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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?

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MONEY

EXPLAINED: How wealthy is the ‘average’ Norwegian? 

Norway is known for its high wages and stable economy. New figures have revealed the wealth of the average resident in the Nordic country. 

Published: 23 April 2024 15:50 CEST
Updated: 1 May 2024 11:37 CEST
EXPLAINED: How wealthy is the 'average' Norwegian? 

High salaries go hand in hand with the high cost of living in conversations about Norway.

However, other factors, such as high homeownership rates, indicate that there is plenty of disposable income for locals to save and invest in their futures. 

Previous studies have also suggested that Norwegians are the seventh wealthiest nationals in the world. 

Norway’s national data agency, Statistics Norway, has compiled its own set of figures indicating that the average Norwegian household has a net wealth of around 3.8 million kroner. 

Net wealth accounts for everything a person owns, including property, stocks, or cash, minus any debts or liabilities. 

The vast majority of this wealth was derived from the estimated value of property. This alone gives the average Norwegian an estimated wealth of 3.74 million kroner. 

READ ALSO: How much does an apartment in Norway cost?

The value of second homes was included, which skewed things as only around 10 percent of households owned a secondary residence. 

The average price of a home in Norway was 4.5 million kroner in March of this year, and house prices have increased substantially in recent years. 

Savings, cash, stocks and other capital accounted for 1.72 million kroner, giving Norwegians an average wealth of 5.46 million kroner. Average debts of 1.68 million kroner gave Norwegians an average net wealth of 3.8 million kroner.  

The figures from Statistics Norway were obtained using figures from tax returns for 2022, which were submitted in 2023.  

Those aged between 67 and 79 years old were the wealthiest generation in Norway on average. This is partly because they have more capital than most other groups and more expensive property. 

However, the most significant factor is the lower levels of debt. They had half the debt of the next richest group, those aged between 55 and 69. 

Younger age groups weren’t as wealthier as they had much higher debts and lower capital. 

Still, Norway’s wealthiest individuals significantly boosted the average. When using the median, the average Norwegian household had a net wealth of just under 2 million kroner. 

When the median was applied to capital, the figure was 339,300 kroner compared to the average of 1.76 million kroner. 

The large difference in capital was attributed to Norway’s wealthiest individuals significantly pulling up the average. 

“This is mainly due to large fortunes in shares and securities, where a few own very much. Shares and other securities and share savings accounts are assets with a median value equal to zero, which indicates that these are not important asset items for most households,” the report said. 

Money kept in the bank was still important for most residents of Norway, though. The median value of bank deposits in Norway was 215,000 kroner, compared to the average of 600,000. 

The gulf between the average value of property owned and the median was roughly 500,000, with the median being 3.25 million kroner. 

Furthermore, Norway’s median debt level was around 860,000 kroner compared to the average of 1.67 million kroner. Around 85 percent of Norwegian households were in some form of debt. 

Significant differences also exist between Norway’s wealthiest and poorest residents. Residents belonging to the country’s poorest ten percent had an average net wealth of almost minus 1 million kroner. 

Meanwhile, Norway’s wealthiest ten percent had a net wealth of 19 million kroner. The top 50 percent also owned considerably more than the bottom 50 percent. 

“Despite the former comprising 1.27 million households, while the latter comprises approximately 25,000 households, the bottom 50 percent own only 4 percent of the total net worth, while the top 1 percent owned as much as 22.3 percent in 2022,” the report read. 

There was also significant variation in wealth depending on household type. For example, a single mother or father with a child aged between 6 and 17 had a net wealth of 2.24 million kroner, compared to a couple with children of the same age with an average net wealth of 5.12 million kroner. 

Typically, households with more than one person had more money as more than one wage earner likely lived at the address. 

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