Content
About the statistics
Definitions
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Name and topic
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Name: The Norwegian Armed Forces - StatRes (discontinued)
Topic: Public sector
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Responsible division
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Division for Public Finance
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Definitions of the main concepts and variables
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Input measured in NOK:
Own production is defined as the sum of compensation of employees, use of goods and services and use of fixed assets. Figures concerning use of fixed assets, i.e. depreciation and opportunity cost, are not available for the Norwegian Armed Forces. Therefore, this element is excluded from own production.
Compensation of employees is defined as the total remuneration payable to the employees, including social security contributions. Reimbursements are subtracted. An estimated amount, due to lack of pension contributions to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, is included in compensation of employees.
Estimated contributions to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund. The Norwegian Armed Forces do not contribute directly to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, where its employees are members. These contributions, and contributions on behalf of a number of other government agencies, are covered by a block grant from the Ministry of Government Administration and Reform to the pension fund. To remunerate for this, compensation of employees (excluding social security contributions) in the Norwegian Armed Forces are adjusted upward by 15 per cent.
Use of goods and services comprises the value of utilized input in the production.
Transfers comprise current unrequited payments to the private and public sector.
Investments comprise acquisition less sale of fixed assets such as buildings, machinery and equipment. Net acquisition of land is also included in this category.
Input measured in NOK is divided into the following divisions of services: The Army, the Home Guard, the Royal Norwegian Air Force, the Royal Norwegian Navy, the Coast Guard, Logistics and acquisitions, Joint institutions and command structure etc., Search and Rescue Service and other civil services and Norwegian forces abroad, additional costs.
Logistics and acquisitions cover the Norwegian Armed Forces’ debits on the fiscal budget’s chapter 1740 (4740) The Norwegian Defence logistics Organisation and chapter 1760 (4760) Acquisitions.
Joint institutions and command structure etc. include the Norwegian Armed Forces’ debits on the fiscal budget’s chapter 1719 (4719) Common expenses and contributions to the Ministry of Defence’s corporations, chapter1720 (4720) Joint leadership and command structure and chapter 1725 (4725) Joint institutions and –expenses (revenues) under the Defence Staff.
Search and Rescue Service and other civil services cover the Norwegian Armed Forces’ debits on the fiscal budget’s chapter 0455 (3455) Search and Rescue Service (SAR), chapter 1070 (4070) The Jan Mayen society, chapter 1791 (4791) The Rescue Helicopter Service and chapter 1795 (4795) Cultural and public beneficial services.
Operations abroad: This category lists the number of personnel that has served in operations abroad for more than 30 days.
Infrastructure: This category lists the number of square meters infrastructure (buildings, storage etc.) rented by the Army, Navy, Air Force and joint institutions. Defence infrastructure is rented from and managed by The Norwegian Defence Estates Agency.
Input measured in man-years:
Contracted man-years adjusted for long term leaves: The number of contracted man-years adjusted for long term leaves is estimated by Statistics Norway as the number of full-time jobs and part-time jobs, calculated as full-time equivalents adjusted for doctor-certified sickness absence and maternity leave. The StatBank table 08354 gives a percentage distribution of the man-years in the Norwegian Armed Forces by type of service, based on percentage shares collected from the Norwegian Armed Forces' own man-years statistics. The absolute figure of man-years in table 08355 is based on register-based employment statistics.
Data regarding activities, services and output:
Number of hours sailing covers sailing activity in the Navy by the following vessel groups: Navy Logistics Vessel, Frigate, Mine Warfare Flotilla, Missile Torpedo Boat and Submarine.
Number of days patrolling covers sailing activity in the Coast Guard, by Squadron North and Squadron South.
Number of hours flying covers aviation activity by the following aviation groups: Electronic Warfare, Helicopter, Fighter Plane, Maritime Patrol Aircraft, Tactical Transportation Plane and Trainer Aircraft.
Operations abroad: This category lists the number of personnel that has served in operations abroad for more than 30 days.
Infrastructure: This category lists the number of square meters infrastructure (buildings, storage etc.) rented by the Army, Navy, Air Force and joint institutions. Defence infrastructure is rented from and managed by The Norwegian Defence Estates Agency. The figures are average rental area, measured January 1st in year t and January 1st in year t+1.
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Standard classifications
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Input measured in NOK:
Expenditures are classified on the basis of IMF's Government Finance Statistics Manual 2001 (GFSM2001), with few exceptions.
Administrative information
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Regional level
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National
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Frequency and timeliness
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Annual
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International reporting
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Not relevant
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Microdata
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Collected data is stored by Division for Public Finances, and will only be used for statistical purposes.
Background
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Background and purpose
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The Norwegian Armed Forces previously entered in the central government macro statistics. In StatRes, the Norwegian Armed Forces is now a specific area. The object of StatRes is to present statistics on central government input, the results of this input in terms of activities and services, and the outcomes of the input. The purpose of such statistics is to give the general public and the authorities improved knowledge of government activities. StatRes is developed in cooperation with the Ministry of Government Administration and Reform, which partly finances the project.
The statistics about the Norwegian Armed Forces are developed in cooperation between the Norwegian Armed Forces itself, the Ministry of Defence and Statistics Norway. The StatRes project was started in 2005 and the first figures were published in October 2007. The first figures for StatRes – Norwegian Armed Forces were published in April 2010.
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Users and applications
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StatRes’ target group are users of statistics with some knowledge of and interest in central government activities who require information on resource use, activities, services and outcomes of state activities. Such users could be the general public, the media, politicians, pupils and students. StatRes shall also provide the authorities with information which supplements other information used in the governing of central government activities.
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Coherence with other statistics
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The Norwegian Armed Forces are part of the Central Government sector in Statistics Norway's National Accounts, where the fiscal account is the main data source. The National Accounts present key figures for production, investments, compensation of employees and consumption, where the central government is divided into defence activity and civilian central government activity. In addition, the National Account publishes full-time equivalent persons for the defence industry. However, the defence industry in the National Accounts also consists of enterprises outside the StatRes population, such as the Norwegian Defence Estate Agency and the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (NDRE).
Some transactions are classified differently in StatRes compared to the National Accounts, but most of the deviations are insignificant. An important difference in the NA estimations is the advance payment of large and long-term contracts, such as acquisitions of frigates and fighter planes. The National Accounts consider these purchases as financial transactions until the delivery time of the products. At delivery time, the financial transactions are thus re-classified as investments, i.e. a re-classification from the fiscal account cash debiting standard to the accrual based principle. See section 4.1 and concepts and definitions in national accounts.
Statistics Norway does not publish particular statistics on personnel in the Norwegian Armed Forces today, but the Norwegian Armed Forces personnel are included in Statistics Norway’s general register-based employment statistics.
As in Statistics Norway's Registerbased employment statistics, the man-years statistics about compulsory military service are collected from Vernepliktsverket. Vernepliktsverket publish a different kind of statistics which counts the accumulated number of persons who during the year has completed their compulsory military service. This number will be higher than the number of man-years published in StatRes, because StatRes only counts those who were active in service in the reference week (the third week of November) and adjusts for long term leaves.
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Legal authority
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The Statistics Act §§ 2-2 and 3-2.
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EEA reference
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Not relevant
Production
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Population
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The statistics comprises data concerning services within the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Norwegian Armed Forces consists mainly of the Defence Staff (FST), the Armed Forces Operational Headquarters, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, the Royal Norwegian Air Force, the Home Guard and the Norwegian Defence Logistics Organisation. Norway’s defence organisation is structured to be as relevant and effective as possible as an instrument for the achievement of the national security policy objectives.
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Data sources and sampling
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Data sources
Input measured in NOK:
Input measured in NOK is based on accounting data transmitted from the Norwegian Armed Forces to the Norwegian Government Agency for Financial Management. The same data is included in the Central Government's fiscal account (St.meld. nr. 3).
Input measured in man-years:
Register-based employment statistics in Statistics Norway are based on individual register data from several registers. Information related to employees and employment is collected from the Nav State Register of Employers and Employees, the End of the Year Certificate Register, the Tax Register (the Directorate of Taxes), and payroll registers. Variables concerning enterprises, such as industry and institutional sector, are collected from the Central Register of Establishments and Enterprises (BoF). Additional information is collected from registers on maternity leave payments and persons engaged in job creation programmes, as well as Statistics Norway’s register on doctor-certified sickness absence. Information related to compulsory military service is collected from Vernepliktsverket. The definition of employment is therefore based on a number of different sources. Statistics Norway has developed a system for common utilization of these sources.
Data regarding activities, services and output:
Figures with reference to sailing, aviation and land activity, plus inspections and reactions by the Coast Guard are transmitted directly from the Ministry of Defence to Statistics Norway.
Sampling
The statistics is based on total counting. Compulsory military service is included in the man-years statistics from 2009.
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Collection of data, editing and estimations
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Collection of data
Input measured in NOK:
Data is transmitted electronically from the Norwegian Government Agency for Financial Management to Statistics Norway.
Input measured in man-years:
Extracts from several registers (see 3.2).
Data regarding activities, services and output:
Data is transmitted by e-mail from the Ministry of Defence to Statistics Norway.
Control and revision
Input measured in NOK:
Indicators based on accounting data are compared to the corresponding figures in the Central Government's fiscal account.
Input measured in man-years:
The three most central registers concerning production of the statistics follow this procedure for control and revision: The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration conducts an annual control of the NAV State Register of Employers and Employees. Employers who reports manually, receive lists of all individuals registered with an active employment. Errors are reported to the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration. Statistics Norway controls that enterprises with more than one establishment have separate numbers for each, and that the employees are registered with the correct establishment. This is important in order to ensure correct information about industry and location of the workplace. Statistics Norway also controls the NAV State Register of Employers and Employees by comparing it with the End of the Year Certificate Register etc. In connection with StatRes – Norwegian Armed Forces – Statistics Norway conducts an annual control of the population of enterprises.
Data regarding activities, services and output:
Control and revision are carried out by the Ministry of Defence.
Estimation
Input measured in NOK:
See section 4.1.
Input measured in man-years:
Contracted man-years adjusted for long term leaves, is estimated by Statistics Norway as the number of full-time jobs and part-time jobs calculated as full-time equivalents adjusted for doctor-certified sickness absence and maternity leave. Man-years are estimated as a percentage of ordinary full-time job (37.5 hours per week). The register information on contracted man-years adjusted for long term leaves will not be identical to the actual number of man-years worked, since the statistics does not capture overtime work, self-reported sickness absence, vacations, and other deviations from contracted man-years, except for maternity leave and doctor-certified sickness absence. One contracted man-year is estimated for each person who is doing service in the reference week (third week of November), and adjusted for long term leaves.
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Confidentiality
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The statistics does not cover graded information.
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Comparability over time and space
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StatRes – Norwegian Armed Forces are published for the first time in April 2010, including indicators from 2005 to 2008 (indicators for the Home Guard from 2006 to 2008). Unless anything else is stated here, the indicators have generally good comparability from 2005.
Accuracy and reliability
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Sources of error and uncertainty
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Measurement and processing errors
Input measured in NOK:
The Norwegian Armed Forces keep accounts according to the Appropriation Regulations of May 26th 2005 and is audited by the Office of the Auditor General. Errors in accounting data are therefore considered to be negligible, but inaccuracies can be a result of data processing by Statistics Norway.
StatRes aims at measuring Central government input in NOK. This is not straightforward, as Central Government accounting is cash based, not accrual based. The quality of annual input indicators are still considered satisfactory.
As a consequence of the cash based account, the Norwegian Armed Forces do not write off their costs of non-financial capital. Consequently, the costs of capital and imputed depreciation might be underestimated. The Norwegian Armed Forces principally rent their buildings from the Norwegian Defence Estate Agency (NDEA). Their costs of non-financial capital will as a consequence appear as rental costs under “use of goods and services”.
Man-years statistics:
The data quality concerning minor and sporadic employment will be poorer than for employees registered in the NAV State Register of Employers and Employees. For persons who are identified as employees on the basis of the End of the Year Certificate Register, the employment is not dated precisely. This is the case for 1.6 per cent of the contracted man-years adjusted for long term leaves in the StatRes - Norwegian Armed Forces population for 2008. Some of the undated, contracted man-years adjusted for long term leaves, can however be dated based on information from other registers. For the remaining undated contracted man-years adjusted for long term leaves, information about salary size is used as a criteria for defining whether the person is employed or not. Accordingly, there is some uncertainty about whether the persons included from the End of the Year Certificate Register actually were working in the enterprise at the time (the third week of November).Sampling errors
Not relevant (total counting). Compulsory military service is included in the man-years statistics from 2009.
Other sources of error
As mentioned in section 3.7, the statistics does not cover graded information. The statistics are henceforth not adequate to provide a full picture of the Norwegian Armed Forces.