Income and wealth statistics for households

Updated: 19 December 2023

Next update: 15 January 2025

Change in median income after tax for all households

2021 - 2022

-1.4

Income after tax for households by type of household, Median¹
	2022	2021 - 2022	2017 - 2022
	After tax median income	Percentage change²
All households	590 400	-1.4	-0.6
Singles under 45 years	362 300	0.0	6.2
Singles 45-64 years	387 200	-0.6	1.0
Singles 65 years and older	311 700	-0.5	0.5
Couples without children, oldest person under 45 years	749 900	0.4	6.5
Couples without children, oldest person 45-64 years	917 800	-1.1	3.1
Couples without children, oldest person 65 years and older	666 800	-0.8	-0.2
Couples with children 0-6 years	927 500	-0.3	4.5
Couples with children 7-17 years	1 064 000	-0.7	2.8
Couples with children, oldest child 18 years and older	1 198 200	-0.2	3.6
Single mother/father with children 0-17 years	487 300	-0.8	2.1
Single mother/father with children 18 years and older	660 800	0.3	3.4
¹Students not included
²In constant prices

Explanation of symbols

Source

StatBank source table 04751

Selected tables and charts from this statistics

Table 1Registered incomes for households by type of household. Average in NOK.

Registered incomes for households by type of household. Average in NOK.^{1 2 3}
	All households	Living alone, person under 30 years	Living alone, person 30-44 years	Living alone, person 45-66 years	Living alone, person 67 years and older	Couple without resident children, oldest person under 30 years	Couple without resident children, oldest person 30-44 years	Couple without resident children, oldest person 45-66 years	Couple without resident children, oldest person 67 years and older	Couples with children 0-5 years	Couples with children 6-17 years	Couples with children 18 years and older	Single mother/father with children 0-5 year	Single mother/father with children 6-17 year	Single mother/father with children 18 year and older	Two or more-familiy households
	2022
Income from work (NOK)	657 300	375 100	460 300	406 600	31 000	823 900	1 035 200	1 086 100	169 000	1 063 700	1 404 400	1 417 900	293 200	522 700	662 100	867 200
Wages and salaries (NOK)	618 500	364 400	439 700	383 100	25 200	802 900	996 400	1 019 400	145 000	1 007 700	1 316 000	1 323 000	281 400	500 100	625 700	808 100
Net income from self-employment (NOK)	38 800	10 700	20 600	23 600	5 800	20 900	38 800	66 800	23 900	56 000	88 500	95 000	11 800	22 600	36 400	59 100

Property income (NOK)	53 100	7 400	11 600	33 400	30 700	13 900	30 100	115 100	83 500	49 600	95 000	110 700	16 500	31 200	40 000	50 300
Interest received (NOK)	6 000	2 000	1 900	3 800	6 400	5 000	5 300	8 500	13 500	4 800	5 500	10 400	1 600	2 700	5 500	6 500
Share dividends received (NOK)	28 800	3 100	7 200	17 700	11 500	3 700	13 800	67 400	37 500	27 900	61 600	65 000	8 600	18 500	19 800	24 000
Realised capital gains (NOK)	18 900	2 700	6 000	12 600	12 700	6 200	14 500	38 600	33 200	18 600	26 800	35 000	5 300	10 300	15 500	18 500
Realised capital losses (NOK)	7 300	2 000	7 000	4 900	3 200	4 300	10 300	10 400	9 200	10 300	10 500	12 900	1 600	3 800	6 000	8 400
Other capital incomes (NOK)	6 700	1 600	3 500	4 200	3 200	3 300	6 800	11 000	8 500	8 700	11 500	13 300	2 600	3 600	5 100	9 800

Transfers received (NOK)	251 900	47 200	77 400	158 800	368 500	58 400	83 000	262 700	694 600	222 800	146 200	289 500	241 600	165 300	250 200	352 000
Taxable transfers (NOK)	234 800	37 200	69 500	152 400	365 800	39 300	74 300	259 500	690 800	171 500	109 200	278 600	149 400	103 000	236 400	319 300
Social security benefits (NOK)⁴	158 300	25 200	46 900	109 700	282 800	19 700	40 000	158 700	514 800	25 800	59 600	188 100	79 900	65 800	174 700	223 800
Old-age pensions (NOK)	101 200	0	0	10 600	279 000	0	0	38 900	488 500	300	2 900	72 900	100	1 100	64 700	121 700
Disability benefits (NOK)	41 800	14 300	32 500	83 300	3 200	8 300	23 400	97 900	23 500	11 200	34 400	86 600	17 500	35 400	82 000	71 600
Work assessment allowance (NOK)	13 900	10 900	14 200	13 800	200	11 400	16 600	21 500	2 500	13 300	21 700	28 300	20 400	20 100	24 400	26 400
Service pensions etc. (NOK)	35 100	200	700	14 100	78 000	200	800	37 300	146 600	1 500	7 300	34 400	1 300	5 500	26 200	36 300
Contractual pension (NOK)	6 200	0	0	6 000	3 500	0	0	20 500	22 900	0	400	9 200	0	100	3 400	5 500
Contractual pension (AFP) in public sector (NOK)⁵	3 700	0	0	4 300	1 100	0	0	13 700	12 900	0	200	5 400	0	100	2 000	3 200
Contractual pension (AFP) in private sector (NOK)	2 500	0	0	1 700	2 400	0	0	6 900	10 000	0	200	3 800	0	100	1 400	2 300
Unemployment benefits (NOK)	4 700	3 100	6 400	4 300	100	3 700	7 600	5 900	1 000	8 400	6 000	7 300	6 800	4 200	6 100	9 100
Sickness benefits (NOK)⁶	19 700	6 900	13 500	17 600	500	13 900	23 200	36 200	4 400	36 100	33 300	38 000	23 600	23 600	24 300	30 300
Other taxable transfers (NOK)⁷	10 600	1 800	1 900	600	800	1 700	2 500	700	1 000	99 500	2 300	1 400	37 700	3 700	1 700	14 000

Tax-free transfers (NOK)	17 200	10 000	7 900	6 400	2 700	19 100	8 700	3 200	3 800	51 300	37 100	10 900	92 200	62 300	13 800	32 700
Familiy allowances (NOK)	7 000	100	1 100	500	0	100	600	200	0	32 200	23 100	1 100	33 400	25 200	1 500	10 500
Dwelling support (kr)	1 200	1 500	1 500	1 500	900	600	600	300	100	1 300	800	300	11 200	5 300	1 200	1 400
Scholarships (NOK)	2 400	3 600	400	0	0	15 500	4 700	100	0	4 200	4 600	4 900	4 400	4 300	3 600	8 000
Social assistance (NOK)	2 700	3 700	3 900	3 100	400	1 800	1 700	900	200	3 500	2 500	1 300	19 000	9 500	3 800	5 400
Basic and attendance benefits (NOK)	1 300	400	500	700	700	500	400	700	900	1 600	3 500	1 600	1 900	3 600	1 500	2 300
Cash for care (NOK)	400	0	100	0	0	0	0	0	0	4 100	0	0	3 200	0	0	800
Other tax-free transfers (NOK)⁸	2 200	600	300	500	700	600	600	1 100	2 600	4 400	2 600	1 700	19 200	14 400	2 200	4 300

Total income (NOK)	962 300	429 700	549 300	598 800	430 200	896 200	1 148 300	1 463 900	947 000	1 336 100	1 645 700	1 818 100	551 300	719 200	952 300	1 269 500

Total assessed taxed and negative transfers (NOK)	255 600	102 500	146 800	167 300	83 500	212 300	310 500	442 100	207 200	356 800	483 200	516 600	105 000	170 200	236 700	308 900
Assessed taxes (NOK)	250 200	100 300	142 400	162 800	83 300	207 000	303 000	433 600	206 100	347 600	472 400	506 100	101 400	164 700	230 800	301 800
Negative transfers (NOK)⁹	5 400	2 200	4 300	4 500	200	5 200	7 500	8 600	1 100	9 200	10 800	10 500	3 700	5 500	6 000	7 000

After-tax income (NOK)	706 700	327 100	402 500	431 500	346 700	683 900	837 800	1 021 800	739 900	979 300	1 162 400	1 301 500	446 200	549 000	715 600	960 700

Number of households	2 544 718	179 484	232 917	338 384	307 244	52 407	74 535	213 794	275 629	218 778	266 806	119 807	21 837	85 109	65 249	92 738
¹Private households consiting of single persons living alone under the age of 18 are not included.
²Couples included married couples, cohabiting couples and registered partners.
³Students not included.
⁴For recipients of new transitional benefits for single mothers/fathers from April 2014, the benefits will be taxed as wage. From the income year 2015, the benefits are included in Social security benefits.
⁵Includes recipients of the former private contractual pension scheme (AFP).
⁶Sickness benfits from the National Insurance Scheme. Holiday payments from sickness benefits are included.
⁷Other taxable transfers include benefits such as parental benefit, annuity, introduction benefits for newly arrived refugees and qualification benefits (from 2008).
⁸Other tax-free transfers benefits such as childcare benefit to single parents, lump sum maternity grants, compensation for work injury, education benefit to single parents and received child support managed by public arrangement. Various benefits received by people attending job creating programs are included from 2009. From 2014, extra compensation for recipients of contractual pension (AFP) is included.
⁹Negative transfers include paid child support managed by public arrangement, paid annuity and mandatory contribution to private pension plan.

Explanation of symbols

Source

StatBank source table 07780

Table 2Measures of income dispersion. Household equivalent income (EU-scale) between persons

Measures of income dispersion. Household equivalent income (EU-scale) between persons¹
	Gini coefficient	Standard error of the Gini coefficient	P90/P10²	S80/S20³	Gini coefficient	Standard error of the Gini coefficient	P90/P10²	S80/S20³
	Total population				Total population excluding persons in student households
1999	0.242	0.004	2.7	3.4	0.236	0.004	2.6	3.3
2000	0.262	0.004	2.7	3.7	0.257	0.004	2.6	3.6
2001	0.229	0.002	2.6	3.2	0.223	0.002	2.5	3.1
2002	0.264	0.004	2.7	3.8	0.258	0.004	2.6	3.6
2003	0.274	0.003	2.8	3.9	0.267	0.003	2.7	3.7
2004	0.283	..	2.7	4.1	0.276	..	2.6	3.8
2005	0.327	..	2.8	4.8	0.319	..	2.7	4.5
2006	0.243	..	2.8	3.5	0.235	..	2.6	3.3
2007	0.252	..	2.8	3.7	0.244	..	2.7	3.5
2008	0.248	..	2.8	3.6	0.240	..	2.7	3.4
2009	0.241	..	2.8	3.5	0.231	..	2.6	3.3
2010	0.245	..	2.8	3.6	0.236	..	2.6	3.3
2011	0.247	..	2.8	3.6	0.237	..	2.7	3.4
2012	0.249	..	2.9	3.7	0.239	..	2.7	3.4
2013	0.250	..	2.9	3.7	0.241	..	2.7	3.4
2014	0.256	..	2.9	3.8	0.247	..	2.8	3.5
2015	0.271	..	3.0	4.0	0.263	..	2.8	3.8
2016	0.261	..	3.0	3.9	0.252	..	2.8	3.6
2017	0.261	..	3.0	3.9	0.252	..	2.8	3.6
2018	0.260	..	3.0	3.9	0.251	..	2.8	3.6
2019	0.259	..	3.0	3.9	0.250	..	2.8	3.6
2020	0.262	..	3.0	3.9	0.252	..	2.8	3.6
2021	0.289	..	3.0	4.3	0.279	..	2.8	4.0
2022	0.261	..	2.9	3.9	0.253	..	2.8	3.6
¹Negative amounts have been set to zero.
²Percentile ratio of the 9th and the 1st decile cut-offs.
³The ratio of the share of income held by the top 20 per cent of the distribution and the bottom 20 per cent of the distribution.

Explanation of symbols

Source

StatBank source table 07756

Table 3Property account for households

Property account for households^{1 2}
	Average for households with different property holdings (NOK)	Share of households with different property holdings (per cent)	Total (NOK million)	Percentage change (NOK million)
	2022			2021 - 2022
Estimated real capital	4 408 700	84.8	9 518 225	7.4
Estimated market value primary dwelling	4 493 300	69.1	7 906 194	6.6
Estimated market value secondary dwelling	3 451 400	9.9	865 917	6.8
Gross financial capital	1 745 300	98.4	4 368 268	0.1
Bank deposits	612 900	98.3	1 533 567	4.1
Shares and other securities	3 507 800	23.0	2 054 376	1.7
Share savings account³	444 100	27.7	312 817	-8.6
Units of mutual funds	235 000	28.9	173 014	-6.9
Foreign taxable wealth excl. real properties	381 800	6.5	62 963	-6.7
Estimated gross wealth	5 543 100	98.4	13 886 493	5.0
Debt	1 972 900	85.1	4 270 451	4.2
Study debt	287 200	26.6	194 081	8.3
Estimated net wealth	3 827 300	98.7	9 616 041	5.3
Positive net wealth	4 664 900	83.2	9 876 112	5.0
Negative net wealth	-657 800	15.5	-260 071	-3.5
Property taxes	59 200	17.0	25 560	43.1
¹Students not included.
²All wealth items are based on market value or assumed sales value before any tax valuation discount.
³From 2017 it is possible to own listed shares and mutual fund holdings through a share savings account.
Figures for estimated real capital, gross and net wealth were corrected on December 22, 2022.

Explanation of symbols

Source

StatBank source table 10315

Table 4Percentage share of total estimated net wealth, average net wealth and lowest value in decile for households, by deciles

Percentage share of total estimated net wealth, average net wealth and lowest value in decile for households, by deciles¹
	Share of total net wealth (per cent)	Average estimated net wealth (NOK)	Lowest value in decile (NOK)
	2022
Total	100.0	3 778 800	..
Decile 1	-2.6	-983 700	..
Decile 2	-0.1	-35 100	-169 400
Decile 3	0.5	178 500	26 300
Decile 4	2.1	789 900	424 300
Decile 5	4.1	1 559 700	1 169 100
Decile 6	6.3	2 381 900	1 958 100
Decile 7	8.8	3 326 800	2 825 500
Decile 8	12.0	4 539 000	3 869 700
Decile 9	17.1	6 478 200	5 309 600
Decile 10	51.7	19 552 900	8 038 500
Top 5 per cent	39.2	29 611 100	11 507 100
Top 1 per cent	22.3	84 096 700	26 746 300
Top 0,1 per cent	10.9	411 548 800	134 659 100
¹Students not included
Figures for estimated real capital, gross and net wealth were corrected on December 22, 2022.

Explanation of symbols

Source

StatBank source table 10318

Table 5Registered incomes for residents. Number of persons with amount. Amount in NOK million.

Registered incomes for residents. Number of persons with amount. Amount in NOK million.
	Number of persons with amount	NOK million	Number of persons with amount	NOK million
	2021		2022
INCOME FROM WORK	3 209 569	1 561 362.6	3 269 421	1 683 684.8
Wages and salaries	3 099 337	1 470 158.4	3 162 003	1 584 887.3
Net income from self-employment	318 298	91 204.2	326 698	98 797.5

PROPERTY INCOME	3 878 478	228 461.2	4 028 207	136 255.5
Interest received	3 698 400	8 725.5	3 902 710	15 587.3
Share dividends received	617 077	151 660.7	659 085	73 787.9
Realised capital gains	468 007	66 632.9	474 453	48 390.6
Realised capital losses	247 588	15 255.2	320 517	18 691.2
Other capital incomes	1 681 134	16 697.4	1 801 599	17 181.0

TRANSFERS RECEIVED	3 450 347	631 297.6	3 375 652	651 470.6
TAXABLE TRANSFERS	2 714 198	584 479.1	2 579 342	603 020.9
Social security benefits¹	1 474 791	384 265.9	1 498 547	407 495.1
Old-age pensions	948 609	246 335.4	963 808	260 634.8
Disability benefits	371 265	101 455.3	375 395	107 309.8
Work Assessment Allowance	177 121	32 687.6	182 310	35 496.0
Service pensions etc	930 916	85 324.9	946 475	90 086.8
Contractual pension (AFP)	141 696	14 499.1	153 620	15 791.4
Contractual pension (AFP) in public sector²	38 378	8 836.8	41 216	9 410.2
Contractual pension (AFP) in private sector	103 335	5 662.3	112 430	6 381.2
Unemployment benefits	426 547	25 851.5	247 692	12 063.0
Sickness benefits³	957 384	47 098.3	900 709	50 257.1
Other taxable transfers⁴	220 411	26 233.3	228 126	27 098.0

TAX-FREE TRANSFERS	1 542 455	46 818.5	1 588 631	48 449.6
Familiy allowances	693 236	17 134.2	692 407	17 926.1
Dwelling support	117 596	2 735.8	137 909	3 215.2
Scholarships	412 167	9 282.0	440 787	9 879.8
Social assistance	117 243	6 602.7	127 991	7 275.1
Basic and attendance benefits	170 932	3 178.2	173 323	3 266.3
Cash for care	36 225	1 341.2	32 451	1 100.7
Other tax-free transfers⁵	270 794	6 544.4	269 374	5 786.5

TOTAL INCOME	4 513 627	2 421 121.5	4 575 487	2 471 410.9

Assessed taxes and negative transfers	3 991 720	637 133.2	4 068 267	652 934.1
Assessed taxes	3 952 800	624 030.2	4 020 665	639 174.1
Negative transfers⁶	1 299 784	13 103.0	1 341 015	13 759.9

AFTER-TAX INCOME	4 514 493	1 783 988.3	4 576 156	1 818 476.8

NUMBER OF RESIDENTS	5 425 270	..	5 488 984	..
¹For recipients of new transitional benefits for single mothers/fathers from April 2014, the benefits will be taxed as wage. From the income year 2015, the benefits are included in Social security benefits.
²Includes recipients of the former private contractual pension scheme (AFP).
³Sickness benfits from the National Insurance Scheme. Holiday payments from sickness benefits are included.
⁴Other taxable transfers include benefits such as parental benefit, annuity, introduction benefits for newly arrived refugees and qualification benefits (from 2008).
⁵Other tax-free transfers benefits such as childcare benefit to single parents, lump sum maternity grants, compensation for work injury, education benefit to single parents and received child support managed by public arrangement. Various benefits received by people attending job creating programs are included from 2009. From 2014, extra compensation for recipients of contractual pension (AFP) is included.
⁶Negative transfers include paid child support managed by public arrangement, paid annuity and mandatory contribution to private pension plan

Explanation of symbols

Source

StatBank source table 07778

More figures from this statistics

See complete overview in Statbank (68)

About the statistics

Income and wealth statistics for households provide figures for the level, composition, development and distribution of income and wealth. The statistics comprises all monetary income, both taxable and tax-exempt, as well as wealth and debt. The statistics presents the general developments of income and wealth as well as its distribution between household types and other groups.

The information under «About the statistics» was last updated 26 October 2023.

Definitions

Definitions of the main concepts and variables

The concepts presented here are explained according to how they are used in the statistics. These explanations may differ from the common definitions of the concepts.

Household

A household is regarded as all persons who live permanently in the same dwelling and having common housekeeping. The statistics include only persons in private households. Persons registered as living in institutions are not included.

Student household

A student household is defined as a household where the main income earner is not mainly economically active or in receipt of pensions and benefits, but receives a loan from the State Educational Loan Fund.

Main income earner

The main income earner is the person in the household who has the highest total income before taxes of the income earners in the household. If there is no income earner in the household, the oldest person is defined as the main income earner.

Total income

Total income is the sum of employee, income from self-employment, property income and transfers received. Assessed tax and other negative transfers are not deducted.

After-tax income

After-tax income is calculated as total income minus assessed tax and negative transfers.

Income from work

Income from work is the sum of employee income and net income from self-employment during the calendar year. As of 2006 sickness and parental benefits is not included.

Income from self-employment

Income received in self-employment jobs. It primarily concerns the profit or loss from unincorporated enterprises.

Property income

Property income is the sum of interest received, share dividends received, realized capital gains (or losses) and other property income received during the calendar year.

Taxable transfers

Taxable transfers are the sum of pensions and benefits from the social security scheme, public and private employer provided schemes, unemployment benefits, sickness benefits and other taxable benefits.

Tax-free transfers

Tax-free transfers consist of child benefits, dwelling support, scholarships, social assistance, basic and attendance benefit and more.

Child support received through private agreements is not registered, and therefore not included in the statistics.

Assessed taxes and negative transfers

This comprises income tax and wealth tax to the central government and municipalities. Examples of negative transfers are pension contributions in employment and paid child support managed by public arrangement.

Estimated real capital

Estimated value of properties, buildings and constructions, possessions, etc.

Market value is used for primary and secondary dwellings, commercial properties, forests and farms.

Tax value is used for other real estate and private and commercial moveable property.

Primary dwelling

The dwelling where the address of the owner is registered in the National Population Register at the end of the year. Value is set according to assessed market value. A person can only own one primary dwelling. Farmhouses on farms are not regarded as primary dwellings.

Secondary dwelling

A dwelling that a person owns, which is not the primary dwelling. Value is set according to assessed market value. Cabins and holiday properties are not secondary dwellings.

Estimated gross financial capital

Comprises bank deposits, shares, units of mutual funds, share savings accounts, bonds and other securities.

Prior to 2008, appreciation of shares, mutual funds, primary capital certificates etc. were subject to discounts. In the wealth statistics, tax value was applied. Between 2008 and 2016, discounts were not used, and tax value corresponded to market value. From 2017, discounts in the appreciation values were once again used in the taxation of financial wealth. In the wealth statistics, however, tax values have been adjusted upwards so that the appreciation used in the wealth statistics corresponds to market or sales value.

Estimated gross wealth

Sum of estimated real capital and gross financial capital.

Debt

Comprises dept to creditors and share of dept for owners in Building Societies. From 2017, market value of debt is used, including appreciation discounts used in the taxation of debt. Prior to 2017, market value and taxable value of debt were the same.

From 2017 and on the sum of debt was subject to a reduction before subtracting the debt from the wealth estimation when assessing taxation of wealth.

In the Income and wealth statistics for households, the sum of debt before any possible reduction is used in the definition of wealth.

Unsecured debt contains debt with both interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing balances. Data on unsecured debt are only available from the income year 2019 and on. The size of the unsecured debt is calculated according to data from Gjeldsregisteret AS as of December 31st in the income year.

Estimated net wealth

Estimated gross wealth minus debt.

Median income

Median income is the exact income amount that splits a distribution in two equally sized groups, when income is sorted ascending (or descending). The number of persons with income above the median will be the same as the number of persons with income below the median.

Income per consumption unit (equivalent income)

The needs of a household grow with each additional member but not in a proportional way. Needs for housing space, electricity, etc. will not be three times as high for a household with three members than for a single person, due to economy of scale. With the help of equivalence scales each household type in the population is assigned a value in proportion to its needs. The factors commonly considered to assign these values are the number of persons in the household and whether they are adults or children.

Several equivalents scales exist which are used for different purposes. In the Income and wealth statistics for households, the EU scale is applied (see below).

Consumption units calculated according to the EU scale

This is the ‘OECD-modified equivalence scale’ which assigns a value of 1 to the household head, of 0.5 to each additional adult member and of 0.3 to each child under the age of 17.

Consumption units calculated according to the OECD scale

This equivalence scale assigns a value of 1 to the household head, of 0.7 to each additional adult member and of 0.5 to each child under the age of 17.

Low income threshold

The low-income thresholds are defined as a share of median equivalent income after tax. Commonly used shares are 50 or 60 per cent of median income after tax per consumption unit. There is no official low-income threshold in Norway. Statistics Norway calculates different low-income thresholds based on the income level among the total population, and thus is relative to the general income growth and comparable for persons belonging to different household types.

Low-income group

Persons belonging to a household with annual equivalent income below the low-income threshold.

Economically active

A person that has income from employment or self-employment that is greater than twice the Basic Amount of the National Insurance Scheme (so-called "G", or "grunnbeløpet"). For the income year 2010 and earlier, persons with income from employment or self-employment greater than the Minimum Pension for single people were regarded as economically active.

This concept differs from the definition “Employed persons” used in other statistics, which defines whether a person is in employment on a certain time.

Single parents

Persons in the household type "mother/father with children aged 0-17 years".

Old-age pensioners

Persons in households where the main income earner, according to the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration, receives old age pension from the social security system.

Disability pensioners

Persons in households where the main income earner, according to the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration, receives disability pension from the social security system.

Pensioners within the Voluntary Early Retirement Scheme

Persons in households where the main income earner, according to the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration, is in early retirement.

Receivers of survivor's benefits

Persons in households where the main income earner, according to the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration, receives survivor's benefit (after deceased spouse) from the social security system.

Old-age pensioners with minimum state pension

As of 2021 the definition of receivers of the minimum state pension that the Income and Wealth statistics for Households use is in accordance with the definition used by Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration.

In the Income and Wealth statistics for Households the number of receivers of retirement pension and the minimum state pension will be fewer than the number the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration reports since we only count residents at the close of the year.

Until 2020 receivers of the minimum state pension were defined by persons who received the minimum state pension, or who received a pension supplement.

Receivers of the minimum state pension

Persons who receive the minimum pension level, which is a guaranteed minimum retirement pension payment from the National Insurance Scheme. The definition distinguishes between:

Old-age pensioners who receive the minimum state pension.
Disability pensioners who receive the minimum state pension.
Receivers of minimum level survivor’s benefits

Until 2020 receivers of the minimum state pension were defined as persons who received the minimum state pension, or who received a pension supplement.

Receivers of work assessment allowance

Persons in households where the main income earner is registered with a longstanding illness. Included are persons in receipt of rehabilitation allowances, persons incapable of full labour force participation, but attend labour market schemes, and others. Up until 2005, persons who were incapable of full labour force participation but who attended programmes initiated by the National Insurance Scheme (e.g. school and work placements), and persons who were receiving vocational rehabilitation allowances, were not included in the statistics.

Long-term unemployed

Persons in households where the main income earner has been registered as unemployed for 6 consecutive months or more during the year.

People on social assistance

Persons in households where the main income earner has received social assistance at least once during the year.

Singles

Persons who are the only person in a household.

Immigrants

Persons in households where the main income earner is born abroad by two foreign-born parents (first-generation immigrant).

Norwegian-born to immigrant parents

Persons in households where the main income earner is born in Norway by two foreign-born parents.

Refugees

Persons in households where the main income earner is immigrated to Norway for refuge reasons.

Persons with refugee background

Persons in households where the main income earner is immigrated to Norway for refuge reasons or immigrated family members of these.

Age

Age (number of years) at the end of the year.

Socioeconomic status

Socioeconomic status is described by type of economic activity (see above). The economically active population, which mainly receive their income from working, is divided into self-employed and employees. If income from self-employment is greater than income from employment, the person is classified as self-employed, and vice versa.

We have the following socio-economic groups:

Working

Self-employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing
Self-employed in other industries.
Employee

Non-working

Pensioners and National Insurance recipients
Other non-working

Income sources not included in the income statistics

After-tax income comprises the sum of income from work, property income and transfers, where assessed taxes and negative transfers are deducted. This way of defining income is in accordance with the practical definition recommended in the Canberra report (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe 2011).

The income statistics cover most of the various monetary income sources. Due to lack of information, the following elements are not included in the statistics although they affect the income level.

The value of public services, such as public health care and education
The net value of unpaid domestic services. This include unpaid housework, child care and goods produced for own consumption
The net value of owner-occupied housing services.
The net value of services from household consumer durables
Income withheld from taxation or gained from criminal activities
Child support received through private agreements
Rental income when renting out less than 50 per cent of owner-occupied housing
Municipal subsidy schemes for housing and cash benefits for child care
Local property taxes are not deducted when estimating after-tax income due to lack of information
Interest payments are not deducted from after-tax income, although data on this is available. This is done as a rough compensation for not including the value of owner-occupied housing services in the income.

Standard classifications

Types of household are in accordance with standard classifications.

Administrative information

Name and topic

Name: Income and wealth statistics for households
Topic: Income and consumption

Next update

15 January 2025

Responsible division

Division for Income and social welfare statistics

Regional level

National level, counties, municipalities, urban districts in the four largest cities and statistical tracts.

Frequency and timeliness

Annually. The statistics are released in the last quarter in the year after the statistical year.

International reporting

Income data is used in Eurostat's structural indicators on low income and income distribution (EU SILC). Micro data for selected years is also included in the databases Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) and Luxembourg Wealth Study (LWS). Income data is also included in OECD's Income Distribution Database.

Microdata

Collected and revised data are stored securely by Statistics Norway in compliance with applicable legislation on data processing.

Statistics Norway can grant access to the source data (de-identified or anonymised microdata) on which the statistics are based, for researchers and public authorities for the purposes of preparing statistical results and analyses. Access can be granted upon application and subject to conditions. Refer to the details about this at Access to data from Statistics Norway.

Background

Background and purpose

The purpose of the statistics is to quantify the economic resources the households have available for saving and consumption. This is a basis for information about essential sides of the state and development of living conditions and welfare in the society, such as:

Types of income and the size of these
Wealth and debt – sizes and types
How income and wealth is distributed between households.

This gives an opportunity to measure economic inequality, estimate the extent of low income, rate of debt, economic activity and other conditions, and study how this varies between types of households, population groups, regions etc.

The Income Distribution Survey was conducted annually from 1986 to 2004 based on a representative sample survey. Information on the household composition was collected from various Living Condition Surveys and Household Budget Surveys. Up until 1992, the income data was obtained in the form of paper forms from the local tax offices. In addition, tax-free transfers were obtained electronically from other government agencies. Beginning with the survey for the 1993 income year, it was possible to obtain all income data from the personal tax return in electronic form. From 2005 we have also established household composition by using registers. This means that we are now able to produce a totally register-based household income statistics

Users and applications

The main users are the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Ministry of Children and Families, the Norwegian Directorate of Health, the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration, local and regional authorities and research institutes in the areas of household economics, tax research and living conditions in general.

The tax model “LOTTE”, which is operated by Statistics Norway and is used for simulation of taxes and in tax research is updated annually with data from the Income and wealth statistics for households.

The data sources are very detailed and are therefore capable of providing other arrangements and allocations of statistics than those that are published by Statistics Norway.

Equal treatment of users

No external users have access to statistics before they are released at 8 a.m. on ssb.no after at least three months’ advance notice in the release calendar. This is one of the most important principles in Statistics Norway for ensuring the equal treatment of users.

Coherence with other statistics

Tax statistics for personal tax payers is an important data source for the statistics on income and wealth for households. The tax statistics include data from all the records in the tax return and is obtained for all persons residing in the country. The statistics have been available as total census based on registers from the year 1993 and on.

Legal authority

The statistics are developed, produced and disseminated pursuant to Act no. 32 of 21 June 2019 relating to official statistics and Statistics Norway (the Statistics Act).

EEA reference

Not relevant.

Production

Population

All persons residing in Norway and resident in a private household as of 31st December of the income year.

From 2013, residents studying abroad are also excluded from the households.

The totally register-based income statistics as of 2004 is a total census. Households are derived at after performing certain adjustments to the formal households (formal address according to the National Population Register). These adjustments include omitting people living in institutions and moving students, that no longer reside with their parents, to single person households. Surveys suggest that less than 10 per cent of the students in Norway actually live at home. In addition, other administrative sources are used to identify more cohabitating couples that belong to the same household.

Data sources and sampling

Income data is received by linking different administrative registers and statistical data sources for the whole population as of 31st of December of the income year. Income and biographical data is collected from the following sources:

Data from tax returns (wages and salaries, self-employment income, pensions etc.)
The Tax Register (taxes)
The a-ordning (unemployment benefit, various tax-free transfers)
Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (family allowances, basic and additional amounts, cash benefit etc.)
KOSTRA (social assistance)
State Educational Loan Fund -Lånekassen (loans to students, scholarships)
Gjeldsregisteret AS (unsecured debt)
Education statistics and household statistics from Statistics Norway (highest level of completed education etc.)
Sample survey in the period 1986-2004. From 2004 totally census-based.

Collection of data, editing and estimations

Data are collected from various administrative registers.

Consistency controls are undertaken by comparing information from different sources.

The population of the Income Distribution Survey (1986-2004) was weighted by the use of a calibration program. This method of estimation permits the population to show the same aggregates familiar from the register statistics (for the population) for selected variables. This applies to the different personal incomes and net wealth.

Seasonal adjustment

Not relevant.

Confidentiality

Interviewers and everyone who works at Statistics Norway have a duty of confidentiality. Statistics Norway has its own data protection officer.

Statistics Norway does not publish figures where there is a risk of identifying individual data about persons or households.

The surpression method is used in this statistics to ensure this, by supressing any combination that would display 11 or fewer observations.

More information can be found on Statistics Norway’s website under Methods in official statistics, in the ‘Confidentiality’ section.

Comparability over time and space

The Income and wealth statistics has gone through several significant changes through the years. This is due to changes in the income concept, as a result of changes in the tax system and access to new income components from registers.

The estimation of household wealth has also changed over the years, according to changing tax rules and available data and methods for estimating market value for various wealth components. From 2010 and on, for example, Statistics Norway has been able to estimate market value for primary and secondary dwellings in Norway.

Accuracy and reliability

Sources of error and uncertainty

Some data collection and processing errors are unavoidable. These include coding errors, revision errors, data processing errors, etc. Comprehensive efforts have been made to minimize these errors, and we regard these types of errors to be relatively insignificant.

Sources of error and uncertainty before 2005

From and including the income year 2005, these statistics are based on a total census and will not be affected by variance and bias. For previous years with survey-based statistics, the following is of relevance:

All sample surveys are subject to a certain amount of uncertainty. In general; the fewer observations the more uncertain the results. Results based on less than 20 observations are therefore not published.

Groups based on relatively few observations will be very strongly influenced by extreme observations, i.e. observations that deviate greatly from the average. In this statistics, extreme observations in most cases are included, but an attempt has been made to reduce the effect of such observations by adjustments (reduction) of the household weights.

Bias can occur when the distribution between certain groups in the sample is not the same as the corresponding distribution in the total population. Sample bias of this type can occur through non-response. Most of the data for the Income Distribution Survey was obtained from administrative registers. Non-response is not a problem for this part of the material. The household composition was based on interviews, where there will always be non-response. Non-response is adjusted by replacing household data with data on family composition from registers.

Revision

A revision is a planned change to figures that have already been published, for example when releasing final figures as a follow-up to published preliminary figures. See also Statistics Norway’s principles for revisions. Not relevant here.

Find more figures in Statbank

Contact

Elisabeth Løyland Omholt

elisabeth.omholt@ssb.no

(+47) 93 05 55 28

Lene Sandvik

lene.sandvik@ssb.no

(+47) 90 13 16 16

Aurora Hattrem

aurora.hattrem@ssb.no

(+47) 90 40 74 24

Jørgen Knutsønn Arntzen

jorgen.arntzen@ssb.no

(+47) 46 69 50 43

Income and wealth statistics for households

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About the statistics

Household

Student household

Main income earner

Total income

After-tax income

Income from work

Income from self-employment

Property income

Taxable transfers

Tax-free transfers

Assessed taxes and negative transfers

Estimated real capital

Primary dwelling

Secondary dwelling

Estimated gross financial capital

Estimated gross wealth

Debt

Estimated net wealth

Median income

Income per consumption unit (equivalent income)

Consumption units calculated according to the EU scale

Consumption units calculated according to the OECD scale

Low income threshold

Low-income group

Economically active

Single parents

Old-age pensioners

Disability pensioners

Pensioners within the Voluntary Early Retirement Scheme

Receivers of survivor's benefits

Old-age pensioners with minimum state pension

Receivers of the minimum state pension

Receivers of work assessment allowance

Long-term unemployed

People on social assistance

Singles

Immigrants

Norwegian-born to immigrant parents

Refugees

Persons with refugee background

Age

Socioeconomic status

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Contact