Business and industry in Norway - The textile and ready-made clothing industry

The textile and ready-made clothing industry includes companies that cover a wide range when it comes to raw materials, production processes and products. The numbers of people employed and companies fell steadily from 1970 until 1990. The level of activity stabilised in the 1990s, and this sector has grown more robust. The oldest company in this sector, A/S Timms Reperbane, was established back in 1772. The industry is located all over the country, although the west of Norway in general and the counties of Hordaland and Møre og Romsdal in particular have traditionally been this industry’s core areas. The market for textile goods and ready-made clothing is characterised by rapid changes in fashion trends and demand. The most important domestic markets are corporate customers, public departments and customers who like Norwegian design and quality.

Helly Hansen, which has its headquarters at Moss, is an internationally renowned manufacturer of i.a. work clothes, leisure wear and sports clothing. Important functions such as designing and marketing still take place in Norway, but the clothes themselves are mainly manufactured in other places, such as the Far East.

The GATT agreement under WTO means that trade in textiles and ready-made clothing with countries outside the EU/EFTA areas has been liberalised and competition has increased for Norwegian manufacturers.