OSLO (dpa-AFX) - The mainland Norwegian economy expanded more-than-expected in the first quarter after a renewed contraction in the previous quarter, figures from Statistics Norway showed Thursday.
Gross domestic product advanced 1.0 percent sequentially in the March quarter, reversing a 0.4 percent fall in the fourth quarter.
Economists had forecast a 0.6 percent increase. Moreover, this was the strongest quarterly growth since early 2022.
The increase in the first quarter was broadly based, but the growth was particularly strong in power production and retail trade, the agency said.
On the expenditure side, general government consumption showed a steady and continued growth, and household consumption rose 1.6 percent, driven by car consumption. Meanwhile, investments in general government decreased in the first quarter.
Data showed that overall GDP decreased 0.1 percent in the first quarter, though slower than the 0.9 percent fall in the preceding quarter.
On a yearly basis, the Norwegian economy shrank 0.4 percent, following a 0.3 percent decline seen in the December quarter.
Separate official data showed that Norway's foreign trade surplus declined to NOK 55.9 billion in April from NOK 61.7 billion in the corresponding month last year.
Both exports and imports fell by 7.3 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively.
Data showed that Mainland trade deficit narrowed to NOK 25.1 billion in April from NOK 31.9 billion in March.
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