Norway's 2027 budget offers automatic payments to municipalities that choose to merge

Norway's government announced on 7 October 2026, in its proposed state budget for 2027, that it will replace application-based support for voluntary municipal mergers with three standard schemes. Each municipality exploring a merger would receive a NOK 1 million grant for investigation and resident consultation. Once a merger is approved, a one-off partial cost compensation of at least NOK 40 million for two municipalities would be paid automatically, rising with the number of municipalities and if the new municipality exceeds 20,000 inhabitants. A start-up grant would follow automatically the year before the merger. The Storting must still adopt the budget.

The design takes bargaining out of consolidation. Local Government Minister Bjørnar Selnes Skjæran said municipalities considering a merger "need predictable schemes". Governments seeking fewer, larger councils without compulsion can watch whether predictable money changes local decisions.