Municipalities’ social, health care costs up in 2018

The net costs of municipalities’ operational economy amounted to EUR 31.4 billion in 2018, according to Statistics Finland.

The change is especially affected by both the net costs of social and health care activities and of education and cultural activities being higher than in the year before.

The net costs directed to social and health care activities increased by 2.9 per cent from 2017, totalling EUR 18.3 billion.

The net costs of education and cultural activities grew by 3.9 per cent and amounted to EUR 11.0 billion.

Data for the statistics were collected from all 311 municipalities and all 140 joint municipal authorities in Finland.

In 2018, municipalities’ combined operating costs amounted to EUR 44.3 billion and they grew by 2.9 per cent from the year before.

Operating income totalled EUR 12.8 billion, which was 2.2 per cent more than in 2017.

Thus, the net costs of the entire operational economy were EUR 31.4 billion. Net costs increased by 3.2 per cent from the previous statistical reference year.

A majority of the total net costs of municipalities’ operational economy were directed at social and health care activities as in previous years. The share of these activities in the net costs of municipalities’ operational economy was 58.2 per cent.

In 2018, a total of EUR 18.3 billion on net were directed at these activities, which meant a 2.9 per cent overall increase from the previous year.

The share of specialised health care was largest and that of primary health care second largest relative to the total net costs of social and health care activities.

Municipalities spent EUR 6.9 billion on net on specialised health care and EUR 3.3 billion on primary health care services.

The second largest share of net costs in municipalities’ operational economy or EUR 11.0 billion were recorded in education and cultural activities. Its share of the operational economy was 35.0 per cent. In total, the net cost of education and cultural activities were 3.9 per cent higher than in the previous year.

The highest net costs in education and cultural activities came from arranging primary education and the second highest from arranging early childhood education. During the year, EUR 5.0 billion was spent on primary education and EUR 2.9 billion on early childhood education.

Measured in net, a total of EUR 2.1 billion, corresponding to a of 6.7 per cent in the entire operating economy, was directed at other activities, which include all other activities apart from social and health care activities and education and cultural activities. In an examination of costs on net, the costs of other activities increased by 2.5 per cent from the year before.