Part 633

International organization participation: AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CCC, CE, CERN, EBRD, ECE, EFTA, ESA, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, MTCR, NACC, NAM (guest), NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OECD, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNAVEM III, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMOP, UNPREDEP, UNTAES, UNTSO, UPU, WEU (associate), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Tom-Erik VRAALSON chancery : 2720 34th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 333-6000 FAX: (202) 337-0870 consulate(s) general: Houston, Minneapolis, New York, and San Francisco consulate(s): Miami

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission : Ambassador Thomas A. LOFTUS embassy: Drammensveien 18, 0244 Oslo mailing address: PSC 69, Box 1000, APO AE 09707 telephone: 22 44 85 50 FAX : 22 44 33 63

Flag description: red with a blue cross outlined in white that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog (Danish flag)

Economy

Economy - overview: Norway is a prosperous bastion of welfare capitalism. The economy consists of a combination of free market activity and government intervention. The government controls key areas, such as the vital petroleum sector (through large-scale state enterprises), and extensively subsidizes agriculture, fishing, and areas with sparse resources. Norway maintains an extensive welfare system that helps propel public sector expenditures to more than 50% of GDP and results in one of the highest average tax levels in the world (46%). A small country with a high dependence on international trade, Norway is basically an exporter of raw materials and semiprocessed goods, with an abundance of small- and medium-sized firms, and is ranked among the major shipping nations. The country is richly endowed with natural resources - petroleum, hydropower, fish, forests, and minerals - and is highly dependent on its oil sector. Only Saudi Arabia exports more oil than Norway. Norway imports more than half its food needs. Economic growth, only 1.6% in 1993, has improved steadily over the past few years, resulting in a budget surplus in 1996. Oslo opted to stay out of the EU during a referendum in November 1994. Despite their high per capita income - outstripped among major nations only by the US - and their generous welfare benefits, the Norwegians worry about that time in the 21st century when the oil and gas run out.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $114.1 billion (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 4.8% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $26,200 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 2.9% industry: 34.7% services : 62.4% (1991)

Inflation rate - consumer price index: 1.2% (1996 est.)

Labor force: total: 2.13 million by occupation: services 71%, industry 23%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 6% (1993)

Unemployment rate: 4.5% (1996 est.)

Budget: revenues: $48.6 billion expenditures: $53 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1994 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate: 3% (1996 est.)

Electricity - capacity: 26.43 million kW (1994)

Electricity - production: 123.2 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 24,586 kWh (1995 est.)

Agriculture - products: oats, other grains; beef, milk; livestock output exceeds value of crops; among world's top 10 fishing nations; fish catch of 2.33 million metric tons in 1994

Exports: total value: $41.7 billion (f.o.b., 1995) commodities: petroleum and petroleum products 43%, metals and products 11%, foodstuffs (mostly fish) 9%, chemicals and raw materials 25%, natural gas 6.0%, ships 5.4% partners: EU 77.2% (UK 19.8%, Germany 12.7%, Netherlands 9.1%, France 7.8%, Sweden 9.8%), US 6.0% (1995)

Imports: total value : $32.7 billion (c.i.f., 1995) commodities: machinery and equipment and manufactured consumer goods 54%, chemicals and other industrial inputs 39%, foodstuffs 6% partners: EU 71.0% (Sweden 15.4%, Germany 13.8%, UK 9.7%, Denmark 7.5%, Netherlands 4.4%), US 6.6% (1995)

Debt - external: $NA

Economic aid: donor: ODA, $1.014 billion (1993)

Currency: 1 Norwegian krone (NKr) = 100 oere

Exchange rates: Norwegian kroner (NKr) per US$1 - 6.4475 (January 1997), 6.4498 (1996), 6.3352 (1995), 7.0576 (1994), 7.0941 (1993), 6.2145 (1992)

Fiscal year: calendar year

@Norway:Communications