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Introduction
The balance of payments is one of the UK's key economic statistical series. It measures the economic transactions between UK residents and the rest of the world. It also draws a series of balances between inward and outward transactions, provides a net flow of transactions between UK residents and the rest of the world and reports how that flow is funded. Economic transactions include:
* exports and imports of goods, such as oil, agricultural products, other raw materials, machinery and transport equipment, computers, white goods and clothing
* exports and imports of services such as international transport, travel, financial and business services
* income flows, such as dividends and interest earned by foreigners on investments in the UK and by UK residents investing abroad
* financial flows, such as direct investment, investment in shares, debt securities, loans and deposits
* transfers, which are offsetting entries to any one-sided transactions listed above, such as foreign aid and funds brought by migrants to the UK
Closely related to the balance of payments is the international investment position series of statistics. The international investment position measures the levels of financial investment with the rest of the world, inward and outward.
International statistical standards
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) follows the international standards relating to balance of payments and international investment position statistics. There are several reasons for this. First, domestic and foreign analysts will be assured that the UK's official balance of payments and international investment position statistics comply with objective, coherent international standards that reflect current, global analytic needs. Second, the UK is a member of the international community and international users need comparable data for analysis between countries. Third, the UK, as a member of the European Union, as well as organisations such as the IMF and OECD, needs to compile its various economic statistics in conformity with standards set by those organisations. Fourth, the UK can compare and reconcile its data with those of other countries. Statistics need to be as comparable as possible in order to carry out this validation.
To facilitate such consistency and to provide guidelines for its members, the IMF issued the Balance of Payments Manual. The first edition appeared in 1948 and the fifth edition in 1993....