Museums and collections, 2010

There are major differences in the amount of paying visitors between the museums and between the counties. The museums in Svalbard and Hordaland had the biggest percentage of paying visitors, with 87 and 82 per cent respectively. On the other side of the scale we find Telemark and Aust-Agder, with 30 and 33 per cent paying visitors respectively.

Increase in the total number of visits

The museums in Norway had in total over 10.5 million visits. This is an increase of 360 000, or four per cent, since 2009. Since 2002, total visits have increased by more than two million, or 27 per cent.

The collections

In Norwegian museums there were over 4.4 million archaeological subjects in 2010; an increase of three per cent since 2009. The number of historical fine arts subjects was 450 000, about the same as in 2009. The museums had over 3.6 million cultural history subjects; an increase of one per cent since 2009. On the other hand, the number of natural history subjects had decreased by 16 per cent since 2009 and counts just below 10 million in 2010. The number of photographs in the museums was 24.7 million; an increase of seven per cent since 2009.

An increase in man-years the last five years

There were over 3 900 man-years in the museums in 2010. Since 2005 this is an increase of more than 370 man-years, or 11 per cent. Since 2005 the remunerated man-years have been 95 per cent of the total man-years, which means that the man-years carried out by volunteers have been 5 per cent in the same period. In 2010 the man-years by permanent staff constitute 75 per cent of the remunerated man-years. This is an increase of three percentage points since 2005.

Fewer administrative units

There were 137 administrative units among the museums in Norway in 2010. This is half of the number of units in 2002, and since 2009 there has been a reduction of 11 administrative units. In other words, the consolidation process is not yet over.

Tables:

• Table 1 Museums and collections. Visits and exhibitions. 2010
• Table 2 Museums and collections. Size of collections. 2010
• Table 3 Museums and collections. Finance, employment position and man-years. 2010
• Table 4 Museums and collections. Visits, exhibitions and subjects, by number of visits. 2010