Municipal expenditures on social services

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Personal Finances and Welfare, Social Statistics
Jane Christensen
+45 20 58 42 40

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Municipal expenditures on social services 2025

The purpose of the Municipal Expenditure on Social Services statistics is to provide information on the expenditure incurred for individual citizens receiving social services under selected provisions of the Danish Social Services Act. These services are granted by Denmark's 98 municipalities to adults with physical or mental disabilities and to vulnerable adults. The statistics are used for policy development, public debate and research. They are compiled annually and were first published in 2026, based on municipal accounting data for 2025.

Statistical presentation

The statistics provide an annual account of individually attributable expenditure, where municipal expenditure and revenue relating to selected social services provided to adults with physical or mental disabilities and vulnerable adults under selected provisions of the Danish Social Services Act can be directly attributed to individual recipients. The statistics include information on expenditure and the number of recipients. Data are presented by municipality, type of social service and functional category. The statistics are published in the StatBank Denmark and in NYT article from Statistics Denmark.

Statistical processing

Data for these statistics are collected annually through municipalities' financial management systems or via Statistics Denmark's web-based reporting solution (IDEP). Municipalities validate and approve the data each year. The reported data are first approved following submission and subsequently given final approval after reconciliation with the municipalities' accounting data.

The data are compiled into two statistical registers covering all expenditure incurred for social services provided to adults with physical or mental disabilities and vulnerable adults under selected provisions of the Danish Social Services Act.

Relevance

The statistics are relevant to researchers, journalists and public authorities in the social services sector, including ministries, government agencies and municipalities. They provide a basis for analyses and a better understanding of municipal individually attributable expenditure.

Accuracy and reliability

Overall, the data underlying the statistics are assessed to result in an underestimation of municipal individually attributable expenditure. This should be seen in light of the fact that 2025 is the first reporting year and that the underlying data reporting practices are still being established within the municipalities. The main sources of uncertainty relate to differences in municipalities' methods for compiling the data and their accounting practices, as well as the risk of incomplete or missing reporting. The data are validated with a particular focus on extreme values, missing information and consistency with municipal accounting data. Prior to publication, municipalities review and approve the reported data and correct any identified errors or omissions.

The accuracy and overall data quality of the statistics are expected to improve as municipalities further develop their practices for recording individually attributable expenditure, including the associated start and end dates, in their financial management systems. The opportunity for municipalities to review and compare their reported data is also expected to contribute to further improvements in data quality.

Timeliness and punctuality

The statistics are published no later than six months after the end of the reference period. Releases are published according to the announced release schedule and without delay.

Comparability

The statistics were first published in 2026, based on accounting data for 2025.

Accessibility and clarity

The statistics are disseminated through a Nyt fra Danmarks Statistik article authored by Statistics Denmark.

The StatBank tables are published under the subject area Social Support Services. Further information is available on the Municipal Expenditure on Social Services subject page.

Tailor-made analyses based on the statistics are available through Statistics Denmark Consulting. Researchers and other authorised users may also access the underlying microdata through Denmark's Data Portal.