEEA Central Framework

The System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Central Framework (SEEA CF) is the internationally agreed standard for integrating environmental and economic statistics. It was adopted as an international statistical standard by the United Nations Statistical Commission in 2012, making it the first environmental accounting standard to achieve this status. The SEEA CF provides a framework for organising environmental data, measuring the contribution of the environment to the economy, and the impact of the economy on the environment, in a way that is consistent with the SNA.

The SEEA CF organises accounts into three main types:

  • Physical flow accounts — measuring flows of natural inputs from the environment to the economy, and flows of residuals (waste, emissions, effluents) from the economy to the environment, in physical units.
  • Environmental activity accounts — measuring expenditures by economic units on environmental protection and natural resource management.
  • Asset accounts — measuring the stocks and changes in stocks of natural resources and land, in both physical and monetary terms.

SEEA CF and ocean accounts

For ocean accounting, the SEEA CF provides the primary framework for asset accounts for marine natural resources. SEEA CF asset accounts for fish resources, for example, record the opening stock, additions through natural growth and net transfers, reductions through extraction and catastrophic losses, and the closing stock — in both physical units (tonnes of biomass) and monetary terms (net present value of resource rents).

The SEEA CF also provides the framework for physical flow accounts relevant to the ocean, including: material flow accounts tracking extraction of marine resources and disposal of residuals to the ocean; energy flow accounts; and water flow accounts for freshwater flowing to the ocean.

3.3 SEEA Ecosystem Accounting

The System of Environmental-Economic Accounting — Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA) was adopted as an international statistical standard by the United Nations Statistical Commission in 2021. It extends the SEEA CF to address ecosystems as integrated spatial units, providing methodology for measuring ecosystem extent, ecosystem condition, and the ecosystem services that flow from ecosystems to economic and other human beneficiaries.

SEEA EA introduces several important concepts for ocean accounting:

Ecosystem extent accounts — recording the area of different ecosystem types within a defined spatial boundary at the start and end of each accounting period, and changes in ecosystem extent during the period. For ocean accounts, ecosystem extent accounts would record changes in the area of coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangrove forests, and other marine and coastal ecosystems.

Ecosystem condition accounts — measuring the condition of ecosystems against a reference condition (usually representing an undisturbed state). Ecosystem condition is measured using a set of condition variables spanning abiotic, biotic, and landscape/seascape characteristics. For ocean accounts, condition variables might include water temperature, salinity, turbidity, biodiversity indices, and biomass indicators.

Ecosystem service flows — measuring the contribution of ecosystems to economic and human well-being through a typology of provisioning, regulating and maintenance, and cultural services. For ocean accounts, key ecosystem services include: fish and seafood provision (provisioning); coastal protection from storm surge and erosion (regulating); carbon sequestration in blue carbon ecosystems (regulating); and recreation and tourism (cultural).

Monetary ecosystem accounts — valuing ecosystem services in monetary terms to enable integration with economic accounts. SEEA EA recommends valuation approaches that are consistent with SNA valuation principles, including market prices for traded ecosystem services and various non-market valuation methods for non-traded services.

3.4 SEEA-Oceans (Emerging)

Building specifically on the SEEA CF and SEEA EA, work is underway to develop SEEA-Oceans — a thematic application of the SEEA standards tailored to the characteristics and policy needs of the ocean domain. SEEA-Oceans is being developed under the auspices of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Environmental-Economic Accounting (UNCEEA) and the broader ocean statistics community.

Key features of SEEA-Oceans include:

  • Spatial boundary definitions — defining the accounting boundary for ocean accounts, including the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and coastal zone, consistent with UNCLOS and national legal frameworks.
  • Ocean-specific asset classifications — adapting SEEA CF asset classifications for marine contexts, including living marine resources (fish, marine mammals, seaweeds), seabed mineral resources (polymetallic nodules, seafloor massive sulphides, cobalt-rich crusts), and marine renewable energy resources.
  • Ocean economy delineation — defining the scope of the ocean economy and its relationship to standard industry and product classifications, building on work by OECD, FAO, and national statistical offices.
  • Blue carbon accounting — specific guidance on measuring and valuing carbon sequestration in mangroves, seagrasses, and saltmarshes.

This Technical Guidance is designed to be consistent with, and to complement, the emerging SEEA-Oceans framework. Where specific SEEA-Oceans guidance is not yet available, this Guidance draws on the SEEA CF, SEEA EA, and international best practice.

Ocean accounts rely on several international classification standards to ensure consistency and comparability:

International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) — the United Nations standard for classifying economic activities. Ocean economy industries are distributed across multiple ISIC divisions, including fishing and aquaculture (Division 03), offshore oil and gas extraction (Division 06), water transport (Division 50), and accommodation for tourism (Division 55). Consistent application of ISIC is essential for delineating the ocean economy in a way that is internationally comparable.

Central Product Classification (CPC) — the United Nations standard for classifying products (goods and services). Ocean-related products span multiple CPC sections, from fish and seafood (Section 04) to oil and gas (Section 12) to transport services (Section 65).

Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (COICOP) — used in household surveys and national accounts to classify consumption expenditure. Ocean-related household consumption — including seafood purchases, water transport, and coastal tourism — can be identified within COICOP categories.

Global Oceans Accounts Partnership Classification of Ocean Economic Activity — a proposed supplementary classification developed specifically for ocean accounting, mapping ocean economy industries to ISIC while providing finer disaggregation relevant to ocean policy analysis.

4. Further Reading

For more detailed treatment of the statistical standards described in this Circular, readers are directed to:

  • United Nations et al. (2025) System of National Accounts 2025. United Nations: New York.
  • United Nations et al. (2014) System of Environmental-Economic Accounting 2012 — Central Framework. United Nations: New York.
  • United Nations et al. (2021) System of Environmental-Economic Accounting — Ecosystem Accounting. United Nations: New York.
  • GOAP Secretariat (2024) Technical Guidance on Ocean Accounting for Sustainable Development. Global Ocean Accounts Partnership: Sydney.