The Norwegian Education Mirror 2022

The municipalities finance 85 per cent of expenditure for both municipal and private kindergartens. Around 12 per cent is covered by parents, while public subsidies and other support from the municipality or the owner makes up under 2 per cent of financing. (Lunder et al. 2022). "Parent contributions account for a slightly lower proportion than previously, probably because parent contributions have been refunded in periods of Coronavirus-closed kindergartens" (Lunder et al. 2022, pp. 87).

In 2021, the municipalities spent NOK 52.6 billion on kindergartens, an increase of 6 per cent from 2020 (Statistics Norway 2022a). This sum includes the municipalities' expenses for operating their own kindergartens and subsidies for private kindergartens. In total, 14 per cent of municipalities' operating costs went to kindergartens in 2021, but that proportion varies between 4 per cent and 24 per cent in the various municipalities (Statistics Norway 2022b).

47 per cent of kindergartens are municipal, and 53 per cent are private. The municipalities spend a total of NOK 23.2 billion on subsidies for private kindergartens in 2020, which is 44 per cent of the municipalities' total expenditure for kindergarten operation (Statistics Norway 2022a).

In 2020, the municipalities spent an average of just over NOK 147,000 per child over the age of 3 with a full time kindergarten place. This sum includes municipalities' subsidies for private kindergartens. Parent contributions and governmental subsidies are additional.

Municipalities' expenses for kindergarten operation are the basis for calculating the subsidy for private kindergartens. These subsidies vary from NOK 91,000 and NOK 181,000 per child over the age of 3, and mirrors the municipalities' costs for municipal kindergartens. Three municipalities have no municipal kindergartens. The private kindergartens in these municipalities receive subsidies according to national rates set by the government (The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training 2022c). In total, 129 municipalities have no private kindergartens, and consequently nor do they have subsidy rates.