e
for years to come. The government also hopes to reduce unemployment
and strengthen and diversify the economy through tax reform and a
series of expansionary budgets. The budget deficit is expected to hit
a record 8% of GDP because of welfare spending and bail-outs of the
banking system. Unemployment is currently running at 8.4% - including
those in job programs - because of the weakness of the economy outside
the oil sector. Economic growth, only 1.6% in 1993, moved up to 5.5%
in 1994. Oslo opted to stay out of the EU during a referendum in
November 1994.

National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $95.7 billion (1994
est.)

National product real growth rate: 5.5% (1994 est.)

National product per capita: $22,170 (1994 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.3% (1994 est.)

Unemployment rate: 8.4% (including people in job-training programs;
1994 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $50.9 billion
expenditures: $55.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1994 est.)

Exports: $36.6 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
commodities: petroleum and petroleum products 40%, metals and products
10.6%, fish and fish products 6.9%, chemicals 6.4%, natural gas 6.0%,
ships 5.4%
partners: EC 66.3%, Nordic countries 16.3%, developing countries 8.4%,
US 6.0%, Japan 1.8% (1993)

Imports: $29.3 billion (c.i.f., 1994)
commodities: machinery and equipment 38.9%, chemicals and other
industrial inputs 26.6%, manufactured consumer goods 17.8%, foodstuffs
6.4%
partners: EC 48.6%, Nordic countries 25.1%, developing countries 9.6%,
US 8.1%, Japan 8.0% (1993)

External debt: $NA

Industrial production: growth rate 4.6% (1994); accounts for 14% of
GDP

Electricity:
capacity: 27,280,000 kW
production: 118 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 23,735 kWh (1993)

Industries: petroleum and gas, food processing, shipbuilding, pulp and
paper products, metals, chemicals, timber, mining, textiles, fishing

Agriculture: accounts for 3% of GDP and about 6% of labor force; among
world's top 10 fishing nations; livestock output exceeds value of
crops; fish catch of 1.76 million metric tons in 1989

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for drugs shipped via the CIS and
Baltic states for the European market

Economic aid:
donor: ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $4.4 billion

Currency: 1 Norwegian krone (NKr) = 100 oere

Exchange rates: Norwegian kroner (NKr) per US$1 - 6.7014 (January
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