Debt securities, 2012

In 2012, bonds worth a total of NOK 372 billion were issued in Norway. Compared with 2011, the value of the bond issues rose by 26 per cent. In the same period, repayments of bonds were registered at a total of NOK 210 billion.

Mortgage companies still dominate the domestic bond market

Mortgage companies made up the largest group issuing bonds, with a total of NOK 90.3 billion in 2012, and banks made up the second largest group, with NOK 82.3 billion. The third largest group was made up of central government and social security administration, with NOK 64.0 billion. As previously, the group “rest of the world” accounted for a considerable share of the issues, with NOK 60.6 billion.

Continuous increase in bond debt, but marginal change in market share of debt

The nominal value of the outstanding bond debt in Norway at the end of 2012 amounted to NOK 1 514.6 billion; an increase of 12 per cent compared with the end of 2011.

The market share of the debt has been relatively stable over the last few years. Thirty-six per cent and 20 per cent of the bond debt at the end of 2012 referred to mortgage companies and banks respectively. Central government’s share of the debt at the end of the year was 18 per cent, while the rest of the world’s share of the debt was 12 per cent.

Growth in market values over the last two years

While the market value of the domestic bond debt was lower than the nominal value in the period 2008–2010, the situation has been the opposite since 2011. The market value of the domestic bond debt was 102 per cent of the nominal value at the end of 2012 and 101 per cent at the end of 2011. The market values were generally higher than the nominal values of bonds issued by the general government, public non-financial corporations, banks and rest of the world. For other bonds, the market values were generally lower than the nominal values.

Table: Bonds issued in Norway per 31 December 2012 (xls file)