Press Release 24/07/2018

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ACCOUNTS 2016

The deficit of the Public Administrations in the Basque Country fell by 34.8% in 2016

The deficit reached 1,150 million euros and stood at 1.6% of GDP, a drop of one percentage point compared to the previous year

In 2016 the Public Administrations (Basque Administrations, Provincial State Administration and Provincial Social Security) registered a deficit of 1,150 million euros, 34.8% less than the previous year, according to data prepared by Eustat, in accordance with the criteria established by the System of National and Regional Accounts of the European Union (ESA-2010). In 2016 this amount represented 1.6% of GDP and is the result of a one percentage point reduction in respect of the previous year, which was 2.6%.

This positive evolution occurred in all the countries close to us and the Basque Country is at the level of the EU-28, which in 2016 registered a deficit of 1.6% of GDP compared to 2.3% the previous year; in Spain as a whole the deficit also fell, going from 5.3% of GDP in 2015, to 4.5% in 2016.

Specifically, the Public Administrations managed Non-Financial Resources totalling 25,834 million euros in 2016, whilst Non-Financial Spending amounted to 26,985 million euros.

The reduction in the need for funding of the Public Administrations of the Basque Country was due to the fact that non-financial resources were greater than non-financial spending; thus, whilst resources increased by 4.5% compared to 2015, non-financial spending was up by 1.9%.

Within Non-Financial Resources, the largest sectors were: Social Security Contributions(32.03% of the resources), followed by Taxes on Production and Imports, which accounted for 31.0% of the resources, and Taxes on Income, Assets and Other Components, 25.7%. Compared to the previous year, they all registered positive variations. Those that saw the highest increases were Taxes on Production and Imports, with 7.2%, that is, 539 million euros; positive rates were also seen in Taxes on Income, Assets and Other Components, with 4.5%, that is, 288 million euros; and finally Social security contributions were up by 1.7% compared to 2015. As a whole, Non-Financial Resources increased by 1,114 million.

Non-Financial Spending stood at 26,985 million euros, that is, 501 million more than in 2015. The highest expenditure was in the sectors of Social Provisions and Social Transfers in Kind: production acquired on the market (including education and health agreements and pharmaceutical expenditure), which jointly represented 48.1% of expenditure and increased by 249 million euros compared to the previous year, that is, 2.0%. Employee remuneration, which represented 25.3% of expenditure, increased by 2.1%; the next largest sector, Intermediate consumption (13.9% of expenditure), registered lower growth of 1.7% compared to 2015. On the other hand, Gross Capital Formation, which accounted for 4.9% of spending, increased by 49 million. The section that registered the greatest decrease was the expenditure on Property Income, which was down by 40 million, 12.2% less.

In terms of institutions, the Provincial State Administration in the Basque Country attained a funding capacity of almost 628 million euros in 2016, which was 2.5% less than in 2015, and Provincial Social Security required 2,062 million euros of funding, which was 1.5% greater.

With regard to the Basque Administrations, the balance improved significantly, going from requiring funding of 375 million in 2015, to having a funding capacity of 284 million in 2016, due to the improved balance of all the administrations.

Bodies belonging to the Basque Government required 29 million euros less funding, putting their funding requirements at 410 million euros in 2016.

All the local administrations had a positive balance. The positive balance in the Regional and Municipal Administration of Álava as a whole increased by 107 million euros, going from 1 million in 2015 to 108 million in 2016. The positive balance for Gipuzkoa as a whole improved by 85 million, reaching a funding capacity of 169 million in 2016. Bizkaia had the most improved balance, going from having a negative balance of 22 million euros in 2015, to having a positive balance of 416 million in 2016.

In the final expenditure structure of the Public Administrations, Final Consumption Expenditure, which is the total expenditure by the administrations on the production of goods and services plus the purchase of goods and services produced by market producers which are supplied to households (social transfers in kind), slightly decreased its share in Public Internal Demand, going from 90.1% in 2015 to 89.9% in 2016. In contrast, Gross Capital Formation increased its share; going from 9.9% in 2015 to 10.1% in 2016. Institutionally, 86.2% of investment corresponded to the Basque Administrations, and the remaining 13.8% to the regionalised central Administration as a whole.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel: 945 01 75 62