Norwegian trade surplus widens in January on strong growth in oil exports

Norway’s trade surplus expanded in January, thanks to strong growth in exports of oil. Norway recorded a surplus of NOK 25 billion, as compared with NOK 23.3 billion registered in December, noted Statistics Norway. After two years of a stable decline in the trade surplus since the autumn of 2014, there has been a rise every month since September 2016.

Goods exports rose 21.9 percent in the month, whereas imports of goods grew 11.7 percent. During the same period, mainland exports rose 3.4 percent to NOK 31.9 billion. The value of crude oil export increased to NOK 21.9 billion in January, NOK 9.8 billion more than in January 2016. This was mainly due a 70 percent rise in crude oil prices. The price increased from NOK 266 per barrel in January 2016 to NOK 452 in January 2017. The volume of crude oil export rose 6.9 percent year-on-year in January 2017.

The export value of natural gas in January rose to NOK 19.4 billion, rising 16.5 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, the volume of export was up 4.2 percent, ending at 11 billion standard cubic meters. Moreover, prices showed a slight rise.

On the other hand, Norway also saw a rise in exports of fresh salmon, which rose 13.2 percent to NOK 4.1 billion due to higher prices.  The export of metals also grew, rising 22.6 percent year-on-year to NOK 5.1 billion. Aluminium alloys’ exports rose NOK 263.9 million because of higher prices as well as volumes.