How Rich Is Norway?

you are watching places every Tuesday we bring you an insightful look into fascinating events from all around the world how rich is Norway welcome to a Lux calm the place where future billionaires come to get inspired Halloway Luxor's and welcome back for another exciting original video brought to you by our team here at a luxe calm Norway is a fascinating country for many reasons it's freezing cold they have some of the highest tax rates in the world and the cost of living is also sky-high yet Norway has been consistently recognized as one of the best places to live for many years what's their secret well the wealth of the nation plays no small part in the happiness of its people and today we're going to explore just how rich Norway really is but first let's cover the basics background the kingdom of Norway is located in northwestern Europe and is bordered by Sweden Finland and Russia Norway has 63,000 miles of coastline which is the second most in the world behind Canada Norway is a constitutional monarchy that functions as a highly developed democracy harald the fifth of the house of glücksburg has been king since 1991 the kingdom of Norway was formed in 872 and has existed continuously for over 1,000 145 years Norway opted out of the European Union as a result of a referendum in November 1994 however they still take part in the --use single market and they significantly contribute to the budget of the European Union Norway is consistently among the top ranked happiest places to live in the world along with Denmark and Finland in 2017 it claimed the very top spot on the list which is published by the United Nations sustainable development solutions network based on surveys conducted in 132 countries around the world Norway ranks particularly high in the categories of freedom generosity honesty health caring income and good governance they also have a strong economy which is what we're taking a closer look at next Norway's economy Norway's economy is based on the Nordic model which is also embraced by Finland Sweden and Denmark this economic model puts an emphasis on social equality with a comprehensive welfare system a high rate of unionization and strong collective bargaining policies within workplaces meaning that employees have a significant say in salaries working conditions and benefits Norway stands out among the Nordic countries because the state has a stake in a large number of the country's biggest publicly listed companies owning a total of 37 percent of the Oslo stock market the state also owns and operates some of the largest non listed companies including the Petroleum Company Ecuador and the hydropower company stat craft Norway is blessed with numerous natural resources including oil and gas fish minerals and forests they're the second largest exporter of seafood behind China and they're also one of the leading petroleum exporters worldwide their overall economy has experienced modest positive growth from 2010 through 2019 and is expected to continue this trend in the years to come the Nordic model gives plenty of opportunities for economic success to all of its citizens but some definitely end up benefiting more than others individual wealth Norway comes in at number 25 on Forbes list of the countries with the most billionaires out of the 5.3 million people that live in the country there are 15 billionaires the richest person that lives in Norway is odd rate on with a net worth of 6.1 billion dollars he's a self-made billionaire who owns one of the largest chains of grocery stores in Norway as of 2019 there are approximately 40 6.8 million millionaires in the world about 163 thousand of these millionaires live in Norway that's about one in every 287 people but beyond the millionaires and billionaires Norway is the only major Western economy where younger generations are increasing their wealth with Millennials seeing a 13 percent increase in disposable income in 2018 in just about every other major Western economy Millennials are not doing as well financially as the generations that came before them the average monthly salary is around $8,000 u.s. although salaries of course vary significantly from job to job and a large percentage of salaries go to taxes which brings us to our next topic taxes and the welfare state the term welfare state may create a negative perception of a lazy workforce and free handouts from the government but this is not the case for Norway their welfare system maximizes labor force participation supports gender equality and promotes income redistribution it also encourages innovation by providing a social safety net for those who start businesses in 2018 single Norwegian citizens with no children paid a personal income tax rate of thirty eight point five two percent while married couples with two children pay a tax rate of 23% the fifth highest tax rate for this category worldwide there's also a 25% value-added tax for most goods and services these factors combined give Norway one of the highest cost of living rights worldwide in fact it's the fourth most expensive country to live in behind the cayman islands bermuda and switzerland however most Norwegians will tell you that these taxes feel more like an investment than a burden in return for paying high taxes Norwegians receive free health care free education up to and including university tuition subsidized childcare extended parental leave paid at 80 percent of the normal salary paid sick and personal leave substantial unemployment insurance and retirement benefits but if Norway is paying out all of these benefits how much money is left over for that let's get to the question of the hour how rich is Norway in order to understand just how wealthy Norway is let's start with the gross national product Norway's nominal GDP in 2018 was just over four hundred and thirty four billion dollars the figure that is better used to measure Norway's economy is the per capita GDP which in 2018 was eighty one thousand six hundred ninety five US dollar this is the fourth highest per-capita GDP in the world behind Luxembourg Switzerland and Macau what's more Norway Luxembourg and Switzerland are the only three countries worldwide that have a per capita GDP above 70,000 US dollars that are not listed as island nations or microstates however a better indication of Norway's wealth is the money that they have on hand Norway has the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund the government pension fund of Norway totaling over one trillion dollars the money in this fund which was established in 1990 comes from investments made with the country's oil revenues the fund itself is 2.7 times bigger than the entire Norwegian economy and contains enough money to hand each citizen over 180 thousand US dollars the fund has increased due to strategic investments in shares property and bonds in 77 different countries this investment fund actually has a stake in nearly 9,000 companies in these countries its biggest equity holdings include Microsoft alphabet Inc Nestle Apple Amazon and Royal Dutch Shell which certainly helps explain its massive success a total of 37 percent of their investments are made in US companies what some more Norway refrains from investing in companies that produce landmines tobacco and nuclear weapons and in 2019 it was announced they would no longer invest in oil and gas stocks the fund is managed by Norges Bank Investment Management on behalf of the Ministry of Finance but the fund is officially owned by the Norwegian people it was put in place primarily to put Norway in a good financial position so it didn't rely on oil revenues that would eventually dry up Norway officially has a little over 157 billion dollars in public debt but they're in a net asset position meaning the total financial assets of the government exceed the total debt essentially they borrow money at low rates and then reinvest conclusion Norway has secured its position as one of the richest countries in the world thanks in part to its high tax rates strong economic model and bountiful natural resources however the main factor in its wealth accumulation has been the strategic investment of oil revenues which is providing Economic Security for many years to come even after all the oil is depleted Norway is indeed one of the happiest places to live on earth because the government invests in its people and ensures the taxes highest they may be benefit each citizen to the highest extent because of all of these factors Norway will likely maintain its status as a wealthy nation for the foreseeable future and a Luxor's if you're interested in learning some more about this fascinating country check out our video the 15 things you didn't know about Norway by clicking in the top right corner question now as we wrap this up we're curious would you mind paying much higher taxes if you receive the same benefits as the Norwegians let us know what you think in the comments and of course for sticking with us until the end what could that possibly mean here's your bonus the Norwegians are known to be an innovative people the inventions that have come out of Norway include the cheese slicer aerosol spray cans paper clips salmon sushi and modern skiing thank you for spending some time with us a Luxor's make sure to subscribe so you never miss another video we also hand-picked these videos for you to watch next as always the conversation continues on social media thanks again and we can't wait to have you back tomorrow

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Id: XavILStD8Vg

Length: 10min 23sec (623 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 17 2019