In preliminary figures from General government revenue and expenditure petroleum revenues are estimated at NOK 829 billion in 2023. This is 626 billion lower than the previous year. Diminished petroleum revenues can be attributed to reduced value of crude oil and natural gas exports. A prominent share of petroleum export revenues accrues to government through taxes and dividends from corporations owned by the state.
Through taxes from oil companies, it is estimated that the state collected NOK 474 billion in 2023 – approximately 417 billion less than in 2022, when petroleum taxes reached record levels. Dividends from Equinor and withdrawals from the state's direct ownership in oil and gas fields, pipelines, and onshore facilities, known as SDFI, amounted to NOK 355 billion in 2023. The corresponding figure for 2022 was 564 billion.
Social benefits in cash up 9 per cent
The largest expenditure item of the general government is social benefits to households. It comprises pensions and other cash benefits from the National Insurance Scheme, as well as pensions to former government employees and various social assistance benefits.
Social benefits in cash rose 9 per cent from 2022 to 2023. Old age pensions showed the largest upturn in absolute terms – they increased from NOK 299 billion to 326 billion. Among the chief benefits, the sickness benefit shows the sharpest increase in relative terms. Sickness benefits were 15 per cent higher in 2023 than the previous year. This was partly caused by high sickness absence rates in 2023 – evident in the latest data release from sickness absence statistics.
Non-petroleum revenues equal expenditures
Guidelines for the fiscal policy determine that petroleum revenues should be transferred to the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) and invested in foreign financial markets. At the same time, the assumed long-term return on the fund's assets can be added to the public budgets. This means that revenues excluding petroleum revenues over time will correspond to the total government expenditures. This link was strong in the ten-year period from 2010 to 2019. During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020-2021, expenditures were higher than revenues excluding petroleum revenues. This was partly due to increased expenditures on income support for households and compensation schemes targeted towards businesses. In 2022, a state of financial balance was re-established. The latest figures show that non-petroleum revenues continue to be roughly equal to expenditures in 2023.
Like many European countries, Norway will complete a revision of the national accounts in 2024. Government finance statistics is an integral part of the national accounts and will be revised in line with the core national accounts. The aim of the revision is to incorporate new information, improve methods and correct errors in back data. According to the schedule, revised time series will be released in early December 2024.