Our Market

Below provides a profile of the Western Europe regional market overall, and interesting facts and information about issues important to both Norway and foreign executives working in Oslo.

The Norwegian economy is an example of a mixed economy; featuring a combination of free market activity and large state ownership in certain key sectors; such as the strategic petroleum sector (Statoil); hydroelectric energy production (Statkraft), aluminium production (Norsk Hydro); the largest Norwegian Bank (DnBNor); and largest telecommunication provider (Telenor). Norway is a major shipping nation, and has the world`s 6th largest merchant fleet. In addition Norway is the world's second largest exporter of seafood. Other main industries include information technology, food processing, shipbuilding, metals, chemicals, and mining. This makes Norway a richly endowed country with natural resources including petroleum, hydropower, fish, forest and minerals.

The standard of living is among the highest in the world. Foreign Policy Magazine ranks Norway (2009) to be the world`s most well-functioning and stable country. Norway maintains a Scandinavian welfare model with universal healthcare, subsidised higher education, and a comprehensive social security system.

Export revenues from oil and gas have risen to 45% of total export and constitute more than 20% of GNP. To reduce over-heating from oil money and uncertainty from oil income volatility, The Norwegian Parliament started in 1995 to save petroleum income in a sovereign wealth fund (Government Pension Fund). The fund invests in developed financial markets outside Norway. This reduces the boom and bust cycle associated with raw material production and the marginalization of non-oil industry.

The budgetary rule is to spend no more than 4% of the yearly yield from the fund. As of January 2010, the size of the fund is approximately USD 440 billion, and it controls approx. 1,7% of all listed shares in Europe, or 1% of all shares listed globally.

Geography
Norway comprises the western part of Scandinavia in Northern Europe. The rugged coastline stretches over 2500km, broken by huge fjords and thousands of islands. Norway shares boarders with Sweden, Finland and a short border line with Russia to the east. To west and south, Norway is bordered by the Norwegian Sea, the North Sea and Skagerak. The Barents Sea washes on Norway`s northern coast.

From late May to late July, the sun never completely descends beneath the horizon in the northern areas and the rest of the country experiences up to 20 hours of daylight per day. Throughout Norway, one will find stunning and dramatic scenery and landscape. The west coast of southern Norway and the coast of northern Norway present some of the most visually impressive coastal scenes in the world. National Geographic has listed the Norwegian fjords as the world's top tourist attraction.

Total Area
385,199km2 (mainland 323,802km2)

System of government
Parliamentary democracy under constitutional monarchy

Population
4,842,700 (Oslo:580,229, Oslo Region: 1,86 mill)

GDP per capita
NOK 534,440 (second largest in Europe, after Luxembourg)

Unemployment rate
3,3%

Official language
Norwegian. Norwegian is a North Germanic language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants.

Capital
Oslo (established year 1000)

Currency
NOK

Time Zone
CET (GMT+1)