Slow growth in the mainland economy

The monthly figures are volatile, and it is therefore appropriate to assess the development over three-month periods. The service industry contributed the most to the three-month growth in the gross domestic product for mainland Norway. Among the contributors from the service industry the most important were real estate activities, services related to oil and gas extraction, technical consulting and financial and insurance activities. Other contributors were construction of oil platforms and modules and production of pharmaceutical products. The decrease in the retail industry in January continues in the same manner as in December. Collectively the service industry grew 0.5 percent in the period November-January. The gross domestic product in manufacturing had an 0.4 percent increase in the same period. The three-month growth in the Other Goods’ production fell 1.6 percent. The decline was in part driven by negative contributions from aquaculture, fishing and production of electricity. Construction is still experiencing growth, but at a slower pace than before the summer.

Consumption

The household consumption decreased 0.5 percent in the three-month period November-January compared to August-October. The consumption of services rose 0.8 percent in the same period, while the consumption of goods fell 1.2 percent. The same thing was the case in the previous three-month period.

Foreigners’ consumption in Norway increased by 6.3 percent in November-January. Norwegians’ consumption abroad however decreased by 1.9 percent. Public consumption rose by 1.0 percent. The growth in consumption would be about 400 million lower if not for the reclassification of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation 

Investments

Gross investments fell 2.4 percent from August-October to November-January. From December to January the investments fell 3,0 percent. The investments in dwellings also decreased both in the three-month period and from December to January by 5.7 and 3.6 percent.

Monthly figures regarding petroleum, manufacturing, mining and power supply investments follows information on planned investments, as reported by firms in the industry.

Imports and exports

Total exports increased 7.2 percent from August-October to November-January, while the exports of traditional goods increased 0.4 percent. Exports of crude oil and natural gas grew 21.1 percent in the three-month period. Imports of traditional goods fell 0.8 percent in the same period. Total imports decreased 0.7 percent.

Revisions

With new monthly figures come revisions. The statistics used will not normally be subject to a revision, but seasonally adjusted series may, however, be changed. This is a consequence of new information being incorporated into the seasonal adjustment. As additional months are included in the data, the effect of new observations will become ever smaller. The growth in mainland GDP Q4 2019 as published in December has been revised down from 0.2 to 0.1 percent. The growth in household consumption for the last months of 2019 has been revised from a growth rate of zero to a slight decline of 0.5 since last publication and is due to new figures related to cross border trade.