New GDP figures, senior diplomat resigns, Crown Princess comments on Epstein links and more news from Norway this Monday.
Statistics agency releases annual report on economy
Mainland Norway’s GDP grew by 1.8 percent last year, with the strongest growth seen in the private sector.
A new annual report released today by Statistics Norway (SSB) states that growth from 2024 to 2025 was 1.9 percent in private businesses and 1.2 percent in the public sector.
Fiscal policy encouraged moderate growth in public consumption and investment last year, SSB states in the report. Wage increases and two interest rate cuts in 2025 helped improve household purchasing power, the agency notes.
“Household consumption demand rose markedly in 2025, while petroleum investments and exports also grew. All of this contributed to boosting activity in the mainland economy,” Pål Sletten, head of section at SSB, said in the report.
Employment increased by 0.7 percent in 2025, roughly in line with population growth, with similar rates in both the private and public sectors.
The annual report produced by SSB gives an overview of the condition of the Norwegian economy.
Senior diplomat resigns as Norway probes Epstein links
Norway’s ambassador to Jordan and Iraq has resigned after an investigation was launched into her ties to late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the foreign ministry said Sunday.
Mona Juul, who played a key role in the secret Israeli-Palestinian negotiations which led to the Oslo Accords of the early 1990s, is among several high-profile Norwegian figures swept up in the latest Epstein file release.
“This is a correct and necessary decision. Juul’s contact with the convicted abuser Epstein has shown a serious lapse in judgment,” Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement.
The senior diplomat was temporarily suspended on Monday pending an investigation into her alleged links to Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
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Crown Princess Mette-Marit ‘deeply regrets’ Epstein friendship
Crown Princess Mette-Marit has said she “deeply regretted” her friendship with convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the embarrassment it has caused the royal family.
Mette-Marit’s name appears in Epstein documents released a week ago by the US Justice Department. The documents revealed an unexpectedly close friendship between the two and have raised questions in Norway about whether Mette-Marit can become queen.
“I deeply regret my friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. It is important for me to apologise to all of those whom I have disappointed … I also regret the situation I have put the royal family in, especially the king and queen,” she said in a statement from the palace.
It added that the crown princess, 52, wished to tell more and explain herself in detail.
“She can’t do that now,” it said, noting that she was in a “very demanding situation”.
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The mention of someone’s name in the US files does not necessarily imply wrongdoing.
Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution and died in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
In 2011, Mette-Marit wrote to Epstein that she had “googled” him, adding “it didn’t look too good” and ending the sentence with a smiling emoji.
In 2012, when Epstein told Mette-Marit he was in Paris “on (a) wife hunt”, she replied that the French capital is “good for adultery” and “Scandis (are) better wife material”.
A poll this week showed almost half of Norwegians said she should not become queen, and less than a third backed her.
Military intelligence says Russia and China want to up presence on Svalbard
While global tensions have focused on Greenland, Norway’s military intelligence service said that Russia and China were looking to increase their presence on the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.
In its annual threat assessment, the Norwegian Intelligence Service said that “from Moscow’s perspective, Svalbard’s strategic location makes it necessary to maintain a Russian presence there”.
The second-largest town on Svalbard, the coal mining settlement of Barentsburg, is almost entirely populated by Russian nationals.
“There are signs that the Kremlin is looking to make the Barentsburg settlement less dependent on Norwegian supply and transport infrastructure.
“Regular port visits by ships from Russia constitute one planned step in this direction,” the agency said.
With reporting by AFP.