3 EA and EU GDP fash estimates at 30 days ARTO KOKKINEN AND HANS WOUTERS ( 1 ) Abstract: GDP growth is one of the most followed National Accounts variables. At best, economic decision making would need the data real-time. This, though, is not possible because of the need for collecting and analysing the basic statistical infor- mation. Therefore, a reasonable request from the decision-makers is to have the data available as soon as possible after the end of the quarter. However, there is a delicate balance between the speed of publication and accuracy of the early estimate. This paper shows how Eurostat with a group of EU Member States has managed meeting the challenge to produce high quality data on GDP growth for the EU and the euro area at an advanced timeliness of 30 days after the quarter-end. The aim of the paper is to address the request of the statistical and scientifc world to provide transparency and to better understand the development and test process of new statistical products in ofcial statistics, more concretely regarding the new GDP t+30 fash estimation. The paper elaborates the statistical methods that Eurostat developed for the early GDP estimates and discusses the user needs motivating the advancement of GDP estimates. It analyses the results of the estimates for 16 test quarters that are based on the national estimates of a group of Member States and that were prepared in close cooperation with them. Finally, the article discusses the a priori set quality ac- ceptance criteria for the test estimates, assesses the test results against those criteria, and concludes that the test results passed all predefned quality criteria. JEL Codes: C82, E01, E32 Keywords: Gross domestic product, economic growth, early estimates, monitoring economic growth and business cycle ( 1 ) Eurostat, Unit C2 National accounts — Production.