While the overall picture of general government finances remains broadly unchanged, certain components have undergone significant adjustments. Key revisions are summarized below. An extensive report will be published in January 2026.
Increase in Social Transfers in Kind
Over the entire time series, some of the most significant changes involve a reclassification of government expenditure from subsidies and transfers to non-profit institutions to social transfers in kind – market production purchased by government. These adjustments were prompted by a comprehensive review of the population of private enterprises across several industries, including education and health and social services. As a result, several entities were reclassified from non-profit institutions to market-oriented activities. Production in these industries is largely financed by general government – and these sectoral changes have affected the categorization of government transfers to the producers.
Revision of Pension Contributions in Local Government
In the local government sector, an error concerning compensation of employees and property income has been corrected. From 2014 onwards, an accounting item related to employers’ pension contributions was by mistake classified as property income. This item shall instead be part of the calculation of compensation of employees. The error did not affect local government deficit but inflated both revenues and expenses by approximately NOK 3–4 billion annually.
Reallocation Between Health and Social Protection
General government expenditures are classified by function, such as health, defense, education, and social protection. In this revision, the functional allocation has been reassessed, leading to a few significant reclassifications. The largest changes concern operating expenses in the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration and municipal nursing and care services. For the latter, there has been a substantial increase in the share allocated to old age, while shares for disability and hospital services have decreased. The revised distribution is intended to provide a more accurate reflection of the actual composition of nursing and care services.
Statistics on general government revenue and expenditure are closely linked to the national accounts. The publication of revised figures for non-financial sector accounts in the national accounts has been delayed, which in turn has postponed the production of quarterly data for general government. Consequently, only annual figures have been updated in the Statbank database. Quarterly figures will be published as soon as the necessary data becomes available.