More goods from abroad

In the 1st half of this year we purchased 13.5 percent more goods from abroad than in the same period in 1997. This is shown by the volume index for the import of traditional commodities. In the same period imported goods had become 2.4 percent more expensive on the average. Hence foreign countries could collect 16.2 percent more for their exports to Norway in the 1st half of 1998 than in the same period a year ago.

In the same period we received 3.5 percent higher prices for our exports of traditional commodities, and we succeeded in increasing the volume by 5.8 percent. This gave a total export growth for these commodities of 10 percent measured in NOK. Especially in the 1st quarter of this year foreign countries received a larger quantity of Norwegian goods than in the corresponding period a year ago.

Better prices for fish and metals

The export price index for the group food, beverages and tobacco increased by 11 percent in the 1st half of this year compared with the same period in 1997. The main reason was that we received 12 percent higher prices for fish and fish products. The price of fresh and chilled farmed salmon rose by 7.7 percent in the 1st half and by a total of 16.6 percent in the 2nd quarter compared with the same period a year ago. Fish from Norway that were dried, salted or smoked were priced about 15 and 32 percent higher this year in the 1st and 2nd quarters respectively.

The price increase for other manufactured goods was 6 percent, with the price level for non-ferrous metals increasing by 10 percent. The most important commodity was aluminium, for which the export price in the 1st quarter was 20 percent above the level for the same period last year, although this was followed by a slower growth in the 2nd quarter this year. The price index for crude materials except fuels registered an increase of 5 percent in the 1st half this year compared with the same period a year ago.

New Statistics

External trade with commodities, 2nd quarter 1998, Volume and price index numbers.
The statistics are published quarterly in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics and the Monthly Bulletin of External Trade, which are also available on Statistics Norway's web site: http:/www.ssb.no. Seasonally adjusted volume indexes for selected commodity groups are available in "Statistisk månedshefte" (a Monthly Bulletin of Statistics, which is not translated to English) on Statistics Norway's web site. For more information and e-mail, contact: anne.berit.dahle@ssb.no, tel. +47 21 09 47 10, or lars.andreas.lunde@ssb.no, tel. +47 21 09 47 08.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 30-31, 1998