Establishments

Updated: 5 January 2023

Next update: 5 January 2024

Number of establishments
Number of establishments
2023
646 884
Number of establishments by size
Number of establishments by size
20232022 - 2023
Number of establishmentsPer centChange in per cent
All size groups646 884100.02.7
No one employeed438 08467.73.4
1-4 employees103 65416.00.8
5-9 employees41 2736.40.4
10-19 employees31 0254.82.6
20-49 employees21 9873.42.2
50-99 employees6 9261.15.0
100 - 249 employees2 9960.52.8
250 employees and more9390.15.7
Explanation of symbols

Selected tables and charts from this statistics

  • Establishments by size and economic activity
    Establishments by size and economic activity
    2023
    Total number of establishmentsNo one employeed1-4 employees5-9 employees10-19 employees20-49 employees50-99 employees100 - 249 employees250 employees and more
    All industries646 884438 084103 65441 27331 02521 9876 9262 996939
    Agriculture, forestry and fishing65 11858 0475 63068343226051150
    Mining and quarrying1 68394924711911995515251
    Manufacture22 69012 9863 9371 7901 5931 399562311112
    Electricity, gas and steam2 0851 21132718616312545199
    Water supply, sewerage, waste2 3961 22940022726020853163
    Construction72 75645 98815 2105 0233 5082 20557920241
    Wholesale and retail trade: repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles73 13531 94415 92313 1918 4832 92050913233
    Transportation and storage30 94021 2785 5281 6791 10281432015465
    Accommodation and food service activities18 5047 6404 0182 8422 3681 275269866
    Information and communication26 85118 1545 3191 2131 00874524411751
    Financial and insurance activities4 8802 6551 094439303219786428
    Real estate activities64 81356 5946 6439914151392371
    Professional, scientific and technical activities69 75949 08114 4402 9881 8331 00823512549
    Administrative and support service activities29 92320 6064 8731 5651 15498141724879
    Public administration and defence: compulsory social security4 674449913740885915402258112
    Education21 18414 1112 0408839421 7051 11031776
    Human health and social work activities58 68932 3678 4804 0345 0776 0081 738777208
    Arts, entertainment and recreation33 75728 6872 6328736906461595713
    Personal service activities24 33916 1255 3071 78668531481392
    Households as employers activities14131000000
    Extraterritorial organisations and bodies1103521000
    Unspecified18 68317 9706891635000
    Explanation of symbols
  • Establishments, by size and county. 1st January
    Establishments, by size and county. 1st January
    2023
    All size groupsNo one employeed1-4 employees5-9 employees10-19 employees20-49 employees50-99 employees100 - 249 employees250 employees and more
    The whole country646 884438 084103 65441 27331 02521 9876 9262 996939
    Viken142 64697 72323 5368 6066 2084 3591 419628167
    Oslo103 52173 88914 9525 3934 2012 9981 163630295
    Innlandet48 80733 6247 4403 2422 2831 57744116634
    Vestfold og Telemark50 24033 8828 4023 2312 3241 65851918440
    Agder37 43125 1796 1422 4221 8021 26944114036
    Rogaland51 82034 5778 2573 4542 5331 996598305100
    Vestland71 83148 16311 4544 6203 7122 649789334110
    Møre og Romsdal30 15119 5814 7262 3481 7051 27736112330
    Trøndelag54 57337 1318 2383 5392 8051 90361626477
    Nordland27 21416 8444 9602 1341 7751 08627611029
    Troms og Finnmark28 65017 4915 5472 2841 6771 21530311221
    Explanation of symbols
  • Establishments, by county and the enterprises' sector
    Establishments, by county and the enterprises' sector
    2023
    Sum all sectorsGeneral governmentFinancial corporationsNon-financial corporationsHouseholds and non-profit institutionsUnspecified sector/others
    The whole country646 88428 6014 885337 297276 02279
    Viken142 6464 96192272 93263 81813
    Oslo103 5211 9761 45156 72843 32838
    Innlandet48 8072 70923721 01624 8405
    Vestfold og Telemark50 2402 22226726 04721 7013
    Agder37 4311 77720820 51914 9252
    Rogaland51 8202 15939328 40220 8615
    Vestland71 8313 56251738 04429 7080
    Møre og Romsdal30 1511 88522216 31011 7322
    Trøndelag54 5732 88038426 92024 3854
    Nordland27 2142 16214415 0699 8363
    Troms og Finnmark28 6502 30814015 31010 8884
    Explanation of symbols

About the statistics

The statistics shows active firms as of 1 January, New establishments are included in the statistics when we have information from statistical or administrative sources. Other establishments that are not active according to statistical or administrative sources, are not included in the statistic.

Establishment


Establishment is defined as a locally delimited functional unit which mainly operates within a particular industry group (Standard Industrial Classification).

Employees / Wage earners


Number of employees / wage earners are derived from the A-scheme from 2015. An employees is a person who works in another person's establishment for wages. Employers are obliged to submit monthly reports to all who receive salaries. It also made exceptions for certain types of employment where the employer does not have the usual authority to instruct the receiving salaries.

Standard for Industrial Classification SN2007, based on the EU's standards NACE Rev. 1.

Name: Establishments
Topic: Establishments, enterprises and accounts

5 January 2024

Division for Business Dynamics Statistics

Division for Business Dynamics Statistics

Until the fourth quarter of 2008, every quarter the number of establishments in the Central Register of Establishments and Enterprises (CRE) by the beginning of the quarter was published. From January 2009 the statistic is published once a year, by the beginning of the first quarter.

When these figures were published for the first time, they were by the 1st in the last month in the quarter (1st of June 2002).

Figures by the fourth quarter in 2003 were first published in the Statistics Bank as figures by the end of the third quarter.

Not relevant

Micro data, information about sampled units and population are temporarily stored in the program language SAS and in long term as text files.

First published in July 2002.

The public, public authorities, research institutions and industry use the statistics.

No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on ssb.no at 8 am. Prior to this, a minimum of three months' advance notice is given in the Statistics Release Calendar. This is one of Statistics Norway’s key principles for ensuring that all users are treated equally.

The figures for level that are presented will deviate from the number of legal units in the ER, and may on industrial level deviate from what is presented in the structure statistics.

The deviation in relation to the ER is mainly caused by the fact that the ER comprises all legal units -also the ones who are not conducting industrial activities.

These figures deviate from Structural Business Statistics as these only include establishments with turnover, while this statistic also comprise new establishments.

Industry 68.201 (cooperative housing is excluded from the structure statistics for industry 68.

Due to special conditions within the fishing industry, the number of employees for this industry will be lower than the number of fishermen according to what is published in the "NOS-Fishing Statistics". The share fishermen on fishing vessels are not recorded as employees. These have industrial income, but are not registered in the ER/CRE as self-employed unless they are joint owners in shipping companies or liability companies.

Not relevant

Not relevant

Establishment statistics comprise all industries according to NACE standards. As of January 2009 a new version of Eurostat’s industrial classification, SIC2007, is in use for classification of enterprises and establishments. It includes all establishments on the Norwegian mainland.

An establishment is registered to all new legal units, with some rare exceptions. There are some units that never take up any economic activity, and the number of registered establishments is therefore higher than the number of active establishments. New establishments are included in the statistics until we have information from statistical or administrative sources. Other establishments that not active according to statistical or administrative sources, are not included in the statistic.

The Central Coordinating Register of Legal Entities (ER) and the Central Register of Establishments and Enterprises (CRE). The number of employees is from the Register for Employer/Employees.

Per 1st January 2015 there have been changes in the database. A new scheme (A -scheme) was introduced for reporting of wage and employment conditions to the Tax Administration, NAV and Statistics Norway in 2015. In the new scheme notified employees every month, not just by changes. This means that employers that have not reported will be left with zero employees. The introduction of A - scheme means break in the series.

Turnover and persons employed are collected from Structural Business Statistics and data from other administrative registers such as data from VAT, accounting data and income tax returns from independent businesses, in order to limit the population in relation to establishments that in reality have ceased to exist.

Administrative sources and data from Structural Business Statistics (SBS) (see 3.2).

CRE is presently a comprehensive register and quality is ensured in relation to population and basic characteristics like addresses, legal form and industry codes.

The quality of the population of active enterprises is taken care of among other things by directly contacting units in connection with the data capture for the SBS and through links toward administrative registers in the monitoring system for establishments in the CRE.

The quality regarding the industry code for establishments and enterprises in the CRE is continuously taken care of. This takes place by contacting the enterprises in SN's SBS-surveys, through administrative sources such as the National Insurance Administration's annual check and in other ways through direct contact with the enterprises. Furthermore it is done with the help of statements of purposes with the ER.

Not relevant

Not relevant

This statistics shows the number of establishments at the beginning of the quarter. When figures for 1st January are published, the register is updated with turnover and employment from Structural Business Statistics and data from administrative sources. In the quarterly publication, only changes in the register are recorded.

Changes between quarters are changes in the register and might refer to changes that actually occurred earlier, and the changes that actually took place will not be recorded until some time after they occurred.

The figures will be adjusted when the register is updated at the annual shift. The purpose of this statistic is not to show the development over time, but to give updated figures for structure of the business register.

The statistics are based on statistical and administrative sources. Several administrative sources are instrumental in the work with updating the CRE and are used both to define the population and to collect characteristics and information: The ER in Brønnøysund, the VAT-register and the A register are used to collect information about the units. This may cause register errors that may affect the uncertainty of the statistics.

A possible source for errors is out of date information caused by lags in the registration. Such lags are caused by the fact that changes are often registered some time after they have occurred. The consequence is that the registers are not updated at all times, something that may lead to using outdated information as basis for the statistics.

Discontinuances of activities are normally registered after they have taken place, based on information in connection with the collection of data for structure statistics or by links toward administrative registers.

Some enterprises is not correct registered regarding to establishment on different location or within different economic sectors. In some enterprises with more than one establishment, all employees is registered at one establishment.

Not relevant

Contact

Håkon Frøysa Skullerud

hakon.skullerud@ssb.no

(+47) 41 43 59 39