- The growth in the Norwegian economy in May must be seen in context of the decline in april. GDP for Mainland Norway is roughly at back to the same level as in March, says Head of National Accounts, Pål Sletten.
New seasonally and price-adjusted figures from the National Accounts show that GDP for Mainland Norway grew 0.5 per cent in May. Consumption of goods grew 2.7 per cent, after a significant fall the previous month. This increased the value added tax and the gross product in the wholesale and retail trade. Together, this accounted for 0.4 percentage points of the growth in GDP for Mainland Norway.
In April, several industries were affected by strikes, and Easter may have created some uncertainty in the figures. The fluctuations in opposite directions in the last two months illustrate that one should not place too much emphasis on each month. The rolling three-month growth shows zero growth in GDP Mainland Norway from December-February to March-May.
- In broad terms, the numbers indicate a weak development in the past few months. Looking at the figures for Mainland Norway's GDP over the last three-month periods, there has been almost no growth, says Sletten.
Industries
The value added in the service industries, including housing services grew 0.7 per cent from April to May after a similar fall the previous month. The increase was mainly due to higher activity in wholesale and retail trade. In addition, the value added grew within real estate activity and administrative and support service activities.
Manufacturing and mining grew 1 per cent in May. Production of rubber and plastic products, other food products and the processing and preservation of fish contributed to the growth.
The volume of other goods decreased 0.9 per cent in May. The decline was due to a sharp drop in fishing. This reduced the growth in GDP for Mainland Norway 0.2 percentage points.
Value added in general government had an almost flat development. Activity in central government fell, while local government increased.
Oil and gas extraction fell 0.8 per cent, measured in price-adjusted figures. Declining gas and oil prices in May resulted in a decline of 12.8 per cent for the value added in the oil and gas industry measured in current prices.
Household consumption
Household consumption grew 1.6 per cent in May, due to a rise in consumption of goods and vehicle purchases. Overall, this brought household consumption back to it's march level.
Consumption of goods increased 2.7 per cent. The increase was broadly based, but consumption of food and beverages and means of transportation was the most significant contribution to the increase.
Consumption of services had a flat development. Consumption of hotel and restaurant services fell, while passenger transport increased.
Export and import
Measured in fixed prices total exports fell 1 per cent in May. A reduction in export of crude oil contributed most to the fall. Exports of traditional goods increased and was mainly due to an increase in export of refined petroleum and other food products. Due to the decrease in the price of petroleum products, the value of exports fell 5.4 per cent.
Total imports increased 5.5 per cent, measured in fixed prices. Both imports of goods and services contributed to the increase.
Investments
Gross fixed capital formation increased 1.4 per cent in May. The rolling three-month decline from December-February to March-May was 1.3 per cent. There has been a decline in housing investment since the beginning of the year, and this decrease continued in May with a fall of 5.3 per cent. The rolling three-month decrease was 8,6 per cent.
For gross fixed capital formation, there is low availability of monthly information. For petroleum investments, investments in manufacturing, mining and power supply, information on planned investments is used as reported by the companies.
Revisions
In connection with new monthly and quarterly figures, retroactive revisions might occur. The statistics used will not normally change backwards, but seasonally adjusted series can still be affected. This is because the basis for the seasonal adjustment changes when new periods are added.
In some areas, new datapoints have been incorporated for previous months, and the fall in GDP Mainland Norway is revised down from 0.4 to 0.5 per cent in April.