How to Find Norwegian Companies by Industry

What a Norwegian industry code is

In Norway, every entity in Enhetsregisteret (the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities) has an industry code, called a næringskode. The code describes the entity's main economic activity. It comes from the Standard for næringsgruppering (SN), the Norwegian Standard Industrial Classification maintained by Statistics Norway (SSB).

The Norwegian standard is built on NACE, the EU's statistical classification of economic activities. This means a Norwegian code can be compared directly with industry codes in other European countries, at least down to a certain level.

SN2007 and SN2025

For many years the standard in use was SN2007, based on NACE Rev. 2. The EU then revised NACE to NACE Rev. 2.1, which applies from statistical year 2025. Norway followed with SN2025.

SSB decided to introduce SN2025 in its own business register and in Brønnøysund's Enhetsregisteret from 1 September 2025. From that date, every entity in the register has a code under SN2025. SSB says that SN2007 had 820 industry codes and SN2025 has 736. Many codes carried over unchanged, but in some cases a code now covers different activities than before.

This matters if you use older material. A saved list, a report or a spreadsheet built before September 2025 may use SN2007 codes. Check which version you have before you compare. SSB publishes a correspondence table between SN2007 and SN2025.

How the code is structured

SN2025 has five levels. Each level is more specific than the one above:

1. Section (næringshovedområde) – a letter, for example C for manufacturing or F for construction.
2. Division (næring) – two digits, for example 62.
3. Group (næringshovedgruppe) – three digits.
4. Class (næringsgruppe) – four digits.
5. National subclass (næringsundergruppe) – five digits, written like 62.100.

The first four levels are identical to NACE Rev. 2.1. The fifth level is Norwegian, added to give a more detailed division adapted to Norwegian conditions. The five-digit code is the one you see on a company in the register.

For searching, the two-digit division is often the most useful level. It is broad enough to catch companies that chose a slightly different subclass, and narrow enough to mean something. Construction, for example, is divisions 41, 42 and 43.

How a company gets its code

When a business registers in Enhetsregisteret, it describes its activity. SSB is responsible for the industry codes in the register. According to SSB, the code is set mainly from the information the business itself gave at registration, or by checking against administrative sources.

A few practical points follow from this:

• The code reflects what the founder wrote. A start-up that registered as "consulting" may now run a software product, and its code may still say management consulting.
• SSB's decision is not an individual administrative decision. SSB states that its setting of the code cannot be appealed as an enkeltvedtak. Businesses that think their code is wrong can contact SSB.
• The SN2025 transition was mostly automatic. SSB set most new codes automatically. Where one old code split into several new ones and the right one could not be determined, SSB sent a form so the business could choose.
• An entity can have more than one code. The open data has fields for up to three industry codes per entity. The first one is the main activity.

The limitations you should plan for

Industry codes are a starting point, not the truth. These are the problems you will meet most often.

Codes can be outdated

Companies change direction, but few update their registered activity. A company registered ten years ago as a retailer may now be mainly an online marketplace. The code does not change by itself when the business changes.

Codes can be too broad

Some codes cover very different businesses. Catch-all "other" categories and general wholesale codes can contain companies with almost nothing in common. If your target is that kind of code, expect to do more manual filtering.

Holding companies hide the real activity

Many Norwegian groups own their operating companies through a holding company (often an AS). The holding company's code is usually a holding or investment code, not the industry the group works in. If you search by industry, you find the operating companies, not the owners. That is usually what you want for sales, but it can mislead you in market analysis.

Sub-units can have their own codes

A company with activities at several addresses registers sub-units (underenheter), each with its own organisation number. A sub-unit can have a different industry code than its parent. A hospital trust, a municipality or a retail chain may show up under many codes through its sub-units.

Public bodies and organisations are mixed in

The register includes municipalities, state agencies, associations and foundations, not only businesses. If you search the health or education divisions, you will get many public entities. Filter by legal form if you only want companies.

How to search by industry in Brønnøysund's open data

Brønnøysund publishes Enhetsregisteret as open data at data.brreg.no, free of charge under the Norwegian Licence for Open Government Data (NLOD). You do not need to register to use it.

There are two main ways to work with industry codes there:

• The search API. The entity search accepts an industry code filter, alongside filters such as municipality and legal form. This is good for targeted lists. A filtered search returns at most 10,000 entities, so split large searches by county or municipality.
• The full download. The whole register is published as files in CSV, JSON and Excel, produced every night. Open the file in a spreadsheet or a database and filter on the code columns yourself. This avoids the 10,000 limit and lets you match on the first two digits.

For single companies, Brønnøysund's search service Information on organisations (virksomhet.brreg.no) shows the codes along with the other register facts.

How to search by industry in Propler

Propler's free company search reads a nightly copy of Enhetsregisteret, about 1.18 million registered entities, and you do not need to log in. Instead of asking you to pick exact five-digit codes, it groups the register into industry groups based on two-digit NACE divisions. Examples are "Construction", "Information and communication" and "Professional, scientific and technical".

You can combine an industry group with:

• Place: county and municipality.
• Size: registered employees in the bands 1–9, 10–49, 50–249 and 250+.
• Legal form and status: for example only active AS companies.
• Registration date: newly registered or established companies.
• Signals: tick-boxes for open job ads, open tenders or assignments, tenders in the last year, published contact info, or a website.

A typical search could be "Information and communication, Trøndelag, 10–49 employees, active". Open the company pages to check what each company really does. Pages show register facts, roles, and key figures from the latest annual accounts where Brønnøysund has them.

If you want to see the industry as a whole before you pick companies, the market analysis gives an overview of an industry group in a county or in all of Norway. It shows the number of companies, the size distribution, growth and the largest companies. You need to log in to use it. Our guide on how to analyse a Norwegian market explains how to read these figures.

Combine the code with other signals

Because codes are imperfect, the best lists use the code as one filter among several:

1. Start broad with the division. Pick the two-digit divisions that could contain your targets.
2. Narrow with keywords. Search company names and registered purposes for the words your customers actually use, such as "ventilasjon", "regnskap" or "sveis". Norwegian words often work better than English ones.
3. Add size and place. Employee bands and counties remove most of the noise. Remember that a missing employee count means unknown, not zero.
4. Check the website. A company's own website is the best evidence of what it does today.
5. Add timing. Open job ads, public tenders and new accounts show who is active right now. How to find B2B leads in Norway covers these signals in more detail.

Propler's AI search at /explore does steps 2 to 5 for you when you log in. You describe what you sell or need, the AI suggests industries and keywords, searches the register, reads accounts and websites, and explains why each company fits. The register facts are real. The ranking is an assessment to check, not a confirmed need.

A worked example

Say you are a Bergen-based IT consultancy looking for engineering firms in Vestland that may need help with digital tools.

• Engineering activities sit in division 71, which falls under "Professional, scientific and technical" together with legal, accounting and research firms.
• Filter on that group, Vestland and 10–49 employees. Then scan names and websites for engineering and technical consultancy.
• Division 71 also contains architects and technical testing firms, so read the subclass and the website. Some engineering-heavy firms are registered in construction (41–43) instead. Check both.
• Prioritise firms with open job ads for engineers. A growing team often means new needs for tools and systems.

To try this on real data, open the free company search, choose an industry group and a county, and compare what the codes say with what the websites say. For more on the register fields themselves, read the Norwegian company data guide.