Increased turnover in Svalbard despite a decrease in man-years worked

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The total turnover in Svalbard has increased by 4.4 per cent in 2019. The amount of man-years worked in total has decreased by 2.6 percent with mining operations being responsible for the largest decrease with 32.3 per cent.

Written by: Mikael Sandberg / Hege Raaberg Bekkevold

The activities that belong to the main industries of Information and Communication, along with Finance and Insurance are the largest industries based on turnover, with a 10.2 percent increase in 2019. Turnover for Accommodation and Catering activities had been increasing in recent years, however that trend has now been reversed and those industries have decreased by almost 40 million NOK, which is a 9.4 percent decrease in 2019. The mining and quarrying industries declined by just under 9 million NOK in turnover for 2019, according to new figures from Industry statistics for Svalbard.

Figure 1. Turnover by industry. NOK million

2018 2019
S Other service activities 5 5
R Arts, entertainment and recreation 105 101
Q Human health, social work 13 14
P Education 62 64
O Public adm., defence, soc. security 197 31
N Administrative, support service 342 336
M Profess., scientific, tech. act. 42 51
L Real estate activities 91 92
J Information, communication, financial and insurance act. 615 678
I Accommodation, food service 410 371
H Transportation and storage 298 457
G Domestic trade, car repair shop 359 394
F Construction 588 648
C-E Manufacturing, electr., watersupply, sewerage, waste 205 249
B Mining and quarrying 161 152

Decrease in total man-years worked

There has been a slight decrease in the number of man-years worked Full-time equivalent (FTEs) from the previous year by a total of 2.6 percent. The mining and quarrying industry saw a decline of 46 man-years in 2019, following a large increase from the previous year. There has also been significantly fewer man-years worked in the accommodation & catering industry from a peak year in 2017. Within the construction industry however, the number of man-years worked has increased by 39 from 2018 to 2019.

Figure 2. Number of man-years by industry

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
S Other service activities 18.4 17.8 14.5 9.4 9.5 10.3 11.2 12 13.5 12.1 8.9 10.7
R Arts, entertainment and recreation 29.7 40 35.1 39.2 47.8 44.7 70.4 95.6 146.1 116.1 123.2 103.1
Q Human health, social work 68.8 76.7 64.2 63 69.6 70.3 62.9 66.3 59.1 58.5 60.4 64.8
P Education 143.3 124.5 117.4 138 150.1 152.9 162.6 198.6 192.3 186.8 165.1 166.3
O Public adm., defence, soc. security 71.4 71.1 80.3 82.8 78.8 79.1 72.4 80.9 83.5 105.9 120.1 101.2
N Administrative, support service 134.9 108.9 109.9 137.1 103.5 100 96.3 105.2 131.7 198.5 181.1 174.2
M Profess., scientific, tech. act. 25.9 28.3 33.4 34 40.8 44.3 41.3 40.9 40 65.6 67.1 70.1
L Real estate activities 1.3 2.7 0.7 2.6 3.5 6.5 5.7 6.3 11.4 9.3 11.1 6.3
J Information, communication, financial and insurance act. 44.4 39.7 44.4 50.1 50.3 51.6 55.7 55.2 53.9 54.6 60.9 65.8
I Accommodation, food service 137.3 134.5 146 189.7 212 216.8 245.4 260.4 232.8 283.0 273.7 240.4
H Transportation and storage 109.7 98.9 102.8 103.7 110.6 112.7 98.6 86.1 91.8 87.0 94.8 117.1
G Domestic trade, car repair shop 105.9 115.7 106.9 105.7 114.8 118.7 103.1 131.3 154.4 114.1 112.1 120.2
F Construction 183.6 168.4 162.8 170.8 203.3 212.7 215.3 196.2 172.3 157.3 182.3 221.2
C-E Manufacturing, electr., watersupply, sewerage, waste 32.4 31.9 26.4 29.2 28.2 27.5 38.6 55.4 53.6 50.1 58.0 60.3
B Mining and quarrying 440.3 395.6 366.7 383.5 410.3 345.2 351.4 262.4 152.8 100.9 142.6 96.5

Weak investment growth

Total investment was relatively unchanged in 2019. The largest investments for 2019 belonged to the information & communication industries, along with the Finance & Insurance industries with a total of 101 million. This is an increase on the previous year of 5 percent. In the transport and storage industries, more than 69 million has been invested.

Mining in Svalbard

According to the annual report from Store Norske has reduced its total coal sales. Although Germany continued to be the largest market for coal, sales have decreased in 2019 from the previous year. Sales in Poland have ceased, however sales have increased in Spain and France has become a new customer.

All coal is now produced in Gruve 7. The international coal price index decreased sharply from 2018 to 2019, from an average price of 92 USD to 61 USD, however as Store Norske has a fixed price agreement based on historical prices, revenues have not fallen as much as the decline in coal prices. This applies to almost the entire turnover, with only 2.5 percent being sold on the spot market. Longyearbyen Energiverk has in recent years been a major user of industrial coal, and consumption has been relatively unchanged between 2018 and 2019.

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