Norway's foreign trade surplus saw an uptick in December compared to the previous year, driven by robust export growth, according to data released by Statistics Norway on Wednesday.
In December, the trade surplus expanded to NOK 83.2 billion from NOK 77.3 billion recorded in the same month the previous year. This also represents an increase from the NOK 74.06 billion surplus noted in November.
Year-over-year, exports increased by 8.4 percent in December, while imports rose by 9.3 percent. The surge in exports was largely attributed to a significant 30.2 percent rise in the export of beverages and tobacco.
Natural gas exports increased sharply by 17.5 percent, although exports of crude oil fell by 6.5 percent.
When comparing month-to-month data, exports rose by 2.1 percent, whereas imports decreased by 6.2 percent.
Mainland exports experienced a 12.3 percent rise year-on-year but declined by 5.2 percent from November. In December, the mainland trade recorded a deficit of NOK 25.2 billion, which was an improvement from the NOK 27.6 billion deficit in the previous month.
