Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands Economic Statistics and Indicators

23, Oct 2019, EDT. Welcome to the Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands economic statistics pages provided by the beta version of EconomyWatch.com's Econ Stats database.

Economic Indicators For: Svalbard › Change country
National or Regional Currency: ,
Year of data: 2015 › Change year
Number of Indicators Listed:
Full Dataset: From Year 1980 to 2019
Date of Last Update: 17th March 2015
Population: 1,872 (July 2014 est.)
Area: total: 62,045 sq km ; land: 62,045 sq km ; water: 0 sq km ; note: includes Spitsbergen and Bjornoya (Bear Island)
Natural Resources: coal, iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphate, wildlife, fish
Capital: name: Longyearbyen ; geographic coordinates: 78 13 N, 15 38 E ; time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) ; daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Coal mining, tourism, and international research are the major revenue sources on Svalbard. Coal mining is the dominant economic activity and a treaty of 9 February 1920 gave the 41 signatories equal rights to exploit mineral deposits, subject to Norwegian regulation. Although US, UK, Dutch, and Swedish coal companies have mined in the past, the only companies still engaging in this are Norwegian and Russian. The settlements on Svalbard are essentially company towns. The Norwegian state-owned coal company employs nearly 60% of the Norwegian population on the island, runs many of the local services, and provides most of the local infrastructure. There is also some hunting of seal, reindeer, and fox. Goods such as alcohol, tobacco, and vehicles, normally highly taxed on mainland Norway, are considerably cheaper in Svalbard in an effort by the Norwegian government to entice more people to live on the Arctic archipelago. By law, the Norwegians collect only enough taxes to pay for the needs of the local government; none of tax proceeds go to Norway.

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