External trade in services, Q1 2014

Non-financial enterprises exported services for NOK 47 billion in the 1st quarter of 2014. This was an increase of 8.7 per cent compared to the same period in 2013. The import of services amounted to NOK 44 billion and increased by 3.9 per cent from the 1st quarter of 2013.

Increase in services related to oil and gas

Services related to the oil and gas industry were the largest group of imported services in the 1st quarter of 2014, which accounted for 21.7 per cent of total imports. This was an increase of 8.4 per cent compared to the same quarter in the previous year. Business services ended at NOK 8 billion, which accounted for 18.1 per cent of the total imports of services to date in 2014. Supporting and auxiliary transport activities and travel agency activities accounted for 17 per cent of total imports in the 1st quarter of 2014. This was a decrease of 3.3 per cent compared to the same quarter in the previous year.

The Norwegian export of services was dominated by sea and coastal water transport, which reached a value of NOK 18 billion, and was responsible for 37.4 per cent of service exports. Business services accounted for 21.1 per cent of the total export in the 1st quarter of 2014; equivalent to NOK 10 billion. Services related to oil and gas exploration accounted for 10.8 per cent of the total export value; an increase of 28.1 per cent in the 1st quarter of 2014 compared to the same quarter in the previous year, which totalled NOK 1 billion.

Transport and storage largest industry within external trade in services

The transport and storage industry dominated service imports in the first three months of 2014, with NOK 11 billion, which represented an entire 26.8 per cent share of the import value. The mining and quarrying industry accounted for 25.8 per cent of the total import value. This was an increase of the industry’s share of total service imports, up 3.1 percentage points from the 1st quarter of 2013.

Enterprises within the transport and storage sector accounted for the largest export of services, with a share of 48.1 per cent of the export value. This was an increase of 14.4 per cent compared with the same quarter in the previous year. Enterprises within professional, scientific, and technical activities were also large contributors, with a share of 16.3 per cent of total export of services in the 1st quarter of 2014, which amounted to NOK 8 billion.

Most service trade with Europe

A total of 40.7 per cent of Norwegian imports of services came from non-Nordic EU countries, reaching a value of NOK 18 billion. Nordic countries accounted for 23.6 per cent of the service imports; equivalent to NOK 10 billion.

For Norwegian non-financial enterprises, European countries accounted for 49.5 per cent of total exports in the 1st quarter of 2014. The export of services to other EU countries and Nordic countries amounted to NOK 14 billion and NOK 8 billion respectively in the 1st quarter of 2014.

Figures from the shipping industry have now been included in the quarterly publications.