Local government finances: documentation of statistics

The statistics on local government finances describe the final accounts data of Finnish municipalities and joint municipal authorities and their groups. The final accounts data consist of the profit and loss accounts, the cash flow statement and the balance sheet. In addition, the statistics describe the operating and investment data broken down by function category based on the financial statements of municipalities and joint municipal authorities.

The target population includes all Finnish municipalities and joint municipal authorities.

The data are collected at municipal and joint municipal authority level and published in aggregate at the level of region.

 

The unit of measure used is EUR 1,000.
 

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The statistics describe the data for each calendar year. The preliminary data of the statistics are published approximately five months after the end of each reference year. The final data are published approximately nine months after the end of each reference year.

The reference area for the statistics is the whole of Finland, Mainland Finland and all of Finland's regions.

 

The statistics cover the local government sub-sector of municipalities and joint municipal authorities. The statistics describe all the areas of responsibility of municipalities and joint municipal authorities.

The data of the statistics on local government finances are available from 2015 onwards. The data will not be revised after the final release.

Due to various changes, such as changes in accounting methods, in the system of central government transfers to local government, or in reporting methods, there is no uniform time series. Annual data on the finances of municipalities are available in electronic format for the years 1975 to 1992, 1993 to 1996 and from 1997 onwards. Annual data on the finances of joint municipal authorities are available for 1993 to 1996 and from 1997 onwards.

The data of the statistics on local government finances are published twice a year. The preliminary financial statements data are published at the end of May/in early June following the end of each reference year, and the final data are released in early September following the end of each reference year. The data will not be revised after the final release.

The statistics on local government finances are a total survey of all Finnish municipalities and joint municipal authorities. The source data of the statistics comprise the data reported by municipalities and joint municipal authorities to Statistics Finland regarding their financial statements, consolidated financial statements, operating income and expenditure by function, and investment income and expenditure by function. Data on the separate financial statements of local authority owned companies and data on the activities of education and cultural services of municipalities and joint municipal authorities are also collected for the statistics.

Statistics Finland collects source data for the statistics from municipalities and joint municipal authorities using an online form.

Data on municipalities’ and joint municipal authorities’ profit and loss accounts, cash flow statements, balance sheets and consolidated financial statements, as well as on the financial statements of local authority owned companies are collected in accordance with the binding model financial statements issued by the local government sub-committee of the Finnish Accounting Board to municipalities and joint municipal authorities. The reliability of the data is good.

The preliminary data on the profit and loss accounts, financial statements, balance sheets and consolidated financial statements of municipalities and joint municipal authorities are published in May/in early June of the year following the reference year. Usually preliminary data differ only slightly from the final data published at the end of the year.

Data on the breakdown of operating income and expenditure of municipalities and joint municipal authorities by function are also collected for the statistics. Function-specific data are collected by type of income and expenditure. The income and expenditure classification used corresponds to the classification used in municipal accounts, which is based on the Accounting Act and the JHS account catalogue. In this respect, the reliability of the data is good. The classification of functions is based on Statistics Finland’s guidance. Because the classification of functions used by municipalities and joint municipal authorities in their accounts often depends on the organisational structure, for the compilation of the statistics, the data suppliers have to combine and split cost and profit centres in their accounts. It is often impossible to do this in such a way that the result would fully comply with the guidelines on the classification of functions. Therefore, the reliability of the data broken down by function is weaker than that of the data broken down by cost and profit centre.

Data on investment income and expenditure of municipalities and joint municipal authorities are collected by type of commodity using a classification of functions similar to that used for function-specific operating income and expenditure. The classification according to the type of commodity is compatible with the balance sheet and financial statements guidelines of the local government sub-committee of the Finnish Accounting Board. In this respect, the reliability of the data is good. However, the allocation of investment income and expenditure to function categories can often be challenging, especially when the investment concerns several function categories.

The statistical period is the calendar year. The data on the balance sheets of municipalities and joint municipal authorities reflect the situation on the last day of the reference year.

The preliminary data on the financial statements and consolidated financial statements of municipalities and joint municipal authorities, as well as on the financial statements of local authority owned companies are released at the latest in May/in early June of the year following the reference year. The final data are published in September of the year following the reference year.

There are no delays between the release calendar and the actual release date.

 

The data of the statistics are comparable between the different geographical areas of Finland.

 

The data are comparable at current prices between different years.

 

The financial variables used in the statistics on local government finances are mostly the same as those used in the quarterly statistics on local government finances.
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The data are internally coherent.
 

The statistics on local government finances are based on data collected in the context of the collection of data on local government finances.

 

The data are collected through direct data collection using an online form.

 

The data for the statistics are collected annually.

 

The data are revised in cooperation with the data suppliers on the basis of deviations and other inconsistencies identified.

Quality assurance consists of automated data validation, audits based on expertise, and aggregate-level audits.

Statistics Finland

Economic Statistics

The compilation of statistics is guided by the general act of the national statistical service, the Statistics Act (280/2004, amend. 361/2013). Only the necessary data that are not available from administrative data sources are collected from data suppliers. Index series are published so that no individual enterprise’s data or development can be deduced from them.

In addition to the Statistics Act (280/2004, amend. 361/2013), some of the data are collected on the basis of Section 58 of the Act on the Financing of Education and Culture (1705/2009) on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish National Agency for Education.

The data protection of data collected for statistical purposes is absolutely guaranteed in accordance with the Statistics Act (280/2004), the Personal Data Act (532/1999) and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), as well as the requirements of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679). The data materials are protected at all stages of processing with the necessary physical and technical solutions. Statistics Finland has compiled detailed directions and instructions for confidential processing of the data. Employees have access only to the data essential for their duties. The premises where unit-level data are processed are not accessible to outsiders. Members of the personnel have signed a pledge of secrecy upon entering the service. Wilful breaching of data protection is punishable.

The data are protected against unauthorised access in accordance with the data protection rules adopted by Statistics Finland. Unit-level data may only be processed at Statistics Finland by persons whose duties require the use of such data.

Statistics Finland’s release calendar lists in advance all the statistical data and publications to be released over the year. Statistical releases can be found under statistics-specific releases. Statistical data are released on the Internet at 8 am, unless otherwise indicated. The calendar is updated on weekdays. Statistics Finland’s release calendar for the coming year is published every year in December.
 

The data collected for the statistics are available in the ‘Financial data reported by municipalities and joint municipal authorities’ database.

The database tables of the statistics on local government finances are published in Statistics Finland’s StatFin database.

 

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF) are a comprehensive collection of statistics describing the development and state of society. They comprise nearly 300 sets of statistics on 26 different topics. The producers of Official Statistics of Finland have approved a common quality assurance in which they commit to common quality criteria and quality assurance measures. The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice. The good practices followed in the statistics are presented in Statistics Finland’s Quality Guidelines for Official Statistics handbook.

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF) are a comprehensive collection of statistics describing the development and state of society. They comprise nearly 300 sets of statistics on 26 different topics. The producers of Official Statistics of Finland have approved a common quality assurance in which they commit to common quality criteria and quality assurance measures. The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice. The good practices followed in the statistics are presented in Statistics Finland’s Quality Guidelines for Official Statistics handbook.

When compiling statistics, Statistics Finland observes the European Statistics Code of Practice (CoP) and the Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) based on them. The Code of Practice concerns the independence and accountability of statistical authorities and the quality of processes and data to be published. The principles are in line with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics approved by the United Nations Statistics Division and are supplementary to them. The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are also compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice. The principles are also compatible with those of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM).

More information about this is available on Statistics Finland's quality management pages.
Every year Statistics Finland conducts statistical auditing that helps to ensure the quality of statistics.

Data are released to all users at the same time.

The disclosure of data is governed by Section 12 of the Statistics Act (280/2004, amend. 361/2013), according to which data describing the activities and public service production of central and local government authorities that are public based on other legislation are also public as statistical data.