Statistikk innhold
Statistics on
Shares and dividend payments
The statistics give an overview of ownership of Norwegian limited and public limited companies, how much the companies pay in dividends and who receives the dividends.
Selected figures from these statistics
- Received dividends, by holding sectorDownload table as ...Received dividends, by holding sector
20251 2024 - 2025 NOK million Share Per cent Total 857 322 100 -14 Non-financial corporations 413 170 48 -21 Financial corporations 58 339 7 1 General government 73 590 9 -31 Non-profit institutions serving households 2 689 0 76 Households 96 593 11 3 Rest of the world 212 064 25 -2 Unspecified sector 877 0 -34 1Preliminary figures. Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Limited companies, nominal share capital and dividend payments, by main industryDownload table as ...Limited companies, nominal share capital and dividend payments, by main industry
2024 20251 Number of limited companies Nominal share capital. NOK million Dividend payments. NOK million Number of limited companies Nominal share capital. NOK million Dividend payments. NOK million Total 397 327 974 599 998 121 405 436 967 930 857 322 Agriculture, forestry and fishing 6 565 20 388 20 376 6 643 20 420 29 151 Mining and quarrying 1 311 101 973 263 990 1 266 94 084 181 675 Manufacturing 13 930 97 265 131 220 13 564 95 180 91 575 Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply 1 913 98 321 42 635 1 880 102 671 28 725 Water supply, sewerage, waste 932 3 448 1 128 899 3 352 11 220 Construction 49 914 36 663 45 394 48 911 36 209 45 163 Wholesale and retail trade: repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles 47 001 55 383 53 969 46 106 53 557 53 610 Transportation and storage 10 925 73 855 101 524 10 961 67 435 68 930 Accommodation and food service activities 12 709 7 484 4 246 12 855 7 382 5 500 Information and communication 21 676 64 828 100 146 22 416 64 552 60 886 Financial and insurance activities 17 205 193 311 82 354 16 369 202 028 98 535 Real estate activities 79 983 145 603 67 908 80 271 143 661 80 514 Professional, scientific and technical activities 48 382 36 465 35 144 49 158 33 257 45 917 Administrative and support service activities 15 578 13 602 15 274 15 425 12 564 12 325 Education 5 318 961 516 5 336 882 592 Human health and social work activities 12 626 3 378 5 006 12 779 3 259 4 453 Arts, entertainment and recreation 6 614 3 548 1 485 6 714 3 182 2 647 Other service activities 6 254 1 805 887 6 463 2 009 9 661 Missing 38 491 16 318 24 919 47 420 22 245 26 244 1Preliminary figures. Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Nominal share capital and received dividends, by owner sector. NOK millionDownload table as ...Nominal share capital and received dividends, by owner sector. NOK million
2024 20251 Nominal share capital Received dividends Nominal share capital Received dividends Sum all holding sectors 974 599 998 121 967 930 857 322 Non-financial corporations 515 795 520 714 507 618 413 170 Financial corporations 134 455 57 527 146 360 58 339 General government 69 737 106 571 69 465 73 590 Non-profit institutions serving households 5 353 1 529 4 621 2 689 Households 66 877 94 123 64 041 96 593 Rest of the world 181 499 216 336 174 831 212 064 Unspecified sector 883 1 320 994 877 1Preliminary figures. Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Individuals who owned shares, nominal share capital, received dividends and received previously paid-up share capital and share premium, by sex and ageDownload table as ...Individuals who owned shares, nominal share capital, received dividends and received previously paid-up share capital and share premium, by sex and age
2024 20251 Number of individuals who owned shares 31 December Nominal share capital. NOK million Received dividends. NOK million Received share capital. NOK million2 Received share premium. NOK million2 Number of individuals who owned shares 31 December Nominal share capital. NOK million Received dividends. NOK million Received share capital. NOK million2 Received share premium. NOK million2 Both sexes Total 927 533 66 623 93 708 725 3 523 949 483 63 792 96 103 717 4 518 0-19 years 15 356 354 252 : 43 15 200 340 274 3 19 20-29 years 105 412 1 960 2 071 24 75 107 154 1 780 1 995 8 63 30-39 years 171 100 6 392 7 807 41 401 176 842 6 047 8 822 61 247 40-49 years 168 935 11 299 17 093 111 847 173 483 10 445 17 208 132 498 50-59 years 183 812 17 115 28 515 174 778 185 797 16 018 27 595 152 834 60-69 years 142 413 16 613 23 510 201 786 146 618 16 180 24 326 191 2 316 70-79 years 95 721 9 781 11 534 152 422 96 430 9 663 12 558 155 352 80 years or older 44 784 3 109 2 927 : 172 47 959 3 320 3 325 14 191 Men Total 631 322 51 369 72 986 556 2 591 643 165 48 791 74 396 552 3 628 0-19 years 11 223 158 133 : : 11 114 147 159 : : 20-29 years 76 540 1 367 1 202 21 30 77 680 1 234 1 241 4 32 30-39 years 116 763 4 682 5 360 27 301 119 410 4 426 5 781 49 165 40-49 years 115 647 8 260 12 689 72 532 117 999 7 472 12 779 89 303 50-59 years 124 502 13 077 22 301 114 642 125 324 12 183 21 417 104 569 60-69 years 96 419 13 564 19 515 163 620 98 859 13 073 20 169 171 2 162 70-79 years 63 829 8 020 9 542 139 343 64 348 7 873 10 333 121 287 80 years or older 26 399 2 242 2 246 : : 28 431 2 384 2 518 : : Women Total 296 211 15 254 20 722 169 932 306 318 15 001 21 707 164 890 0-19 years 4 133 197 119 : : 4 086 193 115 : : 20-29 years 28 872 594 869 2 45 29 474 546 755 4 31 30-39 years 54 337 1 710 2 447 14 99 57 432 1 621 3 041 12 81 40-49 years 53 288 3 039 4 404 39 315 55 484 2 973 4 429 43 195 50-59 years 59 310 4 038 6 214 60 137 60 473 3 835 6 178 48 264 60-69 years 45 994 3 048 3 994 38 166 47 759 3 108 4 157 20 153 70-79 years 31 892 1 762 1 992 13 79 32 082 1 789 2 226 35 65 80 years or older 18 385 867 681 : : 19 528 936 807 : : 1Preliminary figures. 2Does not include capital paid back in connection with liquidation or partial liquidation of limited companies. Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Nominal share capital and received dividend payments for foreign shareholders, by selected countries. NOK millionDownload table as ...Nominal share capital and received dividend payments for foreign shareholders, by selected countries. NOK million
2024 20251 Nominal share capital Received dividends Nominal share capital Received dividends Total 181 499 216 336 174 831 212 064 Sweden 19 161 38 723 18 088 42 093 United Kingdom 20 914 21 393 20 957 19 572 United States 10 104 36 897 8 615 27 349 Denmark 5 901 8 277 5 429 6 902 France 6 716 13 626 7 147 13 900 Netherlands 11 355 22 465 15 418 29 814 Luxembourg 24 265 7 785 23 591 14 034 Germany 8 002 12 148 1 993 3 243 Cyprus 3 280 3 422 3 262 2 800 Spain : 2 714 : 3 808 Switzerland 6 309 7 810 6 440 10 626 Belgium 1 889 1 702 1 628 1 761 1Preliminary figures. Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Individuals who owned shares, nominal share capital and received dividends, by county, sex and ageDownload table as ...Individuals who owned shares, nominal share capital and received dividends, by county, sex and age
20251 Number of individuals who owned shares 31 December Nominal share capital (NOK million) Percentage share of residents who owned shares 31 December Number of individuals who received dividends Received dividends (NOK million ) Percentage share of residents who received dividends Total 949 483 63 792 16.9 611 450 96 103 10.9 County Østfold 42 892 2 329 13.6 26 270 3 544 8.3 Akershus 130 704 8 564 17.4 84 727 14 817 11.3 Oslo - Oslove 144 259 12 189 19.8 91 122 24 447 12.5 Innlandet 55 370 3 345 14.6 34 903 3 429 9.2 Buskerud 44 856 2 833 16.4 29 394 4 147 10.8 Vestfold 41 623 2 511 16.1 26 427 3 998 10.2 Telemark 29 061 1 724 16.3 18 686 1 986 10.5 Agder 48 003 3 283 14.8 27 602 3 804 8.5 Rogaland 91 281 6 698 17.9 65 264 9 745 12.8 Vestland 119 361 7 142 18.1 79 103 10 635 12.0 Møre og Romsdal 45 539 3 735 16.7 29 235 3 830 10.7 Trøndelag - Trööndelage 82 124 4 950 16.8 52 849 6 903 10.8 Nordland - Nordlánnda 38 219 2 082 15.7 24 501 2 731 10.1 Troms - Romsa - Tromssa 25 386 1 662 14.8 15 630 1 682 9.1 Finnmark - Finnmárku - Finmarkku 10 805 746 14.4 5 737 406 7.6 Males Total 643 165 48 791 22.7 415 397 74 396 14.6 0-19 years 11 114 147 1.7 8 478 159 1.3 20-29 years 77 680 1 234 21.5 57 228 1 241 15.9 30-39 years 119 410 4 426 29.5 73 933 5 781 18.3 40-49 years 117 999 7 472 31.8 69 972 12 779 18.8 50-59 years 125 324 12 183 32.9 75 908 21 417 19.9 60-69 years 98 859 13 073 31.0 62 663 20 169 19.6 70-79 years 64 348 7 873 26.6 44 857 10 333 18.5 80 years or older 28 431 2 384 23.5 22 358 2 518 18.5 Females Total 306 318 15 001 11.0 196 053 21 707 7.0 0-19 years 4 086 193 0.7 2 787 115 0.5 20-29 years 29 474 546 8.6 20 798 755 6.1 30-39 years 57 432 1 621 14.8 35 060 3 041 9.0 40-49 years 55 484 2 973 15.6 31 802 4 429 8.9 50-59 years 60 473 3 835 16.4 35 875 6 178 9.7 60-69 years 47 759 3 108 15.1 31 392 4 157 9.9 70-79 years 32 082 1 789 12.5 22 946 2 226 9.0 80 years or older 19 528 936 11.9 15 393 807 9.4 1Preliminary figures. Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ...
About the statistics
The information under «About the statistics» was last updated 22 March 2021.
A limited (liability) company is an enterprise where the owners' personal responsibilities for the firm's obligations are limited to the amount the owners have invested. The firm is considered an independent juridical entity. The company must have a deed of incorporation, obtain share capital and the company must be registered with the Brønnøysund Register Centre. A company is a Public limited company if it claims to be so in the ordinance and it is registered as such in the Brønnøysund Register Centre. All or a large part of the shares must be publicly traded and these must be registered with Norwegian Central Securities Depository. More information about the requirements can be found in the Limited Company Act and the Public limited Company Act.
A share is a unit of ownership in a limited company.
A primary capital certificate (PCC) is issued by a savings bank and is very similar to a share. The main differences is that the holders of the PCCs only own a limited part of the bank and has limited influence over the governance of the bank. The dividends are also limited.
Class of shares. The Board of directors can choose to divide the shares into different categories. Each category can have different dividend and voting rights or other characteristics specified at the date of issue.
A shareholder is a natural person or juridical person or other entity that owns shares in a limited company or public limited company.
Share capital. At the formation of a limited company the shareholders must invest a certain amount of capital. The minimum requirement of capital is NOK 100 000 for a limited company and NOK 1 million for a public limited company. The share capital may be increased at a later time by increasing the nominal value, or by issuing new shares. If a shareholder pays more than nominal value, a share premium has been paid. Limited companies can later reduce and repay both share capital and share premium to the shareholders. The share capital statistics include companies that were in existence 31 December in the fiscal year.
Nominal value is the value of the share when issued. The nominal value times the number of shares issued should be equal to the share capital. Nominal value can change due to stock split or a reverse stock split.
Paid dividend is the actual amount of dividend paid out to shareholders during the fiscal year. The paid dividend statistics include all dividends distributed to shareholders by limited companies during the fiscal year whether or not the limited companies were in existence at the year-end or liquidated during the year.
Received dividend is the dividend received by shareholder during the fiscal year.
Received share capital is that part of share capital by which the limited company has reduced its share capital and repayed to its shareholders. It is a non-taxable transfer.
Received share premium is that part of share premium by which the limited company has reduced its share premium and repayed to its shareholders. It is a non-taxable transfer.
Received other paid-in capital is that part of other paid-in capital by which the limited company has reduced its other paid-in capital and repayed to its shareholders. It is a non-taxable transfer.
Capital gains on sale of shares. If a shareholder sells shares and the selling price exceeds the cost price, a capital gain arise.
Risk-free return. With the introduction of the shareholder model as from 1 January 2006, dividends and capital gains on sale of shares for personal shareholders are taxed if they are above the calculated opportunity rate of return, named the risk-free return. As a rule, the risk-free return is computed by multiplying the cost price of the share by an opportunity rate of interest. It is the shareholder who owns the share at the time the risk-free return is calculated (31 December every year) who are entitled to the allowance. The risk-free return can also be used to reduce profit when the share is sold. If the risk-free return or part of it is not used in a given year, it can be carried forward and used later.
Taxable dividend is that part of the received dividend that exceeds the risk-free return.
Taxable capital gains on sale of shares is the part of the capital gains on sale of shares that exceeds the risk-free return.
Listed/non-listed. Listed shares are shares listed and traded at the Oslo Stock Exchange per 31.12 in the fiscal year. Non-listed shares are not listed at the Oslo Stock Exchange per 31.12 in the fiscal year. As of the statistics covering 2007, shares listed on Oslo Axess is also included.
Classification of industry is in accordance with the revised Norwegian Standard Industrial Classification (SN94), which is based on the EU industrial standard NACE Rev. 1 and the UN industrial standard ISIC Rev. 3. As of 2004, the revised standard SN2002 is used. This standard is based on the EU industrial standard NACE Rev. 1.1. As of 2007, the revised standard SN2007, which is based on the EU industrial standard NACE Rev. 2, is used. For companies that engage in several industries, the entire business will be placed under the business that contributes the most to the overall added value. Further information can be found on the Statistics Norway web page.
Institutional sector is a statistical categorizing of the shareholders based mainly on the economic function, but also organization structure and ownership. Institutional sector categories are based on United Nations standards "System of National Accounts" (SNA) from 1993. As of fiscal year 2012, the statistics use a new institutional sector classification which is based on the UN's "System of National Accounts" (SNA) from 2008 and the EU's "European System of National Accounts' (ESA) from 2010.
The country and region classification is based on ISO standard 3166 and the UNs Standard Country and Area Codes Classifications (M49). The statistics are classified by the country where the shareholder is registered. If a company, for instance an American company, owns a holding company in the Netherlands, and this holding company owns shares in a Norwegian limited company, the shareholder in the Norwegian company will be classified as Dutch in the statistisics, eventhough the ultimate owner is American.
Name: Shares and dividend payments
Topic: Establishments, enterprises and accounts
Division for Accounting Statistics and Business Register
National level
Frequency: Annual, preliminary and final figures.
Timeliness: Preliminary figures are published 26 weeks after the year-end.
Not relevant.
Final statistics files are documented and stored.
The purpose of the stock statistics is to present the value of shares and dividends of Norwegian limited companies and public limited companies by ownership.
Statistics Norway has published annual stock statistics since 1984 with the exception of the period between 1991-1993 and 2000-2003.
The stock statistics is used by the Ministry of Finance, internal and external research institutes, the Bank of Norway (Norges Bank) and they are used in the National Accounts.
The statistics can be used to analyse the structure of a group of companies, the ownership structure of limited companies, the distribution of dividends from the companies to the shareholders etc.
No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on ssb.no at 8 am. Prior to this, a minimum of three months' advance notice is given in the Statistics Release Calendar. This is one of Statistics Norway’s key principles for ensuring that all users are treated equally.
The stock statistics cover nearly the same population as Accounting statistics for non-financial limited companies. The register-based accounting statistics include the profit and loss account and the balance sheet, thus providing more detailed figures broken down by industry and other variables.
Tax statistics for companies include both limited companies and public limited companies. The tax statistics are based on the Directorate of Taxes' register of non-personal taxation entities, and gives inter alia overall ordinary income.
The tax statistics for personal taxpayers comprise all taxable individuals. The tax statistics contains data about received dividend and it includes dividend from both Norwegian and foreign companies.
The Statistics Act section 3-2.
Not relevant.
Starting in the fiscal year 2004 the statistics incorporate all limited companies and public limited companies. As of 2006, the statistics also cover primary capital certificates (PCC). The statistics on taxable capital gains on sale of shares also include sale of equity fund shares.
Previously the statistics included all Norwegian limited companies registered on the Directory of Taxes' Register of Shares. Between 1997-1998 the statistics for non-listed companies did not included firms that were subject to tax regulation for electric power stations.
Starting in 2004 the statistics are based on data from the Directorate of Taxes' Register of Shareholders. In the statistics on taxable dividend, data on dividend reported electronically to the Directorate of Taxes are also used.
Between 1984 and 1999 the statistics were based on the Directory of Taxes' Register of Shares and annual statistics of listed companies from Oslo Stock Exchange (Oslo Børs).
For each company additional data regarding industry and institutional sector is obtained from the Central Register of Establishments and Enterprises.
Starting with the fiscal year 2004 Statistics Norway collected data from the Directorate of Taxes' Register of Shareholders. The registers consist of all Norwegian limited companies, specifying the number of shares issued, the share capital, the share premium, and proposed and paid dividend. In addition the register gives information about the shareholders and received dividends. Statistics Norway also collect information about received dividends that the tax payers report electronically to the Directorate of Taxes.
Between 1984 and 1999 Statistics Norway gathered data from the Register of Shares, which is a part of the Directories of Taxes' Register for Non-Personal Taxpayers. The Register of Shares contains information about the nominal value and the number of shares for Norwegian limited companies, as well as the tax value and proposed dividend for non-listed companies. Information about the listed companies was obtained from the Oslo Stock Exchange, partly through their published statistics and partly as an electronic data request.
The Tax Authorities control that the necessary and correct data is registered. In addition Statistics Norway carry out quality controls to ensure coherence and consistency within and with other available statistics.
The analysis unit is the limited company and the shareholder. The statistics are estimated by counting all units with a certain characteristic, e.g. the number of limited companies by main industry, and by aggregating a certain characteristic for all units in the statistics, e.g. received dividend.
Not relevant
As a main rule a figure is not published if it is based on less than three units, if one single company amounts for 90 per cent or more of the value, or if two companies amount for 95 per cent or more of the value.
A change of source means that starting in 2004 the stock statistics are not directly comparable to earlier statistics. Some of the variables are redefined, e.g. previously the statistics included proposed dividends and as of 2004 the statistics include paid dividends.
The statistics are comparable for the period 1994 to 1999.
Prior to 1991 the stock statistics showed the estimated market value of non-listed companies. An estimate of the market value was obtained by simply using the tax value of the firm unless the tax value was zero, in which case the face value was used.
Prior to 1990 the amount published as paid dividend was the proposed dividend in the previous year. Starting in 1994 the dividend figure published included the proposed dividend to be paid out in the following year.
Adjustments to the tax system and to the accounting regulation over the years are reflected in the data and influence the continuity of the timeseries.
Adjustment of industry categorisation or structural changes within the industries might have an impact on the figure and impede the comparison over the years.
The introduction of a new institutional sector classification in 2012 means that the sector classified statistics are not fully comparable with previous years. This particularly affects the demarcation between financial and non-financial corporations.
The dataset is based on information given by the companies in the Shareholder Registration form, and errors arise if the information given is erroneous or inaccurate. If mistakes are not corrected during the quality controls the information of the Shareholder Registration form might be incorrect. Mistakes can also occur during the processing, the correction or the registration of the data. The quality control is mainly concerned with mistakes that can have a significant impact on the statistics. As a result, less significant errors, which have no impact on the total amounts, may not be corrected.
Some errors made during the collecting and processing of the data are unavoidable and include coding, editing and data processing errors etc. Extensive efforts have been made to minimize these errors, and we regard these types of errors to be relatively insignificant.
The statistics are based on an administration register of the population. Still there could be that some companies are not included in the register. The non-response rate is between 3 and 7 per cent of the total population of limited companies. Non-response can typically be caused by limited companies that are establish during the year or are no longer in business. When the owner is a foreign company or the general government, we also see a larger non-response rate. This is most likely caused by the fact that these shareholders are not taxed by the shareholder model, and thus the incentive to report is smaller.
The quality of the register and the linked data from administrative registers also have an impact on the quality of the finished result. Both the administrative and statistics registers are regularly updated, and will therefore change during the production process.
The stock statistics present figures for both limited companies and shareholders. Comparing these figures on might find that for items such as share capital and dividend paid there will be some differences.
Revisions are planned adjustments made to previously published figures (for instance when preliminary figures are revised and replaced with final figures). In Shares and capital returns, preliminary figures covering the recent income year are publised together with final figures covering the previous income year. To get more information about revisions, please see Principles for revisions in Statistics Norway.