Cultural facilities

Updated: 15 March 2024

Next update: 17 June 2024

NOK per capita for cultural purposes in the municipalities
NOK per capita for cultural purposes in the municipalities
2023
3 254
Cultural facilities in local authorities and county authorities in Norway
Cultural facilities in local authorities and county authorities in Norway
202120222023
Local authorities’ net operating expenditures for cultural purposes of total net operating expenditures (per cent)4.34.34.3
Local authorities’ net operating expenditures on cultural purposes per capita (NOK)2 8953 0843 254
County authorities’ net operating expenditures on cultural purposes of total net operating expenditures (per cent)1.51.51.5
County authorities’ net operating expenditures on cultural purposes per capita (NOK)341356377
Explanation of symbols

Selected tables and charts from this statistics

  • Pupils in municipal culture schools
    Pupils in municipal culture schools
    202120222023
    Children (age 6-15) in municipal culture school (per cent)12.812.912.9
    Pupils in municipal culture school (number)95 97997 46197 231
    Children (age 6-15) in municipal culture school (number)82 58184 50381 388
    Explanation of symbols
  • Loan at the public library
    Loan at the public library
    202120222023
    Children's literature - fiction5 530 7135 743 3815 986 984
    Children's literature - non-fiction883 727948 6961 044 566
    Adult literature - fiction3 113 3413 169 5303 419 295
    Adult literature - non-fiction1 661 2361 811 0751 891 926
    Audiobooks279 242198 648145 564
    Films622 329508 683380 411
    E-books1 008 674908 745884 382
    Explanation of symbols
  • Cinemas and cinema visits
    Cinemas and cinema visits
    202120222023
    Cinema buildings (number)205204203
    Cinema auditoriums (number)646685689
    Cinema visit (number)5 659 2118 759 7119 347 715
    Explanation of symbols

About the statistics

These statistics are based on the figures from KOSTRA (Municipal-State-Reporting) and indicate the use of cultural expenditure in the local authorities and county authorities.

The municipalities are broken down into 17 groups according to population and economical structure. These groups are based on a report from Marit Kringlebotten and Audun Langørgen: "Gruppering av kommuner etter folkemengde og økonomiske rammebetingelser 2020"(Reports 2020/48, Statistics Norway).

In calculating the average for counties, the municipalities are divided into 11 counties in accordance with the standard for municipality classification. Counties are divided into six groups where Oslo is a group of its own.

See Classification of municipalities and Classification of county municipality.

Cultural facilities

17 June 2024

Division for Education and Culture Statistics

Municipalities

Data is published for all municipalities including average figures for municipality groups, counties and Norway with and without Oslo.

Counties

Data is published for all counties, including average figures for the regions and Norway with and without Oslo.

Oslo districts

Data is published for all districts including their average figures.

Municipal-State-Reporting (KOSTRA) key figures are published annually on March 15 (unrevised figures) and June 15 (audited figures).

Not relevant.

Collected and revised data are stored securely by Statistics Norway in compliance with applicable legislation on data processing.

Statistics Norway can grant access to the source data (de-identified or anonymised microdata) on which the statistics are based, for researchers and public authorities for the purposes of preparing statistical results and analyses. Access can be granted upon application and subject to conditions. Refer to the details about this at Access to data from Statistics Norway.

KOSTRA (Municipal-State-Reporting) was started up in 1995 as a project aimed at providing relevant and up-to-date information on the allocation of resources, priorities and meeting targets in the local and county authorities. The goal is to coordinate and streamline the collection of data, and to provide relevant management information about local authority and county authority services. The number of local authorities and county authorities was gradually increased until the reporting year of 2001, when all local authorities were included in KOSTRA.

KOSTRA is based on the electronic reporting of data from the local and county authorities and data from other sources collected from within and outside Statistics Norway. The data published in KOSTRA is based on different types of consolidated data, e.g. financial data, public service data, personnel data and population data.

Cultural facilities have been included in KOSTRA since 1996. Statistics Norway collects and publishes data on public libraries, cinemas, children and youth activities and subsidies to associations and clubs in all municipalities.

The data about culture are used by the authorities, county authorities and local authorities, as well as the press. The data are used for analysis and comparison.

No external users have access to statistics before they are released at 8 a.m. on ssb.no after at least three months’ advance notice in the release calendar. This is one of the most important principles in Statistics Norway for ensuring the equal treatment of users.

Not relevant

The statistics are developed, produced and disseminated pursuant to Act no. 32 of 21 June 2019 relating to official statistics and Statistics Norway (the Statistics Act).

The statistics are part of the National statistical program for official statistics 2021-2023, under the main area Culture and Recreation and the subarea Culture.

Not relevant.

The population consists of all local authorities, county authorities, inter-municipal companies and local and county authority companies. Oslo reports on each district, as well as on cultural facilities not covered by the districts.

Data is collected from all local and county authorities.

Editing is defined here as checking, examining and amending data. Data from the local and county authorities is reported electronically. The deadline for submitting reports on cultural facilities is February 15.

The data reported through the web portal are subject to controls in order to ensure that there are no discrepancies in the files.

Local authorities have to submit corrected reports by April 15, after the first publishing on March 15. Further editing of data is done in collaboration with the local authorities.

Not relevant.

Employees of Statistics Norway have a duty of confidentiality.

Statistics Norway does not publish figures if there is a risk of the respondent’s contribution being identified. This means that, as a general rule, figures are not published if fewer than three units form the basis of a cell in a table or if the contribution of one or two respondents constitutes a very large part of the cell total.

Statistics Norway can make exceptions to the general rule if deemed necessary to meet the requirements of the EEA agreement, if the respondent is a public authority, if the respondent has consented to this, or when the information disclosed is openly accessible to the public.

More information can be found on Statistics Norway’s website under Methods in official statistics, in the ‘Confidentiality’ section.

The publishing consists of figures on some areas of cultural facilities from 1999, or later when the local authority was included in KOSTRA. Some disruptions in the time series might occur, such as the lack of figures for library services in 2000. Information about children and youth activities and support for associations and clubs was included from 2001.

The preliminary figures published on March 15 are only controlled electronically. These controls do not identify all errors. Errors may, therefore, appear in the published preliminary figures on March 15. When publishing edited figures on June 15, both Statistics Norway and the local authorities carry out controls.

The revised figures published on June 15 may include errors, but considerably fewer than in the preliminary figures.

A partial reduction in reported forms is taking place in various areas of KOSTRA. National figures published on March 15 are mostly based on estimated data for the local authorities that have not reported.

A revision is a planned change to figures that have already been published, for example when releasing final figures as a follow-up to published preliminary figures. See also Statistics Norway's principles for revisions.

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