Economic Survey 1-2009

After over four years of strong growth, the Norwegian economy experienced a pronounced turnaround at the beginning of 2008. Mainland economic growth slowed appreciably as a result of both weaker global developments and capacity restraints in the Norwegian economy. Until the early autumn of 2008 most projections – including Statistics Norway's own – pointed to a soft landing for the Norwegian economy. Then, however, problems in global financial markets escalated dramatically, particularly after US investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in mid-September. From this point on, the outlook for both the Norwegian and the international economy deteriorated rapidly.