Norway’s retail sales rise sequentially in August

Norway’s seasonally-adjusted volume index of retail sales rose 0.4 percent in sequential terms in August after falling 0.6 percent sequentially in July, according to Statistics Norway. In the last two months, the retail sales had dropped by a total of 1.5 percent.

Consumer spending in Norway, which is slightly a broader indicator, showed a rise of 0.6 percent. This indicator has dropped by 1.2 percent in the two earlier months. The annualized growth in the last three months compared to the previous three months came in at -0.7 percent in August. Given the same level of consumption of goods in September as in August, household consumption is expected to come in at -0.3 percent in the third quarter, according to DNB Markets.

Looking at the August report, there appears to be no indication of any significant improvement in consumption. The Norwegian central bank, Norges Bank’s, upwardly revised forecasts of private consumption to grow 1.9 percent in 2016 appears a tad too high. Also, it requires growth in consumption of services continue to be at least equally higher in the third quarter as in the second quarter, or that the fourth quarter growth recovers noticeably, stated DNB Markets.