Norway: Industrial production decreases in December
According to Statistics Norway, industrial production fell a seasonally-adjusted 0.4% from the previous month in December, a swing from November’s revised increase of 0.4% (previously reported: +0.6% month-on-month).
A contraction in the extraction and related services sector—the largest industrial sector in Norway—spurred the decrease. A fall in output in the mining and quarrying and electricity, gas and steam sectors also pushed industrial production down in December. Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector had a good performance in December, expanding compared to the previous month.
In annual terms, industrial production increased 0.3% in December, up from the 1.3% contraction recorded in November. This was predominantly due to a larger manufacturing sector, as well as a larger electricity, gas and steam sector; on the other hand, the extraction and related services sector and the mining and quarrying sector both shrank. Annual average growth in industrial production accelerated to 2.3% in December compared to 2.1% in November.