The economy develops weaker than expected in February. Statistics Norway now sees signs that growth is slowing down.
– The underlying growth in the mainland economy shows signs of slowing down, says SSB section manager Pål Sletten.
GDP for mainland NorwayGDP for mainland NorwayGross domestic product (GDP) is equal to the sum of all goods and services produced in a country, minus the goods and services that are used during production. Mainland GDP ignores oil and gas, as well as foreign shipping. fell 0.2 percent in February, according to recent figures from Statistics Norway (SSB).
In advance, zero growth was expected in February, according to Bloomberg, after a fall of 0.2 percent in January. This drop has now been revised up to a growth of 0.1 per cent.
In Norway, you usually look at the development in mainland GDP, which excludes oil and gas revenues, to assess the state of the economy. Including these industries, GDP fell 0.1 per cent in February.
The GDP figures can often fluctuate quite a bit from month to month, and more emphasis is therefore placed on the quarterly figures. The rolling three-month growth in mainland GDP was 0.3 per cent from September-November to December-February.
It is widely expected that economic growth will moderate significantly this year compared to last year. The reason for this is, among other things, high price growth, rising interest rates and weaker growth internationally.
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Food consumption decreased
Consumption among private individuals rose 1.3 per cent in February, but is particularly driven up by car purchases, which have fluctuated widely due to tax increases on electric cars.
The growth in total consumption in February was mainly due to the fact that consumption of means of transport rose by a whopping 19.1 per cent from the low level of the previous month.
Excluding cars, consumption fell 0.8 percent in February. There was a broad decline in goods consumption, but especially food consumption declined, after an increase in January.
Statistics Norway believes this is due to the pre-announced price increase for food in February, which may have contributed to some shift in food consumption from February to January.
Exports fell by 0.2 per cent, measured in constant prices. Exports of crude oil in particular fell, while exports of traditional goods increased. Within services exports, the development was almost flat.
Measured in current prices, however, total exports fell by 1.5 per cent in February. Both prices and the volume of total exports fell, but it was mainly gas prices that pulled down.
Total imports increased by 1.9 per cent in February, measured at constant prices. Increased imports of traditional goods contributed most to the upswing, and it was especially car imports that pulled up.
