Municipal accounts, 2013

Revised figures for 2013 show that the municipalities had long-term debts, excluding pension obligations, of NOK 290 billion. In 2012, the debts amounted to NOK 268 billion. The pension obligations are estimated at NOK 420 billion; an increase of more than 10 per cent from the previous year.

Slight decrease in net operating surplus

In 2013, net operating surplus was NOK 9.3 billion for all the municipalities combined. The estimations show that the municipalities’ gross operating revenue was NOK 362 billion in 2013, while the gross operating expenditure was about NOK 356 billion. The net surplus is estimated at 2.3 per cent of the gross revenues in 2013 compared to 2.7 per cent the previous year.

The gross operating surplus for the municipalities decreased from NOK 6.9 billion in 2012 to NOK 5.4 billion in 2013.

Continuous investments in the municipalities

The revised figures for gross investment expenditures for 2013 show that the municipalities invested about NOK 39 billion, compared to NOK 37 billion in 2012. The municipalities’ deficit before loans and allocations amounted to about NOK 12 billion in 2013; a decrease of about NOK 3 billion from the previous year.

The figures show that municipal investment that was financed through applied loans increased by just over NOK 5.4 billion. Applied loans as a percentage of the gross capital expenditure were 64.5 per cent in 2013, compared to 54.7 per cent in 2012. The municipalities allocated about NOK 2.8 billion to existing funds in 2013.

Expenditure to health and care services has increased as a result of health care reform

Most of the municipalities’ resources are allocated to the production of public services. In 2013, the municipalities’ gross operating expenditure for kindergartens, primary schools and care services amounted to a total of NOK 43, NOK 71 and NOK 114 billion respectively. Health and care services’ expenditures increased by about NOK 5 billion from 2012 to 2013, compared to NOK 13 billion from 2011 to 2012. The health and care reform that was introduced in 2012 contributed to the increase in gross expenditure that year.

Primary schools have had lower growth, kindergarten expenditures have increased

If we look at the largest gross operating expenditures for the municipalities, excluding Oslo, over time, we see a significant increase in kindergarten expenditures as a percentage of total expenditures due to the kindergarten reform. At the same time, the percentage of gross operating expenditures for primary schools has decreased through the whole decade.

Production of services

The percentage of users of home-based services aged 80 years and over has decreased every year since 2010. The decrease continues in 2013. The number of physician man-years in the municipal health service has increased from 9.9 in 2012 to 10.2 in 2013 per 10 000 inhabitants. The percentage of pupils in primary and lower secondary education who get special education has decreased in the last two years after a period of increases prior to 2011.