Portfolio investment abroad

Portfolio investment

Financial investment where the investors have no intention to establish a long-term financial link. In practice, an investment is classed as portfolio investment when the ownership interest is less than 20 per cent.

Financial instruments

A financial instrument is a document representing a financial value or a monetary claim. The statistics cover financial instruments such as equity shares, investment fund shares, long-term and short-term debt securities. Financial derivatives are not covered in the statistics.

Market value

The market value represents the price at which a financial instrument is traded in a market, agreed upon by the parties involved.

The classification of financial instruments and sector breakdown is described in the manuals System of National Accounts 2008 (SNA2008) (un.org - PDF) and European System of Accounts 2010 (ESA2010) (europa.eu - PDF).

The classification of portfolio investments in Norway adheres to the guidelines outlined in the International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) Balance of Payments Manual, sixth edition (BPM6) (imf.org - PDF) and IMF's CPIS Guide (Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey) (elibrary.imf.org - PDF). In Norway, portfolio investments are defined as holdings in financial instruments where ownership shares are below 20 percent, in accordance with the Norwegian Accounting Act § 1-4 (lovdata.no). This differs from the international standard, where ownership shares below 10 percent are classified as portfolio investments.

The country code classification follows the international standard ISO-3166 (ssb.no).

Sectoral breakdowns follow the Classification of Institutional sector Classification of Institutional sector - Statistics Norway (ssb.no).

The Norwegian economy is split into sectors on the basis of groups of homogeneous institutional units. An entity must possess decision-making authority and be capable of producing a complete set of accounts to be classified within a specific sector. Typically, these entities are either legal entities or individuals.

The statistics on Portfolio investments abroad are published for the following sectors: Central Government, Banks, Insurance and pension funds, Unit trusts, Other financial corporations and Non-financial corporations, households etc. Moreover, the statistics are published on the following objects: Equity and investment fund shares, and Debt securities.

Name: Portfolio investment abroad
Topic: External economy

Division for Financial Accounts

National level.

Annual. The statistics are published in June.

Data are reported to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Collected and revised data are stored securely by Statistics Norway in compliance with applicable legislation on data processing.

Statistics Norway can grant access to the source data (de-identified or anonymised microdata) on which the statistics are based, for researchers and public authorities for the purposes of preparing statistical results and analyses. Access can be granted upon application and subject to conditions. Refer to the details about this at  Access to data from Statistics Norway.

The statistics are compiled in accordance with the IMF's Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey (CPIS), to which Norway has committed to participate. The survey adheres to the IMF's SDDS standard (Special Data Dissemination Standard) (imf.org - PDF). CPIS aims to enhance the accessibility and quality of international statistics on portfolio investments.

Norway conducted its first Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey in 1997 and has conducted it annually since 2001. Data from the StatBank source table are available starting from the reference year 2004.

The primary user is the IMF, which publishes the Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey on its website (data.imf.org). The IMF uses the surveys for international comparisons and to gain a better understanding of global capital flows. The statistics are also used by researchers domestically and internationally, media, ministries, and governmental agencies to improve their understanding of the global economic situation.

No external users have access to statistics before they are released at 8 a.m. on ssb.no after at least three months’ advance notice in the release calendar. This is one of the most important principles in Statistics Norway for ensuring the equal treatment of users.

The figures published in the statistics Portfolio investment abroad corresponds with the 4th quarter position figures for the functional category “Portfolio investments” in the International accounts (ssb.no). Portfolio investment abroad provide detailed insights into the sectoral and geographical distribution of Norwegian securities holdings abroad, which are not included in the International accounts (ssb.no).

Investments in foreign entities where ownership shares exceeds 20 percent are categorized as direct investments. More comprehensive information on direct investments is available in a separate statistic, Foreign direct investment (ssb.no). Additionally, direct investments abroad are reported in the International accounts (ssb.no) in Table 2: International Investment Position. By functional category and financial instrument. Differing revision cycles may lead to minor discrepancies between the statistics.

The statistics are part of the National programme for official statistics. Main area: External economy. Sub-area: International accounts.

The statistics are developed, produced and disseminated pursuant to Act no. 32 of 21 June 2019 relating to official statistics and Statistics Norway (the Statistics Act).

No EEA legislation applies.

The statistics cover Norwegian enterprises and households owning securities issued by non-residents. The Norwegian sectors covered in this statistic are Central Government, Banks, Insurance and pension funds, Unit trusts, Other financial corporations and Non-financial corporations, households etc. See the section "Data sources and sampling" for further details.

The statistics depict holdings at the end of the year of:

• Equity and investment fund shares
• Debt securities

Financial derivatives are not covered in Porfolio investment abroad. Financial instruments held by Norges Bank (the Central Bank of Norway) as reserve assets are not defined as portfolio investment.

The statistics are compiled using reported information from surveys of individuals and businesses, as well as registry data. Complete enumeration is used for some sources, while others utilize partial enumeration samples that cover the largest and most important enterprises with securities issued by non-residents.

The most important sources include:

• Annual financial accounting statistics from Norges Bank (the Central Bank of Norway), including The Government Pension Fund Global.
• Financial accounting statistics for licensed financial entities such as banks, credit institutions, holding companies, insurance companies, and pension funds. Full enumeration is conducted for these sources, except for pension funds, which use sample surveys.
• Reporting of balance of payments data (BoP reporting) covering Norwegian-registered legal entities in both the private and public sectors, as well as other financial entities not previously mentioned. The BoP reporting utilizes sample surveys to capture data from the largest and most significant enterprises
• Registry data from Norwegian securities depositories and the Norwegian Central Securities Depository 
• Annual financial statements from securities funds.

Collection of data

No separate data collection is conducted for compiling these statistics. The sources used are further explained in the section titled 'Data Sources and Sampling'

Editing

Editing is defined here as checking, examining and amending data. The reporting unit is contacted if there is suspicion of errors in the submitted data. If data editing is necessary, the reporter sends a new response with corrected data.

Estimations

Calculations performed for this statistic primarily involve summations.

Employees of Statistics Norway have a duty of confidentiality.

Statistics Norway does not publish figures if there is a risk of the respondent’s contribution being identified. This means that, as a general rule, figures are not published if fewer than three units form the basis of a cell in a table or if the contribution of one or two respondents constitutes a very large part of the cell total.

Statistics Norway can make exceptions to the general rule if deemed necessary to meet the requirements if the respondent is a public authority, if the respondent has consented to this, or when the information disclosed is openly accessible to the public.

More information can be found on Statistics Norway’s website under Methods in official statistics, in the ‘Confidentiality’ section.

While the figures in Portfolio investment abroad is generally comparable over time, changes in data sources, methodologies, and international guidelines may affect the accuracy of the data. The datasets are available back to the reference year 2004.

Measurement errors, sampling errors, and non-response errors may occur in the statistics. These errors may be attributed to:

• Inaccuracies in the transmission or reporting of data from enterprises' accounting records to Statistics Norway.
• Insufficient data provided by reporters or delayed reporting.
• Biases in the sample that may impact, among other factors, the distribution of countries.
• In some cases, country allocation may be based on the country where the security is issued rather than the issuer's residence.
• Different accounting and valuation principles, as well as variations in the timing of recording transactions by enterprises, can also introduce sources of error.

A revision is a planned change to figures that have already been published, for example when releasing final figures as a follow-up to published preliminary figures. See also Statistics Norway’s principles for revisions.

The latest release presents preliminary figures, while the previous release is updated with final figures. Footnotes in StatBank source tables provide information on major revisions.