Statistical obligations
Statistics Norway (SSB) has primary responsibility for preparing official statistics in Norway. SSB requires information from enterprises to produce accurate and reliable statistics to be used by public bodies, commercial enterprises, researchers, and politicians in planning for the future. Most surveys are conducted monthly, quarterly or annually.
Why does my business have to provide information?
If your business receives a form from SSB with a disclosure obligation, the agency will either have chosen your business for a survey or you are part of a census. To ease the administrative burden imposed on businesses, the SSB will circulate between the businesses in the selection for each survey. It is not possible to give a definitive answer as to which surveys your business will take part in. You can read more about the disclosure obligation in the Statistics Act.
Statistics Act - disclosure obligation concerning official statistics (in Norwegian only)
What will happen if I don't reply?
If the business is chosen to participate in a survey subject to a disclosure obligation, the SSB may impose enforcement fines if the information is not submitted by the deadline. You will still have to complete and submit the form when you have paid the fines. The amount you are fined may increase if you repeatedly fail to comply with the disclosure obligation. You can read more about enforcement fees in the Regulations to the Statistics Act.
Regulations pursuant to the Statistics Act - on enforcement fines (in Norwegian only)
How do i know that the form is from a public agency?
If you are asked to reply to the form through Altinn, you can rest assured that the form is from a public agency. Altinn is a secure internet portal for dialogue between businesses and private persons, and public agencies.
