2023.03.2908:01:00UTC+00Norway Retail Sales Rise For Second Month; Household Spending Rebounds

Norway's retail sales increased for the second consecutive month in February, mainly as a result of strong demand for information and communication technology equipment, preliminary data from Statistics Norway showed on Wednesday.

Separate official data revealed that household consumption rebounded in February after a sharp fall in the prior month.

Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent month-on-month in February, but slower than the 1.3 percent increase in January.

Retail sales of information and communication technology equipment alone grew by 6.5 percent over the month, and those of cultural and recreation goods rose 2.5 percent.

On the other hand, retail sales in non-specialized stores showed a negative growth of 2.2 percent.

On a yearly basis, retail sales declined at a slower pace of 3.9 percent in February, following a 6.1 percent fall a month ago.

Separate official data showed that household spending grew 3.7 percent monthly in February versus a 22.5 percent slump in the prior month. The strong rebound was mainly attributed to a 43.6 percent jump in purchases of vehicles and petrol.