The main purpose of this issue is to describe the current status of subnational accounts in Latin America and the Caribbean, to detail the methodological considerations underpinning the estimates and to present, on the basis of available data, indicators that are published and disseminated through CEPALSTAT. To illustrate the possibilities that subnational accounts offer and the inferences that can be made from such accounts, three countries of the region were selected for practical exercises: Colombia, Mexico and the Plurinational State of Bolivia. These countries offer a small sample of how subnational accounts can add to economic analysis and offer a more detailed picture economic dynamics at the subnational level in Latin America.