National accounts, June 2012

Value added in construction was also on the rise, but less so than in the previous two quarters. Activity in manufacturing has been increasing since the 2nd quarter of 2011, but growth has levelled out and in the 2nd quarter of 2012 value added was about the same as in the previous quarter. The production of pharmaceutical products contributed positively, while the majority of the remaining manufacturing industries showed little or negative impact on growth.

Growth in service producing industries

Service producing industries excluding general government rose by 0.9 per cent in the 2nd quarter, where the main contributors to growth were professional, scientific and technical service activities, administrative and support activities and wholesale and retail trade.

Value added in general government was unchanged from the previous quarter, but this is seen in connection with the prevalence of strikes in local and central government in the 2nd quarter, which served to reduce value added by about 0.6 per cent.

GDP in total grew by 1.2 per cent. Petroleum activities, mainly extraction of natural gas, showed strong growth, while value added in ocean transport fell from the 1st quarter.

Increased household final consumption expenditures

Final consumption expenditure of households grew by 1.1 per cent in both the 1st and 2nd quarters of 2012. Consumption of food and electricity grew markedly, with the latter contributing to close to 0.3 percentage points of total household consumption.

Direct purchases abroad by resident households was revised up for the 1st quarter due to new information, which in isolation contributed to 0.3 percentage points of the growth of final consumption expenditures of households. In the 2nd quarter, household consumption abroad was only slightly higher than in the previous quarter.

Investments in household dwellings expands

Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) in household dwellings has increased continuously since the 2nd half of 2010 with the exception of the 1st quarter of 2012. In the 2nd quarter, growth was 4.1 per cent.

GFCF in mainland Norway in total showed an increase of 2.6 per cent from the 1st to the 2nd quarter. Growth was evident both in GFCF of general government as well as industries in general. Among others, GFCF in manufacturing and mining grew by 13.6 per cent, mainly due to increased GFCF in the production of chemical products and mining and quarrying.

GFCF in oil and gas extraction continued to increase, with 3.4 per cent growth in the 2nd quarter.

Growth in exports

Total exports grew by 1.3 per cent in the 2nd quarter. Exports of traditional goods grew by 0.6 per cent, with increased exports of fish and fish products and pharmaceutical products, among others. Export of electricity was still on a high level in the 2nd quarter, after a rise of close to 40 per cent in the previous quarter. The level of total imports was nearly the same as in the previous quarter, while imports of traditional goods fell slightly.

Marked increase in employment

Employed persons grew by 0.7 per cent according to seasonally-adjusted figures. Growth was especially strong in construction, petroleum activities and several service producing industries. Total hours worked grew by 0.3 per cent, which must be seen in light of the strikes in the 2nd quarter, particularly in general government. Strikes are calculated to have had a negative impact on the growth in total hours worked by a magnitude of 0.2 percentage points.

Tables

Published tables