Surplus in Norway's merchandise trade rose to a record in January, Statistics Norway said on Tuesday.
The trade surplus climbed to NOK 48.79 billion from NOK 34.40 billion in the same month last year. The excess is the highest ever recorded for a single month, the agency said. In December, the surplus was NOK 33.42 billion.
Exports grew 16.5 percent year-on-year, while imports declined 3.8 percent. Month-on-month, exports rose 13.7 percent, while imports shrunk 9.9 percent.
The deficit in Mainland trade narrowed to NOK 7.174 billion from NOK 11.16 billion last year. In December, the deficit was NOK 16.20 billion.
Export growth was driven by high exports of oil and gas combined with a leap in the export of mainland goods, which hit a new record of NOK 33.9 billion in January.
A weaker Norwegian krone led to an increase in the price of oil. Crude oil exports increased nearly 30 percent to NOK 43.4 million barrels, the highest level since October 2012, from NOK 33.4 million barrels a year ago.
Fish exports also grew significantly, up 24.2 percent to NOK 5.8 billion from NOK 4.7 billion in the same month last year.
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