Transport and communication in municipalities and county authorities

Data from the accounts has been unaltered over time, but some smaller adjustments in the questionnaires have been done. Still, most of the variables can be compared over time.

Before 2010, the Government was administratively responsible for all main roads. These roads were classified as 'trunk roads´´ and 'remaining main roads´´. As from 1 January 2010, most of the 'remaining main roads´´ (about 17.000 km) were reclassified as provincial roads and thereby became an extended liability for the counties. Also the 'remaining ferry route connections´´ were transferred to the counties which were economically compensated for the additional administrative burden received through extended yearly block grants. As a consequence of this, some indicators are more or less not directly comparable with earlier years.

The road data model in the National Road Data Base (NVDB) was changed from 7 November 2019 due to the National reform of counties and municipalities. The new road system reference is built in a completely new way, which has led to major changes in the NVDB. In consequence, the figures for road infrastructure in KOSTRA are not directly comparable for the years before and after 2020. More information about the change in NVDB is available here (in Norwegian): https://www.vegvesen.no/fag/teknologi/nasjonal+vegdatabanks/vegreferansesystem.

Statistics Norway has recently revised its KOSTRA classification of municipalities. As before, the dimensions along which municipalities are classified are population size, economic workload, and economic capacity. Nevertheless, an update has been carried out as a result of the municipality reform, effective since 2020. The revision updates the composition and numbering of KOSTRA groups. The revision is discussed here (in Norwegian): https://www.ssb.no/offentlig-sektor/artikler-og-publikasjoner/gruppering-av-kommuner-etter-folkemengde-og-okonomiske-rammebetingelser-2020.