Foreign Direct Investment in Norway up to End-1998

This article presents new and updated figures on the stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Norway at the end of 1998. The stock of FDI in Norway, as measured here, showed an increase of NOK 30bn from 1997, reaching NOK 198bn at end-1998. Share capital owned by foreign investors accounted for NOK 8bn of the increase, while other types of equity capital rose by a good NOK 5bn. Loans from foreign investors grew by more than NOK 16bn. The survey shows that FDI has increased at a faster pace the last two years. EU countries and the US are becoming increasingly dominant, with a share of nearly 92% of FDI in Norway at end-1998. Invested capital from the Netherlands made the largest contribution to growth the last two years, and the country accounted for NOK 50bn of the stock of FDI at end-1998. This must be seen in connection with the fact that investors from other countries in some cases channel their investment in Norway through Dutch subsidiaries, probably due to favourable tax rules. More than 40% of the capital was invested in oil activities. The survey also shows that the return on direct investment was slightly lower in 1998 than one year earlier