Transport and communication in municipalities and county authorities, 2004

The figures are published on both national and regional (municipal and county) levels. In addition, municipalities are grouped in economically comparable groups (see chapter 4.2).

Unrevised figures are published on the 15 of March, while revised figures are published on the 15 of June.

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Data set are saved at Statistics Norway.

KOSTRA started up as a project in 1995 with the intention to provide relevant and up-to-date information about allocation of resources, priorities and meeting targets in municipalities and counties. The goal is to collect data in a co-ordinated way, and make the information flow a one time delivery per year for all steering-information needed by municipality. The number of municipalities and counties was gradually increased until the reporting year of 2001, and then all municipalities were included in the KOSTRA.

KOSTRA provides steering information about municipalities and counties to the different interest groups, inhabitants, media, the municipality itself, different state organs and controlling authorities etc.

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§2-1, 2-2 of the Statistics Act.

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The statistics is based on data from all counties and municipalities in Norway.

County and municipal accounts adapted to the chart of accounts used in KOSTRA, questionnaires and registers in Statistics Norway and the Directorate of Public Roads.

Total counting.

Data is reported electronically to Statistics Norway. The deadline for reporting is on the 15 of February.

The electronic forms contain built-in consistency checks and logical tests. After arrival, data are checked automatically and manually.

Unrevised data will be published on the 15 of Mars. There is a second deadline on the 15 of April for municipalities to correct possible errors in the figures just published. The data reported after the first deadline is also revised by Statistics Norway.

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Data from the accounts has been unaltered over time, but some smaller adjustments in the questionnaires have been done. Still, most of the variables can be compared over time.

Before 2010, the Government was administratively responsible for all main roads. These roads were classified as “trunk roads´´ and “remaining main roads´´. As from 1 January 2010, most of the “remaining main roads´´ (about 17.000 km) were reclassified as provincial roads and thereby became an extended liability for the counties. Also the “remaining ferry route connections´´ were transferred to the counties which were economically compensated for the additional administrative burden received through extended yearly block grants. As a consequence of this, some indicators are more or less not directly comparable with earlier years.

The road data model in the National Road Data Base (NVDB) was changed from 7 November 2019 due to the National reform of counties and municipalities. The new road system reference is built in a completely new way, which has led to major changes in the NVDB. In consequence, the figures for road infrastructure in KOSTRA are not directly comparable for the years before and after 2020. More information about the change in NVDB is available here (in Norwegian): https://www.vegvesen.no/fag/teknologi/nasjonal+vegdatabanks/vegreferansesystem.

Statistics Norway has recently revised its KOSTRA classification of municipalities. As before, the dimensions along which municipalities are classified are population size, economic workload, and economic capacity. Nevertheless, an update has been carried out as a result of the municipality reform, effective since 2020. The revision updates the composition and numbering of KOSTRA groups. The revision is discussed here (in Norwegian):  https://www.ssb.no/offentlig-sektor/artikler-og-publikasjoner/gruppering-av-kommuner-etter-folkemengde-og-okonomiske-rammebetingelser-2020.