The Supply and Use (SUTs) and Input-Output Tables (I-OTs) are the most detailed and complete framework for understanding the flows of the Irish National Accounts for a particular year. They inform us about what firms produced, what they used in production, what people consumed, and the role of the government in the Irish economy. They combine the three methods of computing the National Accounts; the income, expenditure and production method.
The Supply and Use framework shows the components of Gross Value Added (GVA) by industry as well as imports, exports and taxes and subsidies on products. The GVA in the Use table measures the contribution to GDP made by each particular industry branch.
The Supply Table shows Domestic Supply (Output) by industry and product, as well as Imports by product. The sum of these is known as Total Supply at Basic Prices. Trade and Transport Margins, Product Taxes and Product Subsidies are also shown, the addition of these leads to the transformation into Total Supply at Purchasers’ Prices.
The Use Table displays the use of products by domestic industries (Intermediate Consumption), and Gross Value Added (GVA), by industry. Intermediate Consumption and GVA add up to Domestic Supply. The Use Table also includes Final Uses, which consists of Final Consumption Expenditure (split by households, the government and NPISH), Gross Fixed Capital Formation (investment), changes in Inventories (stocks) and Exports. The Use Table is calculated and published in Purchasers’ Prices.
Total Supply at Purchasers’ Prices is equal to Total Use at Purchasers’ Prices, both at an economy-wide and product level, i.e. every euro worth of product that is supplied in the economy is consumed in the economy. In both tables products are presented in the rows and industries are presented in the columns. The NACE classification system is used for industries and the CPA classification system is used for products.
The structure of the I-OTs is similar to the structure of the Use Table with some differences. The I-OTs are product by product, as opposed to product by industry, and explain the use of products in the production of other products. The I-OTs are derived from the SUTs, and to produce the I-OTs the Use Table is first calculated at basic prices (this is the price received by the producer for a good or service produced, minus any tax payable as a consequence of its production, plus any subsidy received as a consequence of its production, minus any trade margins made on the product). The I-OTs are symmetric, unlike the SUTs. The sum of the entries in any row is equal to the sum of the entries in the corresponding column.
The Table of Coefficients of Domestic Product Flows is calculated from the Domestic I-O Table, and the Leontief Inverse of Domestic Flows is then derived from this table of coefficients. The Table of Coefficients explains the direct input requirements per unit of output. The Leontief Inverse Table explains the input requirements per unit of final use.
The aggregate values from the SUTs can be found in the CSO’s Annual National Accounts (ANA) publication. However, the SUTs and I-OTs provide product detail that cannot be found elsewhere, and the tables highlight the inter-industry flows that lie behind the main aggregates.
Given their extensive use of data, the SUTs are produced with a three-year time lag. Once published, they are not revised to take account of further changes to the data sources or methodology. This means that while previous year price values are estimated, differences in the tables are not fully comparable over time. This publication explains the tables for the year 2020. The tables in this publication are consistent with the data in the ANA 2022.
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