Annual non-financial sector accounts, national accounts, 2014-2015

Statistics Norway has revised the national accounts for institutional sectors for 2014 and 2015. Figures from the annual national accounts have been incorporated into the revision for 2014, and new sources and updated preliminary national accounts have been incorporated into the revision for 2015. For more information about revisions of the national accounts, see annual national accounts.

The revised figures show that disposable income for Norway was NOK 2 687 billion in 2014, a downward revision of NOK 40 billion compared to preliminary figures. The revision is mainly due to lower gross domestic product (GDP), as well as an upward adjustment of wages and property income from Norway to abroad at NOK 18 billion. Consumption has been revised upwards by NOK 5 billion, and saving for Norway is thus lowered by a further NOK 45 billion or 5.9 per cent. Saving for Norway is estimated at NOK 710 billion in 2014, and despite the downward revision was at the highest level ever.

The revised preliminary figures for 2015 show saving for Norway of NOK 598 billion. This represents a downward revision of NOK 23 billion from the previous release and a decrease of nearly 16 per cent from 2014. The savings were still at a high level.

Lower real disposable income for Norway

The real disposable income for Norway increased by 1.8 per cent from 2013 to 2014, which is a downward revision of 1.7 percentage points compared to previously published national accounts. Most of the adjustment stems from the change in income and transfers of balance of payments.

The real disposable income fell by 2.9 per cent in 2015. The last time real income fell was in 2009. The main reason for the decline from 2014 to 2015 was the deterioration in the terms of trade. The price development of oil and gas is important for the development in terms of trade, and contributed 4.7 percentage points to the decline in real disposable income. The change in terms of trade contributed overall 5.4 percentage points to the decline.

Somewhat higher household saving

Disposable income of households was NOK 1 251 billion in 2014, which corresponds to a downward revision of NOK 4.7 billion from the preliminary figures. The largest contribution to the revision came from operating income, which is reduced by NOK 7 billion. The effect of this revision is muted, however, by the fact that household net property income for 2014 has been revised up by about NOK 3 billion

Household savings have also been affected by the correction of savings in pension funds being lowered somewhat. Savings have therefore been revised down by NOK 8.5 billion to NOK 113 billion. The household saving ratio was 8.5 per cent, compared to 9.1 in the preliminary estimates.

Household disposable income in 2015 has been revised up by NOK 30 billion. The increase is mainly due to new information on received dividends in 2015. This should be viewed in conjunction with the introduction of higher taxes on dividends in 2016. For more information about the strong growth in household dividends, see statistics for shares and capital returns. The household saving ratio is estimated to be 10.8 per cent in 2015, an increase of about 1.3 percentage points from the previous estimate.

For more on households, see Quarterly Sector Accounts.