New figures from General government revenue and expenditure show a slight decline in government revenues in the first quarter of 2023 compared to last year. Through taxes and dividends from companies engaged in petroleum extraction, soaring prices on petroleum products contributed to record growth in government revenues and surplus in 2022. In 2023q1, oil and gas prices have fallen, causing a reduction in tax revenues. The reduction in taxes is partly offset by increased property income, in particular interest and dividends.
Steady growth in government expenditure
Total expenditure in general government is calculated to NOK 530 billion in 2023q1. This corresponds to an increase of 7.6 per cent from 2022q1. Property expense, under which interest payments is the dominating item, is the expenditure category with the sharpest increase. This is mainly explained by rising interest rates from 2022 onwards. Compensation of employees and social benefits to households constitute more than 60 per cent of total government expenditure. In 2023q1, these categories increased 4.5 per cent and 6.4 per cent respectively, compared to 2022q1.
In this data release, new accounting information for the fiscal year 2022 has been collected and included in the statistics. Revenue and expenditure for the central government sector have been updated with new data on extra-budgetary units, such as universities and research institutes, as well as public hospitals, organized as separate legal entities. In the local government sector, final annual accounts for municipalities and county authorities are now included. In addition to new accounting information, figures are revised due to new estimates on accrued taxes for 2022. This revision entails an upward adjustment of total taxes, including taxes on the use of natural resources classifies as rent, equal to approximately NOK 10 billion.