Norway’s mainland economy grows strongly in Q3

Norwegian mainland economic growth came in robust in the third quarter, while employment is growing at a strong rate. Mainland GDP expanded 0.6 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis and 2.1 percent on year-on-year basis in the third quarter, after expanded 0.6 percent quarter in the prior quarter. The central bank, Norges Bank, had projected a rise of 0.6 percent, whereas consensus expectation was 0.5 percent.

The third quarter figure is rather strong. Apart from manufacturing and public sector, all sectors recorded solid growth. The service sector outside retail, which accounts for 40 percent of mainland GDP, expanded 0.7 percent quarter-on-quarter while the retail sector grew 1 percent.

The demand side of the economy was also solid. Consumption growth recorded a sound rise of 0.6 percent, better than what was expected from retail sales. Investment among the company was quite robust, but one has to take into consideration that the second quarter was rather weak, noted Nordea Bank in a research report. Still the year-on-year investment among the companies rose 9 percent. Housing investment is also expanding at a sound rate, while mainland exports recorded strong growth.

The mainland economic growth is driven by the private sector with slow growth in public sector. Equally important as the production figures are, the fact is that employment is expanding at a healthy rate, stated Nordea Bank.

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