Local Authorities Ministerial statistical Office

The Ministerial Statistical Office for Local Authorities is the Department of Local Studies and Statistics (DESL).

The DESL is connected to the Directorate-General of Local Authorities (DGCL) under the umbrella of the Ministry of the Interior and Overseas France and the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion.

In France, the Constitution specifies three fully functioning levels of Local Authorities – commune, département and region. In addition to these levels, there are the Public Inter-Community Cooperation Establishments (EPCI). The DESL, therefore, tracks the activities and actions of the various levels of authorities.

The DESL collects, processes, analyses and makes available statistical information about finances, taxation and the structure of Local Authorities, as well as about the territorial public function.

It leverages this information and data both in order highlight them in the form of studies in its editorial approach and to respond to the needs of the DGCL, particularly supporting the preparation of legislative or regulatory texts.

Statistical production covers the communes, EPCIs (whether or not they have their own taxation), départements and regions.

The data processed and published relate to local finances, local taxes, Local Authority debt, financial support from the State to these Authorities, employment and salaries for territorial agents, territorial structures and their jurisdiction.

The data employed come from administrative sources, including early budgets, Local Authority management accounts, tax statements, and the register of tax elements information system on public service agents (SIASP)...

The DESL manages the application Aspic/Banatic, which allows for the monitoring of inter-municipal structures and is interfaced with the INSEE’s Sirene directory.

The DESL publishes annual pieces of work (Collectivités locales en chiffres and the Rapport pour l'Observatoire des finances et de la gestion publique locales)and more brief summary studies in its Bulletin d'information statistique (BIS, a Statistical Information Journal).

It also publishes statistical tables online regarding finances, taxation and inter-municipal matters, and the public territorial function, using social statements.

The statistics and studies produced and shared by the DESL are available on the Local Authorities portal, under the Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletLocal studies and statistics heading.