Wholesale and retail trade sales statistics

Updated: 13 November 2024

Next update: 12 February 2025

Change in turnover for grocey trade sales
Change in turnover for grocey trade sales
4th period 2023 - 4th period 2024
8.3
%
 
Wholesale and retail sale statistics (NOK million)
Wholesale and retail sale statistics (NOK million)1
TurnoverChange in per cent
4th period 20234th period 20244th period 2023 - 4th period 2024
Sale and repair of motor vehicles53 30856 4145.8
Wholesale trade222 095222 8030.3
Retail trade106 477110 4723.8
Grocery trade38 02641 1658.3
E-commerce7 0507 2783.2
1The figures do not include value added tax.
Due to uncertainty regarding the statistical population in nace 46, this will be excluded from publication until further notice.
Explanation of symbols

Selected tables and charts from this statistics

  • Turnover statistics except wholesale on a fee or contract basis. Turnover excluding VAT. NOK million
    Turnover statistics except wholesale on a fee or contract basis. Turnover excluding VAT. NOK million
    4th period 20235th period 20236th period 20231st period 20242nd period 20243rd period 20244th period 2024
    Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles53 30859 60158 29849 94171 49163 11856 414
    Sale of motor vehicles39 10741 60841 94235 40853 10844 38840 815
    Maintenance and repair of motor vehicles8 81210 44110 5759 59811 48812 15510 038
    Sale of motor vehicle parts and accessories4 7457 1005 3974 4866 0765 7674 965
    Sale, maintenance and repair of motorcycles and related parts and accessories644453384448820808596
    Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles222 095249 290247 133224 889238 611242 223222 803
    Wholesale of agricultural raw materials and live animals1 5661 5561 7471 7102 2412 8411 646
    Wholesale of food, beverages and tobacco86 62493 42694 51889 52293 43890 16188 437
    Wholesale of household goods31 91736 65636 76932 90331 42034 05634 648
    Wholesale of information and communication equipment9 52410 95613 68610 58312 36912 3319 829
    Wholesale of machinery, equipment and supplies25 41931 78833 66328 03331 20832 95227 692
    Other specialised wholesale64 32371 29263 09559 35764 87366 91557 718
    Non-specialised wholesale trade2 7213 6153 6542 7813 0602 9662 834
    Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles106 477103 319120 02291 557102 696115 141110 472
    Retail sale in non-specialised stores41 92140 47246 14138 47142 29145 19545 231
    Retail sale of food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores4 7634 2956 0304 0904 9935 5665 368
    Retail sale of automotive fuel in specialised stores9 9819 9909 0948 3609 37210 2799 790
    Retail sale of information and communication equipment in specialised stores8779201 082754733805837
    Retail sale of other household equipment in specialised stores18 15317 83119 57213 82615 69018 76717 717
    Retail sale of cultural and recreation goods in specialised stores5 0794 1975 9643 6004 7085 0255 255
    Retail sale of other goods in specialised stores18 06017 48921 68215 00217 21021 40618 396
    Retail sale via stalls and markets864310423347196
    Retail trade not in stores, stalls and markets7 5568 08210 3537 4317 6668 0267 781
    Due to uncertainty regarding the statistical population in nace 46, this will be excluded from publication until further notice.
    Explanation of symbols

About the statistics

The purpose of the statistics is to identify the level and development of wholesale and retail trade.The turnover for a given year is only final when the last period in the following year is published. Both quarterly figures and figures for every second month are available in StatBank.

The information under «About the statistics» was last updated 2 June 2023.

Turnover: Includes dutiable and duty-free sales income from goods and services. Financial revenues, public subsidies or value added tax are not included.

Name: Wholesale and retail trade sales statistics
Topic: Wholesale and retail trade and service activities

12 February 2025

Division for Structural Business Statistics

Concerns bimonthly data only: Regular publication of data divided by counties in addition to the data published at national level. Other geographical breakdown can be commissioned.

Bimonthly level-numbers and quarterly indices.

The bimonthly turnover statistics is initially published about seventeen weeks after the expiration of the statistical period. Revised data are then published respectively two and four months after the initial publication.

The quarterly indices are initially published about sixty days after the expiration of the quarter. They are published at the NACE two-digit sector level only (NACE 45 and 46). Revised data are published in connection with the next time publication, i.e. three months after the initial publication.

The published data are being revised up to two calendar years back in time. This is explained in the table beneath, with the quarterly indices as an example. Superscript T refers to the current year, while subscript 1-4 refers to the relevant quarter.

The quarterly indices are reported to Eurostat, both gross data and data adjusted by working days, sixty days after the expiration of the quarter.

Primary data and the compiled statistics are stored electronically in files of the in the programming language SAS.

The purpose of the statistics is to identify the level of and the development of wholesale and retail trade. The statistics has been produced since 1995.

From 1995 to 2006, only the bimonthly data where published nationally. The quarterly indices where published by Eurostat only. As from the first quarter of 2007, the quarterly indices are also published nationally.

Users include public and private sector agencies and organisations. The National Accounts statistics of Statistics Norway rely on the timely production of the Wholesale and Retail Statistics. Other users include the Research department of Statistics Norway.

No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on ssb.no at 8 am. Prior to this, a minimum of three months' advance notice is given in the Statistics Release Calendar. Principles of communication and dissemination

Similar statistics is being prepared for all dutiable industries. Change in the progress of turnover is compared with the monthly Index of Retail Trade. Both change in progress and level numbers are compared with the annual Structural statistics for Wholesale and Retail Trade.

The Statistics Act, paragraphs 3-2.

EU Council Regulation No 1165/98, May 19, 1998 regarding short-term statistics.

The population is all VAT-registered units within the industries of wholesale and retail trade, repair of vehicles and household goods and personal goods included. Agency business is not part of the population. This means NACE 45, 46 (except 46.1) and NACE 47, according to the Standard of Industrial Classification (SIC2007). State owned units and units owned by the social security administration or local or regional governments are not part of the population. The observed unit is mainly identical to the obliged VAT-registered unit, i.e. enterprises with an annual turnover that exceeds NOK 50 000.

The VAT-register

The Wholesale and Retail Trade Statistics represent full-census survey data for the entire population.

Data are collected from the VAT-register.

Turnover is controlled against earlier received data. If the divergence is considerable, the individual VAT-unit is contacted. Information from the VAT-register is controlled against the Central register of Establishments and Enterprises and the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities.

For the bimonthly statistics the data are summed up. When a VAT-unit consists of more than one active firm, the data is being divided according to registered turnover in the last annual data file from the Central register of Establishments and Enterprises.

The quarterly indices are computed from the bimonthly statistics. Therefore it is needed to divide some of the bimonthly data in two. For the division, the number of workdays within a month is used. The model for calculation of quarterly data is described below:

The variable Q refers to quarterly numbers, B is bimonthly numbers and wd is the number of workdays in March, April, September or October. Superscript T refers to the actual quarter, while subscript T refers to the current year. Subscript j shows that the data is divided into the most detailed NACE level as possible, i.e. three-, four- or five-digit sector level. Subscript h refers to two-digit sector level.

Not relevant

Employees of Statistics Norway have a duty of confidentiality.

Statistics Norway does not publish figures if there is a risk of the respondent’s contribution being identified. This means that, as a general rule, figures are not published if fewer than three units form the basis of a cell in a table or if the contribution of one or two respondents constitutes a very large part of the cell total.

Statistics Norway can make exceptions to the general rule if deemed necessary to meet the requirements of the EEA agreement, if the respondent is a public authority, if the respondent has consented to this, or when the information disclosed is openly accessible to the public.

More information can be found on Statistics Norway’s website under Methods in official statistics, in the ‘Confidentiality’ section.

To ensure confidentiality, the ‘suppression’ method is used in these statistics.

In the period 1995 to 2002 the statistics was published according to the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC1994). From 2002 is has been published according to the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC2002), and from 2009 is has been published according to the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC2007)

Changes in the statistics: Before the first bimonthly term of 2001, the statistics only included dutiable sales. From the first term of 2001, the statistics includes both dutiable and duty-fee sales.

Measurement errors (the respondent gives erroneous data) and processing errors (wrong interpretation of digits and letters written on paper forms during optical scanning) may occur. These types of errors are tried to avoid through control routines, as explained in chapter 3.5. Another possible error may occur, if there are used out of date distribution formulas to divide turnover in cases where a VAT-unit consists of more than one firms.

Errors in the estimation of quarterly indices may occur if the development between first and second term, or fourth and fifth term, in the bimonthly statistics is substantially different last year and this year.

The County Revenue Office is contacted in cases where big enterprises have failed to respond. For the first and second time publication, unit non-response is imputated. By the third and last publication, the turnover for unit non-response is set to cero.

Not relevant

Other errors in the VAT-register, under reporting included. This is difficult to value, but it is assumed not to represent a substantial source of errors.

Not relevant

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