Preliminary results from municipalities and county councils for 2018:

Weaker performance among municipalities and county councils

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2019-03-05 9.30

Municipal sector accounts reported a surplus of SEK 14.3 billion in 2018. This is a decrease of SEK 12.1 billion compared with the previous year. This decrease is due to increased costs for county councils and decreased operating income for municipalities.

Municipal sector’s surplus decreased

The municipal sector’s preliminary 2018 results showed a surplus of SEK 14.3 billion, which is the lowest surplus in this sector since 2014. This was a decrease of SEK 12.1 billion compared with 2017, when the sector reported a strong surplus.

Municipalities reported a surplus of SEK 13.8 billion, which was larger than county councils’ surplus of SEK 0.5 billion; both results are substantially lower than in 2017.

Increased operating expenditure contributed to the lower surplus in the municipal sector. In 2018, operating expenditure amounted to SEK 1 062 billion, up by 4.1 percent from the previous year.

Most municipalities reported surplus

Municipalities’ results decreased by SEK 9.7 billion compared with 2017, when municipalities had a strong budgetary position. However, decreased operating income led to lower results in 2018 compared with the previous year. A contributing factor to the decreased operating income was a decrease in central government grants due to decreased compensation for costs related to migration and asylum administration.

In 2018, 24.8 percent of all municipalities reported a deficit. This proportion is higher than in the previous year, when 7.2 percent of all municipalities reported a deficit.

Income statement of municipalities 2016–2018, SEK billions

	2016	2017	2018
Operating revenue	165.5	169.1	163.5
Operating expenditure	-645.5	-672.8	-694.4
Depreciation	-22.3	-23.1	-24
Net operating expenditure	-502.3	-526.8	-554.8
Tax revenue	431.7	453.3	465.7
Economic equalisation and general grants from central government	88.6	91.8	96
Financial revenue	8.9	10.7	12.8
Financial expenditure	-5.2	-5.1	-5.2
Income statement before extraordinary items	21.6	23.8	14.4
Extraordinary income	0.1	0.6	0.1
Extraordinary expenditure	-0.3	-0.9	-0.6
Net income (surplus)	21.4	23.5	13.8

In the table, the Region of Gotland is included to 65 percent.

County councils reported lower surplus

County councils’ 2018 results showed a surplus of SEK 0.5 billion, which is a decrease compared with 2017, when the surplus amounted to SEK 2.7 billion.

An increase of 5.5 percent in operating expenditure, which corresponds to SEK 19.3 billion, contributed downwards to the surplus, which decreased despite an increase in all revenue items.

In 2018, six county councils reported results of two percent or more in taxes and grants, which corresponds to the threshold for sound economic management. In 2017, nine county councils reached this threshold.

Income statement of county councils 2016–2018, SEK billions

	2016	2017	2018
Operating revenue	56.3	57.3	64.9
Operating expenditure	-333.3	-348	-367.3
Depreciation	-9.8	-10.5	-11.4
Net operating expenditure	-286.7	-301.1	-313.7
Tax revenue	238.2	250.3	257.9
Economic equalisation and general grants from central government	51.6	54.5	57.6
Financial revenue	2.8	3.4	4.1
Financial expenditure	-2.5	-4.4	-5.3
Income statement before extraordinary items	3.4	2.7	0.5
Extraordinary income	0	0	0
Extraordinary expenditure	0	0	0
Net income (surplus)	3.4	2.7	0.5

In the table, the Region of Gotland is included to 35 percent.

Definitions and explanations

One municipality is missing in the combined surplus for the municipalities. Consequently, an estimation has been made to be able to present a total income statement for the municipalities.

Region Gotland is responsible for municipal tasks, county council tasks and also regional development. This means that it is very difficult to compare data for the income statement and balance sheet for Region Gotland with other municipalities and county councils in Sweden. Statistics Sweden has, in an attempt to comparability, estimated that 65 percent of their total activity concerns municipal activities, while 35 percent concerns county council activities. However, this is an estimation and comparisons with other municipalities and county councils should be made with caution.

The present figures are preliminary and can be revised.

Extraordinary items refer to income and expenditures that do not originate from regular activities. Income before extraordinary items is not always comparable, since what is considered as extraordinary can differ.

The figures are in current prices.

Next publishing will be

The next publication date is 19 March 2019.

More detailed accounts regarding county councils and municipalities will be presented progressively from April.

The final figures will be published on 30 August 2019.

Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.