Accounting statistics, non-financial enterprises foreign financing

The units below are regarded as Norwegian in the statistics:

Legal persons registered as Norwegian, excluding their affiliates abroad. The definition is valid regardless of the owner’s nationality. Hence, foreign-owned companies registered as Norwegian are regarded as Norwegian units.

Affiliates in Norway of foreign registered legal persons. Physical persons permanently residing in Norway, regardless of citizenship. The following units are regarded as foreign in the statistics:

Legal persons registered abroad, including Norwegian-owned companies that are registered abroad.

Norwegian companies’ affiliates abroad.

Physical persons permanently residing abroad, regardless of citizenship.

Fixed assets in foreign countries cover assets that are mainly included in the company’s long-term creation of value and are intended for permanent ownership or use. They also include receivables and securities scheduled for repayment later than one year after the time of the settlement. They include tangible fixed assets, long-term receivables and investments. Investments include securities, shares and loans to other companies within the same group.

Current assets are assets relating to the company’s sales of goods and services (stocks of goods are not included, but assets and liabilities concerning sales of goods are), and assets which are expected to have a functional period of less than one year in production. This includes cash and short-term capital in foreign countries, foreign receivables and inventories.

The data are based on accounting legislation, and the values do not necessarily give a good picture of the real or the market value of the assets.

Liabilities cover all obligations that may limit the company’s future use of its resources. They are divided into short-term and long-term liabilities to foreign countries. Long-term liabilities are legal or financial obligations not meant to be redeemed during the coming accounting period. They are not related to the company’s short-term sales of goods and services. Short-term liabilities are liabilities that fall due for payment within one year from the time of settlement. Liabilities which are directly related to the company’s short-term sales of goods and services also fall in this category.

Companies applying the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) classify proposed dividends as a part of the equity, and not as a short-term liability.

In the statistics, assets and liabilities are grouped into assets and liabilities in companies within own group and assets and liabilities in companies that are not in own group.

The annual statistics are broken-down by groups of countries.

Groups of countries are based on the ISO standard 3166.