Joint parish councils, accounts

Updated: 23 June 2023

Next update: 21 June 2024

Transfers from municipalities
Transfers from municipalities
2022
3.30
NOK billion
National figures for joint parish councils
National figures for joint parish councils1 2
NOK millionChange i percentage from the previous year
2020202120222021 - 2022
Grants from municipality3 1143 1793 2973.7
Grants from the state/state institutions302262236-9.9
Reimbursement from The Church of Norway14322429230.2
Payroll expenses and sosial security funds2 8353 0613 0971.2
Purchase of goods and services1 2631 3961 5289.5
Investment in capital assets73170579512.7
Use of loans394328-34.9
Transferred from operational accounts2734365.8
1Figures are estimated for the Joint Parish Councils that have not submitted their annual reports.
2Figures for the municipalities that are responsible for managing their own cemeteries are not included in this table. The figures for the following municipalities can be found in the municipality accounts (KOSTRA) ; Bø i Vesterålen, Froland, Gjesdal, Modum, Vennesla, Nesodden, Sola, Sandefjord, Sandnes, Bæreum and Oslo.
Explanation of symbols

About the statistics

The joint parish council accounts comprising of parochial church councils show summarized financial results of all Norwegian churches.

Joint parish councils, accounts

Most of the concepts and characteristics used in the tables are defined according to the statutory regulations for church accounts. Type and function classify expenditures and revenues. Financial instruments classify the balance sheets.

Name: Joint parish councils, accounts
Topic: Public sector

21 June 2024

Division for Public Finance

The data is collected for all the joint parish councils and all the parochial church councils in each municipality.

Annual publication in june.

None.

Collected and revised data are stored securely by Statistics Norway in compliance with applicable legislation on data processing.

Statistics Norway can grant access to the source data (de-identified or anonymised microdata) on which the statistics are based, for researchers and public authorities for the purposes of preparing statistical results and analyses. Access can be granted upon application and subject to conditions. Refer to the details about this at Access to data from Statistics Norway.

SSB collects accounting reports from the parish councils on behalf of the Ministry of children and families.

The statistics was first published in the year 1997. From 2004 new accounting regulations were adopted for the joint parish councils and the parochial church councils.

The main users are the Ministry of children and families, The Church of Norway and The Church of Norway’s Research Foundation.

Total figures are included in the national accounts data.

No external users have access to statistics before they are released at 8 a.m. on ssb.no after at least three months’ advance notice in the release calendar. This is one of the most important principles in Statistics Norway for ensuring the equal treatment of users.

The data is included in the national accounts.

Lov om tros- og livssamfunn (trossamfunnsloven) §14 , og §19 i Forskrift om økonomiforvaltningen for kirkelige i sokn Den norske kirke

The statistics are developed, produced and disseminated pursuant to Act no. 32 of 21 June 2019 relating to official statistics and Statistics Norway (the Statistics Act).

None.

The data collection covers all joint parish councils in the municipalities, and all parochial church councils.

Accounting data is reported to SSB from the joint parish councils and parochial church

Operating and capital accounts as well as balance sheets are collected, mostly through electronic reporting. The deadline for the data collection is March 20. Some data are sometimes sent after the deadline.

Electronic controls are done before submitting and when Statistics Norway receives the reports. Further control is done later on.

Accounts from some of the joint parish councils could still be missing before the publication. Data for the missing councils is therefore calculated based on the total population.

Not relevant.

Employees of Statistics Norway have a duty of confidentiality.

Statistics Norway does not publish figures if there is a risk of the respondent’s contribution being identified. This means that, as a general rule, figures are not published if fewer than three units form the basis of a cell in a table or if the contribution of one or two respondents constitutes a very large part of the cell total.

Statistics Norway can make exceptions to the general rule if deemed necessary to meet the requirements of the EEA agreement, if the respondent is a public authority, if the respondent has consented to this, or when the information disclosed is openly accessible to the public.

More information can be found on Statistics Norway’s website under Methods in official statistics, in the ‘Confidentiality’ section.

The new accounting regulations adopted in 2004 can differ from the pervious years when compared.

Errors can occur in the file extracts, and when the form is filled out manually.

Missing annual reports are estimated for.

The figures for the year 2022 consists of operational accounts from 328 out of 348 Joint parish churches and 327 balance sheets.

Published figures are final and normally not subject to revisions. If there is reported updated reports, these are published the following year.

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