Political parties' financing

Updated: 16 August 2022

Next update: Not yet determined

Donations to political parties
Donations to political parties
2021
139 195 323
NOK
Funding of political parties, total all political parties by source of income. NOK and per cent
Funding of political parties, total all political parties by source of income. NOK and per cent
2021
TotalPer cent
Income, total824 669 035100.0
Government subsidy, total527 876 97864.0
Central government subsidy450 282 75154.6
Municipal/county subsidy66 479 2838.1
Other government subsidy11 114 9441.3
Own business, total157 596 73419.1
Membership fee75 090 7929.1
Income from lotteries and similar13 272 8191.6
Capital income19 544 0102.4
Business activity31 378 3583.8
Other income from own business18 310 7552.2
Contributions, total139 195 32316.9
Private contributions39 335 7454.8
Contributions from commercial enterprises30 185 5663.7
Contributions from employers' and labour organizations51 891 2416.3
Contributions from other17 782 7712.2
Explanation of symbols

Selected tables and figures from this statistics

  • Funding of political parties by source and political party. NOK
    Funding of political parties by source and political party. NOK1
    TotalChristian Democratic PartyLiberal PartySocialist Left PartyLabour PartyProgress PartyConservative PartyCentre PartyRed PartyThe Pensioners' PartyDemocratic Party of NorwayGreen PartyCommunist Party of NorwayThe ChristiansThe Health PartyFolkeaksjonen Nei til mer bompenger
    2021
    Income, total824 669 03547 082 74337 964 21058 011 760223 854 94580 738 889181 641 73181 108 52940 154 8352 501 1682 247 29957 424 433552 5523 301 053:1 731 211
    Government subsidy, total527 876 97827 156 40123 746 46533 848 127139 247 09966 501 831119 735 39161 157 93022 249 5982 132 2241 050 16925 614 53843 1261 185 355:1 662 928
    Central government subsidy450 282 75121 666 72421 279 64529 192 161116 635 82260 844 195105 418 05349 549 26815 581 5541 647 529885 89422 497 69543 1261 156 463:1 507 299
    Municipal/county subsidy66 479 2832 352 8481 941 9984 513 62820 012 5295 569 58212 812 01410 458 9465 170 967484 695161 9012 820 748017 878:155 629
    Other government subsidy11 114 9443 136 829524 822142 3382 598 74888 0541 505 3241 149 7161 497 07702 374296 095011 014:0
    Own business, total157 596 73414 338 2756 941 1298 311 25037 681 0108 075 15834 061 39111 878 49011 430 296343 3211 178 03220 352 184251 993777 784:68 283
    Membership fee75 090 7926 250 2352 887 6215 026 12115 123 4525 712 71416 096 7458 797 3896 613 594150 3241 034 7644 803 661160 100700 002:68 283
    Income from lotteries and similar13 272 8191 964 619775 4937 9553 176 3801 952 640832 956258 8443 831 51577 487132 20212 6632 88041 157:0
    Capital income19 544 0101 196 607152 09970 7668 949 01590 1108 570 479295 772198 9051 3093817 995790125:0
    Business activity31 378 3581 850 2541 274 9011 677 7149 686 108103 5581 133 5521 323 136361 25274 9611 00013 825 24566 6770:0
    Other income from own business18 310 7553 076 5601 851 0151 528 694746 055216 1367 427 6591 203 349425 03039 24010 0281 692 62021 54636 500:0
    Contributions, total139 195 3235 588 0677 276 61615 852 38346 926 8366 161 90027 844 9498 072 1096 474 94125 62319 09811 457 711257 4331 337 914:0
    Private contributions39 335 7451 089 4351 974 2166 106 5124 603 88198 0568 382 941810 7904 157 29122 6239 2739 025 000224 0541 068 018:0
    Contributions from commercial enterprises30 185 5663 147 6753 614 88536391 0514 730 11216 774 045789 413100 0003 0000555 1260269 896:0
    Contributions from employers' and labour organizations51 891 241008 622 38537 100 85602 0005 900 000266 00000000:0
    Contributions, from other17 782 7711 350 9571 687 5151 123 1235 131 0481 333 7322 685 963571 9061 951 65009 8251 877 58533 3790:0
    1The Parties where less than 3 party units has reported their accounts, or that the party units have only reported a statement, are excluded in the table because data which should be made public are not available
    Explanation of symbols
  • Funding of political parties by source of income and political party. Per cent
    Funding of political parties by source of income and political party. Per cent1
    TotalChristian Democratic PartyLiberal PartySocialist Left PartyLabour PartyProgress PartyConservative PartyCentre PartyRed PartyThe Pensioners' PartyDemocratic Party of NorwayGreen PartyCommunist Party of NorwayThe ChristiansThe Health PartyFolkeaksjonen Nei til mer bompenger
    2021
    Income, total100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0:100.0
    Government subsidy, total64.057.762.558.362.282.465.975.455.485.246.744.67.835.9:96.1
    Central government subsidy54.646.056.150.352.175.458.061.138.865.939.439.27.835.0:87.1
    Municipal/county subsidy8.15.05.17.88.96.97.112.912.919.47.24.90.00.5:9.0
    Other government subsidy1.36.71.40.21.20.10.81.43.70.00.10.50.00.3:0.0
    Own business, total19.130.518.314.316.810.018.814.628.513.752.435.445.623.6:3.9
    Membership fee9.113.37.68.76.87.18.910.816.56.046.08.429.021.2:3.9
    Income from lotteries and similar1.64.22.00.01.42.40.50.39.53.15.90.00.51.2:0.0
    Capital income2.42.50.40.14.00.14.70.40.50.10.00.00.10.0:0.0
    Business activity3.83.93.42.94.30.10.61.60.93.00.024.112.10.0:0.0
    Other income from own business2.26.54.92.60.30.34.11.51.11.60.42.93.91.1:0.0
    Contributions, total16.911.919.227.321.07.615.310.016.11.00.820.046.640.5:0.0
    Private contributions4.82.35.210.52.10.14.61.010.40.90.415.740.532.4:0.0
    Contributions from commercial enterprises3.76.79.50.00.05.99.21.00.20.10.01.00.08.2:0.0
    Contributions from employers' and labour organizations6.30.00.014.916.60.00.07.30.70.00.00.00.00.0:0.0
    Contributions from other2.12.84.41.92.31.71.50.74.90.00.43.36.00.0:0.0
    1The Parties where less than 3 party units has reported their accounts, or that the party units have only reported a statement, are excluded in the table because data which should be made public are not available
    Explanation of symbols
  • Party financing, accounts per political party. NOK
    Party financing, accounts per political party. NOK1
    2021
    TotalChristian Democratic PartyLiberal PartySocialist Left PartyLabour PartyProgress PartyConservative PartyCentre PartyRed PartyThe Pensioners' PartyDemocratic Party of NorwayGreen PartyCommunist Party of NorwayThe ChristiansThe Health PartyFolkeaksjonen Nei til mer bompenger
    Income, total824 669 03547 082 74337 964 21058 011 760223 854 94580 738 889181 641 73181 108 52940 154 8352 501 1682 247 29957 424 433552 5523 301 053:1 731 211
    Government subsidy, total527 876 97827 156 40123 746 46533 848 127139 247 09966 501 831119 735 39161 157 93022 249 5982 132 2241 050 16925 614 53843 1261 185 355:1 662 928
    Own business, total157 596 73414 338 2756 941 1298 311 25037 681 0108 075 15834 061 39111 878 49011 430 296343 3211 178 03220 352 184251 993777 784:68 283
    Contributions, total139 195 3235 588 0677 276 61615 852 38346 926 8366 161 90027 844 9498 072 1096 474 94125 62319 09811 457 711257 4331 337 914:0
    Total costs883 795 80955 234 40649 691 37159 689 399231 499 34594 380 397171 733 82191 033 38842 459 2882 368 3272 513 17769 882 611631 0752 946 668:2 646 469
    Salary costs329 735 96021 587 50719 301 63324 427 24392 997 40026 492 14360 695 73136 246 94616 155 912112 062159 74029 739 9000698 361:770 726
    Other operating costs552 169 33833 629 47730 288 36835 022 524137 774 22167 720 619110 545 42154 745 96026 260 8202 251 3582 352 58240 107 858629 5842 246 912:1 870 449
    Finance costs1 890 51117 422101 370239 632727 724167 635492 66940 48242 5564 90785534 8531 4911 395:5 294
    Result-59 126 774-8 151 663-11 727 161-1 677 639-7 644 400-13 641 5089 907 910-9 924 859-2 304 453132 841-265 878-12 458 178-78 523354 385:-915 258
    1The Parties where less than 3 party units has reported their accounts, or that the party units have only reported a statement, are excluded in the table because data which should be made public are not available.
    Explanation of symbols
  • Party financing, accounts per political party. Per cent.,
    Party financing, accounts per political party. Per cent.,1
    2021
    TotalChristian Democratic PartyLiberal PartySocialist Left PartyLabour PartyProgress PartyConservative PartyCentre PartyRed PartyThe Pensioners' PartyDemocratic Party of NorwayGreen PartyCommunist Party of NorwayThe ChristiansThe Health PartyFolkeaksjonen Nei til mer bompenger
    Income, total100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0:100.0
    Government subsidy, total64.057.762.558.362.282.465.975.455.485.246.744.67.835.9:96.1
    Own business, total19.130.518.314.316.810.018.814.628.513.752.435.445.623.6:3.9
    Contributions, total16.911.919.227.321.07.615.310.016.11.00.820.046.640.5:0.0
    Total costs107.2117.3130.9102.9103.4116.994.5112.2105.794.7111.8121.7114.289.3:152.9
    Salary costs40.045.950.842.141.532.833.444.740.24.57.151.80.021.2:44.5
    Other operating costs67.071.479.860.461.583.960.967.565.490.0104.769.8113.968.1:108.0
    Finance costs0.20.00.30.40.30.20.30.00.10.20.00.10.30.0:0.3
    Result-7.2-17.3-30.9-2.9-3.4-16.95.5-12.2-5.75.3-11.8-21.7-14.210.7:-52.9
    1The Parties where less than 3 party units has reported their accounts, or that the party units have only reported a statement, are excluded in the table because data which should be made public are not available.
    Explanation of symbols
  • Funding of political parties, cost accounts by activity and political party. NOK
    Funding of political parties, cost accounts by activity and political party. NOK1 2
    2021
    Total cost by activityAdministration costsGeneral political party activity¿s costsElection campaign¿s costs
    Total883 872 751361 327 827252 287 644270 257 280
    Christian Democratic Party55 234 40925 741 36413 444 33216 048 713
    Liberal Party49 691 36124 148 4886 499 04919 043 824
    Socialist Left Party59 689 39027 723 5409 469 68222 496 168
    Labour Party231 493 12688 774 79381 051 43661 666 897
    Progress Party94 463 71720 689 80433 608 72440 165 189
    Conservative Party171 733 688112 549 17333 999 04125 185 474
    Centre Party91 033 38722 843 77245 302 32822 887 287
    Red Party42 459 30116 195 68510 966 02215 297 594
    The Pensioners' Party2 368 327555 625400 8851 411 817
    Democratic Party of Norway2 513 176375 275957 0051 180 896
    Green Party69 882 60818 326 00314 082 81237 473 793
    Communist Party of Norway631 078295 984260 29674 798
    The Christians2 946 668747 0651 067 3651 132 238
    The Health Party::::
    Folkeaksjonen Nei til mer bompenger2 646 4691 376 86264 4101 205 197
    1Costs by activity comprise total costs. According to the Political Parties Act total costs shall be divided by type and by activity. The table 5 presents income, costs by type and result. This table (11319) presents costs divided by main activity groups. The total can differ from total costs by type due to non-consistent data from the political party units. Further information see “About the statistics”.
    2The Parties where less than 3 party units has reported their accounts, or that the party units have only reported a statement, are excluded in the table because data which should be made public are not available
    Explanation of symbols
  • Central government subsidy by poltical party. NOK
    Central government subsidy by poltical party. NOK1 2
    2021
    TotalOf which youth's poltical organisations
    Total470 384 25229 362 013
    Christian Democratic Party22 629 9341 276 902
    Liberal Party22 503 0121 127 557
    Socialist Left Party30 719 2121 825 843
    Labour Party118 767 9007 802 262
    Progress Party62 028 9733 243 178
    Conservative Party106 924 4396 737 003
    Centre Party54 567 7524 165 029
    Red Party16 738 2871 063 060
    Democratic Party of Norway903 411.
    Coastal Party294 4007 186
    The Pensioners' Party2 683 172.
    Green Party23 710 0801 989 168
    Communist Party of Norway59 9252 106
    The Pirate Party of Norway457 6319 775
    The Christians1 506 13325 340
    The Health Party1 362 17430 109
    Folkeaksjonen Nei til mer bompenger3 494 743.
    1The table incudes all units of political parties which have sent either a full report or a statement according the annual income received. For those units which have reported an income less than NOK 12 000 except government subsidies, the amounts used in the table are according to information received from the County Governor of Sogn og Fjordane or from the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation. The County Governor disburses the governmental funding on municipal and county level, the Ministry to the central organisations. For those units which have reported that mentioned income exceeded the amount of NOK 12 000, the amount reported from the unit itself has been used.
    2The Parties where less than 3 party units has reported their accounts, or that the party units have only reported a statement, are excluded in the table because data which should be made public are not available.
    Explanation of symbols

About the statistics

Income and costs are shown, based on the annual accounts of political parties at municipal, county and central level, including youth organisations at central and county level, which have an obligation to report accounts under the Political Party Act. Approximately 95 per cent of the total income of all parties is covered.

Registered political party

A political party that is registered in the Party register at the Brønnøysund Register Centre according to the regulation in the Party Act, ref. § 3, http://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/2005-06-17-102.

Central government subsidy

Funding according to the Party Act § 11.

Municipal/county subsidy

Additional funding on a voluntary basis from the county or the municipality.

Other public subsidy

Other public funding not covered by central government subsidy or municipal/county subsidy.

Membership fee

The total income from membership fees.

Income from lotteries, fund-raising events and similar

Income from lotteries, fund-raising events and similar.

Capital income

Income from interest and stock dividends etc. excluding uncollected gains. Unrealised gains are not to be entered as gains according to the accounting principles of the Political Party Act. Financial assets are to be entered at purchase cost as long as they are not realised.

Income from business activity

Income from own business activity. This includes, among other things, income from the sale of advertisement effects.

Other income from own business

All income not covered by membership fees, income from lotteries, fund-raising events and similar, capital income or income from business activity.

Private contributions

Includes all gifts of money from private donors and all other non-monetary contributions from the same donors when the limit for identifying the contributors is exceeded.

Contributions from commercial enterprises

Includes all gifts of money made by commercial enterprises and all other non-monetary contributions from the same donors when the limit for identifying the contribution.

Not relevant

Name: Political parties' financing
Topic: Elections

Not yet determined

Division for Population Statistics

Country

Annually

Not relevant

The reports from the political party units are to be made public individually according to the Political Parties Act § 22. The reports will be published on the website of the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation, see www.partifinansiering.no.

The statistics were published for the first time in 2006. This publication is based on registered parties’ reports on their financial situation for the fiscal year 2017. According to the Political Parties Act, all organisational levels of the registered political parties are obliged to report to a central register. The statistics are published on the basis of these reports.

The Political Parties Act was revised on 1 February 2013. For 2013 and previous years, the political parties' organisations should only report on income.

The statistics have a wide spectrum of users and applications, such as the mass media, research institutions, educational establishments, political parties and individuals.

No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on ssb.no at 8 am. Prior to this, a minimum of three months' advance notice is given in the Statistics Release Calendar. This is one of Statistics Norway’s key principles for ensuring that all users are treated equally.

Statistics on election campaign contribution which is published every second year in connection with elections (https://www.ssb.no/en/valg/statistikker/valgkamp).

Political Parties Act §§ 18, 19, 20, 20a, 20b, 21 and Statistics Act §§ 10

Not relevant

The data collection includes all organisational levels of the registered political parties in Norway, i.e. central, county and municipal level, as well as the central youth levels and the youth organisations at county level. The unit in the statistics is political parties.

According to the Political Parties Act § 18, the party organisations (units) with an income below a certain level excluding government subsidy are exempt from comprehensive reporting. These party units must submit a statement confirming that their income does not exceed the specified level. All other political party organisations have to report the full annual accounts, i.e. incomes, cost and balance sheet. The reports from the organisations exceeding the limit represent the basis for the statistics but for those parties where the number of reporting units is less than three.

The Political Parties Act was revised on 1 February 2013, setting the limit at NOK 12 000 with effect from the fiscal year of 2013. The previous year’s limit was NOK 10 000.

Parties Act. This register is held by Statistics Norway, cf. § 2-1 of the secondary act to the Political Parties Act. The register includes the reports from all registered parties at municipal, county and central Level, including youth organisations at central and county level. The central political parties have to be registered in the Political Party Register as part of the Brønnøysund Register Centre.

The Party Finance Register also contains a summary of all donors that, during the fiscal year, contributed money or gifts exceeding NOK 12 000 to parties at municipal level, NOK 23 000 to parties at county level and NOK 35 000 to parties at central level according to the revised act of 1 February 2013 (the previous levels were NOK 10 000, NOK 20 000 and NOK 30 000 respectively). This also applies to sponsors and creditors. Donors with whom the party organisation has entered into a written political or commercial agreement are to be identified independent of the amount donated.

Total count.

No additional sources to the Party Finance Register.

The questionnaire is prepared by Statistics Norway. The information is collected electronically through Altinn (the Norwegian public reporting portal) and a specific questionnaire (RA-0604). A few of the units have responded by returning a signed printed version of the Altinn questionnaire that have been handled manually.

The information is published in the same form as it is received by the Party Finance Register. Neither the registrar nor Statistics Norway, as the producer of the statistics, carries out any revisions of the data except for obvious errors in the reported data after consulting the respondent.

The statistical information is a calculation of income and cost summaries from the various organisational levels to the degree that the parties are required to report according to the Political Parties Act.

The statistics do not include internal transfers within the different political parties, neither as income nor as cost, since they balance each other in total, and would thus give an inflated amount. Neither are the balances of the units consolidated, and are thus not published as statistics. There is no statutory requirement for internal liabilities or debts to be specified or reported. Furthermore, there may be a large number of units that are included in the sample which have such liabilities and/or debts towards units not included. Thus, consolidation of the balance sheets would be misleading.

Not relevant

Not relevant

The statistics were first published in 2006 (for the fiscal year 2005), and have since been published annually.

The revision of the Political Parties Act on 1 February 2013 entails a break in the homogeneity according to the organisations that are obliged to report comprehensively. For the years 2005 to 2012, all organisations with income except government subsidies of NOK 10 000 and more were obliged to report fully. For the fiscal year 2013 and later the limit was increased to NOK 12 000. The income of the political party organisations will differ over the years, especially between election and non-election years. Thus the number of organisations reporting comprehensively will depend on natural and formal changes. This may have an impact on the values published in the statistics.

The statistics for 2019 were based on reports from 883 units. For 2018, the statistics were based on 705 units (for 2017 766 units, 716 units in 2016, 781 units in 2015, 685 units in 2014, 693 units for 2013 and 634 units for 2012).

The data is reported by the units to the central register on forms submitted electronically. Different categories for entering the income, cost and balance sheet items are given in the form, including a category for party internal income transfers. Errors may occur when the different items are entered in the wrong category.

The Act requires gross revenues and costs to be reported. This means that revenue that is earmarked to cover specific costs or is to be transferred internally to other units within the same party must first be recognised as income and then as a cost (transfer to others) by the unit that originally received the amount. The amount shall be entered as income in an internal transfer by the units that have received such monies. Some units of the parties may have recorded such amounts as reimbursements, and reported the net amount, thus both the revenue and cost figures will be too low.

As an illustration, membership fees have been booked and reported at net value by some of the central political parties that received the fee from their members in 2013. A considerable part of the total was transferred to the local units. Due to the net booking, the membership fee reported for 2013 is too low and the increase in 2014 is misleading and too high. From 2015 and forward data may indicate that this error is reduced compared with 2014 and previous years.

The Political Party Act requires that all costs are divided by type and by activity. The cost shall be classified in two different ways. The total costs by type differ from total costs by activity due to non-consistent data from some of the political party units. Overall, the costs by activity are 0.12 per cent less than total costs by type.

The change in equity from 1 January to 31 December differs in some cases from the reported result. In some few cases, this may be due to capital contribution or withdrawal only booked in the balance - in contrast to the regulations by law. The change in equity may indicate that the cost should be 0,6 per cent lower or the income correspondingly higher in 2016 than reported.

Furthermore, some units have not reported at all, in spite of the obligation according to the Act. Thus, some units that should have reported full annual accounts according to the Act may not be included in the data. Imputations are not calculated and implemented to statistically compensate these errors.

Statistics Norway does not hold financial data for political parties with an income below the reporting limit according to the Political Parties Act. Thus, the accounts reported in these statistics are lower than the actual level. Neither governmental subsidies to, nor other income or costs of these parties are included in the statistics if not explicitly mentioned.

Not relevant

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