The Norwegian defence industry – main figures for 2023

We have studied key figures for 2023 from companies in Norway’s defence industry. The industry has collectively reported a 32% growth in defence-related revenue. Revenue from the Norwegian Armed Forces, other Norwegian customers, and foreign customers all increased. All sizes of enterprises reported growth. Revenue from foreign customers continued to rise, increasing by 30% in 2023 compared to 2022, up from 11% growth from 2021 to 2022. This revenue comes from two sources: exports and revenue from foreign subsidiaries, both contributing approximately equally to the increase. Total defence-related research and development (R&D) rose by 56% from 2022. The total R&D includes both internally funded R&D and R&D funded by others. The defence-related order backlog continued to rise, up 44% for 2023. The order backlog was 2.4 times the total defence-related revenue. The number of defence-related full-time equivalents (FTEs) in the companies was 11% higher than in our previous measurement. The increase was particularly driven by foreign subsidiaries, which saw a growth of 22%. The basis for this year’s statistics is reported figures from 70 companies, 17 fewer than in 2022.