External trade in goods, annual series, 2007

The tables and figures contain statistics grouped by the main commodity classifications for goods in external trade, the SITC (the UN Standard International Trade Classification) and the HS (Harmonised System - the international combined customs and statistical nomenclature). The tables are time series and cover the period 2002 to 2007. However, some cover a shorter period, while the table for crude oil and natural gas goes back to 1976. Moreover, figures 1-4 cover the period 1988 to 2007, figures 5 and 6 the period 1993 to 2007, while the rest of the figures only cover 2007.

Tables 1-4 contain main figures for Norway’s external trade. The external trade excluding ships and oil platforms (table 3) corresponds to the format of the monthly articles on Statistics Norway's website. Main figures by broad economic category (BEC) are presented in tables 5-8. Imports excluding ships and oil platforms and exports excluding crude oil and natural gas are often referred to as traditional imports and traditional exports.

Tables 9-12 provide results for two-digit SITC aggregates, whereas table 21 contains figures by three-digit SITC. Figures by HS chapter are found in tables 13 to 16.

The Norwegian external trade by trade area, continent and partner country is shown in tables 17 and 18, imports by country of origin and exports by country of destination. All countries are included and grouped by continent. The trade areas are defined according to their delimitation in 2007. On the other hand, the annual figures for trade with individual countries reflect the country’s status in each year. As an example, see Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro. This principle also applies to table 22, the most extensive table in the publication, which covers imports and exports by partner country, by two-digit SITC commodity groups. Commodity groups are specified on the basis of a cut-off defined as imports and/or exports of goods of a minimum of NOK 1 million in at least one of the three years in the table, 2005-2007.

Selected external trade areas are presented in more detail in tables 23-44, highlighting some commodity flows and serving as examples of time series at detailed commodity levels. There are tables on imports of food, exports of fish and fish products, engineering products and metals, exports and imports by activity, exports and imports of ICT goods, imports from developing countries and exports of crude oil and natural gas. The tables on imports of foodstuff and exports of fish list commodities by value in 2007, at detailed, eight-digit commodity level (with some adaptations necessitated by changes in the nomenclature during the years).

Tables 24-30 are examples of external trade statistics at the most detailed commodity levels, eight-digit national nomenclature (in accordance with the HS) and five-digit SITC. The Norwegian commodity texts used are short versions of the complete texts.

Exports of engineering products (table 29) and metals (table 30) correspond to the aggregates used for analytical purposes. Exports of commodities (table 31) and imports of commodities (table 32) are grouped by activity. In these tables, the commodity data are connected to industry by using an international activity/product grouping, i.e. the figures refer to the activity of the commodity and not necessarily the activity of the importing or exporting company.

With regard to imports from developing countries under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), a main point of interest may be to what extent the entitlement to preferential treatment is actually utilised. Since 1991, free trade agreements have been established between EFTA (and thereby Norway) and several of the former GSP countries. Consequently, the number of GSP countries has fallen. The range of eligible commodities has also been reduced due to the fact that more commodities are duty free.

Nearly one hundred developing countries may currently be granted preferences according to the GSP. About a quarter of these are classified in the subset of least developed countries (LDC). Tables 35 and 37 show the development in Norwegian imports from developing countries by the delimitation used in the Statistical Yearbook of Norway, and by the GSP and the LDC aggregates. This information is neither shown in the monthly statistics nor in the yearbook. Table 37 shows figures from some of the most important individual GSP/LDC partner countries, in terms of imports eligible for preferential treatment. For information concerning countries that are considered to be GSP or LDC, see appendix GSP and LDC countries.

The unstabilised crude oil transported by pipeline from the Ekofisk Centre to Teesside is recorded as exports to the UK, along with the Norwegian share of the crude oil from the British oil field Murchison to Sullom Voe. Following separation into stabilised crude oil and NGL, some is shipped back to Norway and included as imports from the UK. As a supplement to the official Norwegian export statistics, tables 42 and 43 show the final distribution by country of the shipments of stabilised crude oil and NGL out of Teesside and Sullom Voe. Table 44 shows the partner country distribution of the aggregate of all shipments of Norwegian crude oil directly from the oil fields and from terminals in Norway and the UK.

Electronic commerce is evolving rapidly across national borders. There are no special groupings for this commerce in the tables. The concept of electronic commerce may pertain to the electronic ordering of goods for delivery by traditional means of transportation, or the ordering and electronic delivery of goods such as software. The customs clearance formality does not encompass any recording of the way the goods are ordered. In the context of the international HS nomenclature, there has been a discussion on the feasibility of introducing separate commodity numbers for software delivered electronically. As of today, mass-produced as well as customised software are included in the Norwegian external trade statistics, whereas the balance of payments (BOP) statistics reclassify imports and exports of customised software as trade in services. The OECD is in the process of preparing guidelines on the definitions of scope and measurement of electronic commerce, an undertaking in which Norway is participating.

Some main results

Imports of goods came to NOK 468.3 billion and exports came to NOK 795.4 billion in 2007. As in 2006, there was an all time high in imports and exports while thetrade surplus decreased because the imports rose more than the exports.

The trade with ships and oil platforms, which normally varies substantially, accounted for 1.8 per cent of imports and 1.1 per cent of exports in 2007.

The export value of crude oil, natural gas and condensates decreased by 4.7 per cent (from NOK 473.6 billion to 451.5 billion) in 2007 compared with figures from 2006, see figure 2. The value of crude oil, natural gas and NGL in 2007 accounted for 57.4 per cent of the total exports excluding ships and oil platforms.

In 2006, the value index of exports of goods excluding crude oil, natural gas and condensates, ships and oil platforms showed a considerable increase, see figure 6. The growth was lower in 2007, at 10.9 per cent. With exports of NOK 246.3 in 2007, the level was higher than the average for the last five-year period (see figure 12). This was primarily due to higher exports of non-ferrous metals. Secondly, the exports of machinery and transport equipment rose in 2007 as was also the case in 2006 (see table 11).

The value index of imports of goods excluding ships and oil platforms has varied quite a lot during the period 2003-2007 (see figure 5). In 2003, there was a slight growth, and in 2004 a relatively strong growth. From 2003 to 2004, the value index rose by a substantial 15.5 per cent, the highest growth since 1994. The index growth was 9.6 per cent in 2005, 15.4 per cent in 2006 and 14.0 per cent in 2007. Furthermore, the volume of imports index of the same goods increased by 4.5 per cent from 2005 to 2006 and 3.9 per cent from 2006 to 2007. These changes are related to a boom in the Norwegian economy which increased the need for goods both for consumption and investment.

According to figure 5, the price index of imported goods excluding ships and oil platforms only increased by 3.9 per cent from 2006 to 2007, while figure 6 shows that the price index of exported goods excluding crude oil, natural gas, condensates, ships and oil platforms rose by 2.6 per cent. Furthermore, the exports volume index grew by 8.1 per cent from 2006 to 2007, or 1.2 per cent higher than in the previous period.

Tables on quarterly and annual indices of price and volume are available at this website: External trade in goods, table 50, 4th Quarter 2007

In 2007, exports of crude oil came to NOK 309.7 billion, compared with NOK 309.3 billion in 2006 (see table 38). The average price of oil rose slightly, from NOK 417 per barrel in 2006 to NOK 426 in 2007. The quantity exported decreased by about 16.4 million barrels (2.2 per cent). Exports of natural gas amounted to NOK 134.5 billion in 2007, down from NOK 146.9 billion in 2006. The exported quantity rose moderately, in the upper edge of NOK 1.1 billion Sm3 (standard cubic meter), or 1.3 per cent. It is worth noting that the exported quantity, 85.7 billion Sm3 is the highest ever; in fact the export quantity has been rising each year since 1994. However the price fell by NOK 0.17 on average to 1.57 per Sm3.

The number of barrels of crude oil exported in 2007 amounted to 726.1 million, of which 579.2 million were stabilised crude oil shipped from installations on the Continental Shelf or from onshore terminals (Mongstad and Sture). The remaining 146.9 million barrels were unstabilised crude oil, transported by pipeline to the Norwegian-owned terminals in the UK (Teesside and Sullom Voe) for separation and fractionating into stabilised crude oil and NGL (see table 40).

When including mineral oil products, gases etc, the total export of energy goods amounted to NOK 513.2 billion (see table 7). This accounts for 64.5 per cent of total Norwegian exports in 2007, a slight decrease compared with 2006 when the share was 67.9 per cent.

In the same table, we find that exports of capital goods accounted for NOK 39.8 billion or 5.0 per cent in 2007, a slight increase from 4.8 per cent in 2006. The average for the period 2002-2007 was NOK 34.5 billion. Exports of transport equipment excluding passenger cars amounted to NOK 11.3 billion in 2007, up by 31.4 per cent compared with 2006, while exports of other capital goods decreased by 1.7 per cent to NOK 28.5 billion. Exports of other intermediate goods amounted to NOK 166.8, up from NOK 143.9 in 2006. The average amount for the period 2002-2007 was NOK 123.9 billion.

Exports of goods for consumption rose by NOK 1.9 billion or 3.9 per cent from 2006 to 2007. Exports of consumption goods consisted mainly of fish and fish products. The increase in export value is therefore due to increased quantity exported and higher prices, mainly higher prices of salmon.

The value of imports of passenger cars came to NOK 26.1 billion in 2007, an increase of 13.0 per cent from NOK 23.1 billion in 2006, see table 5. The value of imports of capital goods in 2007 was NOK 94.8 billion, an increase of 16.7 per cent compared with figures from 2006. There has been strong growth in imports the last four years of about NOK 10 billion each year. It is mainly the import of transport equipment excluding passenger cars that has increased.

Imports of consumer goods came to NOK 100.4 billion in 2007. This is an increase of 11.1 per cent compared with 2006. In addition, imports of intermediate goods for further production came to NOK 177.1 billion in 2006; an increase of 14.0 per cent compared with the previous year. It is mainly the category intermediate goods other than food and beverages for industry and parts for machinery and transport equipment that has contributed to the highest growth in the last couple of years.

In 2007, the annual trade with European countries amounted to NOK 246.3 billion for exports of goods excluding crude oil, natural gas, condensates, ship and oil platforms and NOK 339.3 billion for imports excluding ship and oil platforms (see figure 11 and 12). The share of exports to Europe decreased from 76.1 per cent in 2006 to 73.5 per cent in 2007, while the share of imports decreased from 74.9 to 73.7 per cent. Exports to Asia accounted for NOK 41.6 billion or 12.4 per cent, compared with 10.9 per cent in 2006. Imports from Asia accounted for NOK 59.2 billion or 12.9 per cent, a slight decrease from 13.1 per cent in 2006. Exports to North and Central America accounted for NOK 36.9 billion or 11.0 per cent, slightly up from 10.2 per cent in 2006. Imports from North and Central America amounted to NOK 44.4 billion in 2007, thus continuing the rising trend since 2005.