⁴Contributing factors included the wage agreement reached in the health and social care sector in 2022, the acceleration of inflation, and increased statutory obligations enacted by the previous government. In addition, both the COVID-19 pandemic and under-resourcing of municipal health and social care services partly distorted the comparison of 2023 expenditure with 2022 levels. We described these factors in more detail in our previous annual report (EPC, 2025).