Comparability

Comparability - geographical

Other countries might publish similar statistics. The authorized budget plan for municipalities and regions that is used to select the relevant employees is however unique to Denmark.

Comparability over time

The statistics have been compiled since 2008, but is revised in 2016. Consequently data for 2016 and forward are not directly comparable to data published in previous years. Compared to the earlier data the selection of which institutions and employees that are included in the statistics have been looked through and revised. At the same time the grouping by occupation has been changed and is now in accordance with the DISCO-nomenclature DISCO-08. All employees at the selected budget accounts are included in the statistics regardless of occupation where as only selected occupations were included previously.

The authorized budget plan for municipalities and regions is revised in 2018. The revision concerns the budget accounts that are included in these statistics. It is not possible to group then new budget accounts so that they are comparable to the previously published groupings. Consequently some data for 2018 are not comparable to previous years.

The DISCO-codes are not used in the administration of the municipalities and regions. Within and between municipalities and regions the budget plan is not used completely homogeneously. These two aspects imply that data are associated with some uncertainty and that comparisons between years should only be made with caution. A Change in the number of employees over years might be caused by the fact that the municipalities change the connection of employees to budget accounts or changes the DISCO-codes of the employees. Consequently a change in number of employees might not be real but reflects a change in the use of the budget plan or changes in the DISCO-codes.

The data for 2008 to 2015 are comparable over time. However, the new classification of occupations was introduced to the statistics between 2010 and 2011. Consequently, data grouped by occupation are not comparable between 2010 and 2011. The previous DISCO-nomenclature DISCO-earnings was replaced by DISCO-08.

Coherence - cross domain

The office for regional and municipal wage data (KRL) compiles statistics that are based on the same data. However, Statistics Denmark includes institutions and employees that are not included in the statistics of KRL. Furthermore corrections made by statistics Denmark might cause further deviations. Furthermore Statistics of Denmark compile statistics of earnings that are based on the same data. Corrections and selection of data are, however, different and results of the two statistics are therefore not comparable.

Coherence - internal

The statistics are based on one source only. Within and between municipalities and regions the budget plan is not used completely homogeneously.