According to a new study from International Data Corporation (IDC), Norway withstood the financial crisis better than most countries in Western Europe in 2009, with its GDP falling by just 1.9%. Despite this, however, the project services market still declined 3.5%.

Nils Molin, managing director of IDC Sweden, said, "Customers cut down on discretionary spending as a response to the financial crisis which struck the entire Western world. Strong public spending on IT projects, however, was not enough to balance the decline in other sectors, such as manufacturing."

For 2010, IDC expects the market to stabilize and to see growth in the second half of the year. The Norwegian project services market was worth NOK 8,985 million in 2009 and is expected to grow to NOK 10,495 million in 2014, with a CAGR of 3.2%.