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Economy
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National accounts are the source for a multitude of well-known economic indicators which are presented in this section after a brief description of methodological concepts (for more details on different types of national accounts, their uses and further improvements see the Spotlight chapter). Gross domestic product (GDP) is the most frequently used measure for the overall size of an economy, while derived indicators such as GDP percapita – for example, in euro or adjusted for differences in price levels – are widely used for a rough comparison of living standards, or to monitor the process of convergence across the EU. Moreover, the evolution of specific GDP components and related indicators, such as those for economic output, imports and exports, domestic (private and pub- lic) consumption or investments, as well as data on the distribution of income and savings, can give valuable insights into the driving forces in an economy and thus be the basis for the design, monitoring and evaluation of specific EU policies.