Finland 7.1.2

The following Table provides an overall breakdown of public cultural expenditure by the level of government in 2009 and provides the possibility to compare the change that has taken place since 2001.

Table 15:  Public cultural expenditure, by level of government, in thousand EUR, 2001 and 2009

Year	2001		2009
Level of government	Expenditure	% of total	Expenditure	% of total
Central government total: – direct expenditure – transfers to municipalities – direct transfers to non-profit art institutions and cultural organisations	292 600 87 850 117 918 86 872	47.3 14.2 19.1 14.0	483 499 179 413 177 700 126 386	51.2 19.0 18.8 13.4
Municipalities – all direct expenditures & transfer allocations	325 746	52.7	461 300	48.8
Total public expenditure	618 346	100.0	944 799	100.0

Source:    The 2001 statistics were compiled by combining the 2001 information from the EUROSTAT 2004 pilot survey data and statistics from the 2001 closed balance sheet of the state budget; the 2009 central government statistics are based on the closed balance sheet of the state budget and municipal statistics are based on statistics by the Association of Local and Regional Authorities.

The nominal growth in 2001-2009 was 52.8%; and distinctly higher in the case of the central government (65.2%) than in municipalities (41.6%). The overall structure (transfers vs. direct expenditure) has been fairly stable, the main exception being the strengthening of the relative position of the direct central government expenditures.

In 2001, the financing of the arts and culture by the municipalities had again reached the levels that existed prior to the recessions of 1991-1993 and 1999-2000, but the growth has since then levelled-off because of the fiscal deficits experienced by the majority of Finnish municipalities.

The Finnish system of municipal administration is undergoing a structural reform, by introducing better targeted and more efficiently organised services and by merges of small municipalities.