Norway isn’t so far away from the UK, only 1,152 kilometres from Oslo to London, capital to capital by air in fact and if an email message can be transmitted so easily and so quickly and video calling is free, it’s no wonder that couriers to Norway have had to make their services so slick. Sending an email is all about instant communication for business, for keeping in touch, for almost anything but what you can’t do is send anything physical through the electronic world, at least not yet.

Parcel delivery to Norway has come a long way since the days of the horse and cart and even the days when the standard postal service was your only option. Nowadays a courier will know the destination of your parcel like he knows his own town and that’s not just down to the joys of satellite navigation but because they deliver to all cities across Europe and worldwide on a very regular basis. Parcel delivery in Norway is based on the fastest, safest and most cost effective forms of transport and that’s why when you choose a reliable courier, whose name you know and trust, you’ll be able to choose from a range of services, from economy delivery that costs next to nothing but takes a tiny bit longer, to overnight delivery for urgent packages that can’t wait and absolutely must get there on time. These options are incredible considering how far these parcels have to travel and the levels of work involved, from those who work overnight loading, unloading and driving vans to those who ensure that your parcel tracking is working and up to date.

It is based on a whole series of actions behind the scenes, as is parcel delivery to Finland or any form of worldwide delivery. Whatever you need to send, no matter how big or how tiny or how fragile, there’s a way and it’s unlikely to cost you the earth if you do your research. Many courier companies are so big now, with bases and warehouses and vehicles in so many countries that they can heavily discount services that once would’ve been too expensive to bother with. Parcel delivery to Norway really has come a long way.

Norway’s economy is highly dependent on its offshore petroleum industry, centred around Stavanger and a vibrant freight services and shipping infrastructure has been established to support the continued growth of this industry

Norway’s high level of oil and gas exports and its extremely robust capital reserves, which are again amongst the highest in the world in per capita terms, make it likely that Norway will continue to be one of the wealthiest countries in the world for at least the short and medium term. This bodes well for continued investment in the freight services sector, which in turn is good news for every shipping company and freight company that operates in Norway.

The cost of living is about 30% higher in Norway than in America and the standard of living is one of the highest in the world. These are amongst the factors that led Foreign Policy Magazine in 2009 to judge Norway to be the best functioning and most stable country in the world – a quite remarkable accolade!

The country has achieved this enviable situation partly because Norway has been blessed with natural resources, including oil, natural gas, fish, forestry and minerals, which are particularly high in relation to the small size of the population. In fact, fish have been exported from Lofoten for over 1000 years.The freight services industry has developed and strengthened over the long term to become the model of efficiency it is today. Meanwhile, export revenues from oil and gas make up 45% of total exports and account for 20% of GDP. So shipping companies and freight services have geared up to handle the specific needs of these industries in terms of storage conditions and handling, as well as the more general freight forwarding needs of some other sectors.

This abundance of natural resources and the income they generate for Norway has led to a situation where the hourly productivity levels as well as average hourly wages in Norway are among the highest in the world.

Norway has stayed outside the European Union, following referendums in 1972 and 1994, but together with Liechtenstein and Iceland, it takes part through the European Economic Area agreement and other inter-governmental agreements between the EU member states. This means that Norway is integrated with the EU internal market in the main and freight transport too has benefited as a result of co-operation across borders with other European countries.

As a result of the winning combination of factors, some of which are outlined here, The Norwegian trade surplus for 2008 was around 80 billion dollars, so Norway is well cushioned against the effects of the global financial crisis and in fact it was the only Western country to run a state budget surplus in 2009. Overall, it is one of the countries in the world to be least affected by the worldwide downturn in 2008 and 2009 and unemployment in Norway is still running at under 4%.

So the freight transport sector in Norway can face the future with confidence, as the economy is in good shape and there is likely to be continued substantial government investment in the international freight infrastructure and the industries which it serves.