Public expenditure on heritage as a percentage of total public expenditure

Definition

Total funding from government (central, regional, local) in the preservation, protection and conservation of cultural and/or natural heritage expressed as a percentage of total public expenditure for a given year.

Data source

At national level, ministries of finance, and/or ministries of culture, environment financial management systems are the source of government expenditure on culture. Data on expenditure by lower levels of government can be centralized or collected directly from local authorities.

Source definition

UNESCO Institute for statistics

Calculation method

The indicator is calculated by dividing total public funding in heritage (i.e. including transfers paid but excluding transfers received) from government (central, regional, local) by the total expenditure of a country in a given year and multiply the results by 100.

Data required

Central, regional and local government expenditure data by type of heritage (cultural, natural) for a given year.

Interpretation

A higher value would indicate a greater priority to protect cultural and natural heritage given by public authorities.

Limitations

This indicator comprises only public investments in heritage. It does not measure non-monetary factors such as national regulations or national/local policies for the preservation, protection and conservation of national cultural and/or natural heritage. These policies could take the form of fiscal incentives such as tax benefits for donations or sponsorships.

Purpose

This indicator measures the share of the public investment in the preservation, protection and conservation of cultural and/or natural heritage compared to the overall expenditure of a country over time. To monitor change over time of national and public efforts for the protection and safeguard of cultural and/or natural heritage.

Types of disaggregation

By type of heritage (cultural, natural)
By type of government (National/Federal, Regional /State/ Provincial, Local/Municipal)