General government revenue and expenditure, 2007

The general government surplus in 2007 was NOK 2.9 billion lower than in 2006, mainly due to a slightly larger increase in general government expenditure than in revenue. The surplus amounted to NOK 396 billion in 2007, compared with NOK 398.9 billion in 2006. The surplus in 2006 and 2007 is large compared with previous years.

Total general government expenditure increased by NOK 49 billion. Wage expenses increased by NOK 21.2 billion compared to the previous year, an increase of 8.2 per cent. Total revenue increased by NOK 46.1 billion. Increased payments to the National Insurance Scheme, taxes on production, and current taxes on income and wealth excluding extraction of petroleum contributed to the rise in revenue compared with 2006.

Central government

Total central government revenue amounted to NOK 1104.9 billion in 2007, an increase of NOK 53.7 billion compared with 2006. Some revenue items show strong increases from 2006 to 2007. Interest and dividends increased by NOK 14 and NOK 10 billion respectively. Current taxes on income and wealth excluding extraction of petroleum, payments to the National Insurance Scheme, and VAT and investment levy increased by NOK 65.2 billion in total.

The cash flow from the petroleum activity accounts for a large part of central government revenue. The cash flow mainly consists of taxes and duties for the extraction of petroleum and withdrawals of income from central government enterprises in the central government fiscal account. The figures show a decline in the cashflow of NOK 39.4 billion from 2006, when this revenue amounted to NOK 361.5 billion. The petroleum revenue nevertheless accounted for a quarter of the total central government revenue in 2007.

Central government expenditure amounted to NOK 713.4 billion in 2007. Compared with 2006 this is an increase of NOK 31.1 billion. Three major contributors to the increase were wage expenses, pensions and transfers to local government.

Local government

Total local government revenue amounted to NOK 256.2 billion in 2007. Compared with 2006, this is an increase of NOK 14.8 billion. Transfers from the central government fiscal account rose considerably by NOK 9.2 billion and contributed to increased revenue for local government. Final consumption expenditure increased by NOK 17.9 billion, an increase of 9 per cent. In 2007, local government recorded a deficit of NOK 12 billion. This is a decrease of NOK 12.7 billion compared with 2006, when the surplus was NOK 700 million.

General government expenditures by function

The government functions with the largest increase were social protection, health services and education. Of the total increase of NOK 49 billion, these three categories accounted for NOK 36.9 billion. Social protection, health services and education account for more than two thirds of the total public administration expenditure.

National Insurance Scheme

Payments to the National Insurance Scheme amounted to NOK 206 billion in 2007. Both member contributions and employer contributions increased, by NOK 6.5 billion and NOK 10.3 billion respectively.

The figures are preliminary and some of the data are connected with uncertainty.

Tables

Published tables