Frøya holds the biggest buffer, yet its operations ran in the red
Frøya has set aside 38.6% of a year's operating revenue, the largest cushion among 183 municipalities compared. Yet the same municipality's group accounts show a net operating result of −3.0%. The figures for 2025 suggest that a reserve and a year's result do not always point the same way.
Morning Analytics. The text is AI-assisted and checked: every figure is checked automatically against the database before publication. How it is calculated
Unrestricted reserves, share of operating revenue
Unrestricted reserves are the money a municipality can use without having cut something else first. In SSB, tabell 12143, for 2025, the typical municipality among 183 holds 7.9% of its yearly operating revenue in such reserves.
Frøya sits far above that at 38.6%, followed by Tysvær at 33.4% and Gjerdrum at 32.5%. Bærum, one of the country's larger municipalities, also appears in the top ten at 28.9%, so the list is not only small places.
At the other end, Elverum reports 0.0%, and several others, including Hareid and Røros, stand at 0.1%. For them the cushion is almost nonexistent.
Source: 12143, 2025. 183 compared.
Net operating result, share of operating revenue (municipal group)
The net operating result shows what is left after a year's running costs, for the municipal group. In the same SSB table, tabell 12143, the median is a modest 1.5% of operating revenue.
Nord-Fron leads at 9.2%, with Vestvågøy close behind at 9.0%. Nord-Fron also has a reserve of 30.7%, so a strong year and a thick cushion coincide there. Tysvær and Bærum repeat the pattern, each with 6.0%.
The bottom shows how different the picture can be. Hitra posts −8.9% and Vadsø −6.2%. Frøya, with the biggest reserve, lands at −3.0%, and Eidskog, with a reserve of just 0.6%, at −3.3%.
Source: 12143, 2025. 183 compared.
Net debt, share of operating revenue
Net debt set against a year's revenue gives a sense of how long the income would need to run to cover what is owed. In SSB, tabell 12143, for 2025, the median municipality sits at 90.7%.
Ål has the lowest figure at 37.0%, with Sandefjord at 37.4%. Ål also holds a reserve of 30.3%, so low debt and a large buffer go together there.
At the heavy end, Hitra reaches 173.9% and Hammerfest 167.4%. Lørenskog, at 149.1%, shows that this is not only a small-municipality matter. Hitra's debt is also paired with the weakest operating result in the material.
Source: 12143, 2025. 183 compared.
What the figures do not say
The figures are a snapshot of one year and say nothing about why a municipality's reserves, result or debt look as they do. Debt measured against revenue does not show what the borrowing paid for, and a single year's result can swing with one-off items. Small municipalities, those under 5,000 residents, are ranked apart because a few people or one large item can move their figures.