The steady growth in mainland GDP continues

Figures from the National accounts show general growth in most areas, including manufacturing, production of other goods and service activities. Production of other goods saw a 2.7 per cent increase in the three months to July. This aggregate consists of industries such as construction, fishing, aquaculture and electricity production, all off which pulled up both monthly and three-month growth.

Manufacturing experienced a 1.5 per cent rise from February-April to May-July. The service industry combined, grew 0.9 per cent over the same period. This growth was broadly compounded, driven by technical consulting, ICT services and finance and insurance activities.

Consumption

Household consumption increased 0.4 per cent for the period May-July compared with February-April. This is manly due to a 0.9 per cent increase in the consumption of services, while retail consumption remained virtually unchanged, seeing a 0.1 per cent decline in the same three-month period. The development in retail consumption is closely related to car sales, which fluctuates with electric car deliveries.

Foreigners’ purchases in Norway increased 0.2 per cent in the three-month period, whereas Norwegian households’ purchases abroad fell 0.2 per cent. Public consumption grew of 0.8 per cent in May to July compared with February to April.

Investments

Gross investments grew 4.7 per cent in May to July and 6.9 per cent from June to July. Investment in dwellings grew 1.5 per cent over the three-month period and 1.1 per cent from June to July.

Good monthly information for other investments is lacking. This means that information on planned investments, as reported by firms in the industry, is used for petroleum, manufacturing, mining and power supply investments.

Imports and exports

Total exports fell 0.4 per cent from February-April to May-July, while exports of traditional goods fell 1.6 per cent from June to July. Imports of traditional goods fell 1.8 per cent over the same period, and total imports declined 0.2 per cent.

Revisions

With new monthly figures comes revisions. The statistics used will not normally be subject to a revision, but seasonally adjusted series may, however, be changed. This is a consequence of new information being incorporated into the seasonal adjustment. As additional months are included in the data, the effect of new observations will become ever smaller. Compared to figures published for Q1 in August, household consumption has been revised upwards from 0.5 to 0.6 per cent.