First Print

The first print is the initial published version of an economic statistic, released before the source data behind it is complete. Statistical agencies publish on a fixed schedule rather than waiting for every survey return and administrative record to arrive, so the first estimate is built from partial coverage and modelled assumptions for the rest. Every later version of the same reference period is a revision of that print. The distinction matters whenever a series is quoted: an analysis that sets a fresh first print beside earlier months already revised twice is comparing measurements of different maturity. Agencies publish the revision timetable and the usual revision pattern of each series in their release documentation, which is where the size and direction of past revisions can be checked rather than assumed.