Overall, contacts expect some activity growth in Q2, primarily reflecting a sharp rise among oil services contacts but also a moderate rise among other services. In addition, activity is increasing somewhat among manufacturing contacts. On the other hand, the decline in activity in construction is accelerating, and sales volumes in retail trade are falling. Contacts expect overall activity growth to pick up slightly in Q3. The weak krone is helping boost tourism and improve Norwegian firms’ competitiveness. At the same time, the krone depreciation is pushing up costs and prices in the Norwegian market.

Employment is rising and has picked up pace since the previous survey. At the same time, fewer contacts are reporting capacity constraints, and recruitment difficulties have eased.

Contacts expect annual wage growth of 5.4% in 2023, which is substantially higher than the February estimate. Overall, contacts’ profitability is slightly weaker in 2023 Q2 than at the same time in 2022.