Bhutan: Compensation of employees (% of expense)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2020, Bhutan's compensation of employees (% of expense) rose 1.61 percentage points on 2019 (from 38.77% to 40.38%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1990 to 2019), the average change was −0.43 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.24 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 9.07 percentage points in 1997 and the biggest yearly fall was 8.76 percentage points in 1994. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2011 to 2020 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 2% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2020, Bhutan had the 4th highest value of the 11 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Bhutan in the 2020 ranking

• Honduras — 1st of 11: 48.59%
• Mali — 2nd of 11: 43.29%
• Cabo Verde — 4th of 11: 39.85%
• Bahrain — 5th of 11: 39.5%
• Jamaica — 6th of 11: 38.01%

What this measures

Compensation of employees is defined as the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable by an enterprise to an employee in return for work done by the latter during the accounting period. This indicator is expressed as percentage of total expenses which is any decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction.

Limitations: For most countries central government finance data have been consolidated into one account, but for others only budgetary central government accounts are available. Countries reporting budgetary data are noted in the country metadata. Because budgetary accounts may not include all central government units (such as social security funds), they usually provide an incomplete picture. In federal states the central government accounts provide an incomplete view of total public finance. Data on government revenue and expense are collected by the IMF through questionnaires to member countries and by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a median.

All 36 values

Compensation of employees (% of expense) in nearby economies

• Bangladesh — 20.32% (2021)
• India — 12.06% (2022)
• Maldives — 39.08% (2021)
• Nepal — 14.08% (2021)
• Sri Lanka — 18.92% (2023)

More public sector data for Bhutan

• Net incurrence of liabilities, total (current LCU) — 11.71 billion (2020)
• Net incurrence of liabilities, total (% of GDP) — 6.43% (2020)
• Grants and other revenue (current LCU) — 32.2 billion (2020)
• Taxes on goods and services (current LCU) — 9.84 billion (2020)
• Taxes on goods and services (% of industry and services value added) — 6.61% (2020)
• Customs and other import duties (current LCU) — 468 million (2020)
• Customs and other import duties (% of tax revenue) — 2.09% (2020)
• Taxes on international trade (current LCU) — 1.58 billion (2020)
• Tax revenue (current LCU) — 22.37 billion (2020)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Bhutan's compensation of employees (% of expense)?

40.38% in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1982?

It is up 2.26 percentage points from 38.12% in 1982. The highest value was 51.77% in 1989 and the lowest 25.7% in 1996.

How does Bhutan rank?

4th highest of 11 economies with data for 2020.

Is the latest change in compensation of employees (% of expense) unusual for Bhutan?

In 2020, Bhutan's compensation of employees (% of expense) rose 1.61 percentage points on 2019 (from 38.77% to 40.38%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1990 to 2019), the average change was −0.43 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.24 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator GC.XPN.COMP.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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