National accounts, March 2012

Goods-producing industries excluding manufacturing grew by 4.8 per cent, and accounted for close to half of the increase in GDP mainland Norway. The activity increase in construction was especially strong - it was on the rise in the last quarter of 2011 and continued into 2012 with a seasonally-adjusted growth rate of 3.6 per cent in gross value added in the 1st quarter. The production of electricity was markedly higher in the 1st quarter of 2012, where a rainy autumn and relatively warm start to the winter led to high water reservoir levels at the beginning of the year, which remained above average throughout the quarter. Electricity production contributed to 0.2 percentage points of the growth in GDP mainland Norway.

Gross value added in manufacturing grew by 0.6 per cent in the 1st quarter, after increasing by 0.9 per cent in the two previous quarters. An increase in the manufacture of food products, machinery and equipment, building of ships, oil platforms and modules contributed positively, while the fall in the manufacture of basic chemicals, amongst others, continued in the 1st quarter of 2012.

The activity in service-producing industries, excluding general government, grew by 1 per cent in the 1st quarter, where wholesale and retail trade stood out by accounting for a quarter of the increase in GDP mainland Norway.

Gross value added in petroleum activities and ocean transport also increased in the 1st quarter which led to a growth in total GDP of 1.4 per cent.

Strong growth in household final consumption expenditure

Household final consumption expenditure grew by 1.3 per cent in the 1st quarter of 2012. There was a sharp increase in goods consumption of 1.9 per cent, due mainly to the growth in the consumption of food, clothing and electricity. Consumption of services grew by 0.5 per cent, with growth in tourism-related services such as passenger transport and accommodation- and food service activities.

The consumption of general government was slightly lower than in the 4th quarter, after marked growth through 2011.

Increased investments in oil and gas extraction

Gross fixed capital formation grew by 0.6 per cent, mainly due to the high level of investments in oil and gas extraction. Contrary to this, investments in mainland Norway were down by 2.7 per cent.

Investments in dwelling services of households fell in the 1st quarter, after strong growth through the first half of 2011 before levelling out at the end of the year. Investments in general government and mainland industries fell in the 1st quarter, after increasing correspondingly in the previous quarter.

Increased exports

The exports of traditional goods were up by 3.8 per cent. Main contributors to the growth were the exports of manufacturing products such as basic metals, machinery and other equipment as well as farmed fish and electricity. The export of crude oil and natural gas was up 6.5 per cent from the 4th quarter of last year, while exports of services fell. Total exports grew by 2.1 per cent.

Imports fell by 2.1 per cent, with a slowdown of 0.6 per cent for traditional goods and a somewhat stronger reduction in the import of services.

Employment on the rise

The number of employed persons grew by 0.7 per cent, or approximately 20 000 persons, in the 1st quarter. There was employment growth both in construction, wholesale and retail trade as well as other service-producing industries. The number of employees in general government was at about the same level as in the 4th quarter. Total hours worked grew by 0.8 per cent in the 1st quarter of 2012.

Revisions

The figures for 2011 have been subject to revisions in connection with calculations of figures for the 1st quarter of 2012. The annual growth of GDP and GDP mainland Norway have been revised down by 0.2 percentage points, while the growth in the 4th quarter of 2011 has had an upward revision. The growth in annual earnings in 2011 has been revised down 0.1 percentage point from the previous press release, to 4.2 per cent. For an overview of the revisions, please see the table below.