Depreciation or Consumption of Fixed Capital

Depreciation is the loss in value of an asset or a class of assets, as they age. Depreciation is a flow concept and as such shares key features such as principles of valuation with other flows in the national accounts. Economically, depreciation is best described as a deduction from income to account for the loss in capital value owing to the use of capital goods in production.1 The meaning of the value loss in production explains also why “Consumption of fixed capital” (CFC) has been used as a synonym for “Depreciation” in the 1993 SNA. Similarly, in the United States national accounts, the term “Capital consumption” has been employed.