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NOK 414 billion yearly current account surplus
statistikk
2013-03-06T10:00:00.000Z
External economy;National accounts and business cycles;External economy
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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, Q4 2012

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NOK 414 billion yearly current account surplus

The surplus on the current account was NOK 414 billion in 2012, NOK 63 billion higher than in 2011. The surplus on the current account reached NOK 105 billion in the fourth quarter, NOK 11 billion higher than in the third quarter.

Balance of payments. NOK billionPublished 6 March 2013
20124th quarter 20111st quarter 20122nd quarter 20123rd quarter 20124th quarter 2012
Balance of goods and services385.099.3130.193.568.792.8
Balance of income and current transfers29.00.86.5-15.425.412.5
Current account balance414.0100.1136.678.094.2105.2
Capital transfers to abroad, net1.31.00.70.20.20.2
Net lending412.498.9135.877.894.0104.8
Direct investment, net47.0-66.242.228.2-18.7-4.6
Portifolio investment, net324.166.5-18.080.9129.6131.6
Other investment, net-20.638.570.320.9-69.4-42.3
Revaluations, net52.7117.682.4-69.447.5-7.9
Increase in Norway's net assets465.1216.5218.38.4141.596.9

Source: Statistics Norway

Current account. NOK billion

Increased goods and services balance

In 2012, Norway exported goods worth NOK 924 billion; an increase of NOK 31 billion from 2011. Export of crude oil and natural gas was NOK 42 billion higher than the year before, while exports of other goods declined, particularly as a result of the fall in fish and metal prices. Export of crude oil and natural gas amounted to 65 per cent of the total export value in 2012. The import value for goods was NOK 523 billion; an increase of NOK 2 billion from 2011.

Exports of services amounted to NOK 266 billion in 2012; an increase of NOK 17 billion compared to 2011. Norway imported services valued of NOK 281 billion; an increase of NOK 26 billion from 2011. Imports of travel and financial and business services contributed the most to the increase in imports of services. These industries accounted for 35 and 21 per cent of the total imports of services respectively in 2012.

Increased dividends from abroad

The surplus on the income and transfers account was NOK 12 billion in the fourth quarter and NOK 29 billion for the full year. Compared with 2011, there was an increase in both revenues and expenditures. Dividends from abroad were particularly high in 2012, and accounted for almost 60 per cent of wages and property income from abroad.

Direct investment and portfolio investment dominate the transactions in 2012

Direct investment and portfolio investment abroad in the fourth quarter of 2012 did not differ much from the previous quarters of 2012. This was also the case for foreign direct investment in Norway, but foreign portfolio investment in Norway deviated from the other quarters by showing negative figures.

The total Norwegian investment abroad in 2012 amounted to NOK 555 billion, of which NOK 121 billion was direct investment and NOK 456 billion was portfolio investment. Portfolio investment abroad in equity capital was much the same in 2012 as in 2011 but portfolio investment in other securities increased from NOK 77 billion in 2011 to NOK 210 billion in 2012. This increase has more to do with a low level in 2011 than a high level in 2012.

The development through 2012 was similar for the transactions in foreign investment in Norway. Direct investment and portfolio investment dominated with 37 per cent and 66 per cent of total investment respectively. The transactions in other investment both abroad and in Norway in 2012 were small and negative.

Positive revaluations increased the net assets considerably in 2012

The net revaluations were NOK 53 billion in 2012, and with an all time high net investment of NOK 412 billion the net assets increased by NOK 465 billion.

RevisionsOpen and readClose

The Norwegian direct investments abroad through other capital were reduced by NOK 88 billion in 2009 as a consequence of new information. Reinvested earnings, both to and from other countries, were revised in 2011 and 2012 due to new information. The revisions amount to NOK 22 billion on the income and transfers balance for both years.