Earnings, 2004

To compare the earnings of full-time and part-time employees, the earnings of part-time employees are recalculated as if they were working full-time. This is called full-time equivalents. The growth in earnings for all full-time employees was NOK 1 100 or 3.8 per cent, from NOK 28 100 in 2003 to NOK 29 200 in 2004. Accordingly, the earnings of part-time employees increased from NOK 23 200 to NOK 24 100, up 3.7 per cent.

Differences between males and females

The monthly earnings of females were about 84.5 per cent of men's in 2004. The difference in earnings between men and women can be shown through how the earnings are distributed throughout wage intervals. Figure 1 shows how women are distributed throughout the scale compared to men. The distribution of females is more concentrated and a higher percentage of the women are found on the part of the scale where earnings are low. A lot of this difference can be explained due to where men and women work, both in regard to occupation and industry. Men are more frequently employed in positions in private sector where higher education is demanded and as managers.

International figures

As a part of the statistical cooperation within the EU, a survey of earnings was conducted in all membership countries in 2002. Norway equally contributed to this survey due to the EEA-agreement. For Norway, the basis of this survey was the wage statistics for all employees 2002. The purpose of the survey is to establish comparable wage statistics for all countries and for variables like occupation, education, industry, sex and age. The 2002 EU-survey does not cover employees in public sector, agriculture, education, private health and social work activities or in social and personal service activities.

Figure 2 shows the relative difference in earnings between high level and lower level education. As shown in the figure, this difference is large in the new membership countries. The earnings are here three times higher for employees with higher level of education compared to those with only lower level. Also Germany and Austria are above the EU-average at two. However, Norway and the other nordic countries have smaller differences in earnings between the different levels of education, below the EU-average. Only Ireland¹, Belgium and Finland have a smaller relative difference in earnings between high level and lower level education than Norway.

More tables in StatBank Norway

In addition to the tables below, tables by section, educational level and age-groups for all as well as full-time and part-time employees can be found here: StatBank Norway

About the statistical basis

The statistics are based on information from a sample of enterprises with a total of 1 315 191 employees per 3rd quarter 2004. It covers all sections except for agriculture, hunting and forestry (A) and fishing (B). The data for this statistics have not been collected separately, but is an assembly of previously published statistics for the individual sections. According to preliminary figures from the National Accounts for the 3rd quarter 2004, the statistics cover about 2 009 600 employees.

Figures for 2003 are corrected.

Tables:

• Table 1 Average monthly earnings by sector, working hours and sex per 3rd quarter 2004. Full-time equivalents. NOK
• Table 2 Average monthly earnings by sector, working hours and sex per 3rd quarter 2003. Full-time equivalents. NOK
• Table 3 Average monthly earnings for employees, full-time equivalents, by working hours and section per 3rd quarter 2004. NOK
• Table 4 Average monthly earnings for employees, full-time equivalents, by working hours and section per 3rd quarter 2003. NOK
• Table 5 All employees in private sector, full-time equivalents. Average monthly earnings, by sex and occupational group per 3rd quarter 2004. NOK
• Table 6 All employees in private sector, full-time equivalents. Average monthly earnings, by sex and occupational group per 3rd quarter 2003. NOK