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NOK 85 billion in current account surplus
statistikk
2011-09-05T10:00:00.000Z
External economy;National accounts and business cycles;External economy
en
ur, International accounts, current account balance, direct investments, operational and capital accounts, financial accounts, investment abroad, foreign investment, transactions, stocks, financial assets, liabilities, portofolio investment, financial investments, revaluations, current account balance, balance of income and current transfers, reinvested earnings, net assets, BOP geographical breakdown, balance of goods, balance of services, BOP, IIP, balance of payments, international investment positionBalance of payments, National accounts , Foreign assets and liabilities , National accounts and business cycles, External economy
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International accounts, Q2 2011

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NOK 85 billion in current account surplus

The surplus on the current account was NOK 85 billion in the second quarter of 2011. The result was NOK 10 billion higher than in the first quarter. The total current account surplus was NOK 161 billion in the first half of 2011, which is NOK 3 billion higher than in the same period last year.

Balance of payments. 1st quarter 2005-2nd quarter 2011. NOK billion

It was the surplus on the balance of income and current transfers that pulled the current account in the second quarter.

Surplus in income and current transfers

The surplus on the balance of income and current transfers was NOK 3 billion in the second quarter of 2011, compared with a deficit of NOK 15 billion the previous quarter. This must be viewed in the context that dividends from abroad are normally paid in the second quarter. Dividends from abroad were NOK 40 billion in the second quarter, which was NOK 19 billion more than in the first quarter. This was the main cause of the higher result in the balance. The total dividends received in the first two quarters of 2011 was NOK 62 billion compared to NOK 52 billion in the first half of 2010.

Reduced surplus on goods and services balance

The surplus on the balance of goods and services balance was NOK 83 billion, which is almost 9 NOK billion lower than in the first quarter. Exports amounted to more than NOK 271 billion, while imports were NOK 89 billion. Exports in goods, which accounted for over three-quarters of total exports, were NOK 14 billion lower in the second quarter than in the first quarter. This can mainly be linked to lower export volumes of oil and natural gas. Compared with the first quarter, service exports were NOK 3 billion higher in the second quarter.

Commodity imports, which were NOK 14 billion lower in the second quarter than in the first quarter, accounted for two thirds of total imports. The change can be explained by low imports of ships and different products to the oil business. Imports of other goods have remained stable over the last three quarters. Overall, imports of services were NOK 12 billion higher in the 2nd quarter than in the 1st quarter.

Reduction of investment both abroad and in Norway

The financial account for the second quarter of 2011 was characterised in several areas by a strong decrease in the transactions compared with the first quarter of 2011.

For investment abroad, the decrease was more predominant for direct investment and portfolio investment in other securities than equity capital and deposits. Although there were increases in portfolio investment in equity capital and in trade credits, these increases were far from sufficient to compensate for the areas with a decrease in the transactions.

With regard to foreign investment in Norway, the changes in the data from the first quarter of 2011 are similar to those for investment abroad. The large reductions in portfolio investment (here in both equity capital and in other securities) and in deposits by far exceed the more modest increases in direct investment, trade credits and loans.

Balance of payments. 1. quarter 2008 to 2. quarter 2011. NOK billion
  2009 2010 2. quarter 2008 3. quarter 2008 4. quarter 2008 1. quarter 2009 2. quarter 2009 3. quarter 2009 4. quarter 2009 1. quarter 2010 2. quarter 2010 3. quarter 2010 4. quarter 2010 1. quarter 2011 2. quarter 2011
Balance of goods and services  316  332  133  107  110 84 72 67 93  100 69 64 99 91 83
Balance of income and current transfers -41 -22 -14 -5 12 -42 10 -4 -5 -15 4 1 -13 -15 3
Current account balance  275  310  119  102  122 42 82 63 88 85 74 65 86 76 85
Capital transfers etc. to abroad, net 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Net lending  274  309  119  101  122 41 81 63 88 84 74 65 86 76 85
Direct investment, net 91 2 28 34 3 24 -24 63 28 48 30 -47 -29 90 4
Portifolio investment, net 4  120 79  206  221 86 38 17 -137 23 -43 88 52 15 90
Other investment, net  365  135 24 -123 -155 14 95 25  231 -1  160 -33 9 28 37
Revaluations, net 82  165 -116 84 -43 -242  275  138 -89 86 -39 52 65 -68 -60
Increase in Norway`s net assets  356  473 3  186 79 -201  357  201 -1  171 35  116  151 8 25

Revisions

The current account balance is revised down with NOK billion for the first quarter of 2011.

It should be noted that Statistics Norway will publish a revised Balance of Payments time series in December 2011 as a result of a main revision of the Norwegian National Accounts and Balance of Payments statistics.

For more information about price and volume growth of exports and imports, see the quarterly national accounts .

More details about exports and imports of goods are available in the statistics on external trade in goods .

For more information on the external account, see the theme page .