Seafood industry ‘creates NOK 120bn’ for Norway

Norway’s seafood industry is worth NOK 120bn (£10.1bn) to the country’s economy and contributes NOK 34bn (£2.9bn) in taxes.

Those are among the findings of a report prepared by consultants Menon Economics with research institutions Nofima and Norce.

The study found that last year saw the industry growing by an extra 13,000 jobs, with an estimated 106,000 people working directly or indirectly with the sector.

The estimate for the industry’s contribution is based on the “ripple effect”, the report says.

Jonas Erraia, partner at Menon Economics: “The seafood industry fared well throughout the pandemic compared to other industries, but nevertheless experienced a demanding 2020. We now have the results from 2021, and we see that the industry has been boosted and is setting new records regarding value creation, exports and employment.”

Value creation in the industry increased by NOK 11 billion (£0.9bn) from 2020 to 2021. In 2019, value creation was slightly higher than in 2021, but last year’s value creation is nevertheless at a historically high level. Employment effects from the industry are the highest in recent times.

Around 3% of the Norwegian government’s tax revenues derive from the seafood and related industries, the report says.

Project manager Roy Robertsen, senior scientist at Nofima, said: “The seafood industry is one of Norway’s most important regional industries. The industry is represented throughout the entire country, but it is in Western and Northern Norway that seafood production is most important regarding value creation and employment. Few industries have grown more than the seafood industry in the last 15 years.”

The report concludes that Ålesund is the most significant municipality in Norway for value creation in the seafood sector, with many producers and suppliers based there.