Return on direct investment, 2004-2006

Close to 70 per cent of the return on foreign investment in Norway consisted of paid dividend. The share of paid dividend in the return on Norwegian investments abroad was 65 per cent. Reinvested earnings, i.e. the part of the financial surplus that is not paid out as dividend but reinvested in the company, accounted for almost 20 per cent of the return on direct investment in Norway and almost 30 per cent of the return on direct investment abroad. Paid dividend and reinvested earnings can be regarded as the return on called-up share capital and real capital. The rest of the return on direct investment consists of interest on net loans from parent companies to subsidiaries.

While most of the return on foreign direct investment in Norway went to investors in the EU and the USA, the return received by Norwegian investors from abroad was to a higher degree earned in countries outside the EU and the USA. The reason for this geographical difference is the Norwegian engagement in oil and gas exploration in other parts of the world.

The annual surveys of the return on direct investment do not provide thorough statements of the profit and loss situation in the investment companies covered by the surveys. A complete statement would have to include more accounting data as well as explanations of internal matters which do not appear from the accounts. The purpose of the surveys is to produce macro data for use in official statistics.

Tables:

• Table 1 Return on direct investment in Norway 2004-2006. NOK million
• Table 2 Return on direct investment abroad 2004-2006. NOK million