Accounting statistics, non-financial enterprises foreign financing

Updated: 4 March 2024

Next update: 6 June 2024

Year-to-year change in total liabilities abroad
Year-to-year change in total liabilities abroad
4th quarter 2022 - 4th quarter 2023
-0.4
%
Assets and liabilities in foreign countries. NOK million. Preliminary figures
Assets and liabilities in foreign countries. NOK million. Preliminary figures
4th quarter 2023Change in per cent
3rd quarter 2023 - 4th quarter 20234th quarter 2022 - 4th quarter 2023
Total assets2 405 656-0.3-2.3
Fixed assets1 571 606-1.64.8
Current assets834 0502.1-13.4
Total liabilities1 603 083-1.3-0.4
Long-term liabilities973 646-4.1-0.9
Short-term liabilities629 4373.40.6
Explanation of symbols

Selected tables and charts from this statistics

  • Assets and liabilities in foreign countries, yearly figures by category. NOK million
    Assets and liabilities in foreign countries, yearly figures by category. NOK million1
    2019202020212022
    Total assets1 955 7941 822 1812 335 8433 019 223
    Fixed assets1 421 8761 310 9021 474 8111 628 425
    Intangible fixed assets abroad336328367203
    Tangible fixed assets abroad57 13731 09732 53735 622
    Financial fixed assets abroad1 364 4021 279 4771 441 9081 592 600
    Investment in subsidiaries, other group companies or associated companies abroad985 797925 5491 014 6581 157 439
    Loans to group companies322 456329 743396 600400 537
    Current assets533 918511 280861 0311 390 798
    Debitors abroad381 930343 648599 1331 042 423
    Investments abroad121 438149 314239 155305 692
    Bank deposits abroad30 55018 31822 74442 684
    Total liabilities1 444 5251 555 2591 636 0052 057 488
    Long term liabilities999 2651 095 5321 010 8901 051 252
    Bond loans abroad369 840472 902418 094509 510
    Liabilities to foreign financial institutions192 834205 789182 275148 574
    Long-term liabilities to group companies abroad389 806369 056357 068337 806
    Short-term liabilities445 259459 727625 1141 006 235
    Short-term liabilities to group companies abroad299 875310 730361 735412 386
    1Figures from last year are preliminary.
    Explanation of symbols
  • Assets and liabilities in foreign countries, by continent. NOK million. Preliminary figures
    Assets and liabilities in foreign countries, by continent. NOK million. Preliminary figures
    2022
    Total assetsFixed assetsCurrent assetsTotal liabilitiesLong-term liabilitiesShort-term liabilities
    Total3 019 2231 628 4251 390 7982 057 4881 051 2521 006 235
    Europe except Nordic countries2 276 7131 050 7421 225 9711 444 199708 149736 050
    Of which
    Belgium28 2516 37221 879....7 242
    Sweden295 868197 40398 466154 63490 75163 883
    United Kingdom272 025106 320165 705561 499154 412407 087
    Germany169 83179 33190 50079 74947 86431 885
    Netherlands316 565277 76638 799120 94659 86661 079
    Denmark203 994116 69587 29975 19026 22648 963
    Russia4 1853 0681 1171 053....
    France546 670....22 4219 58812 834
    Switzerland37 8489 06328 78532 46611 12721 338
    Finland102 78470 80831 97751 06824 85726 211
    Ireland80 47839 86040 61880 79758 49722 300
    Cyprus7 1535 8341 319....661
    Luxembourg40 18721 85318 33499 57594 2275 348
    Iceland6 7576 144613504....
    Northern, Central America and the Caribbean349 557268 27181 286406 391294 370112 021
    Of which
    United States292 600240 58552 016364 284268 40895 876
    Bermuda13 5339 1714 3618 3714 0664 305
    Canada29 20913 42415 78512 8396 2436 596
    Asia162 821106 89855 92383 36533 54249 823
    Of which
    Singapore55 43345 29610 13737 6748 84128 833
    South Korea16 7398 8837 8561 700....
    China14 24711 1473 10114 457....
    Africa21 59714 8736 72423 061....
    Of which
    Angola2 5061 1311 37515 816....
    Algeria5 178......0..
    South America189 632179 50910 1242 1455781 567
    Of which
    Brazil165 727157 8227 9061 280573706
    Oceania12 0337 6594 3736 6901 4275 263
    Of which
    Australia9 0055 2553 7506 2241 1905 035
    Unknown6 8704736 39791 63611 67779 958
    Explanation of symbols
  • Assets and liabilities in foreign countries, quarterly figures by category. NOK million
    Assets and liabilities in foreign countries, quarterly figures by category. NOK million
    Total assetsFixed assetsCurrent assetsTotal liabilitiesLong-term liabilitiesShort-term liabilities
    4th quarter 20221 2 463 5191 500 338963 1811 608 742982 803625 940
    1st quarter 20231 2 599 6231 552 2101 047 4131 727 755992 201735 554
    2nd quarter 20231 2 527 4151 604 040923 3751 688 4931 024 133664 360
    3rd quarter 20231 2 413 9581 597 336816 6221 624 7811 015 767609 015
    4th quarter 20231 2 405 6561 571 606834 0501 603 083973 646629 437
    1The figures are preliminary.
    Explanation of symbols

About the statistics

The statistics gives an overview over Norwegian non-financial enterprises’ assets, liabilities, ownership, financial income and financial expenses abroad.

The units below are regarded as Norwegian in the statistics:

Legal persons registered as Norwegian, excluding their affiliates abroad. The definition is valid regardless of the owner’s nationality. Hence, foreign-owned companies registered as Norwegian are regarded as Norwegian units.

Affiliates in Norway of foreign registered legal persons. Physical persons permanently residing in Norway, regardless of citizenship. The following units are regarded as foreign in the statistics:

Legal persons registered abroad, including Norwegian-owned companies that are registered abroad.

Norwegian companies’ affiliates abroad.

Physical persons permanently residing abroad, regardless of citizenship.

Fixed assets in foreign countries cover assets that are mainly included in the company’s long-term creation of value and are intended for permanent ownership or use. They also include receivables and securities scheduled for repayment later than one year after the time of the settlement. They include tangible fixed assets, long-term receivables and investments. Investments include securities, shares and loans to other companies within the same group.

Current assets are assets relating to the company’s sales of goods and services (stocks of goods are not included, but assets and liabilities concerning sales of goods are), and assets which are expected to have a functional period of less than one year in production. This includes cash and short-term capital in foreign countries, foreign receivables and inventories.

The data are based on accounting legislation, and the values do not necessarily give a good picture of the real or the market value of the assets.

Liabilities cover all obligations that may limit the company’s future use of its resources. They are divided into short-term and long-term liabilities to foreign countries. Long-term liabilities are legal or financial obligations not meant to be redeemed during the coming accounting period. They are not related to the company’s short-term sales of goods and services. Short-term liabilities are liabilities that fall due for payment within one year from the time of settlement. Liabilities which are directly related to the company’s short-term sales of goods and services also fall in this category.

Companies applying the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) classify proposed dividends as a part of the equity, and not as a short-term liability.

In the statistics, assets and liabilities are grouped into assets and liabilities in companies within own group and assets and liabilities in companies that are not in own group.

The annual statistics are broken-down by groups of countries.

Groups of countries are based on the ISO standard 3166.

Name: Accounting statistics, non-financial enterprises foreign financing
Topic: Establishments, enterprises and accounts

6 June 2024

Division for Business Dynamics Statistics

The annual statistics are divided into countries or groups of countries.

Annually and quarterly statistics on non-financial companies’ foreign financial income, foreign financial expenses and foreign balance sheet items. The quarterly statistics are published 10 weeks after the quarter’s end, while the annual statistics are published within one year after the fiscal year.

The statistics are part of the basis for the Balance of Payment of non-financial companies, and partly the basis for reporting of Foreign Direct Investment to international organizations as IMF, OECD and Eurostat.

Statistical files are stored.

The purpose of the statistics is to give an overview over Norwegian non-financial companies’ foreign economy (assets, liabilities, ownership, financial income and financial expenses).

Parts of the earlier basis for the Balance of Payments statistics were closed, and this statistics was established to replace parts of the basis. The statistics also gives information on non-financial companies’ foreign assets and liabilities was previously collected as a part of the Financial Census.

The Accounting Statistics, non-financial companies foreign financing, are a part of the Balance of Payment.

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 inthe Statistics Release Calendar.

For more information about the principles for equal treatment of users in releasing statistics and analyses, click here.

Accounting statistics, non-financial companies' foreign financing, is part of the basis of the Balance of Payment. The statistics is also part of the international reporting of assets and liabilities to foreign countries. The data collection is partly joint with the statistics on import and export of services.

The quarterly statistics cover the sample, and do not give figures for the entire population. The statistics is not directly comparable with the Balance of Payment.

Statistics Act Sections 10 and 20.

Council Regulation (EF) 184/2005.

The statistics are based on a survey of the 600 largest non-financial companies. The size of the company is measured by assets and liabilities in foreign countries, foreign shares and foreign ownership.

The population is based on the Financial Census of 2003 and taxation data.

Data are collected from non-financial companies, and are matched with information from the accounting statistics, stock statistics and the Central Register of Establishments and Enterprises.

The data are collected quarterly from the about 600 largest companies quarterly. The annual statistics cover approximately 3000 companies, where the 600 largest are included.

The data are collected by electronic questionnaires. The respondents must report within 30 days after the quarter, but have longer time to report the annual data.

The data are checked when reported to Statistics Norway, and for some types of errors, the respondent is contacted to get the errors corrected. The data are also verified by comparing them with data from other sources, like previous reports and accounting data.

Not relevant

Figures are not published in a way which makes it possible to identify particular units in the statistics.

Revisions in the accounting legislation may cause less comparability over time.

The reported data are based on the tax questionnaire on accounting. The interpretation of figures concerning Norwegian amounts and amounts toward foreign countries may vary from company to company, and cause missing values. There may also be errors in reporting. One of the most common errors stem from differences between variables as defined by Statistics Norway and as they are in the company’s accounting system or general ledger. The separation of the figures into Norwegian and foreign may also cause errors.

Non-response weakens the quality of the statistics. To minimize non-response, missing data are imputed electronically.

To secure high relevance at low cost, ensuring that the largest companies are in the sample is emphasised. There is no complete register covering all units in the population. Due to this, it might be units in the population not covered by the sample.

Not relevant

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