How can they possibly manage outside the EU?

When it comes to Norway, rather well by the sound of it.

The New Year’s outlook for the Norwegian economy is even better than prospects were a few months ago, according to several local economists. They predict solid economic growth in 2011.

“We’re working now at adjusting our projections upwards,” Harald Magnus Andresssen, chief economist at First Securities in Oslo told newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN). Andressen said he sees several signs that demand from both business and households is rising both in Norway and internationally.

Other economists are less optimistic but remain reasonably hopeful. Indeed, considerably more hopeful than those inside the EU.

Kjersti Haugland, senior economist at DnB NOR Markets, is less optimist than Andressen but still expects “better development” in the economy. DnB NOR expects the mainland economy (excluding offshore oil and gas) to grow by 2.5 percent in 2011.

“We still see a quite moderate upswing, but it is moving gradually upwards,” Haugland told DN. Ida Wolden Bache at Handelsbanken agrees, predicting mainland economic growth of 2.6 percent.

Most of the economists polled by DN expect the unemployment rate in Norway to remain low, at around 3.6 percent, while incomes will rise by between 3.4 and 3.7 percent and private consumption will rise by around 3.5 percent.

I bet they are regretting voting twice not to join the European project.