Political parties' financing

Updated: 17 September 2024

Next update: Not yet determined

Donations to political parties
Donations to political parties
2023
143 363 543
NOK
 
Funding of political parties, total all political parties by source of income. NOK and per cent
Funding of political parties, total all political parties by source of income. NOK and per cent
2023
TotalPer cent
Income, total866 512 051100.0
Government subsidy, total539 509 69362.3
Central government subsidy455 404 31552.6
Municipal/county subsidy72 597 9528.4
Other government subsidy11 507 4261.3
Own business, total183 638 81521.2
Membership fee77 198 0468.9
Income from lotteries and similar12 845 8801.5
Capital income36 047 4204.2
Business activity29 252 8433.4
Other income from own business28 294 6263.3
Contributions, total143 363 54316.5
Private contributions42 010 1504.8
Contributions from commercial enterprises31 749 2793.7
Contributions from employers' and labour organizations28 977 5893.3
Contributions from other40 626 5254.7
Explanation of symbols

Selected tables and charts from this statistics

  • Funding of political parties by source and political party. NOK
    Funding of political parties by source and political party. NOK1
    TotalChristian Democratic PartyLiberal PartySocialist Left PartyLabour PartyProgress PartyConservative PartyCentre PartyRed PartyThe Pensioners' PartyDemocratic Party of NorwayGreen PartyCommunist Party of NorwayThe ChristiansThe Health PartyFolkeaksjonen Nei til mer bompenger
    2023
    Income, total866 512 05146 537 38640 419 48461 588 367222 854 85787 811 676189 710 15690 771 45353 882 2114 473 8214 845 05348 904 070625 2132 907 812:1 017 474
    Government subsidy, total539 509 69328 169 54425 162 69640 690 571141 204 58257 144 923109 981 26470 731 50626 625 4973 527 6623 560 89827 827 08240 9631 237 459:954 368
    Central government subsidy455 404 31520 784 79322 522 99834 970 039115 203 47850 326 30292 718 13661 402 63321 564 5552 413 4823 535 53025 293 20430 3211 097 598:954 368
    Municipal/county subsidy72 597 9522 530 2402 072 8555 713 65523 031 4676 737 79715 985 2738 769 8004 351 1561 074 47725 3682 091 56110 642139 861:0
    Other government subsidy11 507 4264 854 511566 8436 8772 969 63780 8241 277 855559 073709 78639 7030442 31700:0
    Own business, total183 638 81515 388 58810 019 7879 119 18146 222 40413 142 86845 597 29613 125 53314 264 579784 2821 098 5489 228 423409 763752 305:63 106
    Membership fee77 198 0468 011 7953 390 8664 576 29712 634 9506 276 23516 921 3207 065 9036 922 755542 8221 080 3165 012 181251 517615 989:63 097
    Income from lotteries and similar12 845 8801 194 7151 279 525133 0621 373 4093 635 8501 414 208537 4912 647 15291 35210 6616 0881 160108 172:0
    Capital income36 047 4202 121 265655 156749 95615 070 7211 845 32713 834 9161 212 454412 10822 26921273 5107 11579:9
    Business activity29 252 8432 507 8901 817 6241 074 90314 699 099-9 232374 1571 616 0593 495 08070 33803 571 05516 2090:0
    Other income from own business28 294 6261 552 9232 876 6162 584 9632 444 2251 394 68813 052 6952 693 626787 48457 5017 359565 589133 76228 065:0
    Contributions, total143 363 5432 979 2545 237 00111 778 61535 427 87117 523 88534 131 5966 914 41412 992 135161 877185 60711 848 565174 487918 048:0
    Private contributions42 010 150890 2711 407 5365 904 3614 749 879198 1637 684 0751 026 38310 644 16929 877141 7767 764 390126 987284 329:0
    Contributions from commercial enterprises31 749 279382 6771 670 11696 282732 2164 739 41421 769 565278 3000107 00020 000296 3520609 063:0
    Contributions from employers' and labour organizations28 977 58916 00003 793 19120 528 5535 0001 643 5052 766 890194 45025 0000005 000:0
    Contributions, from other40 626 5251 690 3062 159 3491 984 7819 417 22312 581 3083 034 4512 842 8412 153 516023 8313 787 82347 50019 656:0
    1The Parties where less than 3 party units has reported their accounts, or that the party units have only reported a statement, are excluded in the table because data which should be made public are not available
    Explanation of symbols
  • Funding of political parties by source of income and political party. Per cent
    Funding of political parties by source of income and political party. Per cent1
    TotalChristian Democratic PartyLiberal PartySocialist Left PartyLabour PartyProgress PartyConservative PartyCentre PartyRed PartyThe Pensioners' PartyDemocratic Party of NorwayGreen PartyCommunist Party of NorwayThe ChristiansThe Health PartyFolkeaksjonen Nei til mer bompenger
    2023
    Income, total100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0:100.0
    Government subsidy, total62.360.562.366.163.465.158.077.949.478.973.556.96.642.6:93.8
    Central government subsidy52.644.755.756.851.757.348.967.640.053.973.051.74.837.7:93.8
    Municipal/county subsidy8.45.45.19.310.37.78.49.78.124.00.54.31.74.8:0.0
    Other government subsidy1.310.41.40.01.30.10.70.61.30.90.00.90.00.0:0.0
    Own business, total21.233.124.814.820.715.024.014.526.517.522.718.965.525.9:6.2
    Membership fee8.917.28.47.45.77.18.97.812.812.122.310.240.221.2:6.2
    Income from lotteries and similar1.52.63.20.20.64.10.70.64.92.00.20.00.23.7:0.0
    Capital income4.24.61.61.26.82.17.31.30.80.50.00.21.10.0:0.0
    Business activity3.45.44.51.76.60.00.21.86.51.60.07.32.60.0:0.0
    Other income from own business3.33.37.14.21.11.66.93.01.51.30.21.221.41.0:0.0
    Contributions, total16.56.413.019.115.920.018.07.624.13.63.824.227.931.6:0.0
    Private contributions4.81.93.59.62.10.24.11.119.80.72.915.920.39.8:0.0
    Contributions from commercial enterprises3.70.84.10.20.35.411.50.30.02.40.40.60.020.9:0.0
    Contributions from employers' and labour organizations3.30.00.06.29.20.00.93.00.40.60.00.00.00.2:0.0
    Contributions from other4.73.65.33.24.314.41.63.24.00.00.57.77.60.7:0.0
    1The Parties where less than 3 party units has reported their accounts, or that the party units have only reported a statement, are excluded in the table because data which should be made public are not available
    Explanation of symbols
  • Party financing, accounts per political party. NOK
    Party financing, accounts per political party. NOK1
    2023
    TotalChristian Democratic PartyLiberal PartySocialist Left PartyLabour PartyProgress PartyConservative PartyCentre PartyRed PartyThe Pensioners' PartyDemocratic Party of NorwayGreen PartyCommunist Party of NorwayThe ChristiansThe Health PartyFolkeaksjonen Nei til mer bompenger
    Income, total866 512 05146 537 38640 419 48461 588 367222 854 85787 811 676189 710 15690 771 45353 882 2114 473 8214 845 05348 904 070625 2132 907 812:1 017 474
    Government subsidy, total539 509 69328 169 54425 162 69640 690 571141 204 58257 144 923109 981 26470 731 50626 625 4973 527 6623 560 89827 827 08240 9631 237 459:954 368
    Own business, total183 638 81515 388 58810 019 7879 119 18146 222 40413 142 86845 597 29613 125 53314 264 579784 2821 098 5489 228 423409 763752 305:63 106
    Contributions, total143 363 5432 979 2545 237 00111 778 61535 427 87117 523 88534 131 5966 914 41412 992 135161 877185 60711 848 565174 487918 048:0
    Total costs973 299 86256 342 75156 380 56275 019 755254 919 15796 397 092198 560 999108 544 25745 851 3895 094 6123 716 18856 809 1651 112 3503 162 418:2 124 456
    Salary costs342 262 13520 364 02319 556 25129 128 67191 518 73317 413 42774 751 50738 548 34619 117 348226 919871 14527 954 3590992 344:1 009 376
    Other operating costs627 774 73734 828 23236 641 23645 879 791162 485 43178 793 637123 242 77769 925 17426 665 5674 850 4042 842 22228 789 1021 111 8802 165 995:1 106 401
    Finance costs3 262 9901 150 496183 07511 293914 993190 028566 71570 73768 47417 2892 82165 7044704 079:8 679
    Result-106 787 811-9 805 365-15 961 078-13 431 388-32 064 300-8 585 416-8 850 843-17 772 8048 030 822-620 7911 128 865-7 905 095-487 137-254 606:-1 106 982
    1The Parties where less than 3 party units has reported their accounts, or that the party units have only reported a statement, are excluded in the table because data which should be made public are not available.
    Explanation of symbols
  • Party financing, accounts per political party. Per cent.,
    Party financing, accounts per political party. Per cent.,1
    2023
    TotalChristian Democratic PartyLiberal PartySocialist Left PartyLabour PartyProgress PartyConservative PartyCentre PartyRed PartyThe Pensioners' PartyDemocratic Party of NorwayGreen PartyCommunist Party of NorwayThe ChristiansThe Health PartyFolkeaksjonen Nei til mer bompenger
    Income, total100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0:100.0
    Government subsidy, total62.360.562.366.163.465.158.077.949.478.973.556.96.642.6:93.8
    Own business, total21.233.124.814.820.715.024.014.526.517.522.718.965.525.9:6.2
    Contributions, total16.56.413.019.115.920.018.07.624.13.63.824.227.931.6:0.0
    Total costs112.3121.1139.5121.8114.4109.8104.7119.685.1113.976.7116.2177.9108.8:208.8
    Salary costs39.543.848.447.341.119.839.442.535.55.118.057.20.034.1:99.2
    Other operating costs72.474.890.774.572.989.765.077.049.5108.458.758.9177.874.5:108.7
    Finance costs0.42.50.50.00.40.20.30.10.10.40.10.10.10.1:0.9
    Result-12.3-21.1-39.5-21.8-14.4-9.8-4.7-19.614.9-13.923.3-16.2-77.9-8.8:-108.8
    1The Parties where less than 3 party units has reported their accounts, or that the party units have only reported a statement, are excluded in the table because data which should be made public are not available.
    Explanation of symbols
  • Funding of political parties, cost accounts by activity and political party. NOK
    Funding of political parties, cost accounts by activity and political party. NOK1 2
    2023
    Total cost by activityAdministration costsGeneral political party activity¿s costsElection campaign¿s costs
    Total973 204 752372 445 363310 960 314289 799 075
    Christian Democratic Party56 342 75128 774 69315 613 03811 955 020
    Liberal Party56 380 56224 009 52311 560 20720 810 832
    Socialist Left Party75 019 75534 845 40017 150 42023 023 935
    Labour Party254 700 49885 732 762100 118 38268 849 354
    Progress Party96 397 09220 193 95929 089 63247 113 501
    Conservative Party198 691 437101 692 42742 606 45654 392 554
    Centre Party108 544 25725 589 19263 768 29619 186 769
    Red Party45 850 49925 457 83111 338 5089 054 160
    The Pensioners' Party5 094 6121 403 8941 790 3641 900 354
    Democratic Party of Norway3 710 1892 665 105224 753820 331
    Green Party56 809 16515 672 60714 325 89926 810 659
    Communist Party of Norway1 112 350486 717592 73032 903
    The Christians3 162 4181 749 142318 4421 094 834
    The Health Party::::
    Folkeaksjonen Nei til mer bompenger2 124 4561 438 349226 307459 800
    1Costs by activity comprise total costs. According to the Political Parties Act total costs shall be divided by type and by activity. The table 5 presents income, costs by type and result. This table (11319) presents costs divided by main activity groups. The total can differ from total costs by type due to non-consistent data from the political party units. Further information see “About the statistics”.
    2The Parties where less than 3 party units has reported their accounts, or that the party units have only reported a statement, are excluded in the table because data which should be made public are not available
    Explanation of symbols
  • Central government subsidy by poltical party. NOK
    Central government subsidy by poltical party. NOK1 2
    2023
    TotalOf which youth's poltical organisations
    Total455 586 34329 020 314
    Christian Democratic Party20 799 6021 129 751
    Liberal Party22 522 9981 017 004
    Socialist Left Party34 970 0391 804 561
    Labour Party115 203 4788 070 345
    Progress Party50 326 3022 798 095
    Conservative Party92 728 4346 693 873
    Centre Party61 559 5544 133 310
    Red Party21 564 5551 214 967
    Democratic Party of Norway3 535 530.
    Coastal Party--
    The Pensioners' Party2 413 482.
    Green Party25 293 2042 134 267
    Communist Party of Norway30 321-
    The Pirate Party of Norway186 490-
    The Christians1 097 598-
    The Health Party525 688-
    Folkeaksjonen Nei til mer bompenger954 368.
    1The table incudes all units of political parties which have sent either a full report or a statement according the annual income received. For those units which have reported an income less than NOK 12 000 except government subsidies, the amounts used in the table are according to information received from the County Governor of Sogn og Fjordane or from the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation. The County Governor disburses the governmental funding on municipal and county level, the Ministry to the central organisations. For those units which have reported that mentioned income exceeded the amount of NOK 12 000, the amount reported from the unit itself has been used.
    2The Parties where less than 3 party units has reported their accounts, or that the party units have only reported a statement, are excluded in the table because data which should be made public are not available.
    Explanation of symbols

About the statistics

Income and costs are shown, based on the annual accounts of political parties at municipal, county and central level, including youth organisations at central and county level, which have an obligation to report accounts under the Political Party Act. Approximately 95 per cent of the total income of all parties is covered.

The information under «About the statistics» was last updated 4 June 2021.

Registered political party

A political party that is registered in the Party register at the Brønnøysund Register Centre according to the regulation in the Party Act, ref. § 3, http://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/2005-06-17-102.

Central government subsidy

Funding according to the Party Act § 11.

Municipal/county subsidy

Additional funding on a voluntary basis from the county or the municipality.

Other public subsidy

Other public funding not covered by central government subsidy or municipal/county subsidy.

Membership fee

The total income from membership fees.

Income from lotteries, fund-raising events and similar

Income from lotteries, fund-raising events and similar.

Capital income

Income from interest and stock dividends etc. excluding uncollected gains. Unrealised gains are not to be entered as gains according to the accounting principles of the Political Party Act. Financial assets are to be entered at purchase cost as long as they are not realised.

Income from business activity

Income from own business activity. This includes, among other things, income from the sale of advertisement effects.

Other income from own business

All income not covered by membership fees, income from lotteries, fund-raising events and similar, capital income or income from business activity.

Private contributions

Includes all gifts of money from private donors and all other non-monetary contributions from the same donors when the limit for identifying the contributors is exceeded.

Contributions from commercial enterprises

Includes all gifts of money made by commercial enterprises and all other non-monetary contributions from the same donors when the limit for identifying the contribution.

Not relevant

Name: Political parties' financing
Topic: Elections

Not yet determined

Division for Population Statistics

Country

Annually

Not relevant

The reports from the political party units are to be made public individually according to the Political Parties Act § 22. The reports will be published on the website of the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation, see www.partifinansiering.no.

The statistics were published for the first time in 2006. This publication is based on registered parties’ reports on their financial situation for the fiscal year 2017. According to the Political Parties Act, all organisational levels of the registered political parties are obliged to report to a central register. The statistics are published on the basis of these reports.

The Political Parties Act was revised on 1 February 2013. For 2013 and previous years, the political parties' organisations should only report on income.

The statistics have a wide spectrum of users and applications, such as the mass media, research institutions, educational establishments, political parties and individuals.

No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on ssb.no at 8 am. Prior to this, a minimum of three months' advance notice is given in the Statistics Release Calendar. This is one of Statistics Norway’s key principles for ensuring that all users are treated equally.

Statistics on election campaign contribution which is published every second year in connection with elections (https://www.ssb.no/en/valg/statistikker/valgkamp).

Political Parties Act §§ 18, 19, 20, 20a, 20b, 21 and Statistics Act §§ 10

Not relevant

The data collection includes all organisational levels of the registered political parties in Norway, i.e. central, county and municipal level, as well as the central youth levels and the youth organisations at county level. The unit in the statistics is political parties.

According to the Political Parties Act § 18, the party organisations (units) with an income below a certain level excluding government subsidy are exempt from comprehensive reporting. These party units must submit a statement confirming that their income does not exceed the specified level. All other political party organisations have to report the full annual accounts, i.e. incomes, cost and balance sheet. The reports from the organisations exceeding the limit represent the basis for the statistics but for those parties where the number of reporting units is less than three.

The Political Parties Act was revised on 1 February 2013, setting the limit at NOK 12 000 with effect from the fiscal year of 2013. The previous year’s limit was NOK 10 000.

Parties Act. This register is held by Statistics Norway, cf. § 2-1 of the secondary act to the Political Parties Act. The register includes the reports from all registered parties at municipal, county and central Level, including youth organisations at central and county level. The central political parties have to be registered in the Political Party Register as part of the Brønnøysund Register Centre.

The Party Finance Register also contains a summary of all donors that, during the fiscal year, contributed money or gifts exceeding NOK 12 000 to parties at municipal level, NOK 23 000 to parties at county level and NOK 35 000 to parties at central level according to the revised act of 1 February 2013 (the previous levels were NOK 10 000, NOK 20 000 and NOK 30 000 respectively). This also applies to sponsors and creditors. Donors with whom the party organisation has entered into a written political or commercial agreement are to be identified independent of the amount donated.

Total count.

No additional sources to the Party Finance Register.

The questionnaire is prepared by Statistics Norway. The information is collected electronically through Altinn (the Norwegian public reporting portal) and a specific questionnaire (RA-0604). A few of the units have responded by returning a signed printed version of the Altinn questionnaire that have been handled manually.

The information is published in the same form as it is received by the Party Finance Register. Neither the registrar nor Statistics Norway, as the producer of the statistics, carries out any revisions of the data except for obvious errors in the reported data after consulting the respondent.

The statistical information is a calculation of income and cost summaries from the various organisational levels to the degree that the parties are required to report according to the Political Parties Act.

The statistics do not include internal transfers within the different political parties, neither as income nor as cost, since they balance each other in total, and would thus give an inflated amount. Neither are the balances of the units consolidated, and are thus not published as statistics. There is no statutory requirement for internal liabilities or debts to be specified or reported. Furthermore, there may be a large number of units that are included in the sample which have such liabilities and/or debts towards units not included. Thus, consolidation of the balance sheets would be misleading.

Not relevant

Not relevant

The statistics were first published in 2006 (for the fiscal year 2005), and have since been published annually.

The revision of the Political Parties Act on 1 February 2013 entails a break in the homogeneity according to the organisations that are obliged to report comprehensively. For the years 2005 to 2012, all organisations with income except government subsidies of NOK 10 000 and more were obliged to report fully. For the fiscal year 2013 and later the limit was increased to NOK 12 000. The income of the political party organisations will differ over the years, especially between election and non-election years. Thus the number of organisations reporting comprehensively will depend on natural and formal changes. This may have an impact on the values published in the statistics.

The statistics for 2019 were based on reports from 883 units. For 2018, the statistics were based on 705 units (for 2017 766 units, 716 units in 2016, 781 units in 2015, 685 units in 2014, 693 units for 2013 and 634 units for 2012).

The data is reported by the units to the central register on forms submitted electronically. Different categories for entering the income, cost and balance sheet items are given in the form, including a category for party internal income transfers. Errors may occur when the different items are entered in the wrong category.

The Act requires gross revenues and costs to be reported. This means that revenue that is earmarked to cover specific costs or is to be transferred internally to other units within the same party must first be recognised as income and then as a cost (transfer to others) by the unit that originally received the amount. The amount shall be entered as income in an internal transfer by the units that have received such monies. Some units of the parties may have recorded such amounts as reimbursements, and reported the net amount, thus both the revenue and cost figures will be too low.

As an illustration, membership fees have been booked and reported at net value by some of the central political parties that received the fee from their members in 2013. A considerable part of the total was transferred to the local units. Due to the net booking, the membership fee reported for 2013 is too low and the increase in 2014 is misleading and too high. From 2015 and forward data may indicate that this error is reduced compared with 2014 and previous years.

The Political Party Act requires that all costs are divided by type and by activity. The cost shall be classified in two different ways. The total costs by type differ from total costs by activity due to non-consistent data from some of the political party units. Overall, the costs by activity are 0.12 per cent less than total costs by type.

The change in equity from 1 January to 31 December differs in some cases from the reported result. In some few cases, this may be due to capital contribution or withdrawal only booked in the balance - in contrast to the regulations by law. The change in equity may indicate that the cost should be 0,6 per cent lower or the income correspondingly higher in 2016 than reported.

Furthermore, some units have not reported at all, in spite of the obligation according to the Act. Thus, some units that should have reported full annual accounts according to the Act may not be included in the data. Imputations are not calculated and implemented to statistically compensate these errors.

Statistics Norway does not hold financial data for political parties with an income below the reporting limit according to the Political Parties Act. Thus, the accounts reported in these statistics are lower than the actual level. Neither governmental subsidies to, nor other income or costs of these parties are included in the statistics if not explicitly mentioned.

Not relevant

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