Press release 08/08/2019

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ACCOUNTS 2017

The deficit of the Public Administrations in the Basque Country stood at 1.5% of GDP in 2017

Non-financial resources increased by 3.8%, 2 tenths more than non-financial expenditure (3.6%)

In 2017 the Public Administrations (Basque Administrations, Provincial State Administration and Provincial Social Security) registered a deficit of 1,140 million euros, 0.9% 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). This amount represented 1.5% of GDP, one tenth lower than the previous year.

Of the Public Administrations, the Basque Administrations (which include the Basque Government, Provincial Councils, Municipal Entities and entities dependent on all of those, categorised as public administration) registered the most positive evolution, going from a funding capacity of 0.4% of GDP in 2016, to 2.1% in 2017, an increase of 1.7 percentage points.

Improvements were also registered in other areas. In the European Union the deficit went from 1.7% in 2016 to 1.0% in 2017, improving by 0.7 percentage points. In Spain the deficit decreased by 1.4 percentage points, going from 4.5% of GDP in 2016, to 3.1% in 2017.

The Public Administrations in the Basque Country managed Non-Financial Resources totalling 26,824 million euros in 2017, whilst Non-Financial Spending reached 27,964 million euros. Resources increased by 3.8% compared to 2016, whilst growth in non-financial spending was slightly lower, standing at 3.6%.

Within Non-Financial Resources, the largest sector was: Social Security Contributions (32.0% of the resources), followed by Taxes on Production and Imports, which accounted for 30.6% of the resources, and Taxes on Income, Assets and Other Components, 26.0%. Growth was most pronounced in the latter, 5.1%, with regards to the previous year, that is, 338 million euros more than in 2016. Social security contributions also experienced an important increase, 3.7%, equivalent to a further 302 million. Taxes on Production and Imports were up by 203 million. As a whole, Non-Financial Resources increased by 990 million, compared to 2016.

Non-Financial Spending stood at 27,964 million euros, that is, 979 million more than in 2016. 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 47.7% of expenditure and increased by 353 million euros compared to the previous year, that is, 2.7 %. Employee remuneration, which represented 25.0% of expenditure, increased by 2.4%; the next largest sector, Intermediate consumption (14.0% of expenditure), registered larger growth of 4.6% compared to 2016. On the other hand, Gross Capital Formation, which accounted for 4.9% of spending, went up by 43 million.

From the institutional point of view, in the Basque Country the Provincial State Administration reached a funding requirement of 635 million euros as a result of the imputation in national accounts of the integral amount of the liquidation of the quota of previous financial years agreed in 2017 in favour of Provincial Councils and Basque Government; and Provincial Social Security registered a funding requirement of 2,035 million euros in 2017,

Regarding the Basque Administrations, they went from 284 million of funding in 2016 to 1,530 million in 2017, due in part to the aforementioned imputation in national accounts of the integral amount of the liquidation of the quota of previous financial years in favour of the Basque Administrations.

The funding capacity of entities of the Basque Government as a whole increased by 1,505 million euros, going from funding requirements of 410 million euros in 2016 to a positive balance of 1,095 million euros in 2017.

The regional and municipal Administrations of the three provinces also obtained a positive balance, although this was lower than the previous year.

The positive balance in the Regional and Municipal Administration of Álava as a whole decreased by 9 million euros, from 108 million in 2016 to 99 million in 2017. The positive balance of Bizkaia went from 416 million euros in 2016, to 189 million in 2017. The funding capacity for Gipuzkoa as a whole decreased by 23 million, going from 169 million in 2016 to 146 million in 2017.

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), represented 89.8% of the Internal Public Demand in 2017 and Gross Capital Formation accounted for 10.2%. Institutionally, 88.5% of investments corresponded to the Basque Administrations, with an increase of 6.0% with respect to 2016, going from 1,139 million in 2016 to 1,207 million in 2017, and the remaining 11.5% to the regionalised Central Administration as a whole, which decreased 13.9%, going from 183 million in 2016 to 157 million in 2017.

For further information:

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