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Administración Presupuestaria

Functional classification of public administration expenditure (COFOG)

Standardized Methodological Report

  • 1. Contact
    • 1.1 Organization of contact
      • General intervention by the State administration
    • 1.2 Contact unit
      • National Accounting Office
    • 1.5 Postal contact address
      • Mateo Inurria 15, 28036 Madrid
  • 2. Updating of metadata
    • 2.1 Latest validation of metadata
      • 26/02/2021
    • 2.2 Latest dissemination of metadata
      • 12/03/2021
    • 2.3 Latest metadata update
      • 30/11/2022
  • 3. Statistical presentation
    • 3.1 Description of the data

      • Public service expenditure by function according to the COFOG classification (revised classification in 1999, developed by the OECD and published by the United Nations) is incorporated into the SEC 2010 Broadcasting Programme.

        COFOG classifies the expenditures of the public administration sector, and its subsectors, recorded in the operations established in the ESA according to the purpose for which they are used. It is a cross-classification of expenditure operations by economic nature and by functions. It is an important instrument for analysing public spending, particularly useful for international comparisons insofar as administrations play economic and social roles.

    • 3.2 Classification systems
      • The classification systems used are those established in the ESA 2010:
      • Public administration sector, and its subsectors, established in the ESA 2010:
        • S.13 Public administrations
        • S.1311 Central administration
        • S.1312 Regional administration
        • S.1313 Local administration
        • S.1314 Social security funds
      • Economic classification of expenditure operations set out in the ESA 2010:
        • D.1 Remuneration of employees
        • P.2 Intermediate consumption
        • D.29 Other taxes on production
        • D.3 Grants
        • D.4 Property Income
        • D.51 Income taxes
        • D.62 Social benefits other than social transfers in kind
        • D.632 Social transfers in kind: production acquired on the market
        • D.7 Other current transfers
        • P.5 Gross capital formation
        • NP Acquisitions less transfers of non-produced assets
        • D.9 Capital transfers, payable
      • United Nations COFOG classification. It has three levels of classification: divisions, groups and classes. The divisions, which in turn are divided into groups, are as follows:
        • 01 - General public services
        • 02 - Defence
        • 03 - General public services
        • 04 - Economic affairs
        • 05 - Environmental protection
        • 06 - Housing and community services
        • 07 - Health
        • 08 - Leisure, culture and religion
        • 09 - Education
        • 10 - Social protection
    • 3.3 Coverage by sector
      • The information covers the public administration sector. The ESA 2010 defines this sector as the set of institutional units which are non-market producers whose production is intended for individual or collective consumption, which are financed by compulsory payments made by units belonging to other sectors and which carry out operations to redistribute income and national wealth.
    • 3.4 Statistical concepts and definitions
      • The concepts and definitions relating to economic operations are set out in the ESA 2010
    • 3.5 Statistical unit

      • The statistical unit is the institutional unit as defined in the ESA 2010. This operation considers the institutional units classified in the public administration sector and its subsectors.

        The examples cited by the ESA as institutional units included in sector S.13 are as follows:

        (a) Public administration units legally established to exercise judicial authority over other units in the economic territory, and to administer and finance a series of activities, mainly by supplying non-market goods and services to the community;

        (b) an institution or quasi-society of public administrations, if its production is mainly non-market and is controlled by a unit of public administrations;

        (c) Non-profit institutions with legal personality that are non-market producers and are controlled by public administrations;

        (d) Autonomous pension funds, if they have a legal obligation to contribute, and when the public administrations manage the funds with regard to the establishment and approval of contributions and benefits.

    • 3.6 Statistical population
      • The target population is the public administration sector and its subsectors.
    • 3.7 Geographical scope
      • National.
    • 3.8 Temporary coverage
      • The series covers the period 1995-2021.
    • 3.9 Base period
      • Not applicable.
  • 4. Unit of measure
    • 4.1 Unit of measure
      • The data are measured in millions of euros.
  • 5. Reference period
    • 5.1 Reference period
      • The reference period is the calendar year.
  • 6. Institutional mandate
    • 6.1 Legal acts and other agreements

      • The collection, processing and dissemination of data on statistical operations for State purposes is governed by the provisions of Act No. 12/1989 of 9 May 1989 on the Public Statistical Function (LFEP) and the Fourth Additional Provision of Act No. 4/1990 of 29 June 1990. The LFEP establishes that the National Statistical Plan is the main computer tool for the statistical activity of the State Administration and contains the statistics to be prepared in the four-year period by the services of the State Administration or any other entities dependent on it. All statistics included in the National Statistical Plan are statistics for State purposes and for mandatory completion. This operation is a statistic for State purposes and is included in the National Statistical Plan 2021-2024.

        Article 125.2 (g) of General Budget Act No. 47/2003 of 26 November 2003 provides: The General Intervention of the State Administration is the management centre for public accounting, which is responsible for drawing up the national accounts of the units that make up the public administration sector, in accordance with the criteria for institutional delimitation and imputation of transactions established in the European System of National and Regional Accounts. In addition, article 133 of the Constitution states: For the purposes of Article 125(2)(g), (h) and (i), public units shall be obliged to provide the cooperation and information necessary for the preparation of the public sector economic accounts and any information, in the field of national accounts of public units, established by internal and Community regulations.

        The preparation and transmission of Public administration expenditure by function is laid down in Annex B to Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on the European System of National and Regional Accounts of the European Union.

    • 6.2 Data sharing
      • Exchanges of data between the State statistical services (INE, ministerial departments, autonomous agencies and public entities of the State Administration), as well as between them and the statistical services of the Autonomous Communities for the development of the statistics entrusted to them, are regulated by the LFEP. The LFEP also establishes mechanisms for statistical coordination between administrations, as well as the conclusion of cooperation agreements when this is deemed appropriate.
  • 7. Confidentiality
    • 7.1 Confidentiality policy

      • Act No. 12/1989 of 9 May 1989 on the Public Statistical Function obliges IGAE, as a statistical service, under no circumstances to disseminate personal data regardless of their origin. It is understood that personal data refers to natural or legal persons that either allow the immediate identification of the interested parties, or lead by their structure, content or degree of disaggregation to the indirect identification of them.

        Similarly, Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics establishes the need to establish common principles and guidelines guaranteeing the confidentiality of data used to compile European statistics and access to such confidential data, taking into account technical progress and the needs of users in a democratic society.

    • 7.2 Processing of confidential data

      • The data are treated confidentially during the collection and validation process until they are published.

        Furthermore, it should be noted that the functional classification of public administration expenditure is a summary statistic in which personal data, in this case concerning legal persons, used are aggregated in sectors or subsectors of public administrations, which prevents the identification of information associated with individual units.

  • 8. Dissemination policy
    • 8.1 Dissemination schedule
      • The calendar of dates for the dissemination of the statistics is published in January on the IGAE website.
    • 8.2 Access to the dissemination calendar
    • 8.3 Access to the user

      • The dissemination of this statistic is the same for all users at the time of its publication.

        However, the data collected in the Functional Classification of Public Administration Expenditure are provided prior to publication, under the terms of reference, to the National Statistical Institute for the incorporation of this information in Spain ' s National Annual Accounts and to Eurostat for validation.

  • 9. Frequency of dissemination
    • 9.1 Frequency of dissemination
      • Annual
  • 10. Accessibility and clarity
  • 11. Quality management
    • 11.1 Quality assurance
      • Code of Good Practice for European Statistics.
    • 11.2 Quality assessment

      • Annually, by transmitting this information within the framework of the ESA 2010 Transmission Programme, Eurostat assesses the consistency, consistency and feasibility of the data transmitted. In this process, clarifications are provided to the evolution of the data when required.

        Eurostat in its Dialogue Visits to the Member States reviews data from public finance statistics.

  • 12. Relevance
    • 12.1 User requirements
      • In general, the main users of this statistic are institutional analysts on certain purposes of public expenditure, trends and comparison between countries (ECOFIN and various services of the Commission, OECD, etc. ).
    • 12.2 User satisfaction
      • Not available.
    • 12.3 Completeness

      • This operation meets the mandatory requirements of the ESA 2010 Transmission Programme (classification of expenditure by division for all subsectors and by groups for the total public administration sector) and voluntary (classification of expenditure by COFOG groups for all subsectors).

        In addition, the classification of expenditure by COFOG division by Autonomous Community is published.

  • 13. Accuracy and reliability
    • 13.1 Global Accuracy
      • Not applicable.
    • 13.2 Sampling errors
      • Not applicable.
    • 13.3 Errors other than sampling
      • Not applicable.
  • 14. Timeliness and timeliness
    • 14.1 Opportunity
      • The compulsory transmission of this operation is t+12 months after the reference year. At t+12 the information for year t is provisional. At t+24, the data are final.
    • 14.2 Punctuality
      • IGAE publishes this statistic on the date set in the calendar, approximately one month before the deadline set in the Transmission Programme.
  • 15. Coherence and comparability
    • 15.1 Geographical comparability
      • The geographical comparability of this statistic is with other countries. Economic operations are recorded according to the ESA 2010, which ensures a high degree of comparability.
    • 15.2 Temporal comparability
      • The series of this statistic is comparable in time, given that the ESA 2010, and in particular the Transmission Programme of this Regulation, requires homogeneity since 1995 (the detail by COFOG groups by subsectors is mandatory since 2001, although in Spain they are published since 1995).
    • 15.3 Coherence - cross-sectoral
      • The economic operations data collected in this statistic are consistent with those recorded in all public finance and EDP statistics.
    • 15.4 Coherence - internal
      • It is currently insured.
  • 16. Costs and charges
    • 16.1 Costs and charges
      • The costs associated with the production of this statistic are estimated at EUR 166.00 thousand, foreseen in the Budget of the Ministry of Finance.
  • 17. Review of data
    • 17.1 Data revision - Policy
      • The general policy of reviewing data relating to IGAE ' s Public Finance Statistics is to review the published data for year t until the last quarter of year t+2, when the data incorporated in the statistical information are of a definitive nature.
    • 17.2 Data revision - Practice
      • In this statistical operation, the data for year t, published in t+12 months, are provisional. Those published in t+24 have the character of definitive.
  • 18. Statistical treatment
    • 18.1 Data of origin

      • The sources of information used in the preparation of this statistical operation are administrative data and economic-financial information of public enterprises classified in the public administration sector.

        The information covers the total number of units classified in the public administration sector as defined in the European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA 2010). In particular, the source data used are the accounting and budgetary information of the State and Social Security; standardized questionnaires relating to budgetary information and accounting and extrabudgetary information of each regional and local administration; accounting statements (balance sheets and profit and loss accounts) of units not subject to the budget but included in the public administration sector (S.13); and the General Account of each administration, comprising all budgetary and accounting information carried out during the financial year.

    • 18.2 Frequency of data collection
      • Annual
    • 18.3 Data collection
      • Administrative data relating to the State are centralized in the Accounting Information System (SIC) and the Social Security data in the Social Security Accounting Information System (SICOSS). For the other units included in the State public sector (State and foundation public sector), economic and financial information is available in the application CICEP.red which includes annual accounts, audit reports, interim financial statements, etc. The economic and financial information required for this statistical operation completed by the Autonomous Communities is collected at the Central Information Office of the Autonomous Communities (CIMCA) and that relating to Local Corporations in SICEL (Local Entities Accounting Information System). Finally, the General Account of each administration is available, including all budgetary and accounting information provided during the financial year.
    • 18.4 Data validation
      • The validation process consists of arithmetical checks and consistency with information relating to the public administration sector provided in the framework of Public Finance Statistics.
    • 18.5 Data collection

      • The work to be carried out for the preparation of this statistical operation varies according to two types of units, those subject to a restrictive budget and public accounting, and those subject to the General Business Accounting Plan (private). In the first group, the allocation of expenditure from these units to the different COFOG groups is based on the preparation of expenditure operations in accordance with the methodology established in the ESA, based on the economic classification of the expenditure budget. The functional and programme structure of the budget indicates the purposes and objectives to be achieved with the budgetary resources allocated to the expenditure management centres. The spending programmes for the Budget Settlements are analysed individually in order to ascertain their purpose, for allocation to the relevant COFOG group.

        In the case of units subject to the General Business Accounting Plan, the functional classification is carried out on the basis of their main activity, as defined in their statutes and reports. However, in those units that carry out several clearly differentiated activities (for example, in the case of public companies that promote public infrastructure in both education and transport), the allocation of expenditure to different COFOG groups is made according to the information contained in the reports.

        Finally, the unit of counterpart of expenditure in interest transactions, current transfers and capital transfers is analysed, so that in sector S.13 each transaction is the sum of the data of each subsector, except for the aforementioned transactions that are consolidated between subsectors.

    • 18.6 Adjustment
      • No adjustments are made.
  • 19. Comments
    • 19.1 Comments