Large employment fall in water transport

Published:

After many years of high employment, the water transport industry division experienced a downturn in 2015. The number of persons employed fell by almost 1 400 to 25 000 in 2015; a decrease of 5 per cent from the previous year.

Figure 1

Figure Transport and storage, 2015*. Click on image for larger version.

The drop in oil prices resulted in a dramatic development, especially for enterprises in the industry group 'sea and coastal freight water transport', where employment fell by about 6 per cent to 15 500 in 2015. The employment figures were previously obtained from the AA-Registeret but are now obtained from the A-ordningen. The figures are not therefore comparable with previous years. While redundancies were made in order to maintain the good profitability level of enterprises, the turnover of the entire water industry division remained at the record high of 2014, and accounted for NOK 165.6 billion in 2015; an increase of 6 per cent in the same period.

Good year for enterprises within air transport

Turnover for the air transport industry division continued to rise, and in 2015 ended up at NOK 38.9 billion, which is NOK 868 million more than in 2014. The number of persons employed totalled 7 100, compared with 7 600 in 2014. There were 99 enterprises in the industry division, about the same as in 2014.

Good growth continues in land transport

In 2015, turnover of the enterprises within the land transport industry division constituted NOK 80.6 billion, compared to NOK 78.3 billion in 2014. The number of persons employed went up by 7 000 from the year before, to 77 500 in 2015. The number of enterprises was almost unchanged. Land transport includes all land-based passenger and freight transport.

Growth for warehousing and support activities for transportation

Turnover increased by 1.2 per cent for the industry division for warehousing and support activities for transportation, from NOK 100.1 billion in 2014 to NOK 101.3 billion in 2015. Employment grew by 5.8 per cent during the same period, to 32 500 employees. The number of enterprises was unchanged, at 2 350 in 2015.

Continued decline in employment for postal and courier activities

The number of persons employed in the industry division for postal and courier activities amounted to 19 900 in 2015; a decrease of 0.5 per cent from the previous year. The number of enterprises was almost unchanged. Turnover amounted to NOK 17.8 billion.

Continued good growth for transportation and storage

The industry section 'transportation and storage' consists of enterprises within industry divisions of 'land transport', 'water transport', 'air transport', 'warehousing and support activities for transportation' and 'postal and courier activities'. Turnover for the whole industry section grew by 3.8 per cent from 2014 and was NOK 404.1 billion in 2015. The number of persons employed rose by almost 5 per cent to 162 100, while the number of enterprises remained unchanged from the previous year, at 21 000.