Statistical Office:
Statistics Norway
COVID-19 dedicated website:
https://www.ssb.no/korona/statistikk-om-koronakrisen (in Norwegian only)
COVID-19 related project/initiative:
Economic statistics describing the impact on economic development due to the COVID-19 situation
Due to the great need for a comprehensive picture of the effect on economic activity caused by COVID-19, Statistics Norway expedited the publication of monthly and quarterly national accountsin April 2020. The monthly accounts were also estimated by a preliminary flash estimate in April 2020, in combination with publication of updated economic trends in April and June.
The expedited national accounts was enabled by access to financial transaction data, weekly unemployment data from the Labour and Welfare Administration, as well as new Corona related short-term indicators such as weekly external trade statistics, weekly bankruptcy statistics and others.
The estimated monthly accounts presented seasonally adjusted volume growth for main macroeconomic aggregates, as well as for selected industries. As fewer indicators than normal were available, figures were associated with some uncertainty. Given the highly special and uncertain situation in March, it was considered that the uncertainty was of less significance compared to the benefits of providing this comprehensive picture of the economic situation.
The preliminary figures showed a 6.4 per cent decline in Mainland GDP from February to March, translating to a 1.9 per cent decline in Q1 2020. The sharp decline was unevenly distributed among industries and particularly strong for industries where infection control measures led to cessation of activity.