of
welfare capitalism, featuring 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). The
country is richly endowed with natural resources - petroleum, hydropower,
fish, forests, and minerals - and is highly dependent on its oil
production and international oil prices; in 1999, oil and gas accounted
for 35% of exports. Only Saudi Arabia and Russia export more oil than
Norway. Oslo opted to stay out of the EU during a referendum in November
1994. Growth picked up in 2000 to 2.7%, compared with the meager 0.8%
of 1999, but fell back to 1.3% in 2001. The government moved ahead with
privatization in 2000, even proposing the sale of up to one-third of the
100% state-owned oil company Statoil. With arguably the highest quality
of life worldwide, Norwegians still worry about that time in the next two
decades when the oil and gas begin to run out. Accordingly, Norway has
been saving its oil-boosted budget surpluses in a Government Petroleum
Fund, which is invested abroad and now is valued at more than $43 billion.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $138.7 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 1.3% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $30,800 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 2% industry: 31% services: 67%
(2000)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 4.1%
highest 10%: 21.8% (1995)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 25.8 (1995)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.1% (2001 est.)

Labor force: 2.4 million (2000 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: services 74%, industry 22%, agriculture,
forestry, and fishing 4% (1995)

Unemployment rate: 3.6% (2001 est.)

Budget: revenues: $71.7 billion expenditures: $57.6 billion, including
capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate: -1% (2001 est.)

Electricity - production: 141.162 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 0.49% hydro: 99.31%
other: 0.2% (2000) nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption: 112.495 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 20.259 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 1.474 billion kWh