241410_not-searchable
/en/utenriksokonomi/statistikker/ur/kvartal
241410
Reduced current account balance
statistikk
2016-12-07T08:00:00.000Z
External economy;National accounts and business cycles;External economy
en
ur, International accounts, current account balance, direct investments, operational and capital accounts, financial accounts, investment abroad, foreign investment, transactions, stocks, financial assets, liabilities, portofolio investment, financial investments, revaluations, current account balance, balance of income and current transfers, reinvested earnings, net assets, BOP geographical breakdown, balance of goods, balance of services, BOP, IIP, balance of payments, international investment positionBalance of payments, National accounts , Foreign assets and liabilities , National accounts and business cycles, External economy
false
The statistics show the quarterly Norwegian current account balance.

International accounts, Q3 2016

Content

Published:

This is an archived release.

Go to latest release

Reduced current account balance

The current account balance ended at NOK 25 billion in the 3rd quarter of 2016, down NOK 4 billion from the previous quarter. Net property income was positive, while the goods and services balance ended in deficit.

Balance of payments. NOK millionPublished 7 December 2016
3rd quarter 20154th quarter 20151st quarter 20162nd quarter 20163rd quarter 2016
Current account balance62 54252 85146 12428 49624 898
Balance of goods and services36 46639 29713 815-1 040-4 768
Balance of income and current transfers26 07613 55432 30929 53629 666
Capital transfers to abroad, net245739650
Net lending, current account62 50652 83445 37328 41924 886
 
Direct investment44 07675 82243442 167-1 961
Portofolio investment108 87344 224-96 866169 378-40 047
Other investments-97 825-36 83372 037-50 53967 394
Reserve assets (IMF breakdown)-25 359-34 79345 234-5 3762 805
Net lending, financial account29 76548 42020 839155 63028 191
 
Net errors and omissions32 7414 41424 534-127 211-3 305

Source: Statistics Norway

Figure 1. The current account

Goods and services in deficit

Preliminary figures show that the total export of goods and services in the 3rd quarter of 2016 ended at NOK 256 billon, slightly above the previous quarter. The export value of goods was reduced by about NOK 3 billion to NOK 176 billion in the 3rd quarter. This was due to a fall in the export value of both oil and gas and other commodities. Preliminary calculations show that the export of services rose from the 2nd to the 3rd quarter, mostly due to the normal seasonal growth in non-residents’ travel expenditures in Norway. 

The value of the import of goods and services in the 3rd quarter of 2016 ended at NOK 261 billion, representing a growth in nominal terms of NOK 4 billion compared to the 2nd quarter this year. The import of goods went down NOK 2 billion, while the import value of services rose more than NOK 6 billion, again due mostly to the normal seasonal growth in residents’ travel expenditures abroad. 

For more information about export and import, including price and volume considerations and seasonal adjustments, please see the quarterly national accounts. 

The total balance of goods and services is estimated to be almost NOK 5 billion in deficit, while revised figures for the second quarter show a deficit of NOK 1 billion. The last time Norway’s goods and services balance with the rest of the world was in deficit was in 1998. 

Balance of income and current transfers dominating

The balance of income and current transfers ended at NOK 30 billion in the 3rd quarter of 2016, which is NOK 34 billion above the balance of goods and services. Also in the two previous quarters of 2016 the balance of income and current transfers exceeded the balance of goods and services. This is the result of a gradually weakened goods and services balance mostly due to lower oil and gas prices, combined with a strengthening of the balance of income and current transfers due to a rise in net property income on financial investments abroad. 

Reduced investments in the financial account

The second quarter of 2016 shows a decline in investments on the asset side, with total net sales of financial assets amounting to NOK 69 billion. Also, the liability side shows total net sales of NOK 98 billion. For both sides, the decline in foreign direct investment and other investments was driven by different types of loans. Portfolio investment abroad went down due to the sale of debt securities.

RevisionsOpen and readClose

For the current account: all figures in the current account have been revised for the two first quarters in 2016. For the financial account: the figures are revised dating back to the 1st quarter of 2015.