Revised treatment of the Canterbury earthquakes’ insurance claims in New Zealand’s international and national accounts

 

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Statistics New Zealand has revised its treatment of the insurance claims that resulted from the September 2010 and February 2011 Canterbury earthquakes:

  • Reinsurance and insurance claims from these earthquakes will now be recorded as capital transfers instead of current transfers.
  • Consequently, the balance of payments statistics will no longer show these flows in the current account balance. The headline estimate of quarterly gross domestic product is not affected by the change.
  • In the national accounts, statistics such as national income and national saving will no longer be directly affected by these large and exceptional insurance claims.
  • This treatment means that New Zealand’s key economic statistics better reflect our economic position.
  • This approach was decided after careful analysis of internationally recognised options endorsed by bodies including the United Nations Organisation, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank.

This paper discusses the rationale for this decision.

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Citation

Statistics New Zealand (2011). Revised treatment of the Canterbury earthquakes’ insurance claims in New Zealand’s international and national accounts. Wellington: Statistics New Zealand

Published in June 2011 by
Statistics New Zealand
Tatauranga Aotearoa
Wellington, New Zealand
ISBN 978-0-478-37712-5 (online)

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