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Norway

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Last reviewed: 17 December 2007

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ECONOMY

Basic Economic Facts

GDP: $312bn (£163bn / 1904bn NOK) (2005)
GDP per head: $60,900 (£31,700 / 372,000 NOK) (2005)
Annual Growth: 2.3% (2005)
Inflation: 2.5% (forecast 2006)
Major Industries: Oil and gas, fisheries, manufactured goods, machinery and transport
Major trading partners: Exports to UK (21.3%), Germany (13%), Netherlands (9.6%), France (8.2%), Sweden (7.4%). Over 70.9% of total exports of goods and services go to the EU/European Economic Area.
Sources: Statistics Norway, Innovation Norway, HM Revenue & Customs

The Norwegian economy is dominated by the oil and gas sector, which accounts for 25% of value creation in Norway. In 2005 production of crude oil totalled 3.26 million barrels per day, while gas production for the year totalled 84 billion mS. Exports of crude oil and petroleum products were worth £29 billion in 2005, making Norway the third largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia and Russia. Crude oil and natural gas accounted for 45.6% of all exports in 2005. Oil revenues are invested for the future in the Pension Fund (previously called the Petroleum Fund); this stood at around £150 billion in January 2007. According to current estimates, Norway has oil for the next 50 years and gas for at least 100 years.

A growing engineering industry specialised on ship equipment, offshore deliveries, telecommunications, hydropower equipment and other niche products and services are also becoming increasingly important. Other major exports are seafood (the world’s biggest exporter), timber products and aluminium.

Shipping freight services are Norway’s most important export within the service sector – and the second largest export industry after oil and gas, with exports (gross freight) of £6.6 billion. Norwegian shipping companies control around 10% of the world’s shipping fleet. Measured in tonnage, the Norwegian merchant fleet is the world's third largest.

The UK is Norway’s largest export market. Imports to the UK from Norway were worth £12.4 billion in 2005 (the UK’s 9th largest import market). Britain has also been a main target for Norwegian investments abroad. At the end of 2003, accumulated Norwegian direct investment in the UK amounted to £5.65 billion. Norway is the UK’s 18th largest market with £2.2 billion in sales of goods in 2005. The UK is Norway’s fourth largest supplier of goods and a major provider of services (worth an additional £1 billion). Accumulated UK direct investment in Norway was worth £2.55 billion, placing the UK in fifth place. British companies are amongst the largest foreign investors in the Oslo stock exchange, especially in shipping, banking and insurance.

The Norwegian Central Bank produces a quarterly inflation report (available in English) which provides a detailed reference on the current economic position, outlook and monetary policy.

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General Information

British-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce
c/o Postbooks 925 Sentrum
0104 Oslo
Tel: +47 22 41 85 50
Fax: +47 22 41 85 45
E-mail: mail@crestfielv.org

Anglo-Norse Society
c/o British Embassy (in Norway)
or
c/o Norwegian Embassy (in UK)

Scottish Norwegian Society
36 Randolph Road
Glasgow G11 7LG
Tel: 0141 334 2260
e-mail: grakar@bt.internet.com   

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