Distillers Norway
A one-page guide to Norway for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- Oslo
- Official languages
- Norwegian, Sami
- Currency
- Norwegian krone (NOK)
- Time zone
- UTC+1 (UTC+2 summer)
- Area
- 624,500 km²
People
- Population
- 5.6 million (2025)
- Population growth
- 0.7% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 83.6%
- Aged under 15
- 15.9%
- Aged 65 and over
- 19.1%
- Life expectancy
- 83.2 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$530.8 billion (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$94,594 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 1.1% (2025)
- Inflation
- 3.0% (2025)
Climate
Gulf Stream and westerlies make it milder and wetter than its latitude suggests. Four seasons on the mainland; the south and west coasts are wettest with the mildest winters, the east and far north colder, Svalbard Arctic tundra.
Alcohol
- Alcohol is
- Restricted
- Legal drinking age
- 18 for drinks under 22% ABV; 20 for 22% ABV and above
- Alcohol per adult a year
- 6.95 litres of pure alcohol (2022-2024 average (WHO estimate for 2024))
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); World Bank indicators (population, area, GDP, GDP per capita, growth, inflation); WHO Global Health Observatory, indicator SA_0000001688; UN Comtrade public API (HS 2208); Wikipedia: Legal drinking age; Wikipedia: Vinmonopolet; Wikipedia: Norway; Vinmonopolet: prices and taxes; Tolletaten: private import of alcohol. Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.