The Norwegian Armed Forces - StatRes (discontinued), 2012

Despite the Norwegian Armed Forces being a major employer in 2012, the number of contracted man-years adjusted for long-term leave is about 1 000 lower than the previous year. Almost half of this decrease was the result of a reorganisation where employees were transferred out of the central government to a new state corporation named the Aerospace Industrial Maintenance Norway.

One in three man-years were conscripts and students at officer training schools

About 8 600 of the 26 300 man-years in the Norwegian Armed Forces in 2012 were conscripts and students at officer training schools, which corresponds to one out of three. Officers and various civilian positions accounted for the remaining man-years.

Expenditure of NOK 37 billion

The Armed Forces’ total expenditure was NOK 37 billion in 2012. This is about NOK 1 billion more than in 2011. Own production – operating expenses such as wages and acquisition of goods and services – accounts for NOK 26.9 billion of total expenditure. The Armed Forces carry out one ninth of central government’s own production; the same share as in total man-years.

In 2012, expenses for own production in the Armed Forces were 2.5 per cent higher than in 2011. Own production in central government administration increased by 4.8 per cent in the same period. Some of the difference in growth rates can be explained by the aforementioned reclassification of the Air Force’s main workshop. With the exception of 2011, expenses in the Armed Forces have grown less than total central government expenses.

Investments amounted to NOK 7.3 billion, which is slightly less than a fifth of central government investments.

Army, Air Force and Naval activity

The average number of days spent on exercise was 17.4 for officers in the Army in 2012. This is the highest figure registered in the period covered by the statistics. From 2005 to 2011, the average number of exercise days was 13.1. In the Home guard, the number of days in active service in 2012 was the lowest registered – less than 160 000. This is 3 per cent lower than in 2011 and 56 per cent lower than in 2006.

Activity in the Coast Squadron, measured in sailing hours, was 13.7 per cent higher in 2012 than in 2011. The increase is mainly due to an increase in the use of Missile Torpedo Boats (MTBs). Activity in the Coast Guard was at approximately the same level as in 2011. The number of inspections by the Coast Guard is steadily decreasing, but the number of reactions in 2012 was the highest in the period from 2005 to 2012.

The number of hours flying was 23 600 in 2012. This is less than in 2011, when activity increased because of Air Force operations in Libya. The level of flying hours in 2012 was not very different from the average level from 2005 to 2011.

Larger building mass than Statsbygg

The Armed Forces administered 3.4 million square metres of building mass in 2012. This is a reduction of 1.5 per cent from the previous year. The area administered by the Armed Forces is 25 per cent larger than the area administered by Statsbygg. The properties administered by Statsbygg include colleges, court houses, royal properties, embassies and official residences abroad. The Armed Forces rent their buildings from Forsvarsbygg, which is a public management company directly under the Ministry of Defence.