Two concepts of final consumption are:

•  the final consumption expenditure (P.3)
•  the actual final consumption (P.4)

The final consumption expenditure consists of expenditure by a sector to purchase consumption goods and services, while the actual final consumption refers to the acquisition of consumption goods and services by a sector. The difference between these two notions is handling a certain quantity of goods and services that are funded by government or by NPISHs but supplied to them in the form of social transfers.

The final consumption is the direct satisfaction of human needs. These needs are met by consumers:

• individual (purchasing food, clothing etc);
• individualised, meaning that the person can be identified (consumption of educational services, health and welfare), or;
• collective, meaning that users cannot be identified individually (security services, defence or general administration). Reference to the direct satisfaction of human needs means that the final consumption only refers to households. Products used by households can be paid in full, partially or not at all, meaning that on the one hand the difference between the consumption expenditure of households and their actual consumption, and, on the other hand, a final consumption by governments and NPISHs.

For the whole economy ( at “S.1” level), the final consumption expenditure (P.3) is equal to the actual final consumption (P.4).