Agriculture and Forestry in Norway 2011

Agricultural and forestry properties

There was 185 000 agricultural and forestry properties in Norway in 2015. These properties managed a total area of 24.9 million hectares, which constitutes 77 per cent of the Mainland. Agricultural land and productive forest land amounted to 1.1 and 7.0 million hectares respectively.

Agriculture

In the period 2000 – 2015, the number of agricultural holdings has dropped from 68 500 to 41 800. In 2015, these holdings operated 980 000 hectares agricultural land. 66 per cent of the utilised agricultural area was temporary and permanent grassland, while 29 per cent were cereals and oil seed crops. Close to 90 per cent of the agricultural area was used for feed production. In 2015, livestock farming generated amongst others 335 000 tonnes of meat, 1 540 million litres of cow›s milk and 67 000 tonnes of eggs.

The labour input in agriculture is estimated to 45 900 man-years in 2015. Agriculture amounted to 1.7 per cent of the total employment and 0.5 per cent of the gross domestic product. About 70 per cent of the agricultural income originates from livestock farming.

In 2015, import of agricultural products to Norway amounted to NOK 59.1 billion, while the export of agricultural products totalled NOK 9.2 billion.

Forestry

One fourth of Norwegian land area is productive forest. In 2015, the growing stock of timber was 942 million cubic metres. The annual increment was almost 26 million cubic metres. In 2015, the forest owners cut 10.2 million cubic metres industrial roundwood for sale. In addition, 2.5 million cubic metres fire wood was used by the households. The average timber price was NOK 334 per cubic metre. In total, forest owners invested NOK 567 million in silviculture and forest roads.

In 2014, almost 16 000 persons were employed in Norwegian paper mills, sawmills and woodworking industry, and the aggregated turnover in these industries came to NOK 36.5 billion. In 2015, the export value from this industry amounted to NOK 10.8 billion.

Hunting

Every year 200 000 Norwegians pay the hunting license fee, while 140 000-150 000 go hunting. In 2015, 6 per cent of Norwegian men participated in hunting. The share of female hunters increases gradually, and amounted to 7 per cent of the hunters in 2015. In the last decades, the stock of cervids has increased. In the hunting year 2015/16, 31 100 moose and 33 800 red deer were shot. In addition 6 500 wild reindeer and 27 700 roe deer were shot. Grouse is the most popular game among small game hunters. In the last fifteen years, the grouse bag has decreased. In the hunting year 2015/16, the bag was 175 000 grouses.