While exceeding 10 percent, the growth in Norway’s sporting goods industry from 2019 to this past January was too low – or so says Trond Evald Hansen of the Norwegian Sports Industry Association. Hansen’s calculations are more comprehensive than those compiled by various organizations in some other countries, as they are not based solely on the sales of major retailer chains, but they are still imperfect because not all the market players volunteer their figures, leading Hansen to make conservative estimates. He sets the value of Norway’s total market in 2020 at NOK 25 billion (€2.5bn-$2.9bn), up 16.5 percent from 2019. Sports chains (XXL, Sport1, Intersport, Stadion, Sport Norge, MX-Sport) saw growth of 7 percent, while pure online players did much better, with growth of 64 percent. The brands’ direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales shot up during the year by as much as 32 percent. Sales by foreign retailers in Norway grew by 15 percent, and sales by retailers that offer non-sport merchandise as well grew by 20 percent. Players unaffiliated with chains (Olympiasport, Oslo Sportslager, Bull Ski & Kayak, etc.) grew by an estimated 28 percent. Specific evenue figures and analysis are forthcoming in the next issue of the Norwegian magazine Sport.

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