The Producer Price Index (PPI) measures price developments in manufacturing, extraction of oil and gas, electricity supply and mining, both in terms of sales to the Norwegian market, and abroad. In this article, we mainly focus on the manufacturing industries. Key Norwegian manufacturing industries include the food industry, chemical production, petroleum and coal processing and the manufacture of basic metals.
The producer price index (PPI) measures the price development that important parts of the Norwegian industry receive for their goods. Compared with the more well-known consumer price index (CPI), PPI measures price developments at an earlier point in the value chain. The CPI measures the price development that households pay for different goods, while the PPI measures prices "at the factory gate". Thus, PPI is an important indicator of the condition in the Norwegian industry. The index is used to analyse the Norwegian economy and can also be an indication of the development in the CPI. The PPI measures the price development in extraction of oil and natural gas, manufacturing, water- and electricity supply and for certain services, including services related to oil and gas extraction. Prices are measured on goods sold in the first stage of sales from the producer to the Norwegian market (domestic market), in addition to the foreign market (export market).
High price growth for exported goods
The prices Norwegian manufacturing industry receives for exported goods have risen steadily since July last year, and from March to April there was a sharp price increase of 7.2 percent.
Export prices increased in late 2024 and the first months of 2025, largely due to higher prices for seafood, basic metals and refined petroleum products. Then, prices for all these goods fell, especially sharply for petroleum products. Since last summer, prices for exported metals and seafood have risen somewhat again. Prices on petroleum products, on the other hand, continued to fall through 2025 and into 2026, but rebounded sharply in April. In April, the price increase for refined petroleum products was as big as 47.3 percent, which was related to the sharp price increase for crude oil and natural gas extraction from February to March, as they are closely correlated and with a time lag. There was also a sharp increase in prices for exported metals in April, by 7.6 percent, compared to a price decrease of 2.0 percent the previous month.
Another important export industry that has experienced largely falling prices over the past year is the chemical industry. Despite a small price increase in April, prices are still lower in April this year compared to the same month the previous year.
The overall price increase for exported industrial goods was 8.2 percent from April last year to April this year. For the food industry, the growth in the same period was 13.8 percent and for the basic metal industry 10.6 percent.
More stable price growth on goods sold in Norway than abroad
In the domestic market, manufacturing prices have shown more stable growth in recent years compared to the export market. Although domestic prices have also fluctuated at times, the twelve-month growth rate for goods sold domestically has generally remained between two and three percent since last summer. Strong price growth for domestic goods in April pushed the twelve-month growth rate up to 6.6 percent.
The large price fluctuations seen in several manufacturing industries in the export market are partly due to differences in product composition. Many export goods are highly exposed to developments in global commodity markets, and recent events, including tensions in the Middle East, have contributed to pushing export prices to exceptionally high levels.
In addition, export prices are influenced by movements in the exchange rate to the Norwegian krone. Higher export prices over the past months occurred despite an appreciation of the Norwegian krone against other currencies, which in isolation would normally reduce export prices measured in Norwegian kroner.
Other important twelve-month changes
- The price index for extraction of crude oil and natural gas went down 4.4 percent from March to April. Compared to April last year, prices were 35.5 percent higher. Last month’s price drop led to a 0.5 percent price decrease in the total PPI in April.
- Prices in the power supply sector, which include electricity and its distribution, had a small price decrease from March to April. Despite the price drop in April, prices still rose with approximately 46 percent from April 2025 to April 2026.
