According to recent research conducted by Statistics Norway, it has been found that Norwegian exports are predominantly dominated by large, domestically controlled companies. These companies, with a substantial number of employees, both import and export a higher volume of services compared to smaller businesses. In 2019, they accounted for more than 45 percent of exported services and 34 percent of imported services. However, it is worth noting that enterprises with fewer than 10 employees also contributed significantly to the importation of services.
The study, which forms a part of the larger European statistics on Services Trade by Enterprise Characteristics (STEC), provides valuable insights into the characteristics of Norwegian companies engaged in international trade in services.
In 2019 alone, Norway recorded service exports worth NOK 379 billion and service imports worth NOK 474 billion. Among these figures, large companies with at least 250 employees played a vital role, representing the largest share of the overall trade. Large companies accounted for 45.1 percent of exported services and 34.0 percent of imported services in the same year.
The industrial sector, particularly the manufacturing industry, saw the highest volume of service exports among large companies. With services worth NOK 27 billion exported in 2019, of which NOK 20 billion came from large companies, the industrial sector accounted for 5.3 percent of Norway’s total service exports.
Furthermore, small companies with 0-9 employees also made a significant contribution to service trade. In 2019, Norwegian companies falling within this category exported services amounting to a total of NOK 54 billion, representing 14.1 percent of the total service exports. Notably, Norway ranked among the countries with the largest share of exports by the smallest category of companies, second only to Estonia. Moreover, companies with fewer than 10 employees accounted for 15.4 percent of imported services in 2019.
In specific industries, such as the transport sector, companies with fewer than 10 employees reported the highest volume of service exports and imports. They represented 35.8 percent of exports and 36.5 percent of imports in this sector in 2019.
The study also highlights that Norwegian-controlled companies were responsible for the majority, 54 percent, of all service exports in 2019. These companies are defined as those where less than 50 percent of the company is controlled by foreign owners. On the other hand, exports by foreign-controlled companies accounted for approximately 44 percent of the total service exports. For service imports, foreign-controlled companies contributed 38.6 percent, while Norwegian-controlled companies accounted for 36.2 percent.
It is important to note that certain types of economic activities in specific industries cannot be attributed to a single company and are classified as uncategorized. The travel industry is one such example. The study estimates that 23.4 percent of total imports, categorized under “non-attributed size,” are associated with travel services, and 1.8 percent are related to financial services.