Operating expenses of municipalities in Mainland Finland decreased by 2.5 per cent in January to September 2017

The external operating expenses of municipalities in Mainland Finland were 2.5 per cent lower in the first three quarters of 2017 than in the corresponding period of one year earlier. The external operating revenue decreased by 7.1 per cent. Municipalities’ tax revenue totalled EUR 17.4 billion and central government transfers to local government EUR 6.6 billion. The external operating expenses of joint municipal authorities grew by 8.7 per cent and operating revenue by 8.8 per cent. These data appear from Statistics Finland's statistics on quarterly local government finances, for which data were collected from 80 municipalities and from 69 joint municipal authorities in Mainland Finland.

External quarterly data on the finances of municipalities and joint municipal authorities, EUR million ¹⁾

	3rd quarter
	Municipalities		Joint municipal authorities
	2017	Change, %	2017	Change, %
Operating revenue total	5 172	-7,1	10 810	8,8
Operating expenses total	26 527	-2,5	10 100	8,7
Annual contribution margin	3 312	15,2	658	12,5
Loan stock	15 188	2,3	3 226	6,3

1) Operating expenses include expenses from production for own use. The change is calculated compared with the corresponding period in the previous year.

Finances of municipalities and joint municipal authorities

In January to September 2017, the operating expenses of municipalities in Mainland Finland without internal items totalled EUR 26.5 billion, which was 2.5 per cent lower than in the corresponding period one year earlier. The operating revenue of municipalities amounted to EUR 5.2 billion. The operating revenue decreased by 7.1 per cent.

Municipalities received a total of EUR 24.1 billion in tax funding in the first three quarters of 2017. Tax funding formed of tax revenue and central government transfers to local government grew by 0.5 per cent compared with the previous year. Tax funding per capita was EUR 4,399 in Mainland Finland. ¹⁾ The combined annual contribution margin of municipalities totalled EUR 3.3 billion, which was 15.2 per cent more than one year previously.

Municipalities spent a total of EUR 2.1 billion on investments in January to September 2017. Compared with January to September 2016, investment expenses went up by 7.4 per cent. At the end of September, the loan stock totalled EUR 15.2 billion. The amount was 2.7 per cent lower than at the end of the previous quarter. Municipalities' loan stock per capita was EUR 2,774. ²⁾

In January to September 2017, the operating expenses of joint municipal authorities in Mainland Finland totalled EUR 10.1 billion and they grew by 8.7 per cent compared with the corresponding period of 2016. The external operating revenue of joint municipal authorities totalled EUR 10.8 billion, which meant a growth of 8.8 per cent from the previous year. The annual contribution margin of joint municipal authorities grew by 12.5 per cent and was EUR 0.7 billion.

The investment expenses of joint municipal authorities totalled EUR 0.6 billion over the period from the beginning of 2017 to the end of September. Compared with the previous year, investment expenses grew by 17.9 per cent. At the end of September, joint municipal authorities' loan stock totalled EUR 3.2 billion. It was 0.9 per cent more than at the end of the second quarter of 2017.

Information on the statistics

The statistics on quarterly local government finances are in the first to third quarters a sample survey that describes the development of the finances of municipalities and joint municipal authorities in Mainland Finland by quarter. For the statistical release on the fourth quarter, data are collected from all municipalities and joint municipal authorities in Mainland Finland.

The data in the statistics on quarterly local government finances are preliminary and they might become revised in coming publications. No quarterly sample survey data by municipality or joint municipal authority are published.

The data published in the statistics on quarterly local government finances are not directly comparable with the data of the statistics on local government finances by quarter because of the different way of handling local government enterprises. In the statistics on quarterly local government finances, local government enterprises are combined with the data on basic municipalities and joint municipal authorities, while this was not done in the statistics on local government finances by quarter published between 2013 and 2015.

1) The population data used were the population of Mainland Finland on 31 December 2016.
2) The population data used were the population of Mainland Finland on 31 December 2016.

Source: Quarterly local government finances, 3rd quarter 2017, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Jens Melfsen 029 551 2578, Karen Asplund 029 551 3611, kuntatalous@stat.fi

Director in charge: Ville Vertanen

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Revision of data (24.11.2017)

Updated 24.11.2017

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Quarterly local government finances [e-publication].
ISSN=2343-4139. 3rd quarter 2017. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 22.12.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/ktan/2017/03/ktan_2017_03_2017-11-24_tie_001_en.html