Lowest net growth in 20 years

The building stock increased by almost 0.6 per cent in 2017. This is the lowest percentage of net growth since 1997. A total of 4.2 million buildings are registered as per 1 January. The growth has decreased since 2011. The decreasing net growth may be due to a shift from minor residential buildings to multi-dwelling buildings.

Changes in building stock are due to new buildings, demolition and change in use of buildings. Almost 12 813 buildings had a change in code for building type in 2017. Additionally, 47 991 buildings were registered as per 1 January 2018 which did not exist on 1 January 2017. Conversely, 24 048 buildings were registered as of 1 January 2017 which no longer existed on 1 January 2018.

Decrease in agricultural sector

Buildings within the agricultural sector is the only major group of buildings by type that has experienced a net decrease in the last year. The net decrease has been 2 700 buildings.

Minor residential buildings, holiday homes and garages constitute most of the net growth, with an increase of 24 400 buildings.

Building stock on map

The building stock is also counted on the map within a fixed square grid. These grid statistics show the geographical pattern of the building stock, which parts of Norway are impacted by buildings, and where the highest building density might be found.

The grid statistics for buildings should be used in combination with, for example, number or dwellings or residents. This will give a better indication of which parts of the country are more utilised. Statistics on grids can be downloaded from the Geodata webpage, and are shown in Statistics Norway’s geoportal.