Museums and collections

Updated: 4 July 2023

Next update: 5 June 2024

Visits to Norwegian museums
Visits to Norwegian museums
2022
10 321 374
Museum facts
Museum facts1
202020212022
Museum population1 102101104
Visits
Total visits5 134 2936 485 17310 321 374
Individual visits4 421 9425 474 1208 491 379
Visitors in gropus712 3511 011 0531 829 995
Paying visitors2 391 9622 774 3765 654 919
Man-years
Remunerated man-years4 173.04 404.04 645.0
Man-years by permanent employees3 359.03 516.03 683.0
Percentage permanent employment808079
1The museum population will vary from year to year because some years new entities are added, and other entities on occasion does not report to the annual statistics. This will of course have an impact on the annual statistics.
Explanation of symbols

Selected tables and charts from this statistics

  • Museums and collections. Employment
    Museums and collections. Employment1
    Man-years, totalRemunerated man-yearsMan-years by permanent employees
    20123 972.73 778.12 868.1
    20134 064.83 862.92 952.9
    20144 052.83 864.62 999.2
    20154 213.14 015.13 085.4
    20164 150.73 954.83 069.2
    20174 169.03 966.03 109.0
    20184 244.04 056.03 169.0
    20194 440.04 213.03 307.0
    20204 310.04 173.03 359.0
    20214 568.04 404.03 516.0
    20224 857.04 645.03 683.0
    2022
    Viken432.0384.0267.0
    Oslo1 382.01 371.01 106.0
    Innlandet407.0377.0317.0
    Vestfold og Telemark196.0189.0156.0
    Agder197.0182.0159.0
    Rogaland322.0310.0263.0
    Vestland612.0595.0477.0
    Møre og Romsdal160.0143.0114.0
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage586.0558.0442.0
    Nordland - Nordlánnda276.0258.0170.0
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku277.0265.0203.0
    Svalbard11.011.08.0
    1The museum population will vary from year to year because some years entities are added and other entities does not report ti the annual statistics. This will of course have an impact on the annual statistics.
    12 October 2021: The table is updated with corrected numbers for 2020.
    Explanation of symbols
  • Museums and collections. Size of collections
    Museums and collections. Size of collections1
    Art historicalSocial historicalNatural historicalPhotographyArchaeological
    2012692 1363 594 99910 250 11231 773 8784 922 274
    2013715 7553 605 98810 293 70530 974 7205 176 241
    2014760 4283 728 07510 437 05331 907 3546 346 950
    2015766 8993 779 69010 559 20733 885 9466 705 567
    2016782 8873 633 8529 946 82534 027 0686 991 980
    2017799 3653 555 1049 912 14134 971 6477 259 804
    2018800 2163 615 01810 098 70135 209 1797 719 130
    2019808 3483 696 14910 410 25138 874 1178 087 482
    2020828 4803 985 82110 646 55339 146 0928 286 362
    2021837 9683 685 82610 498 40147 066 9798 516 084
    2022838 2683 730 30010 272 80447 647 2098 752 446
    2022
    Viken18 739398 03011 1406 914 992314
    Oslo626 412837 5735 746 1947 771 5532 704 354
    Innlandet4 401422 8507 0057 182 79111 032
    Vestfold og Telemark20 646258 5581 5286 997 0271 955
    Agder2 963145 79812 760277 987684
    Rogaland15 601289 44634 2081 634 6531 504 953
    Vestland60 458464 4592 194 704843 3362 228 176
    Møre og Romsdal3 253115 5262 2316 803 604704
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage40 510374 4561 646 6346 511 1261 908 843
    Nordland - Nordlánnda11 341272 64924 2681 257 868336
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku33 859147 061591 3921 178 901340 997
    Svalbard853 894740273 37150 098
    1The museum population will vary from year to year because some years entities are added and other entities does not report ti the annual statistics. This will of course have an impact on the annual statistics.
    Explanation of symbols
  • Museums and collections. Museums and historic buildings
    Museums and collections. Museums and historic buildings1
    Museums and collectionsCultural historical buildingsOpen cultural historical buildings
    20151154 9402 829
    20161075 0142 443
    20171075 0202 519
    20181005 0282 474
    2019985 0282 512
    20201025 0882 123
    20211015 0352 196
    20221045 0002 000
    2022
    Viken11699274
    Oslo1821992
    Innlandet101 000553
    Vestfold og Telemark5300113
    Agder522184
    Rogaland7261117
    Vestland11689256
    Møre og Romsdal6255163
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage10457160
    Nordland - Nordlánnda7425225
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku13341155
    Svalbard112
    1The museum population will vary from year to year because some years entities are added and other entities does not report ti the annual statistics. This will of course have an impact on the annual statistics.
    Explanation of symbols

About the statistics

The purpose of museum statistics is to provide an overview of the activities in Norwegian museums throughout the year. These statistics also encompass information on revenues and expenditures. The preparation of these statistics has been carried out in cooperation with Kulturdirektoratet.

Visits in the statistics for museums: A visit to a museums is defined as a person going to a museum to view at and utilise the museum's exhibitions and arrangement services. A visit to an open museum is defined as visiting the museums premises during its opening hours for the purpose of using the facilities within the museum area. Persons staying in the rooms and open area of the museum will not be counted as a visit. Participants in educational activities are also included in the total number of visits.

Type of company: The true owner, will sometimes differ from the financing source.

Revenue, total: This includes public grants, box office receipts, gifts, and other sources of revenue.

Expenditure, total: This encompasses wages, social expenditures, other operating expenses, and investments.

Subjects/objects: These include historical fine arts, cultural history, natural history, archaeology, and photographs.

As of 2016 basic exhibitions (regular exhibitions) and temporary exhibitions (exhibitions set up for a limit time, ranging from a few days to a year) are grouped together into a new category: "exhibitions."

Travelling exhibitions: These are exhibitions that are transported from one location to another.

Cultural historical buildings: In this context, it refers to historical buildings that provide information about local history, aesthetics, traditions, ways of life, architecture, and economic conditions.

Subjects/objects: Historical fine arts, cultural history, natural history, archaeological and photographs.

As of 2011, museums are no longer classified by type.

In the period from 2007 to 2010, museums were classified into five types:

Art museums: Museums that collect, maintain, secure, and provide information about arts, applied arts, and design products.

Social history museums: Museums that collect, maintain, secure, and provide information about social history materials.

Natural history museums: Museums that collect, maintain, secure, and provide information about natural history materials.

Mixed social/natural history museums: Museums that collect, maintain, secure, and provide information about both social and natural history materials.

Mixed art/social history museums: Museums that collect, maintain, secure, and provide information about arts, applied arts, and design products, as well as social history materials.

Not relevant

Name: Museums and collections

Topic: Culture and recreation

5 June 2024

Division for Education and Culture Statistics

Data are published on national and county level.

The statistics are published once a year. The statistics are also published annually in a larger paper publication, Culture Statistics. The Norwegian Arts Council also publishes Museum Statistics once a year.

Not relevant

Collected and revised data are stored securely by Statistics Norway in compliance with applicable legislation on data processing.

Statistics Norway can grant access to the source data (de-identified or anonymised microdata) on which the statistics are based, for researchers and public authorities for the purposes of preparing statistical results and analyses. Access can be granted upon application and subject to conditions. Refer to the details about this at Access to data from Statistics Norway.

The purpose is to provide an overview of the museum activities during the year. The statistics are intended to offer valuable information to central and local authorities, as well as others who are, in one way or another, involved in the operation or funding of museums. Museum statistics have been published annually since 1983, with exceptions in 1984 and 1990. Previously, the statistics were prepared in collaboration with Statens museumsråd and with Norwegian Archive, Library and Museum Authority. Since 2011, the statistics have been prepared in cooperation with Kulturdirektoratet.

In addition to providing necessary management information to ministries, counties, and municipalities - Museumsnett, Kulturditekoratet, Noregs museumsforbund, the press, and the general public are also important users.

No external users have access to statistics before they are released at 8 a.m. on ssb.no after at least three months’ advance notice in the release calendar. This is one of the most important principles in Statistics Norway for ensuring the equal treatment of users.

The museum statistics are also utilized in conjunction with other statistics, such as the Norwegian Culture Barometer, which is a survey on people's cultural habits.

The statistics are developed, produced and disseminated pursuant to Act no. 32 of 21 June 2019 relating to official statistics and Statistics Norway (the Statistics Act).

Not relevant

There is no unambiguous definition of a museum in Norway. Even up to the 2001 statistics, this meant that all collections open to the public could be included in the population (see also ICOM's definition of a museum: NOU 1996:7 Museum - mangfald, minne, møtestad, page 35). Some museums are administratively grouped under a single entity, even if they are individual museums. In these cases, only the administrative entity will receive the forms. Starting from the 2002 statistical year, the statistics consist of a subpopulation of Norwegian museums. In addition to museums being open to the public, we have limited the population to include only those museums that have at least one full-time equivalent employee in the statistical year. This is part of making the population more stable.

There has also been an extensive consolidation process in the museum sector. This process led to a decrease in the number of administrative entities required to report year by year for a period, but it is still assumed that the statistics cover the same museums.

Apart from consolidation, one can still observe that the population varies from year to year, as, for example, some entirely new entities join, while other entities may not deliver to the annual statistics from time to time. Whether the museums that do not report are small or large entities will naturally affect the statistics from year to year.

In 2016, five entities were removed from the museum population because their operations were no longer considered to fall within the scope of museum operations, mainly because they did not have their own collections.

The individual museums are the source of their data. Since 2017, museums report electronically via Altinn. Kulturdirektoratet compiles the data and sends it to Statistics Norway (SSB). Since 2004, reporting has been electronic to Kulturdirektoratet (formerly ABM-utvikling and Kulturrådet ).

The statistics cover the museums that Kulturdirektoratet has registered, which are open to the public, and have at least one full-time equivalent employee in the statistical year.

Kulturdirektoratet sends out a notification about the delivery of electronic forms with a response deadline in March/April every year. Kulturdirektoratet is responsible for reminders. The collected data file is sent to SSB for further processing.

Manual and mechanical checks are performed during the compilation of the statistics. The editing process is defined here as checking, examining and amending data.

Not relevant
Not relevant

Due to the lack of a clear population definition and varying response rates from year to year, it's difficult to make statements about activity over time. Starting from the statistical year 2002, the statistics consist of a subpopulation of norwegian museums. In addition to museums being open to the public, we've limited the population to include only those museums with at least one full-time equivalent employee in the statistical year. This is part of making the population more stable. At the same time, we can see that the population varies from year to year, with some entirely new entities joining and other entities occasionally not submitting data for the annual statistics. Whether the museums that don't submit are small or large entities can naturally affect the statistics from year to year.

In some years, a museum may be closed for renovations or similar reasons. In some cases, this may significantly impact the figures.

Over the years, museums have consistently made quality improvements, and in some instances, they have revised their methods for inventorying objects and items. For example, more than half of the alterations in the count of art historical objects between 2010 and 2011 can be attributed to the National Museum's decision to classify all items in its collections as art historical objects from 2011 onwards. Furthermore, since 2011, museums have been using the count of registered objects in their collection databases, instead of relying on estimates from 2002 plus annual growth. The majority of changes in the number of photographs between 2010 and 2011 can be traced back to the adoption of a new standardized counting method for collections at a museum in Akershus.

From 2016, basic exhibitions and temporary exhibitions have been combined into a new category, "Exhibitions."

Museums continuously improve their collections and reporting. This was also the case in 2018, which is reflected in the data. For example, one of the museums redefined parts of its collections as archives, removing them from the museum and collection statistics. Furthermore, another museum had its status changed and was no longer required to submit data to the statistics, a choice they made for 2018.

Errors can occur during the completion of forms in individual museums and in the work at SSB (Statistics Norway). Most of these errors are identified and corrected through both mechanical and manual checks. Some museums choose not to respond to certain questions on the form.

A revision is a planned change to figures that have already been published, for example when releasing final figures as a follow-up to published preliminary figures. See also Statistics Norway’s principles for revisions.

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