High dividend income in Q2

Norway’s trade balance increased by 8 percent from Q2 2023 to Q2 2024, and the level in the first quarter was 12 billion higher than the quarter the previous year. The surplus’s remains elevated compared to historical levels. The main reason for the large surplus was large export income from petroleum.

• Current account balance increased by 38 percent compared to the first quarter of last year.
• The balance of income and current transfers increased by 45 billion NOK in the same period.
• Net foreign assets increased by NOK 208 billion, which corresponds to 1 percent.
• A high net lending of more than NOK 400 billion ensured the increase, which however was dampened by the appreciation of the Norwegian krone.

Higher trade balance surplus

The balance of trade in goods and services, also known as the trade balance, showed a surplus of NOK 232 billion in the second quarter of 2024, up from the NOK 176 billion observed in the second quarter of last year.

In total, Norway exported goods and services worth NOK 595 billion in the first quarter of 2024. This is an increase of NOK 24 billion compared to the same period the previous year. Goods exports increased by 4 per cent, while service exports increased by 7 per cent.

Norway imported goods and services worth NOK 443 billion in the first quarter of 2024, up 3 percent from the same quarter of the previous year. Imports of goods increased by 3 per cent, while imports of services increased by 4 per cent compared to the same period the previous year.

For information on volume and price developments in exports and imports as well as seasonally adjusted figures, see quarterly national accounts.

High surplus on the balance of income and current transfers

The interest and current transfers balance showed a surplus of NOK 80 billion in the first quarter of 2024, 45 billion NOK stronger than in the first quarter of 2024.

A decrease in dividend payments of 30 billion NOK contributed to the increase in the surplus.

Financial accounts

Net foreign assets – transactions and revaluations

Compared to previous quarters, the increase in Norway’s net foreign assets, or net International Investment Positions (IIP) has been low. The second quarter of the year saw a growth from approximately 17 400 billion NOK to about 17 600 billion NOK. This corresponds to an increase of 1 percent. By comparison, the increase in the first quarter of 2024 was 14 percent, and since the first quarter of 2021, the average growth has been just under 5 percent per quarter.

Of the increase in net foreign assets, over 400 billion NOK stems from net financial transactions, while other changes, mainly due to changes in the exchange rate between NOK and foreign currencies and changes in market prices, dampened the effect.

One reason for this is that the Norwegian krone strengthened in the second quarter, making investments abroad in foreign currencies less valuable when measured in NOK

GPFG (Government Pension Fund Global) accounts for more than 100% of Norway’s net foreign assets against foreign countries, with net foreign assets of around 17 700 billion NOK, while the rest of Norway has net foreign debt amounting to 82 billion NOK.

Buying and selling of shares

In the second quarter of 2024, Norwegian entities purchased shares abroad for just over 190 billion NOK, with the GPFG as the main contributor. This increases Norway's claims on foreign countries. During the same period, foreign entities sold Norwegian shares for 124 billion NOK, reducing Norway's debt to foreign countries. The buying and selling of shares are, therefore, a significant contributor to large positive net financial transactions in the second quarter of 2024.