Adept organization sets Norway prosperity.

The thrust of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) January 2007 "Economic Survey of Norway, 2007," is that one of the country's main "problems" is how to maintain prosperity and stability in the coming years.

Norway's success as a market economy is not simply due to the fact that the country has the commodities the global economy needs-principally oil. Says the OECD, "Natural endowment is not the only reason for this fine outcome."

Norway's economy is efficiently organized and the government is well managed. Norway has the second highest Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) per capita in the world (a distant second to Luxembourg, and just ahead of the United States). As one of the major players in the global economy, Norway can look forward to prosperity for the foreseeable future.

"A tradition of trade openness (except for agriculture), a good policy framework and sound macroeconomic management have also meant that Norway adjusted its product specialization to the challenges of globalization early on," said the OECD.

Consumer spending in Norway is robust. A March 1, 2007 report by Statistics Norway shows that car sales-a major indicator of strong consumption-are on the rise. "Purchase of new vehicles by households grew strongly in January, as it did in December," said the statistics office. "The consumption of cars and fuels rose by 12.3 per cent."

A separate Statistics Norway report on retail sales, also issued on March 1, 2007 said, "The seasonally adjusted volume index of retail sales rose by 1.1 percent from December 2006 to January 2007." The report added, "Compared to January last year, the volume index not adjusted increased by 8.6 per cent in January this year. In the same period the value index rose by 7.8 per cent."

Overall, according to a general review of the 2004 household survey by Statistics Norway, "Household consumption in Norway has almost tripled since 1958 measured in total consumption expenditure."

One final vivid statistic: Household food expenditures decreased by a factor of four between 1958 and 2004.

NORWAY NEEDS TO PREPARE FOR THE FACT THAT ITS OIL WILL RUN OUT ONE DAY

The population growth rate for Norway is the same as the regional average for Northern Europe at 12 births per thousand inhabitants. Job creation has kept up with growth of the labor force in recent years, and it is likely that the situation will be maintained in 2007. Unemployment is running about 3.9 percent (according to an estimate for 2007 by the International Monetary Fund), and this continues to buoy consumer confidence.

Norway's population reached 4.7-million people mid-2006, which amounted to just under 5 percent of Northern Europe's 97-million inhabitants. According to data released by the Population Reference Bureau (PRB), Norway's population will reach 5.2-million by 2025. Also, according to that source, Norway is going to have a population of 5.8-million people in 2050.

The PRB revealed that a substantial 78 percent of Norway's population lived in urban areas during 2006, and that the country's population density is a low 37 people per square mile. Norway is approximately the same size as Malaysia in land area, but Malaysia has a population nearly six times as big. The CIA's World Factbook, indicates that 19 percent of Norway's population was birth to 14 years old in 2006, while 66 percent was 15 to 64 years old, and 15 percent of the populace was 65 years of age and over.

CIA statistics revealed that the country's population growth rate was 0.38 percent in 2006. According to the United Nations Population Division, in the year 2050, 16 percent of Norway's population will be birth to 14 years old, while 58 percent will be aged 15 to 59, and 26 percent of the populace will be 60 years of age and over.