Norway Loan Debt Growth Slows

Norway’s general public domestic loan debt increased by 4.4% year-on-year to NOK 7.84 billion at the end of January 2026, following an upwardly revised 4.5% rise in the previous month, which had marked the highest growth since May 2023. Loan growth in both the household sector (4.7% vs 4.8% in December) and municipal government (6.5% vs 6.7%) eased, while lending to non-financial corporations remained unchanged (at 3.1%).

Norway’s general public domestic loan debt rose 4.4% year-on-year to NOK 7.81 billion at the end of December 2025 from a 3.9% gain in November, marking the highest level since May 2023. Credit expansion accelerated for non-financial corporations’ debt (2.9% vs 1.7% in November), and household debt (4.8% vs 4.5%), while municipal government held steady at 6.7%. Looking at the annualised one-month growth in December, general public debt surged 7% from 3.2% in the prior month. Household debt increased to 5.9% from 4.8%, municipal government debt rose to 5.1% from 0.5%, and non-financial corporations’ debt picked up to 9.8% from 1.1%.

The general public’s domestic loan debt in Norway rose by 3.9% year-on-year to NOK 7.79 billion at the end of November 2025, matching the pace seen in the previous two months. This remained the softest growth since March, as loan debt growth in municipal government eased (6.7% vs 7.4% in October), which more than offset increases in loan debt among households (4.5% vs 4.4%) and non-financial corporations (1.8% vs 1.7%). Looking at the annualised one-month growth in November, the data indicated a 3.3% increase for the general public, slowing from a 4.2% growth in October.