The credit indicator C3, May 2012

Total gross debt amounted to NOK 4 912 billion at end-May, up from NOK 4 866 billion at end-April.

Mainland Norway’s gross debt accounted for 87 per cent of the total gross debt at end-May. This amounted to NOK 4 268 billion at end-May, up from NOK 4 241 billion the previous month.

Decrease in foreign debt

The general public gross foreign debt, which mainly relates to non-financial enterprises, amounted to NOK 955 billion at end-May, up from NOK 944 billion the previous month. The twelve-month growth decreased from -5.7 per cent to end-April to -6.4 per cent to end-May.

Mainland Norway accounted for 50.2 per cent of the public gross foreign debt, which amounted to NOK 479 billion at end-May. The twelve-month growth in mainland Norway’s foreign debt was -7.4 per cent to end-May, down from -4.2 per cent to end-April. The increase in mainland Norway’s foreign debt stemmed from both short and long-term debt.

Offshore industries accounted for the remainder of the foreign debt, and amounted to NOK 476 billion at end-May. The annual growth climbed from -7.4 per cent to end-April to -5.3 per cent to end-May. The increase in annual growth rate for the offshore industries stemmed from both short and long-term debt.

Unchanged domestic gross debt growth

The credit indicator (C2) amounted to NOK 3 957 billion at end-May. The twelve-month growth was 6.7 per cent to end-May, unchanged from the previous month. The debt growth in non-financial enterprises was 6.0 per cent, while the growth in household debt was 7.1 per cent. The C2 statistics show that the annual growth in the general public domestic gross debt increased from 6.7 per cent to end-May to 7.1 per cent to end-June.