Norway is a major petroleum exporter and one of the world's most prosperous advanced economies. While many European nations struggled with persistent structural unemployment and low productivity growth during the late 2010s, Norway maintained a highly resilient labor market, supported by its sovereign wealth fund and active labor market policies.
Table 1 – A comparison of Norway and EU average annual % real GDP growth rates
| Year | Norway (%) | EU Average (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2.8 | 2.1 |
| 2019 | 0.9 | 1.8 |
| 2020 | -1.3 | -5.6 |
| 2021 | 3.9 | 5.4 |
| 2022 | 3.3 | 3.5 |
| 2023 | 1.1 | 0.5 |
Following the global post-pandemic recovery, Norway’s economy faced domestic capacity constraints, which began to put upward pressure on the price level.
Table 2 – Norway's Quarterly Consumer Price Index (CPI) – March 2022 to March 2023
| Base Year: 2015 = 100 | Mar-22 | Jun-22 | Sep-22 | Dec-22 | Mar-23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer Price Index (CPI) | 120.4 | 122.1 | 123.5 | 124.8 | 127.2 |
'The Norwegian government is highly focused on maintaining a low rate of unemployment.'
State one other major macroeconomic policy objective of the Norwegian government.
