Budgets of General Government

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Government Finances, Economic Statistics
Martin Rune Rasmussen
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Budgets of General Government 2025

The purpose of Budgets of General Government is to analyze the economic activities of general government and to analyze the distribution of tasks and burden between sub-sectors of general government and finally to show the interaction between this sector and the rest of the economy. The budget-statistics of the February-version is based on passed budgets of state, counties and municipalities as well as social welfare funds. The September version is based on proposals for the state budget and the March version is based on the state budget. Both versions are compiled in cooperation with the Department of Finance. The calculations of the budget statistics of counties and municipalities are based on a national accounting standards interpretation of the municipal financial agreements. Social welfare funds numbers are calculated on estimates from unemployment funds. The statistics were produced for the first time in 1995. Data are available from 1996 and onward.

Statistical presentation

The statistics monitor current and capital expenditure/revenue for the general government based on budgets. Net lending / net borrowing of the general government are shown. Expenditure /revenue items are shown by type of transaction and by type of function. Taxes, subsidies and transfers to households are sub-divided by type.

Statistical processing

The data is collected continuously in the months before the publication from the public budget systems and other supplementary sources. It is then compiled according to national accounts principles, where it may be necessary to contact the specific source to clarify certain characteristics of the entries. It may be necessary to make imputations in cases where the data isn’t available at the time of publication. When a full dataset is compiled for all subsectors balancing is carried out to secure internal consistency.

Relevance

Many users who monitor the public economy have interest in the published statistics of government finance statistics. The statistics is in demand from ministries, politicians, public and private institutions, researchers, enterprises and news media. The statistics often gets a lot of attention in the media and amongst other professional users.

Accuracy and reliability

The statistic covers the entire target population. The central government budget is received from Agency for Public Finance and Management (Økonomistyrelsen). All municipalities and regions must report their budgets, and missing budgets are thus not permitted. As the budgets are delivered directly from the municipalities and regions' own financial management systems and compared with data from prior years as well as the budget, it is assumed that no major measurement errors exist. If there are blank or invalid variables or dataset the municipality or region is contacted so new data may be sent.

Timeliness and punctuality

The March-version is published three month after the adoption of the budget. The September version is published one week after the publication of the budget proposal. The statistic is usually published without delay in regards to the announced time.

Comparability

Data are comparable according to ESA2010 from the fiscal year 2015 and onward. For the years 1995 to 2014 the figures is comparable according to ESA1995

Accessibility and clarity

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The statistics are published in Nyt fra Danmarks Statistik (News from Statistics Denmark) and in Offentlige finanser (Public Finance) appearing in the series Statistiske Efterretninger (Statistical News). Yearly publications: Statistical Yearbook and Statistical Ten-Year Review.

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