Norway in 2004

Norway in 2004

Area: 323,758 sq km (125,004 sq mi)
Population (2004 est.): 4,591,000
Capital: Oslo
Chief of state: King Harald V
Head of government: Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik

Norway’s favourable trade balance continued in 2004, thanks to strong oil and gas exports, and the Government Petroleum Fund continued to grow because of high oil prices. Despite these positive trends, Norwegians worried about the decrease in industrial employment. In 2004 this declining trend halted for a while as new investments in oil-related, metallurgical, and consumer-based industries had an effect, but many companies continued to move their production abroad to countries where costs were lower. (See Economic Affairs: Special Report.) Norwegian communities were often vulnerable because they were based on one factory, and many industrial workers had lost their jobs or had been handed early-retirement arrangements. The national average unemployment, however, remained stable at 4.5%.

Meanwhile, some Norwegian companies had hired cheaper employees from other countries for jobs in Norway. In response, the unions claimed minimum wages, something that had been approved in sectors such as transport and construction. The globalization of the economy was also reflected in discussions about the retirement-pension and sickness-allowance schemes. The centre-right government’s policies, which emphasized reducing government budgets, seemed to some to be in conflict with the traditional welfare-state policies of previous decades.

From the outside these problems might seem rather small. On the index of human development issued by the UN Development Programme, Norway was ranked as having the highest standard of living in the world. The annual ranking was based largely on average levels of education and income combined with expected length of lifetime (78.9 years in Norway). The political left, however, pointed to the growing number of poor Norwegians. On the basis of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development standard, Norway had 90,000 poor people, while according to the EU criteria, the number was approximately 400,000.

Since the election in 2001, the minority government of Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik had received case-by-case support from the Storting (parliament). A Gallup Poll in October showed that two of the three parties in the ruling coalition had very low support. The Christian People’s Party had about 7%, and the Liberal Party had 3%, while the Conservative Party remained the strongest of the governing parties, with about 18% support. Parties were already lining up for the general election in September 2005. For the first time the Norwegian Labour Party announced that it would negotiate with the Socialist Left and Centre parties to form a coalition after the 2005 election. According to the results of the October poll, this prospective red-green alliance would have more than 50% of the vote.

In the middle of December, the Storting accepted the government’s budget proposal. A deficit of nearly 69 billion kroner (1 krone = about $0.16) was covered by taking the money from the steadily growing Government Petroleum Fund, which totaled nearly 1 trillion kroner at year’s end.

On January 21 Crown Princess Mette-Marit gave birth to a daughter. The new princess, who was baptized Ingrid Alexandra on April 17, was the second in line to the throne behind her father, Crown Prince Haakon. The crown prince filled in as regent during King Harald’s four-month recuperation after a December 2003 cancer operation. The king resumed his duties on April 13. Princess Märtha Louise and her husband, Ari Behn, announced that they were expecting their second child in April 2005.

Hilde Sandvik