Statistikk innhold

Statistics on

Entrepreneurs in business enterprise sector

The statistics provide an overview of those who establish limited liability companies and personally owned enterprises, and what characterizes the founders and owners of the enterprises that survive and grow.

Updated: 30 September 2025
Next update: Not yet determined
Modified: "Change from the previous year " is corrected in table 1.

Selected figures from these statistics

  • Personal founders of new enterprises, by number of founded enterprises and gender
    Personal founders of new enterprises, by number of founded enterprises and gender
    20241
    EntrepreneursChange from the previous year (per cent)Share of womenShare of men
    Total64 622-7.631.268.8
    1 enterprises59 953-7.532.167.9
    2-3 enterprises4 596-7.519.180.9
    4-5 enterprises110-19.715.584.5
    6-9 enterprises24-35.116.787.5
    10 or more enterprises2792.922.277.8
    1The figures for 2024 are preliminary and based on estimates. The preliminary figures have a higher uncertainty than the final figures, and the shares the shares do not always add up to 100 percent. The confidence limits are published in Statbank.
    30 September 2025 09.50 AM "Change from the previous year " is corrected in table 1.
    Explanation of symbols
  • Founders, founded enterprises and founder interests, by educational level
    Founders, founded enterprises and founder interests, by educational level
    20241
    FoundersFounded enterprisesFounder interests
    All educational levels67 60961 63776 304
    Primary and lower secondary education (level 1-2)12.613.413.3
    Upper secondary education (level 3-5)32.732.031.9
    Tertial education, 4 years or less (level 6)25.024.425.3
    Tertial education, more than 4 years (level 7-8)17.217.218.2
    Other education7.47.56.9
    Enterprises4.45.55.4
    1The figures for 2024 are preliminary and based on estimates. The preliminary figures have a higher uncertainty than the final figures, and the shares the shares do not always add up to 100 percent. The confidence limits are published in Statbank.
    Explanation of symbols
  • Personal founders of new enterprises, by country background and age
    Personal founders of new enterprises, by country background and age
    20241
    All ages16-24 years25-44 years45-66 years67 years or older
    Total64 62211.953.830.24.1
    Norway46 85412.549.532.75.2
    Nordic countries except Norway, EU/EFTA, UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand6 1586.464.926.61.9
    Europe except EU/EFTA/UK, Africa, Asia, America except USA and Canada, Oceania except Australia and New Zealand, polar regions9 22312.067.120.30.6
    Non-Norwegian citizen, living outside of Norway2 36712.557.228.02.0
    1The figures for 2024 are preliminary and based on estimates. The preliminary figures have a higher uncertainty than the final figures, and the shares the shares do not always add up to 100 percent. The confidence limits are published in Statbank.
    Explanation of symbols
  • Personal founders of new enterprises, by education level and legal form
    Personal founders of new enterprises, by education level and legal form
    20241
    TotalLimited liability companiesPersonally owned companiesBoth types of legal form
    All educational levels64 62245.853.11.2
    Primary and lower secondary education (level 1-2)8 96837.661.01.6
    Upper secondary education (level 3-5)22 10849.849.01.3
    Tertial education, 4 years or less (level 6)16 91847.551.51.2
    Tertial education, more than 4 years (level 7-8)11 61549.150.10.9
    Other education5 00330.669.20.6
    1The figures for 2024 are preliminary and based on estimates. The preliminary figures have a higher uncertainty than the final figures, and the shares the shares do not always add up to 100 percent. The confidence limits are published in Statbank.
    Explanation of symbols
  • Founders of new enterprises, by the founders' county (2024 division) and education level
    Founders of new enterprises, by the founders' county (2024 division) and education level
    2023
    All educational levelsPrimary and lower secondary education (level 1-2)Upper secondary education (level 3-5)Tertial education, 4 years or less (level 6)Tertial education, more than 4 years (level 7-8)Other educationEnterprises
    Østfold3 61818.738.525.410.53.83.1
    Akershus9 87115.330.927.418.05.82.6
    Oslo13 84810.720.631.925.96.34.6
    Innlandet3 90316.141.624.910.83.82.9
    Buskerud3 34518.537.224.012.44.73.1
    Vestfold3 22615.336.527.514.03.53.2
    Telemark1 94317.041.223.011.33.24.3
    Agder4 05313.841.724.313.22.54.5
    Rogaland5 84313.837.422.816.54.05.4
    Vestland7 83412.937.225.516.33.64.6
    Møre og Romsdal2 81413.840.325.611.72.95.7
    Trøndelag5 61913.837.224.716.53.34.5
    Nordland2 44316.036.324.114.74.05.0
    Troms - Romsa - Tromssa1 91414.237.023.817.83.73.6
    Finnmark - Finnmárku - Finmarkku81016.542.121.711.03.84.8
    Svalbard30.00.00.00.066.733.3
    Continental shelf and unknow1 8070.00.00.00.197.62.3
    Explanation of symbols
  • Founded enterprises and 1 to 5 years' survival rates, by the founder's educational level
    Founded enterprises and 1 to 5 years' survival rates, by the founder's educational level
    Founded enterprisesSurvival rates
    20181 year2 years3 years4 years5 years
    All educational levels64 82551,1 %49,1 %42,6 %38,0 %33,6 %
    Primary and lower secondary education (level 1-2)9 58448,0 %42,7 %35,8 %30,9 %26,9 %
    Upper secondary education (level 3-5)21 28154,3 %52,0 %45,6 %41,0 %36,7 %
    Tertial education, 4 years or less (level 6)15 66646,6 %46,6 %40,6 %36,6 %32,1 %
    Tertial education, more than 4 years (level 7-8)9 06748,9 %49,4 %43,4 %39,7 %34,6 %
    Other education6 26253,3 %46,9 %38,1 %31,6 %27,4 %
    Enterprises2 96563,7 %65,9 %60,6 %56,5 %51,8 %
    Explanation of symbols
  • Enterprises that have founded limited liability companies, by industry (the founder enterprise's) and number of founded enterprises
    Enterprises that have founded limited liability companies, by industry (the founder enterprise's) and number of founded enterprises
    20241
    Total1 enterprises2-3 enterprises4-5 enterprises6-9 enterprises10 or more enterprises
    All industries2 98082.314.11.91.10.5
    Mining and quarrying2281.818.20.00.00.0
    Manufacture11382.317.71.80.00.0
    Electricity, gas and steam3878.97.910.50.00.0
    Water supply, sewerage, waste8100.00.00.00.00.0
    Construction38181.118.62.11.60.8
    Wholesale and retail trade: repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles28382.717.01.10.00.0
    Transportation and storage11281.313.43.60.90.0
    Accommodation and food service activities9779.419.62.10.00.0
    Information and communication20987.111.51.00.00.0
    Financial and insurance activities4973.518.42.02.02.0
    Real estate activities63580.315.33.11.60.6
    Professional, scientific and technical activities32477.518.21.52.50.9
    Administrative and support service activities10987.211.00.00.00.0
    Education2483.38.34.20.00.0
    Human health and social work activities7676.322.41.30.00.0
    Arts, entertainment and recreation6093.35.00.00.00.0
    Personal service activities42100.04.80.00.00.0
    Unspecified30490.58.21.00.30.3
    1The figures for 2024 are preliminary and based on estimates. The preliminary figures have a higher uncertainty than the final figures, and the shares the shares do not always add up to 100 percent. The confidence limits are published in Statbank.
    Explanation of symbols

About the statistics

The information under «About the statistics» was last updated 30 September 2025.

Enterprise
In the business entrepreneur statistics, the legal unit is defined as the enterprise.

Legal form
Type of organisation registered in the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities (CCR). A distinction is made between sole proprietorships, public limited companies, general partnerships etc.

Personally owned enterprises
Personally owned enterprises refer to the legal forms sole proprietorships, general partnerships and general partnerships with shared liability.

General partnership and general partnership with shared liability
Must have at least two partners, and these partners are known as partners with joint liability and partners with unlimited liability, respectively. The partners are personally and economically responsible. In a general partnership, all partners can be claimed for the total debt of the company, but in a general partnership with shared liability every partner is personally liable for a certain part of the company's debt. In total, the partners are liable for the whole debt. Both physical persons and body cooperates can be partners. Having a board and/or manager is optional. In the tables, only enterprises with physical persons as partners are included, and only the active roles are included.

Sole proprietorship
A sole proprietorship must have one, and only one, owner. The owner is fully and personally responsible for the whole enterprise, and needs to be a physical person. It is possible to employ a manager who is someone other than the owner.

Public limited liability company and private limited liability company
These are organisational structures in which none of the owners have personal responsibility for the company's liability. The owners' responsibility for the company's debt is restricted to the share capital. A private limited liability company cannot, unlike a public limited liability company, receive share capital from the public.

All public limited liability companies and private limited liability companies must have a board of directors. This board must as a main rule consist of at least three members. In limited companies that have less than NOK 3 million in share capital, the board can consist of two members in addition to a deputy. All public limited liability companies and private limited liability companies with share capital of more than NOK 3 million must in addition have a manager.

Established enterprise
In the business entrepreneur statistics, an enterprise is defined as new in the year it was registered, regardless of whether it had activity in the form of turnover or employed persons. Enterprises established in connection with a business takeover are excluded. The same applies to enterprises where none meet the criteria for being a founder. Reactivations, i.e. enterprises that became active again after at least 2 years of continuous inactivity, are not considered new enterprises in the business entrepreneur statistics.

Survival
An enterprise is considered to have survived if it has activity in the form of turnover or employment, and has not had 2 or more consecutive years of inactivity since its establishment. Enterprises that are inactive for 1 year, then resume activity, are considered dormant in the inactive year, and as survivors again from the year the activity is resumed.

Survival by change of ownership: An enterprise is also considered to have survived if it has ceased to be active, but its activity has been taken over by another new legal unit created specifically to take over the production factors of the first enterprise. The new legal unit here represents the surviving enterprise, and takes over the establishing year from the old one. The age of the enterprise is calculated from that year, and the enterprise growth is calculated across the two legal units. Survival by change of ownership is relatively rare.

Founder / Entrepreneur
The founders (entrepreneurs) of a personally owned enterprise are the holder or participants at the time of establishment.

A founder of a limited liability company is defined as a person or an enterprise with an ownership interest (in share capital) above a certain limit in the newly established enterprise, or who at the time of establishment has an ownership interest and is the general manager, chairman of the board, deputy chairman or board member of the same enterprise. The person may be a shareholder directly in the enterprise or indirectly via another enterprise.

The requirement for indirect ownership is that the establishing enterprise is owned by only persons, in which case these persons are considered to be entrepreneurs. Otherwise, the establishing enterprise is considered to be the entrepreneur. If a person has both direct and indirect ownership in an enterprise, these ownership interests are combined. The ownership requirement is:

- 100 percent of a company with 1 shareholder

- at least 40 percent of a company with 2 shareholders

- at least 30 percent of a company with 3 shareholders

- at least 20 percent of a company with 4 or more shareholders

Founder interest
A founder interest is the contribution of one founder to establishing an enterprise. For example, if 3 people or enterprises together established an enterprise, this is counted as 3 founder interests. Similarly, if a person established 4 enterprises alone or together with others, this is counted as 4 founder interests for this person. All founder interests count equally.

Owner
An owner in the entrepreneur statistics is a person or an enterprise with ownership in an enterprise according to the limits that apply to founders. Owners in the year of establishment of the enterprise, according to this definition, are counted as owners.

Owner interest
An owner interest in the establishment statistics is one owner's ownership in an enterprise. For example, if 3 people or enterprises are owners in an enterprise, according to the definition above, this is counted as 3 owner interests. Similarly, if a person is an owner in 4 enterprises alone or together with others, this is counted as 4 owner interests for this person. All owner interests count equally.

Age
refers to the age of the founder at the end of the reference year.

Immigrants
People with an immigrant background include people born abroad or in Norway, with two foreign-born parents and four foreign-born grandparents.

National background
for immigrants is their own country of birth, defined (mainly) as their mother's place of residence at the time of their own birth. For Norwegian-born people with an immigrant background, it is the mother's country of birth. For people without an immigrant background, Norway is their national background.

Employees
The number of employees includes all persons who work for the enterprise for at least 1 hour per week, in an employment relationship or on a fee basis (freelancers, etc.). Persons with more than one employment relationship may be counted as employees in several enterprises. In the statistics, the number of employees is considered the average for the entire year, including in the year of establishment.

Employment (Persons employed)
The number of employees includes all employees plus any employed owners. Partnerships have 2 employed owners if the turnover is above a given limit (200,000 NOK in 2021, adjusted for inflation in other years), and sole proprietorships have 1 employed owner if the turnover is above a given limit (100,000 NOK in 2021, adjusted for inflation in other years). The number of employees is calculated as an average over the entire year, including in the year of establishment.

Turnover
Turnover is defined as the sum of remuneration of sale to customers, sale of commercial goods and gross income from other industry activities. The turnover includes rental income and commissions receivable, but not public assistance or gain by sale of fixed assets. VAT is not included in the figures. In some industries within finance and insurance, the concept of turnover is not clearly defined, and in these industries alternative measures are used as defined in EU Regulation 2019/2152.

Growth in employment
Employment growth is the development in the number of employed people measured against the previous year.

Municipality and county
The municipality and county where the founded enterprise's business address is located.

Standard for industrial classification (SN2007)
The industrial classification is based on the Norwegian Standard for industrial classification (SN2007), which in turn is based on the EU industrial classification standard NACE Rev.2.

Norwegian standard for classification of educations (NUS)
The education is classified according to the Norwegian standard for classification of educations (NUS) which was first established by Statistics Norway in 1970.

Standard for classification of persons with an immigration background
Immigration background is classified according to Statistics Norway's Standard for country codes (SSB-3).

Standard for classification of institutional sector
The population of established enterprises is defined using sectors defined in Statistics Norway's Standard for classification of institutional sector.

Number of founders (individuals or enterprises that established enterprises): Counted once per year.

Number of established enterprises: Counted once per year.

Number of founder interests (one person or enterprise's total contribution to establishing an enterprise): Counted once for each enterprise the person or founder enterprise helped to establish in the relevant year.

Number of owners (individuals or enterprises with an owner interest and, if applicable, a role in the owned enterprise corresponding to the threshold for founders): Counted once per year.

Number of surviving enterprises: Counted once per year.

Number of owner interests (one person or enterprise's total ownership in an enterprise): Counted once for each enterprise the person was an owner in the relevant year.

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