Value added reflects the contribution of labour and capital to production. It can be shown by: type of enterprise/establishment (activity, size, market/non-market, age, etc.); type of product, and institutional sector; and combinations of these, and is a key variable in economic analyses such as productivity and structural analysis.

Compensation of employees reflects the total remuneration in cash or in kind paid to employees and comprises wages and salaries and the value of social contributions paid by employers. They typically form the largest part of value added. Combined with estimates of labour input they provide the basis for a number of important statistics including unit labour costs and average earnings; which play an important role in many countries in monetary policy and cross country comparisons of labour costs.