Statistikk innhold

Statistics on

Enterprises

The statistics show annual figures on active, new and defunct businesses, as well as survival of new enterprises and enterprise growth. In addition, the statistics show employment in the enterprises. It also shows quarterly figures on new enterprises.

Updated: 18 September 2025
Next update: 6 November 2025

Selected figures from these statistics

  • Total enterprises
    Total enterprises
    2nd quarter 20251st quarter 2025 -2nd quarter 20252nd quarter 2024 -2nd quarter 2025
    New enterprises (total and per cent)14 377-14.2-5.8
    Private limited company6 214-8.6-1.7
    Sole Proprietorship7 711-21.4-9.9
    Explanation of symbols
  • The number of active enterprises, by size.

  • Enterprise births and survival up to 5 years

  • Enterprises, by growth in the number of employees. Enterprises that are at least 4 years old, with 10 or more employees.

    A break in the time series for employed persons may have resulted in too high growth in 2015 - 2017. The break is due to the implementation of a new method for collecting data for employees (A-ordningen) in 2015. Among enterprises with at least 10 employees, the break nevertheless appears to have had a modest impact on the figures.
  • New enterprises, by quarter and legal form
    New enterprises, by quarter and legal form
    4th quarter 20231st quarter 20242nd quarter 20243rd quarter 20244th quarter 20241st quarter 20252nd quarter 2025
    Total16 19215 69015 25815 69215 74816 75314 377
    General Partnership20262321213535
    Private limited company6 8447 1026 3196 6976 7317 9086 214
    Public limited company0110131
    General Partnership with shared liability731007589838287
    Sole Proprietorship9 0278 2008 5598 4718 6128 4327 711
    Norwegian division of foreign enterprise130167177156140191165
    Other legal forms9894104258160102164
    Explanation of symbols
  • Active enterprises and employed persons, by industrial section.
    Active enterprises and employed persons, by industrial section.
    2023Percentage change from the previous year
    Number of enterprisesEmployed personsNumber of enterprisesEmployed persons
    All industries333 8461 666 599-0.61.2
    Mining, quarrying and manufacturing19 396293 2010.82.5
    Water supply1 31510 8021.33.9
    Construction59 647269 205-0.10.8
    Wholesale and retail trade49 187386 1320.20.2
    Transportation and storage21 932146 4761.32.4
    Accommodation and food service activities13 494117 3652.82.2
    Information and communication22 540112 0825.22.6
    Real estate activities59 01732 2435.0-1.1
    Professional, scientific and technical activities59 471158 9314.42.1
    Administrative and support service activities23 691138 7432.9-1.5
    Unknown4 1561 419-70.941.3
    Explanation of symbols
  • Active enterprises and employed persons, by size.
    Active enterprises and employed persons, by size.
    20232023Percentage change from the previous year
    Number of enterprisesEmployed personsNumber of enterprisesEmployed persons
    Total333 8461 666 599-0.61.2
    0 employed persons, or not reported149 3030-1.4.
    1-4 employed persons134 764215 5430.4-0.9
    5-9 employed persons23 706159 342-2.3-2.2
    At least 10 employed persons26 0731 271 5420.12.0
    Total333 8461 666 599-0.61.2
    No turnover or not reported4 90129 083-68.64.8
    NOK 1,000 - 4,999,000 in turnover259 907211 4323.2-2.1
    NOK 5,000,000 - 9,999,000 in turnover23 55299 1920.8-2.8
    At least NOK 10 000 000 in turnover45 4861 326 8920.72.0
    Explanation of symbols
  • Enterprise births and survivals, by birth year and age.
    Enterprise births and survivals, by birth year and age.
    Number of enterprise births1 year2 years3 years4 years5 years
    201829 48124 31320 69417 82815 87414 097
    201933 46326 95823 33920 58617 704.
    202035 65729 35225 96020 558..
    202143 38035 98727 686...
    202241 59529 639....
    202340 816.....
    Explanation of symbols
  • Enterprise births and survival rates, by industrial section and age.
    Enterprise births and survival rates, by industrial section and age.
    Number of birthsSurvival rates (per cent)
    1 year2 years3 years4 years5 years
    2023
    All industries40 81671.363.857.752.947.8
    Mining, quarrying and manufacturing1 84278.873.567.358.954.5
    Water supply7984.274.758.869.267.2
    Construction6 88681.270.761.552.446.8
    Wholesale and retail trade4 77680.570.262.353.547.6
    Transportation and storage2 74683.070.254.948.143.8
    Accommodation and food service activities1 62283.574.164.251.746.1
    Information and communication3 77375.967.257.854.146.7
    Real estate activities5 00184.479.472.569.161.4
    Professional, scientific and technical activities9 58475.166.457.650.645.1
    Administrative and support service activities3 45678.770.260.451.847.5
    Unknown1 05114.512.812.719.714.2
    Explanation of symbols
  • Enterprise births and survivals, by legal form and age.
    Enterprise births and survivals, by legal form and age.
    Number of birthsSurvival rate (per cent)
    1 year2 years3 years4 years5 years
    All organisational structures
    201829 48283.370.961.354.648.6
    201933 46380.670.061.753.1
    202035 65882.573.158.1
    202143 38083.264.1
    202241 59571.5
    202340 816
    Limited company and public limited company
    201818 02885.576.368.161.955.6
    201918 31785.477.770.260.6
    202021 04887.079.762.5
    202123 98687.364.4
    202223 28469.6
    202321 108
    Sole proprietorship
    201810 92280.362.850.943.437.9
    201914 67074.860.751.644.2
    202013 54176.663.851.9
    202118 87578.263.9
    202217 86174.0
    202319 202
    Other organisational structures
    201853272.256.243.436.530.8
    201947675.457.646.637.8
    20201 06968.859.849.2
    202151973.655.7
    202245072.4
    2023506
    Explanation of symbols
  • Enterprises, employed persons at start of period and employed persons at end of period, by growth in the number of employees. Enterprises that had 10 or more employees at start of period, being at least 4 years old.
    Enterprises, employed persons at start of period and employed persons at end of period, by growth in the number of employees. Enterprises that had 10 or more employees at start of period, being at least 4 years old.
    TotalVery high growth in employees (20 per cent or higher)High growth in employees (10 to 19 per cent)Stable number of employees (-9 to 9 per cent)Large decline in employees (-19 to -10 per cent)Very large decline in employees (-20 per cent or lower)
    2023
    Number of enterprises
    Total115 9939 16510 05655 1315 64418 697
    1-4 employees69 9236 9475 16727 8122 29015 649
    5-9 employees22 2531 1722 61511 9291 8391 838
    At least 10 employees23 8171 0462 27415 3901 5151 210
    Employed persons at the beginning of the growth period
    Total1 458 48861 567146 923969 14268 72890 932
    1-4 employees148 94212 71214 40757 1817 15132 285
    5-9 employees147 1657 58117 20179 66512 02411 920
    At least 10 employees1 162 38141 274115 315832 29649 55346 727
    Employed persons at the end of the growth period
    Total1 428 785154 513214 612992 19844 28623 176
    1-4 employees124 27732 73920 81256 9114 8578 958
    5-9 employees135 37019 75025 09380 0627 7562 709
    At least 10 employees1 169 138102 024168 707855 22531 67311 509
    Explanation of symbols
  • Young enterprises, employed perso at start of period and employed persons at end of period, by growth in the number of employees. Enterprises that had 10 or more employees at start of period, being 4 or 5 years old.
    Young enterprises, employed perso at start of period and employed persons at end of period, by growth in the number of employees. Enterprises that had 10 or more employees at start of period, being 4 or 5 years old.
    TotalVery high growth in employees (20 per cent or higher)High growth in employees (10 to 19 per cent)Stable number of employees (-9 to 9 per cent)Large decline in employees (-19 to -10 per cent)Very large decline in employees (-20 per cent or lower)
    2023
    Number of enterprises
    Total16 6932 2711 4695 5624982 878
    1-4 employees12 6121 8168753 9742412 542
    5-9 employees2 533288398873161232
    At least 10 employees1 54816719671596104
    Employed persons at the beginning of the growth period
    Total81 4718 9339 27033 0493 8659 622
    1-4 employees24 6823 3982 3557 0067304 834
    5-9 employees16 4491 8232 6025 7071 0541 514
    At least 10 employees40 3403 7124 31320 3362 0813 274
    Employed persons at the end of the growth period
    Total77 24725 16313 58533 9202 5002 079
    1-4 employees21 6609 6393 4616 9984891 073
    5-9 employees15 7145 1153 8305 806675288
    At least 10 employees39 87310 4096 29421 1161 336718
    Explanation of symbols

About the statistics

The information under «About the statistics» was last updated 14 January 2025.

Enterprise: An enterprise is defined as the smallest combination of legal entities that produce goods or services, and which to a certain extent have independent decision-making authority (autonomous). Legal entities that are not autonomous (e.g. auxiliary entities) are merged with the autonomous legal entity to which they provide services, so that they together form an enterprise.

Establishment: An establishment is defined as a locally delimited functional unit that mainly carries out activities within a specific industrial activity. An enterprise is a subunit of the enterprise. In Eurostat, this corresponds to "local kind-of-activity unit" (LKAU).

Activity: Activity is a measure of whether the enterprise was in operation or not, and to what extent. In the versions "enterprises with activity" and "registered enterprises", activity is characterized by employment or turnover during the year, and in the version "enterprises with employees", activity is characterized by the fact that the enterprise had employees during the year. In the "registered enterprises" version, the registration of the enterprise is also counted as activity.

New enterprise: New enterprises include all real establishing of enterprises, including first-time births, reactivations and other creations. Ownership changes are not considered new enterprises, since they are simply continuation of existing activity, whereas all other creations are.

Birth: Births include all new enterprises, except creations due to (change of ownership and) other creations.

First-time birth: An enterprise is considered as first-time born in the version "enterprise with activity", "enterprise with employees" and "enterprise with activity (excluding contract workers) " in the first year it had activity, and in version "registered enterprise" in the validity year of the first information about the enterprise in Statistics Norway’s Business register (VoF) or the year of foundation (applies to AS only) if this was earlier. Ownership changes are never regarded as first-time births, but other creations might be.

Reactivation: Reactivations are enterprises that become active again after at least 2 years of inactivity. Ownership changes are excluded.

Ownership change: A change of ownership takes place in the year an enterprise starts or resumes activity, if the following three additional criteria are met: 1) The enterprise takes over in the same year, or the year before, all its activities from only one other enterprise. 2) The other enterprise transfers all its activities to the first. 3) The other enterprise is closed down at the same time or becomes inactive for at least 2 years. A change of ownership is in practice a mere continuation of an existing activity, and is therefore not considered a new enterprise.

Other creations: Other creations (i.e. except ownership changes) take place in the year an enterprise is new, if at least one of the following three additional criteria is met: 1) The enterprise takes over businesses from several enterprises in the same year, or the year before. 2) The enterprise that transfers activity, transfers it to several enterprises. 3) The transferring enterprise continues to be active. Other creations involve the creation of a new organizational unit which, to a varying degree, continues an existing activity. These other creations are therefore considered new enterprises, but not births. The acquisition of establishments from other enterprises in years other than the founding year is not considered a new enterprise. For other creations in connection with the termination of an enterprise, see death.

Survival: An enterprise born in year t has survived in year t+n (n>=1) if it had activity in t+n and continuous inactivity for a maximum of 1 year in the period between t and t+n. Survivals can be divided into two categories: 1. Direct survival occurs when it is the same enterprise that holds the activity in year t+n. 2. Survival by change of ownership occurs when another enterprise has taken over the activity in line with the definition of ownership change. The original enterprise's industrial code, size group, legal form and regional affiliation are retained.

Dormant enterprises: Dormant enterprises are characterized by the fact that they are inactive for one whole calendar year, and then become active again. Enterprises that are dormant in the last year with final figures or in the year with preliminary figures are temporarily classified as not surviving in these years, as there is a lack of reliable information about activity in the following year at the time the statistics are published. At the next publication, when there is reliable information about activity in the wake-up year, the enterprises are transferred to the category of dormant enterprises in the year in which they were inactive. From the year of awakening, they are again counted as survivors.

Awakened enterprises: Awakened enterprises are enterprises that have become active again, after previously being dormant.

Closure: An enterprise closure occurs in the last year in which the enterprise had activity, or in the last year of activity before a period of at least two years without activity. If the criteria for change of ownership are met, the cessation of an enterprise is not regarded as closure, since the entire activity has in practice been continued. Other terminations are considered closures.

Death: An enterprise death is a closure where none of the activity is transferred to another enterprise. Enterprises where activity was taken over by other enterprises in connection with the termination, in line with the definition of other creations, are considered as closures but not deaths.

Growth: Growth is defined as an increase in turnover or the number of employed persons from the previous year.

High-growth enterprises: High-growth enterprises are defined as all enterprises in the business demography that over a period of three years have an average annual growth of at least 10 per cent. Growth is measured both in turnover, employment and the number of employees. The enterprises must have at least 10 employees in the start year of the growth period, and be established no later than the year before the start year of the period, i.e. be at least 4 years old.

High-growth micro-enterprises: High-growth micro-enterprises are high-growth enterprises with 1-9 employees in the start year of the growth period. High growth is defined in two different ways: 1) As for normal high growth enterprises. 2) Growth of at least 3.31 employed persons or employees – in practice at least 4 due to rounding of micro data – during the three-year period. So far, only high-growth micro-enterprises according to definition 1) have been published.

Potential high-growth enterprises: Potential high-growth enterprises are all enterprises with at least 10 employees in the start year of the period, which were established no later than the year before the start year of the period, i.e. are at least 4 years old. Similarly for potential high-growth micro-enterprises.

Gazelles: Gazelles are 4 or 5-year-old high-growth enterprises.

Micro-gazelles: Micro-gazelles are 4 or 5-year-old high-growth micro-enterprises.

Potential gazelles: Potential gazelles are 4 or 5-year-old potential high-growth enterprises. Similarly for potential micro-gazelles.

Employed persons: The employment figures show an average of the number of employed persons in the reference week of five selected months of the year. Employed persons are defined as persons with income-generating work of at least one hour's duration in the reference week, as well as persons with temporary absence from such work, and include employees and self-employed persons (i.e. employed owners). A person may be employed in several enterprises.

Employees: Employees are defined as anyone who receives compensation in the form of salary etc. for work of at least one hour's duration in the reference week, including contract workers. Self-employed persons are not included.

Contract workers: Contract workers include freelancers and people who receive a fee for work of at least one hour's duration in the reference week.

Employed persons (adjusted): Employed persons less contract workers og employees in very minor positions (< 4 hours per week). Corresponds to "Employed persons (excl. contract workers)" in categories of size and type of growth.

Turnover: Turnover is defined as the sum of remuneration for sales to customers, advances from the sale of merchandise and gross income from other commercial activities. Turnover includes rental income and commission income, but not public grants, value added tax or gains from the sale of fixed assets. In some industries, the concept of turnover is not clearly defined. This applies to financial activities and insurance (industry K), education (industry P), health and social services (industry Q) and activities of membership organization (part of industry S). In order to determine whether enterprises in these industries are active, if they lack employees, alternative sizes are used as a supplement, such as e.g. operating income.

Legal form: Equivalent to legal form in the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities (CCR). Here, a distinction is made between between sole proprietorships (ENK), limited liability enterprises (AS and ASA) and other legal forms such as NUF and general partnerships (ANS and DA). Tables based on founding year show the legal form in the year of foundation, while tables based on year of survival show the legal form in the year of survival.

Region: The enterprise is located in the county and municipality based on the enterprise’s business address. In enterprises with activity in several locations, the region will be where the head office is located. Tables based on founding year show the location in the year of foundation, while tables based on year of survival show the location in the year of survival.

Standard Industrial Classification (SN2007)
The standard is based on the EU standard NACE Rev.2, and is valid from 2008 onwards. The standard industrial classification can be found here.

Industrial classification in the business demography (joint standard)
The classification is based on the current and previous Standard Industrial Classification (SN2007 and SN2002), as well as the legal forms Limited liability, Sole proprietorship and other legal form. The classification is valid from 2002. This industrial classification and the correspondence to the current and previous standard industrial classifications can be found here.

Classification by size group
The enterprises' size is grouped according to Classification of enterprises by size group or aggregates thereof.

Classification by legal form
The enterprises' legal form is grouped according to Classification of organization form or aggregates thereof.

Enterprises, employed persons and employees

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