Statistikk innhold
Statistics on
Establishments
The statistics show active companies as of January 1, broken down by region, industry and sector. It provides an up-to-date picture of where value is created in the Norwegian society, and all industries and sectors are included.
Selected figures from these statistics
- Number of establishments, by sizeDownload table as ...Number of establishments, by size
2026 2025 - 2026 Number of establishments Per cent Change in per cent All size groups 656 492 100.0 -0.2 No one employeed 448 658 68.3 -0.4 1-4 employees 103 298 15.7 0.4 5-9 employees 40 367 6.1 0.1 10-19 employees 30 803 4.7 -0.3 20-49 employees 22 336 3.4 0.2 50-99 employees 6 962 1.1 -0.3 100 - 249 employees 3 081 0.5 -0.4 250 employees and more 987 0.2 2.1 Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Establishments, by size and economic activityDownload table as ...Establishments, by size and economic activity
2026 Total number of establishments No one employeed 1-4 employees 5-9 employees 10-19 employees 20-49 employees 50-99 employees 100 - 249 employees 250 employees and more All industries 656 492 448 658 103 298 40 367 30 803 22 336 6 962 3 081 987 Agriculture, forestry and fishing 65 330 58 290 5 494 736 437 290 65 17 1 Mining and quarrying 1 592 897 228 110 108 94 48 52 55 Manufacture 21 615 12 309 3 648 1 734 1 568 1 350 560 327 119 Electricity, gas and steam 2 190 1 324 323 181 166 121 41 27 7 Water supply, sewerage, waste 2 314 1 147 355 262 245 227 55 20 3 Construction 68 359 42 925 14 819 4 570 3 209 2 067 527 200 42 Wholesale and retail trade: repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles 71 127 31 330 14 489 12 969 8 561 3 101 516 121 40 Transportation and storage 28 725 19 327 5 249 1 660 1 080 851 321 164 73 Accommodation and food service activities 19 549 8 308 4 118 2 822 2 548 1 358 296 89 10 Information and communication 30 201 20 955 5 847 1 314 960 717 235 121 52 Financial and insurance activities 4 541 2 433 1 005 408 293 223 85 62 32 Real estate activities 69 587 61 043 6 967 954 428 165 23 6 1 Professional, scientific and technical activities 74 657 53 181 15 218 2 951 1 820 1 050 248 138 51 Administrative and support service activities 29 234 20 304 4 664 1 535 1 088 945 379 242 77 Public administration and defence: compulsory social security 4 724 433 947 776 829 941 414 268 116 Education 22 079 14 875 2 222 876 943 1 620 1 142 324 77 Human health and social work activities 60 739 34 417 8 368 3 869 5 036 6 297 1 733 810 209 Arts, entertainment and recreation 34 406 29 032 2 890 853 757 618 179 63 14 Personal service activities 24 995 16 559 5 526 1 760 718 299 95 30 8 Households as employers activities 10 8 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Extraterritorial organisations and bodies 12 1 3 4 3 1 0 0 0 Unspecified 20 506 19 560 916 23 6 1 0 0 0 Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Establishments, by size and county. 1st January.Download table as ...Establishments, by size and county. 1st January.
2026 All size groups No one employeed 1-4 employees 5-9 employees 10-19 employees 20-49 employees 50-99 employees 100 - 249 employees 250 employees and more The whole country 656 492 448 658 103 298 40 367 30 803 22 336 6 962 3 081 987 Østfold 33 434 22 865 5 420 2 118 1 513 1 025 319 146 28 Akershus 79 177 55 372 12 862 4 237 3 086 2 377 780 351 112 Oslo 105 130 75 613 15 062 5 292 4 026 3 061 1 163 603 310 Innlandet 48 243 33 361 7 284 3 127 2 253 1 563 454 163 38 Buskerud 33 324 22 908 5 384 2 049 1 412 1 086 318 129 38 Vestfold 29 588 20 117 5 063 1 756 1 259 943 297 123 30 Telemark 20 968 14 398 3 183 1 304 1 054 729 199 84 17 Agder 38 330 26 176 6 030 2 420 1 822 1 262 427 155 38 Rogaland 52 915 35 578 8 208 3 393 2 620 2 055 624 331 106 Vestland 73 282 49 651 11 314 4 597 3 736 2 697 801 372 114 Møre og Romsdal 30 396 19 932 4 725 2 240 1 716 1 258 363 135 27 Trøndelag 55 147 37 844 8 135 3 510 2 729 1 970 612 271 76 Nordland 27 283 16 833 5 096 2 061 1 770 1 111 279 105 28 Troms - Romsa - Tromssa 18 618 11 373 3 507 1 451 1 179 768 238 83 19 Finnmark - Finnmárku - Finmarkku 10 657 6 637 2 025 812 628 431 88 30 6 Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Establishments, by county and the enterprises' sectorDownload table as ...Establishments, by county and the enterprises' sector
2026 Sum all sectors General government Financial corporations Non-financial corporations Households and non-profit institutions Unspecified sector/others The whole country 656 492 28 549 4 544 352 901 165 460 61 Østfold 33 434 1 230 123 17 160 14 919 2 Akershus 79 177 2 365 550 42 179 34 070 13 Oslo 105 130 1 977 1 413 59 468 42 240 32 Innlandet 48 243 2 723 225 21 502 23 791 2 Buskerud 33 324 1 392 190 17 509 14 232 1 Vestfold 29 588 1 034 145 16 305 12 102 2 Telemark 20 968 1 196 84 10 565 9 120 3 Agder 38 330 1 767 178 21 393 14 986 6 Rogaland 52 915 2 146 366 30 111 20 281 11 Vestland 73 282 3 554 491 39 736 29 498 3 Møre og Romsdal 30 396 1 844 206 16 833 11 511 2 Trøndelag 55 147 2 873 327 28 177 23 767 3 Nordland 27 283 2 158 116 15 629 9 379 1 Troms - Romsa - Tromssa 18 618 1 341 91 10 508 6 676 2 Finnmark - Finnmárku - Finmarkku 10 657 949 39 5 826 3 841 2 Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ...
About the statistics
The information under «About the statistics» was last updated 11 March 2025.
Establishment
An establishment is defined as a local kind-of-activity unit (production unit) which mainly operates within a particular industry group, in accordance with the Norwegian Standard Industry Classification (SN2007).
Employees / Wage earners
An employee/employee is a person who works in the service of another for wages or other remuneration.
Industry
The industrial activity is grouped according to the Standard Industrial Classification SN2007 in Statistics Norway, which is based on the EU standard NACE Rev.1.
Sector
The establishment's sector affiliation follows the enterprise's sector, and is grouped according to the Standard Classification of Institutional Sector.
Number of establishments
Name: Establishments
Topic: Establishments, enterprises and accounts
Division for Technology, R&D and Business Dynamics Statistics
National, county and municipality
Frequency: Annual
Timeliness: Normally within 1 month of the end of the 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 basic data is quality assured in the ongoing management of Statistics Norway's business register and the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities (CCR), as well as in the preparation of the primary statistics they are included in (register-based labor market statistics, accounting statistics, etc.).
Purpose
The purpose of the statistics is to provide an updated picture of where production in Norway takes place. It shows which regions, industries, sectors and size groups the establishments - i.e. the local production units - are located in, and follows the development over time.
History
The statistics were first published on 1 July 2002, with figures for the second quarter of the same year. Until the fourth quarter of 2008, the statistics were published quarterly. Since 2009, they have been published annually, with figures corresponding to the first quarter for the years up to 2008.
In 2009, the industry standard was changed, and in 2014 the sector standard was changed. At the same time, old time series were closed and new ones were started.
Users of the statistics include public administration, educational institutions, research groups, business and the media.
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 figures in the establishment statistics are similar to figures for subunits in the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities (CCR) and establishments in the Structural Business Statistics (SBS), but there are also important differences. They are also to some extent related to the figures in the Business demography.
Establishments in Statistics Norway's establishment statistics correspond to subunits in CCR, and both are comprehensive within their purposes. The deviation from CCR is mainly due to the fact that CCR includes all subunits, including those that do not conduct business activities. In addition, CCR includes subunits that do not have economic activity, but that have not been deleted from the register.
The deviation from SBS is due to the fact that the establishment statistics include newly registered establishments that have not yet reported to Statistics Norway's statistics, and not all of these become active and are included in SBS. Furthermore, the establishment statistics include all industries and sectors, while SBS lacks establishments that do not conduct market-oriented business activities (including public administration) and the primary industries. Until 2020, education, human health and social services, arts, entertainment and recreation, as well as activities in member organizations were also not included in SBS. In addition, the establishment statistics measure the population as of 1 January, while SBS has the entire year as the measurement period.
In the business demography (enterprise statistics), it is the enterprise, i.e. the main unit, that is counted. There may be several establishments, i.e. subunits, per enterprise. At the same time, there are certain types of enterprises that do not have establishments. Overall, this means that the number of establishments is somewhat higher than the number of enterprises, but it can vary between industries. However, in business demography, certain industries and sectors are excluded, similar to SBS. See "About the statistics" in the business demography for a more detailed description of, among other things, permanently and temporarily excluded industries.
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
Annual series from 2009 onwards.
Closed quarterly series from 2nd quarter 2002 to 4th quarter 2008.
The statistics include all active establishments in Norway. Completely new establishments are also considered active, until we have sources that say whether they are active or not.
Special units, a type of "artificial" establishments in Statistics Norway's Business Register (BR), are excluded. These units do not meet all requirements to be regarded establishments in the industrial standard SN2007 and they have no reported employees, as any employees are reported on real establishments representing their working place. They are created in BR to improve distribution by region or to count other units than establishments in certain statistics.
A small group of establishments belonging to enterprises with a legal form that indicates that they are not engaged in production is also excluded.
Statistics Norway's Business Register (BR) is the main source. Situation files from the beginning of January in the reference year are used. These files include figures for employees from "A-ordningen", the main register on employment data in Norway used in among others the register-based employment statistics, for October of the previous year.
Data from the Structural Business Statistics (SBS) and administrative registers for value added tax, accounting data and tax returns for self-employed persons are used to exclude actually closed establishments from the population.
The establishment statistics are based exclusively on the reuse of edited data from other statistics and administrative registers. Editing is defined here as checking, examining and amending data.
BR is a comprehensive and edited register with regard to scope and basic data. There is an ongoing data exchange between CCR and BR, and direct contact is made with businesses if incorrect information is suspected.
The information is also edited during data collection for SBS and other Statistics Norway statistics, and by linking with administrative registers in the monitoring system for establishments in BR.
Not relevant
Employees of Statistics Norway have a duty of confidentiality.
Statistics Norway does not publish figures if there is a risk of the respondent’s contribution being identified. This means that, as a general rule, figures are not published if fewer than three units form the basis of a cell in a table or if the contribution of one or two respondents constitutes a very large part of the cell total.
Statistics Norway can make exceptions to the general rule if deemed necessary to meet the requirements of the EEA agreement, if the respondent is a public authority, if the respondent has consented to this, or when the information disclosed is openly accessible to the public.
More information can be found on Statistics Norway’s website under Methods in official statistics, in the ‘Confidentiality’ section.
From the start in the second quarter of 2002 to the fourth quarter of 2008, the statistics were published quarterly at the beginning of the quarter, with figures for employees as of the first month of the previous quarter.
In the quarterly publications up to 2008, changes (new establishments and deleted establishments) were registered in relation to the previous quarter. The changes between quarters were uncertain, since these often referred to changes that occurred earlier, while changes that actually occurred in the quarter were only registered later.
Starting in January 2009, the statistics are published once a year, at the beginning of the first quarter. These annual figures can therefore be compared with the quarterly figures for the first quarter up to 2008.
From the same year, the statistics are published according to a new industry standard (SN2007). New tables with 2009 as the starting year were established, and the old series based on SN2002 were closed.
From 2012, the statistics are published by sector. A new table with 2012 as the starting year was established, based on the new sector division that was established that same year.
In 2016, there were changes in the data base for employees. In the new data source "A-ordningen", the number of employees is reported every month, not only when there are changes as in the previous "AA-register". This means that employers who have not reported are now left with zero employees. It is therefore unclear whether the decrease in the number of companies with employees from 2015 to 2016 is real or due to changes in the data base.
All sectors
Annual
Closed timeseries (2002-2008): Quarter
The establishment statistics are based on statistical and administrative registers. This may cause register errors.
A possible register error is outdated information as a result of a lag in registrations, i.e. changes are registered some time after they have occurred. The industry code is a typical example, as in some cases this is registered or corrected retrospectively based on feedback in connection with data collection or by linking to administrative registers. The extent of establishments with unknown industry provides an indication of the lag, and since 2020 this extent has increased.
Some enterprises are incompletely divided into establishments by location and industry (establishments that actually operate physically separate activities may be registered with only one establishment).
Not relevant