Correction and missing data

In the previous publication, an error occurred in the variable “debt instruments” for the reference years 2022 and 2023. This has now been corrected.

Due to partially missing input for reference year 2024, the missing data have been imputed using data from 2023. This will be updated in the next release.

Statistikk innhold

Statistics on

Foreign direct investment

The statistics provide an overview of foreign direct investment (FDI) to and from Norway. Stock, income and transactions are included and compiled in accordance with international guidelines. The statistics are broken down into shares and other equity, debt instruments, income on debt, distributed earnings and reinvested earnings.

Updated: 30 September 2025
Next update: Not yet determined

Selected figures from these statistics

  • Foreign direct investment, stocks and income. NOK million
    Foreign direct investment, stocks and income. NOK million
    202220232024
    Norwegian foreign direct investment
    Total positions2 070 7642 358 3832 627 194
    Shares and other equity1 825 2282 060 4392 306 643
    Debt instruments245 536297 944320 551
    Total income148 366167 841119 644
    Distributed earnings92 882170 234118 499
    Reinvested earnings38 013-30 346-21 905
    Income on debt17 47127 95423 050
    Foreign direct investment in Norway
    Total positions1 507 2931 819 0431 840 305
    Shares and other equity1 377 3031 645 9081 616 369
    Debt instruments129 990173 135223 936
    Total income211 601146 903152 668
    Distributed earnings127 158111 87589 091
    Reinvested earnings70 28017 68147 794
    Income on debt14 16317 34615 782
    Explanation of symbols
  • Foreign direct investment, by stocks and geographical distribution. NOK million
    Foreign direct investment, by stocks and geographical distribution. NOK million
    202220232024
    Norwegian foreign direct investment
    Europe1 322 1901 501 1941 632 487
    Africa6 76414 8709 596
    Asia137 755158 551186 651
    Northern, Central America and the Caribbean377 598424 573519 198
    South America132 931150 329174 214
    Oceania15 0498 4455 634
    Foreign direct investment in Norway
    Europe1 172 5741 466 8681 468 808
    Africa-2685-193
    Asia55 49645 64260 343
    Northern, Central America and the Caribbean127 912140 858129 411
    South America4 4083 4424 785
    Oceania4 4347 2537 577
    Explanation of symbols
  • Foreign direct investment, by total income and geographical distribution. NOK million
    Foreign direct investment, by total income and geographical distribution. NOK million
    202220232024
    Norwegian foreign direct investment
    Europe92 57686 83057 470
    Africa3 4902 66715 034
    Asia10 50152 09321 633
    Northern, Central America and the Caribbean30 45717 69813 288
    South America8 5656 64910 710
    Oceania1 3281 335927
    Foreign direct investment in Norway
    Europe182 359128 200136 372
    Africa:502454
    Asia5 609-2 746-2 021
    Northern, Central America and the Caribbean23 29620 46515 525
    South America99543
    Oceania2101 320775
    Explanation of symbols
  • Foreign direct investment, by stock and industrial classification. NOK million
    Foreign direct investment, by stock and industrial classification. NOK million
    202220232024
    Norwegian foreign direct investment
    All industries2 070 7642 358 3832 627 194
    Agriculture, forestry and fishing38 98745 61853 160
    Mining and quarrying351 686384 138440 769
    Manufacture303 147315 001341 595
    Electricity, gas and steam57 04962 35370 789
    Water supply, sewerage, waste7831 929:
    Construction14 45618 58622 029
    Wholesale and retail trade: repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles48 14562 52876 862
    Transportation and storage101 846116 149125 320
    Accommodation and food service activities2 9852 648:
    Information and communication159 191165 476224 585
    Financial and insurance activities174 740187 554203 236
    Real estate activities86 64094 735123 260
    Professional, scientific and technical activities73 891103 484122 143
    Administrative and support service activities35 12550 52558 387
    Second homes289 421325 759342 250
    Other industries281 876278 984380 242
    Foreign direct investment in Norway
    All industries1 507 2931 819 0431 840 305
    Agriculture, forestry and fishing5 48915 89215 515
    Mining and quarrying55 237118 89494 171
    Manufacture179 546218 321229 873
    Electricity, gas and steam51 17245 96444 107
    Water supply, sewerage, waste4 1134 7754 460
    Construction50 83031 34041 242
    Wholesale and retail trade: repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles142 908152 551162 504
    Transportation and storage112 356136 192165 438
    Accommodation and food service activities22 84123 12410 962
    Information and communication122 585169 329177 167
    Financial and insurance activities278 721281 788325 545
    Real estate activities140 442154 655168 884
    Professional, scientific and technical activities79 12197 72486 218
    Administrative and support service activities43 53661 09563 257
    Second homes141 637152 258165 954
    Other industries16 93618 03818 857
    Explanation of symbols
  • Foreign direct investment in Norway for chosen countries, by ultimate investor country and immediate counterpart country. Total positions. NOK million
    Foreign direct investment in Norway for chosen countries, by ultimate investor country and immediate counterpart country. Total positions. NOK million
    2024
    Foreign direct investment in Norway, ultimate investor countryPercentage of all countries, ultimate investor countryForeign direct investment in Norway, immediate counterpart countryPercentage of all countries, immediate counterpart country
    All countries1 840 305100.001 840 305100.00
    Belgium5 3520.2917 2240.94
    Bermuda8290.0519 4961.06
    Cayman Islands::11 3900.62
    Denmark47 1352.56122 7506.67
    Finland100 6405.47110 7236.02
    Guernsey (2007-).0.0013 4040.73
    Hong Kong::1 6480.09
    Ireland3 0660.1729 0631.58
    Jersey (2007-)::18 8371.02
    China29 3461.5924 6691.34
    Luxembourg19 8651.08233 08812.67
    Netherlands21 6351.18126 3156.86
    Norway156 5058.50
    Russia.0.00-380.00
    Singapore6 4750.358 5970.47
    United Kingdom165 0688.97160 8878.74
    Switzerland105 5445.74106 3455.78
    Sweden259 59514.11389 81121.18
    United States of America336 23118.2778 4184.26
    Explanation of symbols
  • Foreign direct investment, by stocks and transactions. Geographical distribution. NOK million
    Foreign direct investment, by stocks and transactions. Geographical distribution. NOK million
    2024
    Opening balanceTotal transactionsOther changesClosing balance
    Norwegian foreign direct investment
    All continents2 358 383181 10087 7112 627 194
    Europe1 501 19480 72450 5691 632 487
    Africa14 870-992-4 2829 596
    Asia158 55122 9235 177186 651
    Northern, Central America and the Caribbean424 57363 51031 115519 198
    South America150 32938 617-14 732174 214
    Oceania8 445-2 617-1945 634
    Foreign direct investment in Norway
    All continents1 819 04343 295-22 0331 840 305
    Europe1 466 86855 527-53 5871 468 808
    Africa85-2824-193
    Asia45 6423 60011 10160 343
    Northern, Central America and the Caribbean140 858-26 25314 806129 411
    South America3 4421 299444 785
    Oceania7 253334-107 577
    Explanation of symbols

About the statistics

The information under «About the statistics» was last updated 26 September 2025.

Foreign Direct Investment

Foreign direct investment refers to investments in enterprises across national borders, where the investing enterprise aims to establish a long-term economic relationship and exert significant influence over the operations of a foreign enterprise. This definition aligns with international guidelines in this area.

The investing enterprise is often referred to as the investor.

Since SSB’s data collection is based on accounting information, we define an investment as a direct investment if the company holds at least a 20 percent ownership share, in order to distinguish between direct investments and portfolio investments. International statistical guidelines recommend a threshold of 10 percent, but as this statistic follows the Accounting Act, we deviate from that recommendation.

A foreign direct investment includes:

  • the investor’s share of contributions and acquired equity in the foreign enterprise they invested in, as well as the investor’s assets and liabilities related to the investment enterprise
  • other asset and liability relations between enterprises within the same enterprise group, such as loans between a Norwegian enterprise and a foreign fellow enterprise

Fellow enterprises

Fellow enterprises are enterprises that are directly or indirectly controlled or influenced by the same parent company within the ownership hierarchy, but neither fellow enterprise controls nor influences the other.

Investments between fellow enterprises can include investments in assets, debt instruments and income, such as dividends and interest.

The directional principle: Inward and outward investments

We calculate the foreign direct investment statistic according to the directional principle and the revised directional principle.

The directional principle

The directional principle presents direct investment data organized according to the direction of the direct investment relationship, meaning that financial assets and liabilities between the investor and the investment enterprise are netted. This implies that:

  • An inward foreign direct investment is the foreign investor’s investment in a Norwegian enterprise, minus any investment from the Norwegian enterprise in the foreign enterprise. We call this foreign direct investment in Norway
  • An outward foreign direct investment is the Norwegian enterprise’s investment in a foreign enterprise, minus any investment from the foreign enterprise in the Norwegian enterprise. We call this Norwegian foreign direct investment

The revised directional principle

The revised directional principle relates to the treatment of investments between fellow enterprises.

The principle is only partly applied in the foreign direct investment statistic, as we only cover debt instruments between fellow enterprises.

Distribution of income from foreign direct investment

The distribution of income from direct investments can be divided into three parts:

  • Distributed earnings (dividends): Payments made to investors from the company.
  • Income in debt (interest): Payments for loans provided to the company.
  • Reinvested earnings: The portion of profits that is not distributed as dividends but retained within the company. This is also considered a return on directly invested capital. SSB classifies reinvested earnings as a transaction in equity from the owner to the company, in line with international recommendations for direct investment statistics.

In the Balance of Payments, reinvested earnings are recorded as income, while in the Financial Accounts, they are recorded as retained earnings.

Other changes

Other changes consist of exchange rate revaluations and other market and price related revaluations.

A revaluation is a new assessment of the value of assets and liabilities when prices and exchange rates have changed. It is thus a new valuation that comes without the enterprises having made any new transactions.

The exchange rate revaluations are calculated while other types of revaluations are taken from the data collection.

Ultimate investor country

The ultimate investor country is the country where the “last” enterprise or person in the ownership chain is registered or has registered address. That is, the enterprise that is not controlled by another enterprise or the last person in the ownership chain. According to the guidelines for Direct Investments, it is possible to have more than one ultimate investor country by following the ownership chain for each direct investor. However, for practical reasons, we have adopted the Winner-Takes-All (WTA) approach, which means that we follow the ownership chain of the majority owner, resulting in only one ultimate investor country per enterprise.

Asset/liability principle

The asset/liability principle records all foreign direct investment claims on and obligations to non-residents using the normal balance sheet, and the stocks and income are presented as gross assets and liabilities. I.e. the direction of the investment does not affect whether it is recorded as assets or liabilities.

Industry Classification

The industry code is based on the sector of the Norwegian portion of the investment, covering both the asset and liability sides.

The industry classification is from the reference year 2010 in line with the revised Norwegian Standard industrial classification (SN07), which is based on the EU’s industry standard NACE Rev. 2. Prior to the reference year 2010, the industry classification was based on Norwegian Standard industrial classification (SN94), which is based on the EU’s industry standard NACE Rev 1.

The transition to a new industrial classification (SN07) has little significance for the industry breakdown in the foreign direct investment statistic. This is because the statistic is aggregated to a relatively high level.

Limited companies with operations in several industries are, in principle, classified according to the operation that makes the largest contribution to the company’s total value added. You can find further details on SN07 in the publication NOS Standard industrial classification (C 182) and on Statistics Norway’s website at Standard Industrial Classification.

Relatert innhold