This declining trend is due to the rush of refugees from Ukraine in 2022 and 2023. These refugees are newly established in Norway, and many of them will be outside the labour market and participate in the Introduction programme for refugees. Since the Ukraine group is the largest among refugees in Norway in 2023, they will have a negative impact on the employment rate among refugees in total. In the whole population 15-66 years old the employment rate decreased slightly from 74.2 per cent in 2022 to 74.0 in 2023.
Refugees from Myanmar and Sri Lanka had the highest employment rates in 2023.Both groups lie almost on the level with the whole population. The high rates among these refugees have been quite stable the recent years. The latter group has been residing for many years in Norway. The Ukraine refugees had the lowest rate in 2023(14.8 per cent), followed by the Syrian group (42.7 per cent).
The employment rate among the Ukraine refugees is almost as high as the rates among other groups settled in 2022/2023. When we compare to the large group of Syrian refugees settled in 2015/2016, these refugees had only 4.7 per cent employed at the end of 2016.
The level of employment increases due to the duration of residence in Norway. We can observe a considerable growth within the groups up to 10 years of residence. Then the level stabilises slightly above 60 per cent. The growth is however stronger among men than women. Duration of residence enhances the employment rate within all nationality groups, but it does not equalize the differences between the groups. Among refugees with equal time of residence in Norway there are major differences in the employment rate
Completed upper secondary education has also a considerable impact on the employment rate. Refugees who have completed an upper secondary or higher education in Norway have an employment rate close to that of the whole population at the same educational level. Those with compulsory education only have the lowest employment rate among refugees as well as the whole population. Since more than 40 per cent of the refugees only have a compulsory education, this group reduces the average employment rate among refugees substantially.
Refugees had average monthly earnings of NOK 45 710 in the 4th quarter of 2023. This was NOK 13 460 less than the population without an immigrant background. Refugees generally earn less because many of the most common occupations for immigrants are characterized by low wages, regardless of immigration background. Some refugees with little work experience and seniority also contribute to lowering the wage level.
The wage gap increased between refugees and the population without an immigrant background between 2020 and 2023. This is partly because more refugees have started working over the years, and many of the new jobs have been in low-wage occupations. However, refugees have increased their average salary more than the population without an immigrant background among those who were employed both in 2020 and in 2023.