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Statistics Norway has never seen stronger growth in the Norwegian mainland economy than in the third quarter of the year. But growth follows a historic decline in the wake of the virus crisis.
Published:,
The case is being updated.
Norway’s mainland economy grew 5.2 percent in the third quarter. This is in line with the consensus expectations beforehand, according to DNB Markets, which expected the same.
In September alone, Norwegian GDP grew 0.6%, today’s figures show. This is the fifth consecutive month of growth.
At the same time, the level of activity is lower than before the crown crisis. In September, the level was 2.7% lower than in February, according to Statistics Norway.
Historical growth
The development comes after a 6.3 percent fall in the Norwegian mainland economy in the second quarter. The drop was at one point the biggest in Statistics Norway’s measurements, dating back to 1978.
The figure also sent Norway into its first technical recession since the financial crisis.
The rebound in the third quarter is also the largest in Statistics Norway surveys.
Since both the recession and the recovery are far from normal, it has created several challenges for Statistics Norway’s national accounts. Therefore, Statistics Sweden has used some alternative sources and information in recent months, including that of the Norwegian Health Directorate and the Norwegian Public Road Administration.
– Far from the normal situation
In September, it recovered just over half of the decline since February, with activity levels just under 3% lower than before the corona pandemic broke out. Strong growth in the third quarter reflects this recovery, says national accounts section manager Pål Sletten in a statement.
Many of the industries that saw the steepest decline in March and April also had the strongest recovery in the summer and into the fall.
But while growth in the third quarter as a whole was strong, the monthly growth rate slowed during the quarter, statistics show. At the same time, the effect of relief on infection control measures decreased.
Statistics Norway emphasizes that production remains significantly lower in many industries also in September, compared to the level before the virus pandemic hit Norway.
This means that when infection rates started to rise again in October and infection control measures tightened, the Norwegian economy was still far from normal. There were more than 80,000 fewer employees in the third quarter than before the pandemic hit the country in March, Sletten says.
