Building stock

Building : As a main rule, freestanding building units are to be given a unique building number. Combined units can be assigned individual building numbers when the building parts can be torn down independent of each other.

Row houses in which each dwelling unit lies on the ground are assigned one building number for each dwelling. Vertically divided semi-detached houses in which the housing units are equal shall be given one building number for each unit. On the other hand, horizontally divided semi-detached homes, four-unit houses and larger residential buildings in which the housing units lie on top of each other are assigned one building number for the entire building.

Type of building is established according to function. Combined buildings, for instance combined dwelling and business buildings, are grouped by the function that occupies the main part of the utility floor space.

Name: Building stock
Topic: Construction, housing and property

Division for Housing, Property, Spatial and Agricultural Statistics

County level. Breakdown on municipal level is available.

Annually. Numbers are normally published in February.

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The number of buildings broken down by each type of building and each municipality is until 2005 stored in Excel spreadsheets for each year.

From 2006 micro data are stored as text files on UNIX.

The purpose of the statistics is to provide an overview of the number of buildings in Norway, broken down by type of building and counties/municipalities. The statistics have been published since 1997.

Users of the statistics include the municipalities, the building and construction industry and various organizations and institutions.

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.

See also Principles for equal treatment of users in releasing statistics and analyses.

The statistics of buildings gives an overview over the number of buildings in Norway, while the register based Dwelling stock gives figures on the number of dwelling units in these buildings. One building often contains two or more dwelling units.

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).

None.

The statistics include all main buildings (no extensions) larger than 15 m 2 which have been started or completed and have not been reported demolished, burned or eliminated some other way. The observation unit is building.

The statistics on the building stocks are based on data from the Ground Parcel, Address and Building Register(Matrikkelen). The owner of the register is the Ministry of Environment, with the Norwegian Mapping Authority professionally responsible. This register contains all buildings in Norway subsequent to the completion of the MABYGG project.

Complete census.

Until 2005 Statistics Norway received Excel files from the Norwegian Mapping Authority, based on transcripts from Matrikkelen. From 2006 the statistics is based on Statistics Norway own statistical version of the GAB-register, the Register of Ground Parcels, Addresses, Buildings and Dwellings (SSB-Matrikkelen).

The number of buildings broken down by county and main groups of building types is compared with the year before. In the event of major changes from the year before the Norwegian Mapping Authority is contacted for explanation.

Totals are calculated by summation.

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More municipalities are cleaning up their registers. As a result, buildings that were not classified the previous year may have been assigned their correct building type the year after. A number of buildings that were incorrectly classified the previous year may have been assigned the correct building type code the next year. The number of registered buildings in the municipalities may also change from year to year because of the clean up.

From 2007 the building types “Detached houses used as holiday houses" and “Farmhouses used as holiday houses" are added into the table containing holiday houses by county.

From 2008 Svalbard is included in the statistics. The figures only include the building stock in Longyearbyen, while other areas at Svalbard are not included in the statistics. This is because only buildings in Longyearbyen is registered in Matrikkelen.

From 2022 the building stock includes completed buildings that are exempt from applying for a building permit, but must be notified and registered in Matrikkelen. As of 01.01.2022 there are 21 281 of these buildings, and over 90% of them are garages/annexes adjacent to dwellings/holiday houses.

There is a possibility that the municipalities make mistakes in registering data in Matrikkelen. The municipalities that do not put building cases online into Matrikkelen fill out a form that is sent to the county mapping office. In some cases the forms are filled in incorrectly. There are also some municipalities that for various reasons do not always follow the current registration rules for Matrikkelen. Buildings may be incorrectly classified, i.e. that a building has been assigned a different type of building in the register than it should have. The statistics can also include buildings that are torn down, burnt down or otherwise non-existing, if not reported to the municipality.

None.