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Classification of the functions of government (COFOG)

This seminar held in Sofia, Bulgaria in November 2015 explored the Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG), focusing on the structure of government expenditure and its importance in ensuring reliable data across countries. The COFOG classification system, comprising 10 Divisions with detailed breakdowns, helps harmonize and compare government spending data. The seminar highlighted the significance of timely and accurate statistics, with a special emphasis on social protection as a crucial area of expenditure. Eurostat's role in providing statistical indicators for evaluating social issues and the mandatory data delivery by EU Member States were also discussed, emphasizing the importance of consistent and comprehensive government finance statistics.

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Classification of the functions of government (COFOG)

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  1. Classification of the functions of government (COFOG) 20 November 2015 Seminar on information provision of social economy Sofia, Bulgaria 2015

  2. BACKGROUND • appropriate basis to examine the structure of government expenditure; • 3-level classification with 10 "Divisions" at the top level, each of which is broken down to 6 "groups" at the next level of details; all countries provide group level data; • The purpose of this classification is to ensure reliable, uniform and comprehensive government expenditure data, comparable across countries; • General and timely statistics.

  3. BACKGROUND • COFOG TF (once per year) in order to provide methodological guidance for the treatment of various kinds of expenditure and the consistency of COFOG data with other breakdowns of public and private expenditure by means of comparing the underlying functional specific classifications;

  4. BASIC STRUCTURE OF THE COFOG – SPECIAL CLASSIFICATION • Collective goods • In kind • In cash • Individual goods • In kind (for allocative, distributive and mixed motives) • In cash (assumes that non-market recreation, culture and religion is mainly provided/supported by the government

  5. COFOG classification structure • 01 – general public service • 02 – defence • 03 – public order and safety • 04 – economic affairs • 05 – environment protection • 06 – housing and community amenities • 07 – health • 08 – recreation, culture and religion • 09 – education • 10 – social protection

  6. Total general government expenditure, 2014, % of GDP

  7. Evolution of total general government expenditure, EU-28, 2006-2013, cumulated % of GDP

  8. Total general government expenditure on social protection, 2013 (% of GDP)

  9. In all EU Member States, social protection represented the most important area of general government expenditure

  10. Conclusion • Eurostat provide a variety of statistical indicators to help assess crucial social issues such as exclusion, active measures for employment promotion, equity, the role of private initiative in social provision in addition to government spending; • EU MS are obliged to deliver data to Eurostat in the field of government accounts, i.e. the data is compulsory; • Eurostat presents government finance statistics (GFS) in an integrated way  harmonized and comparable way

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