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90464
Large public sector on Svalbard
statistikk
2012-11-05T10:00:00.000Z
Public sector;Svalbard
en
offseksvalbard, Public sector on SvalbardPublic sector, General government , Public sector, Svalbard
false

Public sector on Svalbard2011

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Large public sector on Svalbard

Nearly 60 per cent of employed persons on Svalbard work in the public sector, which is far more than the national scale. Public corporations employ a large part of the public sector workforce on Svalbard, but employ a smaller share of the total workforce than they used to.

The size of the public sector can be measured by the number of employees compared to the number of employees in other sectors. Almost 60 per cent of the workforce employed on Svalbard work in the public sector, while the corresponding figure on a national scale is only 35 per cent.

More workers in public corporations and fewer in general government than the national average

The public sector on Svalbard has more than twice the number of employees in public corporations than in general government. This is in contrast to the situation in mainland Norway, where five per cent work in public corporations and almost 30 per cent are employed in general government.

The public sector consists of enterprises controlled by the central government, county authorities and local authorities. In our statistics, these enterprises are divided into two main groups:

 

General government consists of enterprises whose expenses are covered mainly by governmental allocations.

 

Public corporations consist of enterprises whose expenses are covered by commercial activity.

 

Further reading:

http://www.ssb.no/english/innrapportering/sektor2012_en/

 

Employed persons on Svalbard and on a national scale, share of total employment per sector. (Per cent)
 
 Svalbard   National scale
 
 Per cent
All sectors 100.0 100.0
Central government7.310.4
County authorities0.01.7
Municipalities10.117.3
Enterprises owned by central government38.63.4
Enterprises owned by local government2.71.7
Private sector41.365.4
 

Store Norske is the largest employer on Svalbard

The large share of public corporation employment on Svalbard is mainly due to the central government-owned coal mining company Store Norske Spitsbergen, where around one in four employees on Svalbard work. Nearly 15 per cent of the workforce are employed in other central government-owned corporations. This means that almost 40 per cent of the workforce of Svalbard are employed in central government-owned corporations. The corresponding national figure is only 3.4 per cent.

From the end of World War II to the end of the 1980s, Store Norske and other coal mining companies employed almost the entire workforce on Svalbard. From 1986 to 1989 the number of employees in coal mining was reduced by more than 50 per cent. In the 90s the number fell even more, but it was back at the 1989 level in 2011. The total employment on Svalbard has doubled since 1989, so the share of employees in coal mining has been reduced accordingly. Both private and public sector employment have increased.

General government different from mainland Norway

Many of the large general government employers, such as The Armed Forces, The Norwegian Public Roads Administration, the Norwegian National Rail Administration and National child welfare services, do not have any employees on Svalbard. Public health care is also limited on Svalbard and less than 2 per cent of the employed workforce are employed in this sector. This is in contrast to mainland Norway, where the corresponding figure is about 4 per cent. On the other hand, the Governor of Svalbard is one of Svalbard’s biggest employers, with about 3 per cent of the employed workforce. The Governor has responsibilities, such as policing and conservation of the environment, that are placed under different agencies in mainland Norway. Other general government employers on Svalbard include The Norwegian Polar Institute and Statsbygg.

Longyearbyen Lokalstyre (LL) is classified as part of the local authority in our statistics because it has many of the same responsibilities as the local authorities in mainland Norway. One of the differences is that LL does not provide care for the elderly because people move from Svalbard to the mainland when they retire. This is the main reason for the relatively small municipal sector on Svalbard. Svalbard does not have a county authority.

The government`s administration of Svalbard: from large deficits to large profits?

An appendix to the central government’s fiscal account shows the central government’s income and expenditure from the administration of Svalbard. Expenditure was higher than income in the years 1993 through 2008, but from 2009 increased tax revenues created a large surplus from the administration of Svalbard. Taxes have increased because a large private corporation registered parts of its operation on Svalbard. However, because of the lower tax levels on Svalbard, this has reduced the total tax revenue for the central government.

Higher productivity in Store Norske and general changes in the tax system for Svalbard have also increased central government revenue, but less so than the aforementioned factors.

Income, expenses and profits of central government regarding administration of Svalbard

Administration of Svalbard had a total cost of NOK 273 million in 2011. Forty per cent of this sum was paid to Longyearbyen Lokalstyre and 30 per cent was used for the acquisition of helicopter services. The Governor’s operating expenses account for 14 per cent of the total costs and this is roughly the same share as other governmental operating costs.

Government expenditure other than administration

In 2011, the central government had expenditure of about NOK 330 million outside the Svalbard account. More than half of this sum was spent by UNIS and the Norwegian Polar Institute. This estimate has some shortcomings. Payments from NAV are not included, and the real figure is probably somewhat higher.

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