Together with health and care services, kindergartens and primary and lower secondary schools are the three largest sectors in the municipalities.The report uses the 17 KOSTRA groups, along with the centrality classification, to compare municipalities and groupings of municipalities.
In 2023, close to 267 000 children were enrolled in altogether 5 312 kindergartens (5 314 kindergartens in total in 2023 included Svalbard). The share of municipal kindergartens was 49 per cent, whereas non-municipal kindergartens was 51 per cent. However, there is wide variety in the ownership structure among the municipalities.
The service area kindergartens include three accounting functions: 201 kindergartens, 211extra resources for children in kindergartens, and 221 kindergartens premises and transport. In total, gross operating expenditures for kindergartens were NOK 67.2 billion, whereas adjusted gross operating expenditures were NOK 40.3 billion. Adjusted gross operating expenditures are the expenditures for the services the municipal kindergartens produce themselves. The eight most tax-rich municipalities in Norway (KOSTRA group 17) had the highest gross expenditures for kindergartens in 2023, on average NOK 16 000. Oslo municipality (KOSTRA group 13), however, had the highest adjusted gross operating expenditures per child, with NOK 364 000 on average. In comparison the national average for expenditures per child in municipal kindergartens were NOK 296 000.
In municipal kindergartens, wage expenses accounted for most operating expenditures. In 2023 there were on average 5.6 children per man-year in municipal kindergartens, compared to 5.8 children per man-year in private kindergartens. The most central municipalities (classification 1 and 2) had the highest average operating expenditures for municipal kindergarten premises, with more than NOK 2 000 per square meters.
There were 637 000 pupils enrolled in 2 711 primary and lower secondary schools in 2023. The share of private primary and lower secondary schools has increased from 4 per cent in 2003 to 10 per cent in 2023.
There are five relevant accounting functions for the service area primary and lower secondary schools: 202 primary and lower secondary schools, 213 adult education, 215 out of school care, 222 school buildings and 223 school transport. In total, gross operating expenditures for primary and lower secondary schools amounted to NOK 109.2 billion in 2023. Adjusted gross operating expenditures, which are expenditures for the municipal schools, amounted to NOK 105.5 billion. Similarly, as observed with kindergartens, KOSTRA group 17 had on average the highest gross operating expenditures for primary and lower secondary schools with NOK 29 600 per capita in 2023. However, KOSTRA group 16 had the highest adjusted operating expenditures per pupil, with NOK 275 000.
Wage expenses accounted for 79 per cent of adjusted operating expenditures for all accounting functions in primary and lower secondary schools in 2023. Average expenditures for municipal school buildings were NOK 1 400 per square meter. Total expenditures for all municipal schools for inventory and equipment were NOK 639 billion, whereas total expenditures for educational equipment were NOK 1.3 billion in 2023.