Norway's economy will recover quicker than previously thought in 2010 and benefit from record investment in the oil and gas sector next year, Statistics Norway (SSB) said on Thursday. The SSB said mainland gross domestic product, a measure that strips out the offshore oil, gas and shipping sectors, would rise 2.1 percent in 2010 after shrinking 1.2 percent this year.
In May, the SSB predicted a more modest 1 percent rise in mainland GDP and a fall of 1.4 percent in 2009. Overall GDP is seen up 1.4 percent in 2010 after a 1.6 percent contraction in 2009. Forecasts for 2011 are bullish too. "Growth is expected to gradually recover in the next few years ... (and) the activity in 2011 is expected to recover to such a degree that it can be characterised as an upswing in the economy," the government agency said in a statement.
Norway is the world's No 5 oil exporter and Europe's second biggest seller of natural gas. Its economy has held up better than its Nordic neighbours during the global downturn. With oil prices recovering to $68 per barrel in past months, the SSB said investments in oil and gas activities on the Norwegian shelf would hit a record high in 2010 of 145.4 billion crowns ($23.94 billion).