The Producer Price Index (PPI) measures price developments in manufacturing, extraction of oil and gas, electricity supply and mining, both in terms of sales to the Norwegian market and abroad. In this article, we mainly focus on the manufacturing industries. Key Norwegian manufacturing industries include the food industry, chemical production, petroleum and coal processing, and basic metal manufacturing.
The producer price index (PPI) measures the price development that important parts of the Norwegian industry receive for their goods. Compared with the more well-known consumer price index (CPI), PPI measures price developments at an earlier point in the value chain. The CPI measures the price development that households pay for different goods, while the PPI measures prices "at the factory gate". Thus, PPI is an important indicator of the condition in the Norwegian industry. The index is used to analyse the Norwegian economy and can also be an indication of the development in the CPI. The PPI measures the price development in extraction of oil and natural gas, manufacturing, water- and electricity supply and for certain services, including services related to oil and gas extraction. Prices are measured on goods sold in the first stage of sales from the producer to the Norwegian market (domestic market), in addition to the foreign market (export market).
Manufacturing prices continues to increase in the domestic and export markets
Prices of manufactured goods produced in Norway rose by 6.5 per cent from February last year to February this year. Manufactured goods produced and sold in both the domestic and export market experienced higher twelve-month change in February compared to January.
– A trend we saw last year continues into 2025: The inflation on exported goods is increasing, while inflation on goods sold in the domestic market is lower and more stable, says Espen Kristiansen, head of section at Statistics Norway.
In the domestic market, prices within manufacturing industry as a whole increased by 3.8 per cent over the last twelve months, affected by increasing twelve-month rate on chemicals and basic metals.
In the export market, all the major manufacturing industries experienced a price increase from February last year to February this year. Manufacturing prices in the export market increased by 11,3 per cent in this period, while the twelve-month growth in January was 9.2 per cent. Figure 2 shows the industries that contributed most to higher export prices within manufacturing. The chemical industry had a particularly high twelve-month rate, but as the figure below shows, price changes in this industry can fluctuate considerably from one month to the next.
Higher prices on exported seafood
Higher export prices in the food industry are mainly due to higher prices of seafood. From January 2024 to January 2025, export prices for seafood increased by 26.4 per cent, while the twelve-month rate in February was 21.5 per cent. Inflation has thus slowed somewhat in February but is still at a high level.
The Division for Foreign Trade in Statistics Norway writes in the article "Norway's most important trading partners" that Europe is the largest market for Norwegian seafood exports, but a lot of Norwegian fish is also exported to China and the USA.
There are several factors that affect the export prices of seafood. An important factor is the krone exchange rate. Norwegian export companies usually receive payment for their goods in euros or dollars. When the krone depreciates against foreign currency, exporters receive more kroner for each euro or dollar, and measured in Norwegian kroner, export prices thus increase. The krone has been weak against both the euro and the dollar for a long period, which contributes to higher export prices on seafood.
Higher import prices on food
SSBs Price index of first-hand domestic sales (PIF) shows, among other things, price changes on imported goods. The imported goods in this index include food, electricity, chemical products, clothing, furniture, and many more.
Throughout most of 2023, there were high twelve-month rates on imported foods. In 2024, prices still rose, but not as much as earlier. Now the price increase on imported food has started to accelerate again.
– At the end of 2024 and into the first months of this year, the price increase on imported food has picked up again and was at 11 percent in February, compared to the same month last year, says Kristiansen.
The price increase for imported furniture has been relatively stable in 2024 and 2025. Import prices for clothing and accessories have gone from twelve-month rates of over 10 percent in large parts of 2023, to declining prices eight months in a row.
Other important twelve-month rates - PPI total
- Prices within extraction of oil and natural gas has increased by 43 per cent over the last twelve months, mainly due to the low price level on natural gas twelve months ago.
- Prices within power supply has increased by more than 40 percent over the last twelve months. We must go back to December 2022 to find similar twelve-month rates on power supply.
