Statistikk innhold
Statistics on
Portfolio investment abroad
The statistics provide an overview of Norway’s holdings of portfolio investment assets abroad and show sectoral and geographical breakdown of Equity and investment fund shares, as well as Debt securities, where the ownership share is less than 20 per cent.
Selected figures from these statistics
- Norway's Portfolio Investment abroad, by financial instrument and selected countries. End of year (NOK billion)Download table as ...Norway's Portfolio Investment abroad, by financial instrument and selected countries. End of year (NOK billion)
1st half year 2024 1st half year 2024 2nd half year 2024 2nd half year 2024 Equites Debt securities Equites Debt securities United States 7 038 2 430 7 321 2 613 Japan 906 317 1 062 500 United Kingdom 772 346 908 380 Germany 431 480 540 529 France 469 364 629 351 Sweden 426 328 500 409 Switzerland 530 67 655 74 Canada 269 388 316 373 Netherlands 370 218 396 220 Cayman Islands 284 4 295 4 Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Norway's Portfolio Investment abroad, by type of sector and financial instrument per 31 December. NOK billionDownload table as ...Norway's Portfolio Investment abroad, by type of sector and financial instrument per 31 December. NOK billion
1st half year 2023 2nd half year 2023 1st half year 2024 2nd half year 2024 Total portfolio investment 18 471 19 298 21 520 23 882 Sector Central bank 0 0 0 0 Deposit-taking corporations except the central bank 473 597 533 669 Other financial corporations 2 264 2 363 2 616 2 832 General government 15 128 15 717 17 773 19 803 Non financial corporations, households and NPISH 605 622 598 578 Object Equites 12 799 13 138 15 135 16 751 Debt securities 5 672 6 160 6 385 7 131 Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ...
About the statistics
The information under «About the statistics» was last updated 20 June 2025.
Portfolio investment
Financial investment where the investors have no intention to establish a long-term financial link. In practice, an investment is classed as portfolio investment when the ownership interest is less than 20 per cent.
Financial instruments
A financial instrument is a document representing a financial value or a monetary claim. The statistics cover financial instruments such as equity shares, investment fund shares, long-term and short-term debt securities. Financial derivatives are not covered in the statistics.
Market value
The market value represents the price at which a financial instrument is traded in a market, agreed upon by the parties involved.
The classification of financial instruments and sector breakdown is regulated in the manuals System of National Accounts 2008 (SNA2008) (un.org - PDF) and European System of Accounts 2010 (ESA2010) (europa.eu - PDF).
The classification of portfolio investments in Norway adheres to the guidelines outlined in the International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) Balance of Payments Manual, sixth edition (BPM6) (imf.org - PDF) and IMF's CPIS Guide (Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey) (elibrary.imf.org - PDF). In Norway, portfolio investments are defined as holdings in financial instruments where ownership shares are below 20 percent, in accordance with the Norwegian Accounting Act § 1-4 (lovdata.no). This differs from the international standard, where ownership shares below 10 percent are classified as portfolio investments.
The country code classification follows the international standard ISO-3166 (ssb.no).
Sectoral breakdowns follow the classifications given in IMF’s CPIS Guide and Classification of Institutional sector (ssb.no).
The Norwegian economy is split into sectors on the basis of groups of homogeneous institutional units. An entity must possess decision-making authority and be capable of producing a complete set of accounts to be classified within a specific sector. Typically, these entities are either legal entities or individuals.
Name: Portfolio investment abroad
Topic: External economy
Division for Financial Accounts
National level.
Semiannual basis. The statistics are published in June and January.
Data are reported to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Collected and revised data are stored securely by Statistics Norway in compliance with applicable legislation on data processing.
The statistics are compiled in accordance with the IMF's Portfolio Investment Positions by Counterpart Economy (imf.org), to which Norway has committed to participate. The survey adheres to the IMF's SDDS standard (Special Data Dissemination Standard) (imf.org - PDF). The survey aims to enhance the accessibility and quality of international statistics on portfolio investments.
Norway has participated in the Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey (CPIS) since 1997 and has reported annually since 2001. With the publication of data for 2024, the survey has been revised to a semiannual format, with a new sector classification and revised time series. Semiannual data on holdings of securities by country are available in StatBank from 2004 onwards. From 2018, semiannual data are also available with a breakdown of holdings in equities and debt securities by sector and country. StatBank also contains discontinued annual time series from 2004 to 2023, based on the previous sector classification.
The primary user is the IMF, which publishes Portfolio Investment Positions by Counterpart Economy on its website (data.imf.org). The IMF uses the surveys for international comparisons and to gain a better understanding of global capital flows. The statistics are also used by researchers domestically and internationally, media, ministries, and governmental agencies to improve their understanding of the global economic situation.
No external users have access to statistics before they are released at 8 a.m. on ssb.no after at least three months’ advance notice in the release calendar. This is one of the most important principles in Statistics Norway for ensuring the equal treatment of users.
The figures published in the statistics Portfolio investment abroad corresponds with the 2nd and 4th quarter position figures for the functional category “Portfolio investments” in the International accounts (ssb.no). Portfolio investment abroad provide detailed insights into the sectoral and geographical distribution of Norwegian securities holdings abroad, which are not included in the International accounts (ssb.no).
The statistics are part of the National programme for official statistics. Main area: External economy. Sub-area: International accounts.
The statistics are developed, produced and disseminated pursuant to Act no. 32 of 21 June 2019 relating to official statistics and Statistics Norway (the Statistics Act).
No EEA legislation applies.
The statistics cover Norwegian enterprises and households owning securities issued by non-residents. The Norwegian sectors covered in this statistic are Central bank, Deposit-taking corporations except the central bank, Money market funds, Other Financial Institutions, Insurance corporations and Pension Funds, General government, Non-financial corporations, Households and Non-profit institutions serving households. See the section "Data sources and sampling" for further details.
The statistics depict holdings at the end of the year of:
- Equity and investment fund shares
- Debt securities
Financial derivatives are not covered in Porfolio investment abroad. Financial instruments held by Norges Bank (the Central Bank of Norway) as reserve assets are not defined as portfolio investment.
The statistics are compiled using reported information from surveys of individuals and businesses, as well as registry data. Complete enumeration is used for some sources, while others utilize partial enumeration samples that cover the largest and most important enterprises with securities issued by non-residents.
The most important sources include:
- Annual financial accounting statistics from Norges Bank (the Central Bank of Norway), including The Government Pension Fund Global.
- Financial accounting statistics for licensed financial entities such as banks, credit institutions, holding companies, insurance companies, and pension funds. Full enumeration is conducted for these sources, except for pension funds, which use sample surveys.
- Reporting of balance of payments data (BoP reporting) covering Norwegian-registered legal entities in both the private and public sectors, as well as other financial entities not previously mentioned. The BoP reporting utilizes sample surveys to capture data from the largest and most significant enterprises
- Registry data from Norwegian securities depositories and the Norwegian Central Securities Depository
- Annual financial statements from securities funds.
Collection of data
No separate data collection is conducted for compiling these statistics. The sources used are further explained in the section titled 'Data Sources and Sampling'
Editing
Editing is defined here as checking, examining and amending data. The reporting unit is contacted if there is suspicion of errors in the submitted data. If data editing is necessary, the reporter sends a new response with corrected data.
Estimations
Calculations performed for this statistic primarily involve summations.
Employees of Statistics Norway have a duty of confidentiality.
Statistics Norway does not publish figures if there is a risk of the respondent’s contribution being identified. This means that, as a general rule, figures are not published if fewer than three units form the basis of a cell in a table or if the contribution of one or two respondents constitutes a very large part of the cell total.
Statistics Norway can make exceptions to the general rule if deemed necessary to meet the requirements if the respondent is a public authority, if the respondent has consented to this, or when the information disclosed is openly accessible to the public.
More information can be found on Statistics Norway’s website under Methods in official statistics, in the ‘Confidentiality’ section.
While the figures in Portfolio investment abroad is generally comparable over time, changes in data sources, methodologies, and international guidelines may affect the accuracy of the data. The datasets are available back to the reference year 2004.
Measurement errors, sampling errors, and non-response errors may occur in the statistics. These errors may be attributed to:
- Inaccuracies in the transmission or reporting of data from enterprises' accounting records to Statistics Norway.
- Insufficient data provided by reporters or delayed reporting.
- Biases in the sample that may impact, among other factors, the distribution of countries.
- In some cases, country allocation may be based on the country where the security is issued rather than the issuer's residence.
- Different accounting and valuation principles, as well as variations in the timing of recording transactions by enterprises, can also introduce sources of error.
A revision is a planned change to figures that have already been published, for example when releasing final figures as a follow-up to published preliminary figures. See also Statistics Norway’s principles for revisions.
The latest release presents preliminary figures, while the previous release is updated with final figures. Footnotes in StatBank source tables provide information on major revisions.