Municipal expenditure on social services
What are the costs of people receiving publicly funded social services? How are expenditures distributed across different types of social services? The municipal expenditure on social services statistics provide an overview of municipalities' expenditure on selected social services (under the Danish Social Services Act) and is available at the individual level.
Selected statistics on Municipal expenditure on social services
Median individual unit expenditure by service type
Municipalities report data on individually attributable expenditure to Statistics Denmark. Data are submitted either through system-to-system transfers from municipalities' administrative financial management systems or via the web-based reporting solution, IDEP, which is accessed through Virk.dk. Through IDEP, municipalities can access all data they have reported. Most municipalities submit their data via IDEP.
When municipalities collect and report data through IDEP, this is primarily done in one of the following ways, or through a combination of these methods. The method used depends on the municipality's accounting practices and the availability of data:
- Expenditure and the expenditure period are extracted from the municipality's financial management system.
- Expenditure and the expenditure period are extracted from the municipality's case management system.
- Expenditure and the expenditure period are compiled and processed in a municipality-specific spreadsheet before being reported.
The data reported by municipalities are reconciled with the municipal accounting data from the Municipal Accounts and Budgets statistics.
Distribution of individual unit expenditure by residential accommodation
Municipalities report data on individually attributable expenditure to Statistics Denmark. Data are submitted either through system-to-system transfers from municipalities' administrative financial management systems or via the web-based reporting solution, IDEP, which is accessed through Virk.dk. Through IDEP, municipalities can access all data they have reported. Most municipalities submit their data via IDEP.
When municipalities collect and report data through IDEP, this is primarily done in one of the following ways, or through a combination of these methods. The method used depends on the municipality's accounting practices and the availability of data:
- Expenditure and the expenditure period are extracted from the municipality's financial management system.
- Expenditure and the expenditure period are extracted from the municipality's case management system.
- Expenditure and the expenditure period are compiled and processed in a municipality-specific spreadsheet before being reported.
The data reported by municipalities are reconciled with the municipal accounting data from the Municipal Accounts and Budgets statistics.
On the statistics – documentation, sources and method
See the documentation of statistics to learn more:
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.