Norway

18 Aug Norway

Norway’s soaring mountains and deep coastal fjords hide a thriving private sector and a community on the cutting edge of innovation. The country overtook its neighbour Sweden as the most sustainable country in the world in 2020, according to estimations by global asset manager RobecoSAM. As the third largest exporter of natural gas, Norway has long made its wealth on its thriving hydrocarbons industry. The nation saves money made from its petroleum ventures in the North Sea in the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund. In 2021, the fund was worth around $248,000 per citizen. Norway has continued to spearhead innovations in renewable energy, particularly in floating platforms used on its extensive maritime territory.

Although hydropower continues to dominate the nation’s electricity production, it has fallen from generating 93.4% of produced electricity in 2019 to 88% in 2020 due to installed wind capacity that now takes up 10% of the country’s production. The fall in oil price in 2018 had a diversifying effect on the country, particularly on start-ups in hardware technology. The government unveiled a strategy in 2021 to invite data centres to the country in a bid to make the nation a sustainable data hub. While still an economic powerhouse, the COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact on Norway’s mainland economy, which contracted by 2.5% in 2020, the largest decline since estimations began in 1970. However, it fared far better than its EU cousins that saw an estimated decline of 6.8% in the same year. The country’s economy is expected to bounce back by the end of 2021.