For the first time since the 1980s, the Norwegian Christmas shopping declined last year. This year, the trend has turned. Talking to TV2, trade organization Virke’s CEO Vibeke Hammer Madsen said that their forecasts for this year indicate an increase of 2.5% to 50.5 billion.
Virke also mapped the areas where most money is spend on holiday shopping. The shops in the Oslo area will sell for 10.900 NOK per capita, providing the highest average in the country. On the other end of the scale, one person in Østfold will spend 8350 NOK on average.
– While the higher income level helps to put Oslo on spending top, the organization report also shows closeness to the Swedish border shops as the main reason for the capital’s position.
Moreover, the number of Norwegians who choose to buy their gifts online increases this year. Virke report expects turnover of online sales will be 3.4 billion NOK in December. 1 billion of this will be on foreign online stores.
