Public finances - theme page

Key figures. NOK billion
General government
Revenues. 2010	1 409
Expenditure. 2010	1 116
Surplus. 2010	266
Financial assets. 2009	4 850
Liabilities. 2009	1 143
Net financial assets. 2009	3 706
Surplus as a percentage of the GDP. 2010	10.6
Gross debt as a percentage of the GDP. 2009	43.1
Public corporations
No. of enterprises. 2009	3 296
No. of employees. 2009	137 400

Explanation of terms

Financial assets - a claim that one party has against another party, and can relate to amounts owed via a credit sale or loan. When the claim is a pecuniary claim, the party that is owed the claim is referred to as the creditor, and the debtor is the party that owes the amount due.
Net financial assets are claims minus liabilities.
Gross debt is defined as the sum of loan certificates, bond loans, other loans and capital injections. Other debt, i.e. debt of a more short-term nature, is not included here.
Social protection is one of the categories that public duties go towards, and mainly comprises benefits to individuals and households as a replacement for whole or partial loss of income, e.g. as a result of illness, disability, old age or unemployment. The category also includes the administration of such transfers.
For a detailed description of classifications according to function, go to the Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG).
More explanations of terms: Concept and definitions in national accounts

Wealth of general government

The central and local governments have extensive wealth in the form of financial assets (bank deposits, shares and other securities minus debt) and non-financial assets (buildings, roads, ports, land, natural resources etc.). In the national accounts, the general government's wealth in the form of fixed assets in 2009 was estimated at NOK 1 103.5 billion. Natural resources and other non-produced assets such as land are not included here. The petroleum assets in the North Sea are non-produced assets that are converted to financial assets through the Government Pension Fund - Global. Net financial assets in 2009 totalled NOK 3706.4 billion. Financial assets totalled NOK 4 849.8 billion. Debt totalled NOK 1 143.4 billion, and is mainly linked to technical conditions connected to managing the petroleum assets, but is also linked to the public bank system and the provision of loans in the municipalities.

Focus on

Public finances

The public sector can be divided into two sub sectors: general government and public corporations. General government consists of central and local authorities and other non-commercial activities that deal with a broad range of common tasks. The Storting, municipalities, public hospitals and schools are all examples of institutions that are included in general government. Public corporations are involved in commercial activities, and are owned or controlled by general government. Public corporations include municipal establishments such as waterworks and waste disposal sites, and large listed companies in which the central or local government own more than half of the shares.
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The petroleum activity puts Norway in an exceptional position in relation to other countries. A fifth of general government revenues in 2010 were generated from the petroleum activity. Revenues are deposited in the Government Pension Fund - Global, while the return from the fund helps to finance public expenses.
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In addition to petroleum revenues, the general government's most important sources of income are taxes and excise, including social security contributions, with a share of more than 60 per cent of total revenues.

In 2009, 780 600 persons were employed in general government. Slightly more than a third of these were employed in central government and the remainder in the municipalities. This figure accounts for around 30 per cent of all employment in Norway.

In 2009, there were 3 296 publicly-owned corporations. Close to 2 600 of these were municipal enterprises, while the rest were owned by central government. The number of employees was 137 400.