The Norwegian trade balance has been in surplus since 1989 and hit NOK 531 billion in 2021, the highest trade surplus ever, mainly due to a much higher price growth on average of goods exported than those imported. Exports increased by 77% to NOK 1,377.8 billion, strongly driven by high prices for energy products, metals and fish. Export income from oil and gas accounted for more than 60% of all merchandise exports in 2021. Imports rose by NOK 82.1 billion from a year earlier to NOK 846.8 billion in 2021. Around a quarter of this increase is due to high imports of passenger cars, which increased by 36.5% and amounted to NOK 72.1 billion. The EU countries, Great Britain, China and the United States are the most important trading partners for Norway.