Public Support to Culture in Hungary
Cultural expenditure in the central budgets between 1991 and 2001
The following are excerpts from a marcostatistical investigation conducted by BO*. A major objective of the research was to compare central governmental spending with three selected Hungarian cities (including Budapest), which will be presented in English here soon.
Table 1: Development of cultural expenditure in the central budget between 1991-2001
|
1991 |
1992 |
1993 |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
|
|
Central cultural expenditure, |
10,31 |
16,80 |
18,77 |
17,95 |
21,57 |
20,02 |
29,08 |
39,11 |
56,91 |
71,28 |
71,63 |
|
Percentage of cultural expenditure in central budget, % |
1,11 |
1,60 |
1,46 |
1,09 |
1,11 |
0,96 |
1,14 |
1,40 |
1,62 |
1,88 |
1,66 |
|
Percentage of cultural expenditure related to GDP, % |
0,41 |
0,57 |
0,52 |
0,41 |
0,38 |
0,29 |
0,34 |
0,39 |
0,50 |
0,55 |
.. |
|
Central cultural expenditure per capita, HUF |
995 |
1 625 |
1 821 |
1 747 |
2 106 |
1 960 |
2 859 |
3 859 |
5 639 |
7 097 |
7 025 |
|
Real value of cultural expenditure |
100 |
132,5 |
120,9 |
97,3 |
91,2 |
68,5 |
84,1 |
98,9 |
130,9 |
149,3 |
.. |
|
Central cultural expenditure, |
137,8 |
212,6 |
204,0 |
170,8 |
171,6 |
131,2 |
155,7 |
182,4 |
239,8 |
252,5 |
246,3 |
|
Central cultural expenditure per capita, USD |
13,3 |
20,6 |
19,8 |
16,6 |
16,8 |
12,8 |
15,3 |
18,0 |
23,8 |
25,1 |
24,2 |
|
Share of investment and reconstruction in cultural expenditure, % |
16,0 |
22,1 |
20,0 |
20,9 |
23,0 |
29,8 |
35,5 |
31,0 |
31,8 |
39,6 |
30,9 |
Remarks on the methodology
The sources of the investigation consist of official budgetary laws and decrees, and records of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office.
In contrast to other countries, in the case of Hungary it is not sufficient to investigate only the budget of the Ministry of Culture. On one hand, a significant part of the cultural expenditures are to be found in the budget of other ministries (local supports in the budget of the Ministry of Interior, the protection of monuments before 1998 in the budget of the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunication, etc.), on the other hand, not all estimates of the budget of the Ministry of Culture are spent on culture (support to religious denominations being an important addition).
It is important to stress that these data comprise plans and not factual figures. The budgetary reports are significantly less detailed than the money-bills, that is why our statistics rely on plans. However, the investigation of some of the factual figures proved that there are not significant differences between the planned (approved) and actual figures on spending.
The expenditures of the protection of monuments are included in the statistics, while the support of public media is excluded (opposed to the comparative statistics of the Compendium of EricArts). The support that goes to churches and to artistic education is also excluded. The ratio of administrative expenses of the ministries is included, in correspondence to the ratio of cultural expenditure.
The amounts earmarked for investment appear separately in the statistics. These include the figures of large amount pruchases and renovation too. The amounts of dedicated support, earmarked to individual cultural investments, run under the Ministry of Interior, are taken into account as well.
The calculation of spending power is based on the consumer price index of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office.
*Beside the Budapest Observatory, the Department of Cultural Management of the University of Pécs (UP) took part in the research. The research team: Csilla Filó (UP), Zsófia Földesi (BO), Zita Lévai (BO) and Szilvia Szabó (UP), directed by Péter Inkei (BO).
