A strong, open and productive economy
Norway is a prosperous and stable society with a strong democratic tradition and a political, economic and social climate conducive to industry and business development. According to Eurostat, Norway had the second highest GDP per capita in Europe in 2009, i.e. € 57 100 compared to the EU27 average of € 23 600.
GDP per capita in PPS
Top ten EEA countries 2008 (EU27 = 100)
1. Luxembourg (276.4)
2. Norway (191.2)
3. Ireland (135.4)
4. Netherlands (134.0)
5. Austria (123.5)
6. Iceland (120.7)
7. Denmark (120.1)
8. Sweden (120.1)
9. Germany (115.6)
10. Belgium (115.2)
Source: Eurostat 2010.
Labour Productivity per Hour Worked
Top ten EEA countries (EU15=100)
1. Luxembourg (165.9)
2. Norway (163.5)
3. Netherlands (121.8)
4. Belgium (118.3)
5. Germany (110.0)
6. Ireland (104.2)
7. Sweden (100.0)
8. Austria (99.3)
9. Denmark (96.6)
10. Finland (96.3)
Source: Eurostat 2010.
Access to the EU internal market
Norway is part of the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the European Union (EU), giving Norwegian and foreign-owned companies located in Norway full access to the internal market of the EU and the free movement of persons, good, services and capital across European state borders.
Easy doing business in Norway
Political stability and good governance are key descriptors of the Norwegian business environment. In Doing Business 2012, an annual report from the World Bank, Norway is ranked 6 out of 183 economies with regard to ease of doing business. The corporate tax rate is 28 per cent, VAT 25 per cent and income tax and social security contribution on the average worker 29.7 per cent (OECD 2010).
Benchmarking Norwegian Competitiveness
IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook ranks Norway 11 on the 2009 World Competitiveness Scoreboard. Norway has climbed steadily on this ranking over the last few years and get high scores across all four dimensions of the overall index; i.e. economic performance, government and business efficiency, and infrastructure.
World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report ranks Norway 14 in the 2009-2010 edition of the Growth Competitiveness Index, which is up one place from 2008-2009. The rankings are drawn from a combination of publicly available structural data and the results of an Executive Opinion Survey polling 11 000 business leaders.