Norway’s potato crop grew in 2025, but it is still far smaller than it was 60 years ago. Statistics Norway (SSB) said in March 2026 that farmers harvested 386,200 tonnes of potatoes in 2025. The average yield was 3,173 kg per decare, or about 31.7 tonnes per hectare.

The SSB table for 2021 to 2025 shows how the crop moved in recent years: 368,900 tonnes in 2021, 370,000 tonnes in 2022, 313,500 tonnes in 2023, 354,900 tonnes in 2024 and 386,200 tonnes in 2025. The weak 2023 crop had a yield of only 2,754 kg per decare. SSB changed its method in 2021, so older figures are not fully comparable.

One county leads

Innlandet, the inland county north of Oslo, produced 207,400 tonnes in 2025. This is about 54% of the national crop. Its yield was 3,367 kg per decare. Other counties grow much less. Vestfold produced 46,200 tonnes, Trøndelag 35,900 tonnes and Rogaland 23,800 tonnes. Østfold produced 12,100 tonnes and Buskerud 7,900 tonnes.

Yields differ a lot between regions. Oslo and Akershus had the highest yield in 2025, at 3,897 kg per decare. In the north the yield was much lower: 2,265 kg in Troms and 2,143 kg in Nordland.

The long view

FAOSTAT data, published by Our World in Data, show that Norway produced 1.22 million tonnes of potatoes in 1961 at 22.9 t/ha. In 1990 the crop was 486,586 tonnes and in 2000 356,500 tonnes. In 2024 FAOSTAT shows 354,900 tonnes at 29.9 t/ha, the same figure as SSB. The 2025 crop was about 68% smaller than in 1961.

The area fell even more. It was about 53,000 ha in 1961 and about 12,000 ha in 2024 and 2025. Yields grew by only about 30% over six decades, much less than in the large potato countries of western Europe. Since 2000, however, production has been stable at about 350,000 tonnes.

Why it matters

Norway’s potato supply depends heavily on one inland county. A wet or dry season in Innlandet changes the national balance and the need for imports. The low yields in the north show the limits of the climate there.

The stable crop since 2000 suggests that the sector has found its size. Packers and processors can plan on about 350,000–390,000 tonnes a year, but they should expect weak years like 2023, when the harvest fell below 320,000 tonnes.

Photo: Flower of the potato variety Beate (illustrative). Bjoertvedt / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0