[ad_1]
After a record drop for the Norwegian economy in the second quarter, the economy is now on its way up again. It was already in the middle of the second quarter when continental GDP rose 2.4% in May and continued with a growth of 3.7% in June.
Recent figures show that the recovery will continue in July, but with somewhat weaker growth of 1.1%. It was also weaker than expected. Economists had expected GDP to rise 2.0 percent in July.
According to Statistics Norway, which presents the figures, the level of activity was still 4.7% lower in July than in February, despite the growth of the last three months.
Tree overnight
– It is important to remember that July is normally a holiday month. For some industries it usually implies little activity, for others high. It is difficult to say anything about the pace of economic recovery after the sharp halt in March and April based on the July estimate, and the figures should be interpreted with caution, says the head of the national accounts section, Pål Sletten, in a press release.
The largest contribution to growth came from the accommodation and catering business. Statistics Norway statistics show that the number of overnight stays in hotels and camps in July was roughly at the normal level, but with a clear shift from foreign to Norwegian guests.
Activity in the accommodation and restaurant sector increased by more than 30 percent in July, but was still lower than in February.
Consumption of goods increased
Household consumption grew 2.8 percent in July. There was an increase in both the consumption of goods and services. Consumption in households as a whole was still 7.8 percent lower in July than in February, according to Statistics Norway.
But consumption of goods in isolation rose 1.6 percent in July and was 9.3 percent higher than in February. This is largely due to the purchase of food and beverages, as well as clothing, footwear, furniture and household items, which have increased considerably since the outbreak of the corona pandemic.
“It will take a long time”
The crown crisis and strict measures contributed to Norway’s mainland GDP falling 2.1% in the first quarter and 6.3% in the second. Not surprisingly, GDP rises after the reopening. Handelsbanken also estimated growth of 2.0% in July.
In a comment on Tuesday, the bank writes that care should be taken not to put too much emphasis on individual figures, but that several factors indicate that the recovery after the decline in activity in March and April has now lost some momentum.
“The evolution of the labor market also supports this interpretation. At the same time, it is not surprising that the pace of recovery was higher immediately after the economy reopened. However, we still hope it will be a long time before we are completely back on our feet again, “writes Handelsbanken.(Terms)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and / or our suppliers. We would like you to share our cases via a link, which leads directly to our pages. Copying or other use of all or part of the content may only be done with written permission or as permitted by law. For more terms, see here.
