Cross-border trade on the rise again

Low Prices, Grocery. cross-borderGrocery store. Photo: Norway Today Media

Cross-border trade with Sweden is on the rise again

Norwegians traded across the border for NOK 15.1 billion from the summer of 2017 until the summer of 2018. That is 571 million more than during the twelve-month period before. The cross-border trade is mainly with Sweden.

 

Cross-border trade on day trips abroad increased by 4 per cent from the third quarter of 2017 to the second quarter of 2018.

The number of day trips fell by 2.2 per cent, from 8.3 to 8.1 million trips in the same period, according to figures released by Statistics Norway.

The Trade Organisation Virke Handel is worried by the figures and believes the big-scale development going on just across the border to Sweden indicates that even more jobs will be lost unless the Government acts immediately.

Affects everybody

– Cross-border trade affects all business areas in the trade, from pharmacies and sports outlets to groceries. It is completely unacceptable that Norwegian authorities facilitate exports of trade and workplaces abroad, says Managing Director of Virke Handel, Harald Andersen.

NHO Food and Beverage claims that the cross-border trade weakens Norwegian capacity for change.

– The development should worry the Government, which is still talking about the 200,000 workplaces we need to create to ensure the welfare state in the future, says CEO of NHO Food and Beverage, Petter Haas Brubakk.

Demands action

The large Norwegian tax burden, according to NHO, results in an unsustainable competitive disadvantage for Norwegian food and beverage producers and affects the cross-border trade directly.

– The increase in excise duties on chocolate and sugar products has dramatically increased the competitive disadvantage for a large portion of Norwegian food and beverage industries.

– The level of trade leakage to Sweden is now so high that it has negative structural and long-term effects on the food and beverage industry in Norway, and it requires prompt action from Norwegian authorities, says Brubakk.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today