Yngvil Mortensen
Many people wonder what a normal salary is in Norway.
FriFagbevegelse has obtained new figures that show what a normal salary is.
Statistics Norway (SSB) has put together a table that shows the enormous range in the wages people in Norway receive. A few of us have over 100,000 in monthly salary.
But the most common salary is this: Between NOK 40,000-45,000 a month.
The statistics from Statistics Norway are divided into different salary levels and show how many jobs there are with the different salary levels. The figures have been converted to a full-time position, before tax. All figures are for 2023.
The figures show wages for work in both the public and private sectors, which the employers report to the authorities.
Central salary settlements get the salary up
In 2022, the most common monthly salary was NOK 35,000-40,000, Statistics Norway figures from last year show.
In 2023, the salary distribution moved up one notch. Now the most common monthly salary is between NOK 40,000 and 45,000. This is a completely normal development, says SSB.
– It is connected, among other things, to the central wage settlements we have in Norway, says Knut Snellingen Bye in SSB to FriFagbevegelse. He is a senior adviser in the section for labor market and wage statistics.
The trade union negotiates on behalf of hundreds of thousands of members with the employers’ organisations. This means that the vast majority of people usually go up in salary during the year.
– Another thing that is worth noting is that those with between NOK 40,000-50,000 in monthly salary together make up more than a quarter of all jobs in Norway, points out the SSB adviser.
Those at the “bottom” of the salary table
• Few have less than 30,000 in monthly salary. Of those who have less than 30,000, there are many young people. For example, apprentices, people who have part-time jobs alongside their studies, and people who are at the very beginning of their working life, Statistics Norway points out.
• Among those with more work experience, there are very few who have less than NOK 30,000 in monthly salary.
• Among those who have a monthly salary of NOK 30,000-35,000, there are, for example, a number of shop assistants, employees in hotels and restaurants, such as cooks, waiters and bartenders, and cleaners. In addition, support workers in several professions.
• Among those who have a little more, NOK 35,000-40,000, we often find people in the same occupations, but with longer seniority. Here we also find many craftsmen.
LO economist Ellen Horneland points out that young people and immigrants make up a larger proportion of those in low-wage jobs than others.
– There are still more women who have low-wage jobs than men, but to a lesser extent than before, she tells FriFagbevegelse.
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It pays to be unionized
Collective wage negotiations, i.e. union representatives in the trade union negotiating for many at the same time, mean both better pay and working conditions for the low paid.
In wage settlements, LO is particularly keen to increase wages in professions where wages are low. Among other things, LO demands a “low wage supplement” for the lowest paid areas.
– In the wage settlements we have now defined “low wages” as less than 90 per cent of the industrial worker’s wage, says LO economist Ellen Horneland.
– There are more low-wage workers in areas without a collective agreement, emphasizes Horneland. A first step towards a collective agreement is to organise.
Read this: Being a member of a trade union means higher wages
Do you work part-time?
The salary levels in the table are for full positions.
Statistics Norway has recalculated salaries for part-time positions to full-time positions, so that it becomes possible to compare the salary value of all jobs.
For example, if you have a 50 percent position and an agreed salary of NOK 15,500 a month, your salary ends up in the salary level of NOK 30,000-35,000 a month for full-time.
From top to bottom
– There is a big gap between those at the top and the bottom here. At the same time, it is worth noting that there is less of a gap between those with high and low wages in Norway than in many other countries, says SSB’s Knut Snellingen Bye.
He points out that those at the bottom have had the greatest percentage wage growth in recent years. So there is a big “but” here:
– If we measure in kroner, they end up further behind, he maintains.
The reason is that their wage growth occurs from very low levels. As a result, the growth in kroner will not be that high.
Current affairs: The salary settlement 2024: This is how it has gone so far
Some are swinging with bonuses
Those who are high up in the distribution of monthly salary, more often have a salary that includes bonuses, notes SSB’s Knut Snellingen Bye.
– This means that the salary at the top fluctuates more from year to year. In the lower salary groups, there are smaller bonuses, he comments.
In 2022, at the very top, they had the highest wage growth, thanks to, among other things, higher bonus payments. In 2023, wage growth was more modest for those at the top because overall lower bonuses were paid out.
