Classification of the functions of government

(COFOG)20 November 2015

Seminar on information provision of social economy

Sofia, Bulgaria 2015

BACKGROUND appropriate basis to examine the structure of

government expenditure; 3-level classification with 10 "Divisions" at the

top level, each of which is broken down to 6 "groups" at the next level of details; all countries provide group level data;

The purpose of this classification is to ensure reliable, uniform and comprehensive government expenditure data, comparable across countries;

General and timely statistics.2<#>

BACKGROUND COFOG TF (once per year) in order to provide

methodological guidance for the treatment of various kinds of expenditure and the consistency of COFOG data with other breakdowns of public and private expenditure by means of comparing the underlying functional specific classifications;

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BASIC STRUCTURE OF THE COFOG – SPECIAL CLASSIFICATION

Collective goods In kind In cash

Individual goods In kind (for allocative, distributive and mixed

motives) In cash (assumes that non-market recreation,

culture and religion is mainly provided/supported by the government

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COFOG classification structure 01 – general public service 02 – defence 03 – public order and safety 04 – economic affairs 05 – environment protection 06 – housing and community amenities 07 – health 08 – recreation, culture and religion 09 – education 10 – social protection

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Total general government expenditure, 2014, % of GDP

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Evolution of total general government expenditure, EU-28, 2006-2013, cumulated

% of GDP

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Total general government expenditure on social protection, 2013 (% of GDP)

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In all EU Member States, social protection represented the most important area of general government expenditure

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Conclusion Eurostat provide a variety of statistical indicators to

help assess crucial social issues such as exclusion, active measures for employment promotion, equity, the role of private initiative in social provision in addition to government spending;

EU MS are obliged to deliver data to Eurostat in the field of government accounts, i.e. the data is compulsory;

Eurostat presents government finance statistics (GFS) in an integrated way harmonized and comparable way

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