The Quarterly National Accounts provide the most frequent estimates of the main macroeconomic aggregates, including GDP. They provide timely and quality information to describe the current state of the economy, and are a useful tool for detecting cycles and monitoring economic evolution. They are used for the formulation of economic policy and for decision-making on the part of agents, as well as for the analysis of the short-term economic scenario and the forecast of the main macroeconomic aggregates.

Quarterly National Accounts are published with a 48-day lag in relation to the quarter being measured for the first three quarters of the year, and with a 77-day lag for the last quarter. With this last estimate, the first version of the year, dubbed preliminary version, is completed. Their publication dates are 18 March, May, August and November, or the following business day, as applicable.

In accordance with the established revision policy, together with the publication of a new quarter, the previously published quarterly estimates for the current year are revised. Likewise, with each revision of the annual national accounts, the quarterly estimates for the year in question are updated.