Norwegian economy grows 3.5% in 2012

Norway Beatles exhibition ‘fake’Norway’s economy overcame external pressures and managed reasonable growth last year, according to the latest figures from Statistics Norway. Officials from the state agency say that the Nordic country’s economy grew by 3.5 percent during 2012, in spite of a substantial slowdown recorded over the fourth quarter as European woes took their toll on the region.

From October through to December, GDP growth slowed to just 0.4 percent, while the ‘mainland’ figure, which excludes the offshore oil and gas production that has held up the country’s economy through the European crisis, slowed to 0.3 percent. Experts cited lower demand for products from Norway’s export-heavy economy.

During the first quarter, the country’s GDP grew by one percent, whilst during the second and third quarters it grew by 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

Although the results are far better than that of most economies in the region, analysts note that the figure is still far below the impressive levels seen prior to the global financial crisis of 2008.