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Weak growth in Mainland Norway
Gross domestic product (GDP) for Mainland Norway rose 0.2 per cent in the 3rd quarter of 2016, according to seasonally adjusted figures. This followed after growth of respectively 0.3 and 0.4 per cent in 1st quarter and 2nd quarter of 2016 and flat growth in the second half of 2015.
| 2015 | 4th quarter 2015 | 1st quarter 2016 | 2nd quarter 2016 | 3rd quarter 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Figures from 2015 onwards are preliminary. | |||||
| Gross domestic product | 1.6 | -1.6 | 1.1 | 0.0 | -0.5 |
| Gross domestic product Mainland Norway | 1.1 | -0.1 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Petroleum activities and ocean transport | 3.7 | -7.2 | 4.6 | -1.8 | -3.1 |
| Final domestic use of goods and services | 0.7 | 0.5 | 2.4 | -0.3 | -0.6 |
| Final consumption expenditure of households and NPISH | 2.1 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| Final consumption expenditure of general government | 2.1 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) | -3.8 | 0.4 | -0.4 | -0.2 | 2.6 |
| Total exports | 3.7 | -2.0 | -2.1 | -1.4 | 1.1 |
| Total imports | 1.6 | 4.3 | 0.5 | -2.6 | 1.3 |
| Employed persons | 0.3 | -0.2 | -0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Total hours worked | 0.3 | -0.1 | 0.0 | -0.1 | 0.1 |
The decline in value added in manufacturing and mining, which has lasted since the beginning of 2015, continued in 3rd quarter. The decline was 1.4 per cent. The decline in 3rd quarter is seen mainly in oil-related manufacturing industries. Meanwhile, there was increased activity in food and commodity-based industries.
Other goods producing industries grew overall by 0.2 per cent. Electricity production decreased, while value added in construction continued to increase from a high level. There was also good growth in aquaculture in the 3rd quarter.
The preliminary figures show that the value added in service industries as a whole increased by 0.4 per cent. Decline in services related to oil activities dampened the growth significantly. The general picture is that growth was low for most service industries outside the tourism area. Value added in general government increased 0.3 per cent in 3rd quarter.
Value added in petroleum activities and ocean transport declined in the 3rd quarter and contributed to the 0.5 per cent decline in total GDP.
Weak growth in household consumption
Household consumption was almost unchanged after weak growth in the 2nd quarter. Consumption of goods fell by 0.5 per cent after a prolonged period of weak growth, while consumption of services showed clear growth. Household consumption abroad increased by 2.4 per cent.
General government consumption rose by 0.4 per cent, which is slightly weaker than in the two preceding quarters. Consumption growth was stronger in central government than in local government.
Higher investments level
Total gross fixed capital formation by 2.6 per cent in the 3rd quarter of this year after having mostly fallen over the last two years. Preliminary figures show decline in petroleum investments of 0.6 per cent. Investments in production drilling declined, while investments in platforms increased.
In Mainland Norway, investments increased by 3.4 per cent in 3rd quarter. Investments in dwelling grew by 3.1 per cent and has risen steadily since the end of 2014. There was also growth in investment in electricity. However, investments in manufacturing and mining declined 1.3 per cent, following a decline also in the 2nd quarter. Gross fixed capital formation in general government rose 7.5 per cent.
Continued decline in exports of traditional goods
Exports of traditional goods fell markedly in the first half. In the 3rd quarter, export of traditional goods fell by 0.7 per cent. Preliminary estimates for exports of services, however, show an increase of 3.8 per cent in 3rd quarter. Approximately one third of this increase comes from exports of tourism services. Exports excluding oil and gas increased by 1.4 per cent. Exports of oil and gas increased by 0.8 per cent after a decline the previous quarter.
Imports of traditional goods fell by 0.3 per cent after a pronounced decline the previous quarter. This reflects weak growth in import-intensive Norwegian demand and improved competitiveness. For imports of services the estimated growth is 0.6 per cent from the 2nd to the 3rd quarter 2016.
Weak employment growth
Preliminary calculations show that employment increased by 0.1 per cent, about 1,500 persons, in 3rd quarter 2016. This comes after weak growth over several quarters. Compared with 3rd quarter last year there were 4,000 fewer people were employed.
In 3rd quarter, the number of hours worked increased by 0.1 per cent after approximately flat trend in the previous three quarters.
Figures revised for all quarters for 2014:1
In conjunction with the release of its 3rd quarter 2016, new information incorporated in 1st and 2nd quarter 2016. Volume growth in GDP for mainland Norway from 1st half 2015 to 1st half 2016 is unchanged from the previous release, though the individual components are audited. The seasonally adjusted GDP growth in Mainland Norway is also unchanged in 1st quarter and 2nd quarter compared to the previous release. An overview of the revisions in macroeconomic variables listed in table no. 48.
For an overview of developments in the gross domestic product for some of our trading partners, view statistics from the OECD.
Concepts and definitions in National AccountsOpen and readClose
For more information about definitions of the main concepts, variables and classifications in national accounts, see About the statistics, definitions.
How the figures are calculatedOpen and readClose
The sum of four quarters in the Quarterly National Accounts (QNA) makes up the preliminary annual figures until the Annual National Accounts (ANA) for year t are published in November in year t+2 and incorporated as a new base year in the QNA. Hence, 2011 is the base year in the QNA when publishing data in May 2014.
In both the ANA and QNA, the figures stripped of movements in prices are referred to as volume changes, or fixed price estimates in the QNA, and this is done to identify the underlying cyclical pattern of the economy.
Note that in the time series in volume, the figures from the base year and onwards are fixed price figures, while data prior to the base year are chained volume figures. This implies that additivity in volume is lost prior to the base year.
Contact
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Pål Sletten
E-mail: pal.sletten@ssb.no
tel.: (+47) 99 29 06 84
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Ingunn Sagelvmo
E-mail: ingunn.sagelvmo@ssb.no
tel.: (+47) 40 90 26 32
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Pia Tønjum
E-mail: pia.tonjum@ssb.no
tel.: (+47) 48 99 12 07
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Kristian Gimming
E-mail: kristian.gimming@ssb.no
tel.: (+47) 91 88 39 06