Expenditure

In national accounts, general government expenditure is also classified by function according to the international Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG). The COFOG classification describes government expenditure according to the following ten major functions or purposes: General public services Defence Public order and safety Economic affairs Environmental protection Housing and community amenities Health Recreation, culture and religion Education Social protection The expenditure according to these ten major functions is presented in an interactive table with charts. More detailed information on the type of expenditure is available for each function, i.e. compensation of employees (labour costs), intermediate consumption (expenses on goods and services) and gross fixed capital formation (investments). The data are transmitted to the ECB by Eurostat and are defined with reference to the European System of Accounts 2010 (ESA 2010). Eurostat's Manual on sources and methods for the compilation of COFOG Statistics (link) provides detailed information on the methodological background for the compilation of COFOG data. The data are consistent in terms of methodology with the annual GFS data on government expenditure (dataset: GFS). However, differences between the two datasets may arise owing to data vintages.

Government finance statistics (GFS) provide a comprehensive overview of fiscal developments in the euro area, the European Union, and individual EU Member States. Data for Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States are also available, although with less detail.