The activities in Information and Communication and Insurance constitute the largest industries, measured by turnover. Turnover in these industries was 5.1 per cent lower in 2020. Turnover for Arts, entertainment and recreation was almost 50 per cent less than in 2019. Turnover for Accommodation and food service activities also fell substantially, by 35.7 per cent. Owing to Covid-19 travel restrictions, turnover in most industries in Svalbard decreased. However, turnover in Construction, which is the second largest industry in Svalbard, was almost the same as in 2019.
Decrease in man-years worked
There was a decrease in total man-years worked In the industry statistics for Svalbard, 1 687 hours corresponds to a full-time equivalent. The definition of a full-time equivalent is based on the total number of hours worked by employees in a workplace, both within and outside normal working hours. Short breaks are included, but time spent in transit between home and the workplace is not included. from the previous year by 9.7 per cent. In Accommodation and food service activities, there were 58 fewer man-years worked in 2020 than in 2019, which represented a fall of 24.6 per cent. The decline for this industry from the peak year 2017 was 37 per cent. In Administrative and support service activities, there were 57 fewer man-years worked in 2020 than in 2019. The corresponding figure for Arts, entertainment and recreation was 40 man-years worked.
Investments grew significantly
Investments rose 50 per cent from 2019. The greatest proportion of investments was in Accommodation and food service activities, with about NOK 200 million, and which was an increase of NOK 48 million from 2019. Information and communication industry had investments of NOK 114 million in 2020. The highest increase in investments was in Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, where investments went up from NOK 8 million to NOK 108 million in 2020.
Coal sales continue to fall
According to the annual report from Store Norske Spitsbergen Grubekompani AS is a Norwegian, state-owned coal mining enterprise that has operated since 1916. coal sales continued falling in 2020. Coal was still mainly sold to Germany and Spain, but the sales have been declining ever year. The Covid-19 pandemic led to the closure of borders, resulting in great challenges in 2020, with workers having problems with regard to travelling to Svalbard.