Central government's net lending and net holding gains and losses are illustrated in Figure 1. The figure also includes net lending estimated as a percentage of GPD excluding extraction of crude oil and natural gas, transport via pipelines and ocean transport.
The figure illustrates central government's net lending, and net holding gains and losses with bars. Central governemet's net lending as a percentage of GDP Mainland-Norway is illustrated with a solid line. The figure covers the period from 2015 to 2022.
Central government’s net lending increased from NOK 425 billion in 2021 to NOK 1493 billion in 2022. The record high net lending in 2022 is explained by a large increase in tax revenues due to rising oil and gas prices. The krone depreciated, which increased the value of foreign financial assets in NOK, but negative price developments in the securities markets caused a net loss of NOK 1074 billion for central government in 2022. However, net financial assets increased by NOK 419 billion to NOK 15232 billion at the end of 2022.
Central government's net lending accounted for almost 42 per cent of GDP in 2022. This is the highest GDP share that has been estimated in the period from 1996 to 2022. Central government's net lending is largely determined by investments in the Government Pension Fund Global.
Households' net lending and net holding gains and losses are illustrated in Figure 2. The figure also includes households' net lending as a percentage of disposable income.
The figure illustrates banks' and households' net lending, and households' net holding gains and losses with bars. Households' net lending as a percentage of disposable income is illustrated with a solid line. The figure covers the period from 2015 to 2022.
Households’ net lending fell from NOK 128 billion in 2021 to NOK 72 billion in 2022. Net holding losses on securities of NOK 142 billion reduced net financial assets by NOK 70 billion to NOK 1721 billion at the end of 2022.
Net lending continued to be positive in 2022 and was estimated at 3.9 per cent of disposable income in 2022. This is significantly higher compared to 2019, when net lending accounted for 0.2 per cent of disposable income. 2019 was the last normal year before the pandemic and war in Ukraine.
Revisions
Owners of small and medium-sized unlisted companies received extraordinary dividends in the 4th quarter of 2021. In the previous version of households’ financial accounts (December 2022), reinvested dividends were included in the financial instrument ‘Other accounts receivable/payable’ (F892), but in this latest version of the accounts (March 2023), reinvested dividends are split between the financial instrument’s ‘Loans’ (F400) and ‘Unlisted shares’ (F512). In the latest version, the payment of the dividend tax for the year 2021 is moved from the 2nd quarter to the 3rd quarter of 2022. The estimates are preliminary and may be changed.