Norway found oil in the North Sea in the 1960s. Instead of spending the money, they saved it.
The result is the Government Pension Fund Global — the largest sovereign wealth fund on Earth. As of 2025, it's worth $1.9 trillion.
Norway has 5.65 million people. That works out to over $340,000 per citizen — every man, woman, and child. Nobody gets a cheque, though. The money stays in the fund, invested for future generations.
How big is $1.9 trillion?
The fund owns 1.5% of every listed company on the planet. It holds stakes in 7,200 companies across 60 countries. Its biggest positions include Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America.
Its total value is more than 4x Norway's entire annual GDP. It is, by a wide margin, the single largest investor on Earth.
In 2025 alone, the fund made a profit of $247 billion — roughly $36,500 per citizen in one year. That return came mainly from tech stocks, banks, and mining. The fund's best annual return since it was created in the 1990s.
The philosophy is simple:
Oil runs out. If you spend the money now, future Norwegians get nothing. So Norway invests the surplus revenues abroad — in equities, bonds, and real estate — and only spends a fraction each year (roughly 3%, called the "spending rule").
The initial transfer to the fund in 1996 was $175 million. Twenty-nine years later, it's worth $1.9 trillion. Over half of that — $1.35 trillion — is pure investment returns, not oil money.
It also has ethical rules. The fund excludes companies involved in certain weapons, severe environmental damage, and human rights violations. In 2025, it divested from Caterpillar and several Israeli banks over concerns about operations in Palestinian territories.
Norway's fund is the gold standard for what a country can do when it plans beyond the next election cycle. Most oil-rich countries spent the windfall. Norway saved it.
The difference is $340,000 per person.