Statistical presentation

Data description

The purpose of General government finances 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.

Classification system

The classification system is based on the European System of Account, ESA2010 and the System of National Accounts, SNA2008.

Sector coverage

The statistics covers the general government sector (S.13) which includes central government, municipalities, regions and social security funds.

Statistical concepts and definitions

Compensation of Employees: Includes all payments by producers of wages and salaries to their employees, in kind as well as in cash, and employees and employers contributions to social security schemes, including pension contributions.

Current Transfers: Current transfers have an effect on current disposable income. These transfers primarily consist of transfers to households and are divided into social transfers, e.g. old-age pension and early retirement pension, civil servants' earned pension, unemployment benefit and early retirement pay, social benefit, benefits during sickness or in connection with childbirth, family/young persons' allowances etc., housing benefit and rent subsidies. Furthermore, income transfers include, for example, education benefit. To this is added other transfer payments to private institutions, Faroe Islands and Greenland, the EU and rest of the world.

Other Current Transfers, Revenue: Other current transfers originate from other domestic sectors, the EU and rest of the world.

Other Taxes on Production: Other taxes on production (D.29) consist of all taxes that enterprises incur as a result of engaging in production, independent of the quantity or value of the goods and services produced or sold.

General Government Final Consumption Expenditure: Final consumption expenditure is obtained in the following way:

• Compensation of employees + consumption of fixed capital = Gross domestic product at factor cost
• Gross domestic product at factor cost + intermediate consumption + social transfers in kind = Output
• Output sales of goods and services = General government final consumption expenditure.

The general government final consumption expenditure or consumption comprises actual operation activities carried out for the general government sector. More than half of the general government final consumption expenditure can be broken down by specific persons. The remainder is government collective-consumption expenditure.

Gross Fixed Capital Formation: Gross fixed capital formation calculated as expenditure on construction of new buildings and civil engineering projects and purchases of transport equipment, machines, software, etc.

Consumption of Fixed Capital: Consumption of fixed capital is also called depreciations or reinvestments and is an estimate of the normal wear and tear of fixed capital goods (including roads, bridges, etc.) in the general government sector.

Intermediate Consumption: Is defined as purchases of goods and services for current consumption, including rentals for offices and buildings, etc., insurance premiums and indirect taxes and duties paid by the general government. Furthermore, some acquisitions of durable goods by the military authorities (weapon systems) will continue to be considered intermediate consumption.

Voluntary Social Security Contributions: Voluntary social security contributions entitle the depositor to public social security benefits. The voluntary scheme covers contributions to health and unemployment insurance.

Imputed Contributions to Social Security Schemes: Imputed contributions to social security schemes are estimated contributions paid by civil servants, etc. These contributions correspond to the value for earned entitlement to retirement, which is added to their wages and salaries.

Economic Rent, etc.: Economic rent, etc. comprises rentals, license fees, etc.

Non-Financial Capital Accumulation: Non-financial capital accumulation includes actual capital activities for the general government sector. Capital accumulation is calculated as follows:

• Acquisition of new fixed assets
• + Acquisition of existing buildings, net
• = Acquisition of gross investments
• Gross fixed capital formation
• + Changes in inventory
• + Acquisition of land and intangible assets, net
• = Non-financial capital accumulation

Capital Transfers: Capital transfers affect either the assets of the granter or recipient. Examples are plant and investment subsidies certain damages, loans written down and similar services, which are frequently non-recurrent.

Acquisition of Existing Buildings, net: Acquisition of existing buildings, net is defined as purchases of real property, where the existing buildings are considered the most important factor in terms of value, less corresponding sales.

Acquisition of Land and Intangible Assets, net: Acquisition of land and intangible assets, net comprises purchases of real property, where the land is considered the most important factor, less sales.

Changes in Inventory: Changes in inventory consist primarily of purchases of goods for intervention stocks and strategic stocks, less sales of these stocks.

Taxes and Duties: Taxes and duties are defined as compulsory transfers to the general government sector without any link between payment and acquisition of services. In the general statistics, taxes and duties are, for example, broken down by type of tax and national accounts group. The distribution of national accounts reflects the way different types of taxes and duties affect the economy as a whole. Taxes and duties are in national accounts divided into production and import taxes, current income and property taxes, capital taxes and compulsory social security contributions. In classifying taxes and duties according to type, only the tax base is taken into account.

Interest and Dividends: Interest and dividends also comprise dividends and realized capital gains less any losses, in addition to the nominal rate of interest.

Sales of Goods and Services: Sales of goods and services comprise sales of the total output of goods and services. To qualify as sales of goods and services, there must be a remuneration in return and a certain degree of free choice on the part of the buyer in connection with the purchase.

Social Benefits in Kind: Social benefits in kind denote, e.g. health insurance services and aids which the general government buys on the market and allocates to households in the form of full or part payment to producers for supplying specific products to households.

Subsidies: Subsidies are defined as unilateral transfers to public or private enterprises and cover a wide range of transfers. EU agricultural subsidies are an example of product subsidies. Other production subsidies are, e.g., grants for social housing, and enterprise and rehabilitation allowances, etc. Finally, subsidies to cover losses of public quasi corporations are classified as product subsidies.

Withdrawals of Income from Quasi Enterprises: Withdrawals of income from quasi -enterprises are calculated for the public quasi corporations, for example, The Danish State Railways. When calculating profits, depreciations are included as current expenditure. The share of the profit and loss account of Danmarks Nationalbank is also included.

Statistical unit

The statistics covers the general government sector and the subsectors: Central government, social security funds, municipalities and regions.

Statistical population

General government. Includes central government, municipalities, regions and social security funds

Reference area

Denmark.

Time coverage

Data are available according to ESA2010-principles from 1971 and 1999 for yearly and quarterly figures, respectively.

Base period

Not relevant for these statistics.

Unit of measure

Items in the statistics are in mill. DKK and shown in current prices.

Reference period

Year and quarter.

Frequency of dissemination

Yearly and quarterly.

Legal acts and other agreements

Section 6 of the Act on Statistics Denmark.

The yearly statistics are based on EU regulation no 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the European Union.

The quarterly statistics are based on EU regulation no. 1221/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 June 2002 on quarterly non-financial accounts for general government.

Cost and burden

There is no direct response burden as the data are collected via accounts of central government, counties, municipalities and social security funds.

Comment

Additional information is available at the statistics (Subject Page)[https://www.dst.dk/en/Statistik/emner/oekonomi/offentlig-oekonomi/offentlig-sektors-oekonomi] or by contacting Statistics Denmark.

General government statistics have undergone a benchmark revision since the last publication. In this benchmark revision, the statistics for public finances have been revised back to 1971. The benchmark revision is a pan-European project that is carried out every 5 years. The purpose of the revision is to incorporate new knowledge and new methods and to ensure uniform calculation methods for all countries.