Preface

The present publication presents four classifications of expenditure according to purpose:  the Classification of the Functions of Government  (COFOG), the Classification of Individual Consumption According to  Purpose  (COICOP), the Classification of the Purposes of Non-Profit Institutions Serving Households (COPNI) and the Classification of the Outlays of Producers According to Purpose (COPP).  These classifications were approved by the United Nations through its Statistical Commission at the thirtieth session of the Commission in March 1999.

In 1995, the Inter-Secretariat Working Group on National Accounts (ISWGNA) invited the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to produce revised versions of three of the four classifications of expenditure according to purpose included in the 1993 System of National Accounts, namely,  COFOG, COICOP and COPNI.  At the same time,  ISWGNA invited the United Nations to revise the fourth classification, COPP.  The revised versions of COFOG, COICOP and COPNI have been prepared by the OECD Statistics Directorate and the revision of COPP has been conducted  by the United Nations Statistics Division.

Throughout the revision process, OECD consulted regularly with the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat), the United Nations Statistics Division and the national statistical agencies of its member countries.  Earlier versions of the classifications were considered at various meetings of national accounts experts held in Luxembourg, Paris and Geneva and organized by OECD, Eurostat and the Economic Commission for Europe.  Drafts of the four classifications circulated by the United Nations for comments, were also reviewed by national and international statistical agencies worldwide.

This publication includes detailed explanatory notes for categories of COFOG, COICOP, COPNI  and COPP, although the notes do not cover every eventuality or every country situation.  It is expected that valuable practical experience in the application of these classifications will contribute to their improvement and refinement.  Consequently, OECD, Eurostat and the United Nations Statistics Division have established a consultation process to determine how new products and changing circumstances should be treated.  Decisions will be made on a caseby-case basis in keeping with the primary criteria of the classifications and the practicalities of data availability.  Announcements of corrections and updates will be posted to the United Nations Statistics Division Classifications Web site (www.un.org/Depts/unsd/class/class1.htm).  National statistical agencies and other users with questions or queries may contact the Classifications Hotline at chl@un.org.