País de ubicación de la feria: Noruega

Acerca del país: Este país nórdico se destaca por su alto nivel de vida, el respeto a los derechos humanos y el desarrollo de una industria especializada. Tiene a Oslo como su capital y su moneda oficial es la corona noruega. Actualmente Noruega alberga a 5'214,900 habitantes.

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Norway - the best way

Article | 06 Oct 2005

The United Nation's Human Development Report 2005 has ranked Norway top of the Human Development Index (HDI). This is the fifth successive year that Norway has come top in this index. The high standard of living is driven by the strong performance of the oil-rich economy. Norway is the world's third biggest oil exporter so is the Norwegian economy just riding the wave of high oil prices?

Summary

The UN HDI index measures human development and achievement of 177 countries based on life expectancy at birth, knowledge measured by literacy and education, and standards of living. The latest report's indicators refer to the year 2003:

Norway topped the list followed by Iceland, Australia, Luxembourg and Canada;

Sierra Leone and Niger were ranked 176 and 177 respectively, highlighting the differences between countries in the developed world and Africa;

Within Western Europe, Norway does have an excellent standard of living. It ranks top in the region (after Luxembourg) in terms of GDP per capita in 2004 at €43,715. This is much higher than Europe's three largest economies with the UK at €28,876 per capita, France at €27,062 and Germany at €26,344 per capita;

Norway has positive life expectancy at birth at 79.5 in 2004. Japan and Switzerland have the longest life expectancies in the world at 82.5 and 81.0 respectively;

Education levels in Norway are also good with a significant 96.6% of the population aged 15-19 in education in 2004. This compares to just 80.0% in the UK and 55.9% in Japan;

Unemployment levels in Norway are comparatively low at 4.4% in 2004 in relation to more staggering rates in the larger economies again. France had a rate of 9.7% and Spain was the highest at 10.8%;

Inflation levels are also minimal at just 0.47% in 2004 compared to 2.96% in the UK and 2.23% in Luxembourg.

Wider picture

There is no doubt that Norway's wealth is in large part down to it's oil and gas resources, particularly the oil wealth of the North Sea:

It ranks seventh in the world in terms of crude oil production with 149.10 million tonnes of oil equivalent produced in 2004. Saudi Arabia topped the list in 2004 with 482.80 million tonnes of oil equivalent, followed by Russia and the USA;

The country's oil consumption levels are much lower than the amount they produce at 9.50 million tonnes in 2004, in comparison to the USA, the world's biggest consumer of oil, at 922.60 million tonnes;

Norway's wealth is therefore based on exporting the oil it produces and results in it being the third biggest exporter of oil in the world, after Saudi Arabia and Russia. Exports of mineral fuels, which includes petroleum and petroleum products, accounted for 63% of all exports in 2004;

Exports are essential for driving the Norwegian economy. 27.5% of GDP by origin in 2004 was from the exports of goods and services;

Norway's pattern of real GDP growth does also generally follow the pattern of world oil prices. It's real GDP growth of 2.9% in 2004 came at a time when oil prices were high at US$38.27 dollars per barrel. When oil prices slowed down in 1998, so too did real GDP growth as shown in the chart below.

Norway real GDP growth and crude oil prices: 1997-2004

Source: Euromonitor International from International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Financial Statistics and World Economic Outlook/UN/national statistics/BP Amoco, BP Statistical Review of World Energy

Note: oil based on 2004 prices

How does Norway compare?

According to the US Energy Information Administration, Norway exported 2.91 million barrels per day in 2004 as the world's third largest oil exporter. Saudi Arabia exported 8.73 million as the leading oil exporter;

In terms of proven oil reserves, however, Norway had 1.40 billion tonnes of oil equivalent at the year-end 2004 compared to much higher figures elsewhere. Saudi Arabia had the most with 36 billion tonnes of oil equivalent, followed by Iran at 19.8 billion tonnes of oil equivalent;

Proven oil reserves: year-end 2004

Euromonitor International from BP Amoco, BP Statistical Review of World Energy

The reserves/production ratio gives an indication of the number of years left for those remaining reserves based on the production levels of the previous year, if they were to continue that way. When examining the R/P ratio in 2004, Norway had around 9 years left while Iraq, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates had over 100 years.

There is little doubt that oil is an essential part of Norway's wealth and the main driver of the economy. As one of the leading global exporters of oil, it will inevitably benefit from the hike in oil prices seen in recent years. However, there are concerns as to what will happen in the future when oil reserves run dry. Norway is also one of the world's leading producers of natural gas but this too is not an infinite source.

The problem with major oil exporting economies is the risk of the economy overheating in times of high oil prices. The Norwegian government has, however, prepared itself for this eventuality by setting up a special fund in 1990 to act as a buffer against major oil price fluctuations - The Petroleum Fund. Other major oil economies such as Alaska and Azerbaijan have similar oil funds. In Norway, this money is invested internationally and was worth around a formidable 940 NOK billion by mid 2004. This will ensure that future Norwegians continue to reap the rewards of the country's North Sea wealth for many years to come.