Countries around the world are classified into three broad categories purposely for analytic use. The grouping of these countries is intended to reflect the status of their economic conditions. The countries are grouped as advanced economies, developing economies and least developed according to some criteria. In most cases the countries are grouped basing on their Gross National Income per capita per year. A country is said to be a developing country if her Gross National Income stands at US$ 11900 or less. A developing country is said to be still undergoing industrialization and has low human development index. A casing example of a country with a developing economy is South Africa (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development n.p)
Countries are classified as least developed economies based on gross national income per capita, human assets index and economic vulnerability index. A country is said to have a least developed economy if her Gross National Income is below US$ 1242 and based on human assets index a big percentage of its population is undernourished, the mortality rate is high especial among the children under five years, and illiteracy levels are very high (Norway Country Study Guide 31). A further criterion is added to the classification of such countries based on the economic vulnerability index, such that the country's exports are unstable, the agricultural sector is not stabilized, and natural disasters are frequently hitting her. A casing example of the country with the at least developed economy is Nepal.
A county is classified as a developed economy if it has technologically and infrastructural made advancements. Their Gross Domestic Product, per capita income, are usually high. Developed economies have high human development index with high life expectancy among her population, high standards of living and high levels of literacy levels among her population. A casing example of a country with a developed economy is Norway (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development n.p).
Norway
Norway has a developed economy that is built on strong competitiveness, openness, transparent policies which substantially supports her dynamic trade and investments. The country is at position 32 in global ranking and 16 in Europe as per the regional ranking. The countries currency is the Norwegian krone. The country’s population stands at 5.2 million people (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development n.p).
As per the World Bank report of 2013, the Gross Domestic Product per capita income was USD 100,818.50 and a GDP of 512.6 billion USD. The GDP per sector was 1.2% for agriculture with the main products been barley, wheat, potatoes, beef, veal, milk, and fish. The industry comprised of 42.3% of the GDP while services contributed a bigger share to the GDP of Norway of 56.5 % more than half. The countries major industries are oil and gas industry, fishing and ship building. The gas and oil industry are currently the critical export sector that accounts for 46% of the country's revenue. The industrial base of Norway anchors more again on food processing, pulp, and paper production, chemicals, timber, and textile manufacturing and mining (International and Business n.p)
According to the World Bank, 2012, employment per sector in Norway was, agriculture made the least contribution to employment at 2.2%, with industrial sector taking 20.2 % while services took the largest share of 77.4%. The total labor force participation rate stands at 70.70. Over 75 % of people ages between 15 and 64 years in Norway are into employment. As of January this year the country’s statistics indicated that the unemployment rate stood at 4.8 % which was an upward rise from 2015’s 4.6% and above the Norwegian market expectations of 4.5% (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development n.p).
The Norwegian life expectancy at birth stands at 81.8 years as per the World Health Organization data of 2013. In Norway, the female population is expected to live up to 83.8 years which is little higher as compared to the male’s life expectancy at 79.7 years. This puts Norway at the world ranking at 15th place regarding life expectancy (Organization for Economic Cooperation and development n.p). Norway has the best quality education systems and hence the literacy levels in the country are almost 100. With 82% of the adult population aged 25 to 64 years completing secondary education. The school life expectancy in Norwegian is 18 years for females with males slightly lower at 17 years.
Norway boasts of many natural resources that include natural gas, oil, metals such as copper and lead and timber. These natural resources have over the years enabled Norway to sustain a stable and resilient economy given that only 4% of her land is arable. The country has many rivers and waterfalls that give the country its beauty and allow Norwegians to access renewable energy (International 12). The country also has forests and lakes that cover 30 % of the land which supply timber, building materials, furniture, and paper. The North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean are also other natural resource in Norway that is valuable and rich in fishing grounds along the country’s coastline.
. The country is well developed regarding technology and infrastructure; the energy sector is well developed with technologies that focus on securing energy supply. The country has advanced technology which in used in oil and gas production and processing, with modern machines used in drilling, pipeline, and offshore facilities. The technology in the country spreads to maritime, infrastructure and manufacturing plants. In the infrastructure, the technology is advanced in all areas of buildings, aerospace, transport, bridges and tunnels. The country has well advanced technologically regarding manufacturing industries (Organization for Economic Cooperation and development n.p).
The country largely depends on the petroleum sector that accounts for its export revenue and 30% of the government revenue. The country generates income mainly through it exports that include fish and fish products that form 5% of the total goods exported by Norway. Chemical products, telecommunication equipment, shipments are all exported to earn the country income. The top industries in the country petroleum and gas, food processing, shipbuilding, pulp and paper products act a source of income. The average income in the country is 542385.9USD gross income and the average tax stand at 10535.45 USD. The inflation rate in the country was 3.1 5 as of February this year. This was the highest inflation rate in the country since August 2013, with increased prices in furniture, clothing, food and transport. Those hit by poverty in Norway are mainly the immigrants, families with children and single parents and individuals in social security. 3.4% of the children live below the poverty level.
The Norway system of governance is a monarchy in which the power is divided into legislative branch, an executive branch, and the judiciary. The head of state is a king, the unifying symbol of all state authority in Norway. The electorate selects the government, and party with majority seats forms the government. The legislative branch is responsible for appropriations and starting while the judicial branch comprises of the courts. The Norwegian constitution grants executive powers to the king, but the cabinet exercises them. The official currency of the country is the Norwegian Krone (Organization for Economic Cooperation and development n.p). The Norges Bank holds the functions of the bank in the country and has the sole authority to issue the currency.
The Norway is a small economy with a relatively uniform industrial structure. The country trades mainly in exports and imports, with 74% of its exports going to European Union countries and 68% of her imports coming from the same area. The main export goods for Norway are gas and oil, machinery, shipments, fish and fish products. The Norwegian industry also practices foreign capital and foreign direct investments. The national debt in the country currently stands at 450,417,447,824 KR. The country is currently in a good net position where the total financial assets exceed the total debt. The exchange rate in the country is currently at 0.12US Dollar for one Norwegian Krone.
The major problem facing Norway regarding health is the rise in chronic diseases such cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular. Regarding war and genocides apart from the Holocaust that took place during the occupation of the by Nazi Germany were among the over 2000 Jews in Norway at that time about 800 were arrested, detained or deported. The country has remained peaceful. The many industries in the country lead to emission of carbon dioxide gasses in the atmosphere a global warming threat that awaits the country in the future.
A comparison with the USA economy Norway still lags behind, with the USA having a federal republic as compared its monarchy system. The GDP of USA is much higher than that of Norway and has been on the rise. The USA has a growth rate of 1.363 to 1.08 of Norway. Norway has the low unemployment rate of 3.4% as compared to that of USA at 6.2 %. This may be attributed to its low population size. The inflation rate in Norway is slightly high at 2.0% compared to 1.6% of USA. The population of Norway is 5.14 million people far much below that of the USA of 319 million people. The life expectancy in the USA is at 79 years slightly lower that of Norway.
Works cited
International, Business P. U. Doing Business and Investing in Norway Guide. S.l.: Intl Business Pubns USA, 2009. Print.
Norway Country Study Guide: Volume 1. , 2013. Print.
Organization for economic cooperation and development, Oecd Economic Surveys: Norway. Paris: OECD, 2007.
Appendix
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
