Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

JOBS

What wages can you expect when working in Norway?

In Norway, the open discussions locals have with each other about how much they are paid may come as a shock to newcomers.

Published: 4 November 2020 17:02 CET
Updated: 9 July 2022 05:52 CEST
What wages can you expect when working in Norway?
Photo: Aslak Raanes/Flickr

But why shouldn’t they? In Norway, the wages of most employees are made public online and can be viewed by anyone. In that spirit, here are a few key pieces of information to add to the openness.  

How Norway ranks to the rest of Europe in salaries

According to Eurostat, the hourly cost of labour in Norway is a substantial €50, considerably more than in neighbouring Sweden or Denmark – or any EU country for that matter.

Note that this figure does not separate wages from the overall labour cost – that data was not available in 2019, according to Eurostat.

What is the average wage in different sectors?

According to Statistics Norway, an average monthly wage for skilled agricultural and forestry, and fishery workers in 2019 was 35,170 kroner. 

For academic professionals the average monthly income was 54,240 kroner. 

Service and sales workers made an average of 35,150 kroner monthly and craft and trade related workers averaged 39,550 kroner.

The average monthly income in 2019 for construction workers was 44,570 kroner. 

Transportation and warehouse workers made an average of 46,720 kroner a month and people working in the arts and entertainment industries made 41,210 kroner. 

The national statistics agency has found that the average monthly salary for first-generation immigrants (without Norwegian heritage) is 44,180 kroner for full time workers.

Management positions

Managers in the financial sectors made a monthly average of 87,420 kroner last year, according to Statistics Norway.

Childcare service managers made 53,430 kroner and advertising and PR managers averaged 67,920 kroner.

The wages of politicians are somewhere in the middle of these samples of management wages, at 68,410. You can view more average salaries for a large range of management positions here.

The health professions 

The average monthly income in 2019 for nurses in Norway is 46,810 kroner. Dentists made an average of 64,900 kroner.

Dieticians and nutritionists averaged 50,650 kroner.

For GPs, the average wage is 70,410 kroner, while for specialist doctors that rises to 85,180 kroner.

Is there a gender pay gap in Norway? 

Unfortunately, yes. A 2017 Statistics Norway report shows the average monthly for women as 87 percent of that of men.

Occupations with the highest wage differentials in the men’s favour include financial managers and electrical mechanics. 

The two most gender balanced occupations were doctors and legal professionals. 

Data from 2019 shows the average monthly income for males as 50,080 kroner compared to 43,850 kroner for women, although the women’s average wage had increased by a higher percentage since the previous year.

While both women’s and men’s wages have increased since 2000, the annual increase for women is slightly higher than for men resulting in the pay gap decreasing by 3 percent since year 2000. 

The average yearly income of different households 

In 2018, the average yearly income (after tax)  for a single individual younger than 45 years was 303,800 kroner. 

Couples without children made a yearly average of 629,900 and couples with children (aged 0- 6 years) averaged 787,700 kroner.

Single parents with children (aged 0-17 years) averaged 421,200 kroner.

Protection of wages for foreign workers

There are a number of laws laws in place protecting foreign and seasonal workers, and their right to a fair wage and the same working conditions as Norwegian citizens. Many of these can be checked via the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority (Arbeidstilsynet).

While there is no general average minimum wage in Norway, standards have been introduced to certain sectors including hospitality, cleaning and construction.

A foreign or seasonal worker is also entitled to the same working hours, breaks and overtime as their native colleagues. 

What about self-employment? 

In 2018, there were 321,509 self-employed people in Norway. The average annual gross income for a self-employed person was 680,300 kroner, translating to a personal income (wages, disability benefits and public pension) of 351,000 kroner.

If you run your own business, it is your responsibility to register your enterprise, pay tax, submit tax returns and receive tax assessment notice.

Did we leave out any professions you’d like to hear about? Any other topics on which you’d like us to delve into the data? Let us know — we’d be glad to hear your thoughts.

READ ALSO: How does income tax in Norway compare to the rest of the Nordics?

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

PROPERTY

How not to buy a house in Norway: Five pitfalls to avoid 

Buying a home in Norway comes with many challenges, from the dreaded bidding rounds to the small print. Here are some of the mistakes you need to steer clear of. 

Published: 17 April 2024 12:00 CEST
How not to buy a house in Norway: Five pitfalls to avoid 

Norway’s property market moves quickly, and most homes do not spend too long on the market. 

Furthermore, rising property prices can make it feel like it’s constantly getting harder and harder to get on the property ladder. 

However, despite rising prices and the market’s breakneck speed, it’s important not to rush into things and end up making a massive mistake. 

Not sorting your paperwork 

Before you are ready to start putting in offers on houses, you will need the mortgage offer from the bank. Therefore, you should fix this before really getting stuck into viewings. 

Banks in Norway offer mortgages of up to 85 percent of a home’s value, with a 15 percent deposit required. 

They will also stress-test your finances against interest rate raises and consider factors such as your income and any existing loans you may have. In Norway, your debt typically can’t exceed five times your income when purchasing a property. 

Once you’ve got an offer, you can approach other banks to see if they will better the offer you received, and after this, you are ready to begin searching as you know what you can afford. 

READ ALSO: What foreign residents in Norway need to know to get a mortgage

Not reading the small print 

There is quite a lot of important small print when purchasing a house that will cost you big time if you don’t properly read it. 

All homes in Norway generally come with an in-depth report on the property’s condition, and in most cases, the buyer is responsible for uncovering flaws in the property. 

During a condition report, an appraiser will check for deterioration on the property, assess the materials used in the construction and thoroughly evaluate the home for any areas where maintenance will be required in the immediate or near future. 

Pay particular attention to things like the electrics, plumbing, kitchen, bathroom, and moisture damage, as repairs to these can be incredibly expensive. 

Then there’s the information about the housing association to which many, but not all, homes in Norway belong. 

It is crucial to check the association’s monthly costs and shared debt, as well as any future plans for major renovations that could increase those costs. 

Being able to tell a well-run housing association with healthy finances from one in a more perilous position can make or break whether a home is for you.

READ ALSO: How to analyse a Norwegian housing association’s finances

Showing the realtor your proof of funds 

Banks issue proof of funds certificates (Norwegian: finansieringsbevis). However, you should never show this to the realtor selling the property. 

This is because it will reveal how much money you have available, and as the realtor is working for and being paid by the seller, they will do what they can to ensure a higher price for the seller. 

Bidding on homes that you aren’t quite sure about 

Once you have your mortgage offer or proof of financing, you can put in offers on homes. 

Be warned, though. You shouldn’t just put in bids to be involved and get a feel for the market. 

You also shouldn’t put in offers on “maybes” either, as all bids in Norway are legally binding. 

This means that you could end up having to buy a property you put a speculative bid on if it is accepted by the owner. 

Agents do their utmost to prevent people from bidding on more than one home at a time, but some offers can slip through the cracks, so you also need to make sure you only bid on one property at a time. 

You also need to make sure you don’t offer more than you have, as you will be expected to follow through with the purchase. 

It is incredibly difficult to back out of a home purchase in Norway, and if you do manage to wriggle out of the process, it will likely end up costing you quite a lot of money. 

Not having money for the other costs 

Given that property is typically the largest purchase of most people’s lives, it’s easy to lose track of the smaller costs. 

One of these is stamp duty (dokumentavgift). When buying a freehold property in Norway, you will need to pay 2.5 percent of the purchase to the state in stamp duty. 

Banks in Norway don’t offer financing for stamp duty. So it’s worth remembering that you will need to pay this cost. 

One advantage of buying into a housing association is that you will not need to pay stamp duty. 

READ MORE: The hidden extra costs when buying property in Norway

SHOW COMMENTS