Local kind-of-activity units (local KAUs) in wholesale and retail trade of motor vehicles had a turnover of nearly NOK 218 billion in 2015. This is 9.4 per cent more than in 2014, and is the largest growth the industry has seen since 2010.
The turnover in the wholesale and retail trade of motor vehicles varied widely in the period 2007–2015.
During the financial crisis years 2008–2009, turnover fell by 8.5 per cent. The next two years saw a significant growth. In 2010, turnover was already back to a higher level than in 2007.
The increase was 13.1 and 8.8 per cent respectively in 2010 and 2011. The growth continued for the next three years but at a more moderate level with an annual revenue increase of 2.5 per cent on average.
Retail trade up every year since 2007
For the eighth consecutive year we see a sales increase in retail trade. Local KAUs in retail trade had a turnover of NOK 464 billion in 2015.
This is 2.2 per cent more than in 2014. The industry had a fairly steady development over the period 2007–2015, and was not as strongly affected by the financial crisis as the two other industries.
Turnover increased by 1.4 per cent in 2009. This is down from an increase of 4.5 per cent the year before, but this was a year when the other two industries had a turnover decline of 6.3 per cent. From 2010–2015, the industry experienced an annual increase of 3.1 per cent on average.
Moderate growth for wholesale trade
Wholesale trade had a turnover of around NOK 860 billion in 2015. This is 1.0 per cent more than in 2014.
Although the overall increase for this industry is modest, greater fluctuations can be seen at a more detailed level.
Each industry is divided into several groups. Wholesale of food, beverages and tobacco, which is the largest group in the wholesale trade division, increased its sales by 8.8 per cent. The second largest group, other specialised wholesale, had a decline of 7.2 per cent.
In total, wholesale and retail trade ended up with a turnover of NOK 1 544 billion in 2015.
This is 2.5 per cent more than in 2014. Figure 1 shows that after a decline in 2009, the wholesale and retail trade industries have increased their revenue every year. From 2009 to 2015, sales in the three industries increased turnover by 21.4 per cent.
Two fifths of sales in Oslo and Akershus
As illustrated in figure 2, the two counties Oslo and Akershus had the highest turnover from wholesale and retail trade in 2015.
In Oslo, the local KAUs traded for NOK 354 billion. In Akershus they were trading for NOK 290 billion.
These two counties accounted for 41.8 per cent of Norway’s wholesale and retail trade in 2015. By comparison, they had 26 per cent of the local KAUs and 30.7 per cent of the employment.
Increasingly more local KAUs in the motor vehicle industry
The number of local KAUs in the motor vehicle industry has increased steadily since 2007, with a small exception in 2010. In 2015, there were 9 845 local KAUs in the industry.
This is 11.1 per cent more than in 2007. Overall, we had 66 119 local KAUs in wholesale and retail trade in 2015, which is 2.0 per cent fewer than in 2007. The decline is due to the two other industries.
The strongest decline was in 2009 and 2010. As we can see in figure 4, the number of local KAUs has, overall, remained stable in the period 2010-2015, with an increase of only 0.6 per cent over these five years.
Half of the local KAUs and employment in retail trade
Figure 5 shows how local KAUs, employment and turnover were spread between the three wholesale and retail trade industries in 2015.
Retail trade accounted for more than half of the local KAUs and employees, but just under one third of the turnover.
Wholesale trade, on the other hand, had more than half the turnover, but less than a third of the local KAUs and employees.
As a result, turnover per employee was NOK 7.8 million for wholesale trade, and only NOK 2 million for retail. Wholesale and retail trade of motor vehicles had a turnover of NOK 4.4 million per employee.
Source: SSB / Norway Today
