European Statistical System (ESS) guidelines on temporal disaggregation, benchmarking and reconciliation

Temporal disaggregation, benchmarking and reconciliation methods can be used to obtain temporal and spatial consistency in sets of time series. Such methods are widely used across the European Statistical System in the production of official statistics and the establishment of common guidelines for temporal disaggregation and related methods within the European Statistical System (ESS) is an essential step towards improved harmonization and comparability of official statistics, especially in macroeconomic indicators and labour market statistics. These ESS guidelines address the need for harmonization expressed by many users from European and National Institutions. They are intended to support producers and users of official statistics in accordance with the European Statistics Code of Practice and complement other ESS guidelines by providing clear guidance on the use of temporal disaggregation, benchmarking and reconciliation methods and encouraging documentation and dissemination of best practice