Government - Local government expenditure by function 2009–2025

Operating statement: A summary of the government’s accrual transactions in a given accounting period. The statement is similar to a company's statement of financial performance but it also includes transactions in non-financial assets (eg land, buildings, infrastructure, and intangibles). Provisions and valuation or other changes are treated as other economic flows in government finance statistics rather than as transactions.
Balance sheet: Records the market value of a government's stock of financial and non-financial assets, liabilities, and net worth at the end of each accounting period.
Government expenses by purpose: Shows the functional split of total operating expenses and total net acquisition of non-financial assets from the operating statement.
Taxation revenue: Identifies the different types of tax chargeable by government.
Non-financial assets reconciliation: Brings together the transactions in non-financial assets (with the exception of inventories) included in the operating statement, the balance sheet values, and the actual or implied other economic flows associated with those same assets (ie valuation or other changes) between successive balance dates.

Conceptually, this dataset treats individual government entities as if they were all the same single entity, and nets off all transactions (and assets and liabilities) that this entity has with itself. This process is called 'consolidation'. In compiling this output, Stats NZ followed this GFS principle for the funding flows, sales and purchases of goods and services between Auckland Council and its two CCOs, and its equity ownership of the CCOs.

While the scope of local government includes all local authorities and local government special-purpose entities, the actual coverage does not include many special-purpose entities. This undercoverage is not expected to materially affect any output.

Under the 'Government finance' heading, select 'Government finance statistics (local government): Year ended June 2025 – CSV' file.

Government finance statistics (general government) gives an economic representation of New Zealand's central and local government financial activity.

The data is compiled from the annual Local Authority Census, supplemented by information from individual local authority annual reports and subsequent enquiries to councils.