Norway's minority Labour Party government won a second term in power on Monday while the populist right achieved its best-ever result, official counts showed, in an election dominated by concerns over rising living costs and wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Incumbent Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre's Labour and four smaller, left-leaning parties won 87 seats, above the 85 needed for a majority, with 99 per cent of ballots counted.

Støre, 65, will remain heavily reliant on his smaller allies, however, to pass major legislation such as fiscal budgets. To get their backing, he will likely face tough discussions over issues such as tax hikes for the wealthy, future oil exploration, and divestments from from Israeli companies by Norway's $2-trillion US sovereign wealth fund.

"Støre will continue a

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