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General government finances 2011, preliminary accounts

Statistics Iceland releases now a new issue of Statistical Series. This issue presents the General Government Finances in 2011 and its main focus is on the general government. Similar information is available on its subsectors on the SI website. 

The general government total expenditure amounted to 46.1% of GDP in 2011 compared with 51.6% in 2010 and 51.0% in 2009. By excluding called guarantees, the total expenditure in 2011 increased by 0.6% of GDP. Around 26.6% of GDP was spent on the three largest expenditure functions, i.e. health, education and social protection. The total expenditure on health was 8.9% of GDP, of which 80% was financed by the general government and the rest by households. The health expenditure per capita was 362 thousand ISK in 2011 and has decreased by 52 thousand ISK (2011 prices) since 2008 or by 12.5%.

The total expenditure on education was 129 billion ISK in 2011 or 7.9% of GDP, of which 90.6% was financed by the general government. The expenditure per capita was 366 thousand ISK in 2011 and has decreased by 48 thousand ISK from 2008 in 2011 prices. The total general government expenditure on social protection in 2011 was 184 billion ISK or 11.3% of GDP. In total, 57.8% of the general government total expenditure goes to these three functions or 26.6% of GDP.

The general government net financial assets, i.e. financial assets less liabilities, were negative by 810 billion ISK in 2011 or 49.7% of GDP. The deterioration from 2010 is 70 billion ISK or 1.5% of GDP. The general government total financial assets amounted to 1,281 billion ISK at the end of 2011 and the total liabilities, 2,092 billion ISK.

In 2011, the financial balance of the general government was 71.5 billion ISK in deficit or 4.4% of GDP, which can be compared with a deficit of 10% of GDP for 2010 or deficit of 6.5% if called guarantees are excluded (see figure 2). The reduced deficit in 2011 can be explained by 6.6% increase in revenue and 5.2% decrease in expenditure. The general government total revenue amounted to 41.7% of GDP in 2011, compared with 41.5% in 2010 and 41.1% in 2009.

General government finances 2011, preliminary accounts - Statistical Series