Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) delivered a return of 9.4 per cent in the first half of 2026, its highest half year return in kroner on record, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) has revealed.

The return generated an accounting gain of NOK 1,753bn for the pension fund.

This was despite earlier in the year NBIM reporting the fund made a loss of -1.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2026.

As of 30 June 2026, GPFG had a value of NOK 22,683bn, with 72.1 per cent invested in equities, 25.8 per cent in fixed income, 1.6 per cent in unlisted real estate and 0.5 per cent in unlisted renewable energy infrastructure.

By asset class, the fund's half-year results showed that the return on the fund’s equity investments was 13 per cent, the return on fixed-income investments was 0.9 per cent, and unlisted real estate returned 3 per cent.

Meanwhile, unlisted renewable energy infrastructure returned -0.2 per cent.

The fund outperformed its benchmark index by 0.22 per cent during the period.

Commenting, Norges Bank Investment Management CEO, Nicolai Tangen, said: "The result is driven by good returns in the equity market, particularly from Asian technology stocks."

The appreciation of the Norwegian krone against several major currencies reduced the fund’s value by NOK 427bn during the first six months of the year.

After net inflows of NOK 89bn, the fund’s overall value increased by NOK 1,416bn.

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