Norway is importing more fish

Norway imported NOK 22 billion worth of goods in April. Imports of fish increased by NOK 90 million or 44 per cent compared to the same month last year.

From January to April imports of fish increased by all of NOK 685 million or 80 per cent compared to the same period last year. Imports of frozen cod were up NOK 137 million.

Norway increased its imports of Russian cod by NOK 66 million and cod from the US by NOK 68 million. The US cod is for the most part imported direct while much of the Russian cod is taken in via other countries, primarily South Korea and Sweden.

NOK 26 billion in exports

Norwegian exported NOK 26 billion worth of goods in April. Twelve billion came from the oil and gas sector, while the remaining 14 billion came from traditional goods.

Reduced trade surplus

The trade surplus in commodities, excluding ships and oil platforms, amounted to almost NOK 3.5 billion in April, half of what it was in April last year. The trade surplus was also nearly cut in half in the period from January to April, compared to the same period in 1997.

The reduction in the trade surplus so far this year is due to lower revenues from oil and gas imports and an increased deficit in traditional commodities. From January to April, exports of crude oil brought in NOK 10.3 billion less than during the same period last year, a decline of 22 per cent. The preliminary average price per barrel of crude oil so far this year is NOK 104, against NOK 132 during the same period last year. At the same time the trade deficit for traditional commodities increased to NOK 27 billion in the first four months of this year, against NOK 20 billion for the same time period last year. This is because imports of traditional goods increased to NOK 88 billion, an increase of NOK 13 billion or 17.9 per cent, while exports of traditional commodities only increased by NOK 6 billion or 11.8 per cent.

New Statistics

External trade with commodities, April 1998.
Statistics are released every month in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics and Monthly Bulletin of External Trade, which can also be accessed on the Internet: http://www.ssb.no. Detailed figures are available from Customer Relations, External Trade, tel. +47 21 09 47 52/53, or e-mail: bente.rosnes@ssb.no. For more information, contact: anne.berit.dahle@ssb.no, tel. +47 21 09 47 10.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 21, 1998