How did Covid-19 effect Norwegian household consumption?

Abstract

In this thesis, I investigate the effect the Covid-19 pandemic had on the Norwegian household consumption. The objective is to discover what changed or did not change through the pandemic in Norway and also see if some of these changes could have caused a more permanent effect on consumption. My findings shows that the Covid-19 pandemic had great effect on many categories on households’ consumption. Most of the categories affected was the one that was heavily affected by restrictions. Categories like airline travel and restaurants had a huge decrees in consumption during the lockdown periods, whereas categories like furniture and pets had a huge increase on consumption when lockdown occurred in Norway. My findings also show that the overall consumption level did not fall during the pandemic but rather substituted to other products. The data also shows an increase in online shopping. When Norway opened up, most of the restricted categories went back to prior levels, but some can indicate a more permanent change. Some of the permanent changes is the increase on online shopping and varied health and hobby products.