Income and wealth statistics for households

Updated: 15 January 2025

Next update: Not yet determined

Change in median income after tax for all households, in constant prices

2022 - 2023

2.0

After-tax income for households by type of household. Median (NOK)¹
	2023	2022 - 2023	2018 - 2023
	Median after-tax income (NOK)	Percentage change in constant prices
All households	635 400	2.0	1.4
Living alone, person under 30 years	342 600	1.5	9.4
Living alone, person 30-44 years	419 600	1.3	4.0
Living alone, person 45-66 years	412 000	1.6	2.2
Living alone, person 67 years and over	339 100	4.1	4.7
Couple without resident children, oldest person under 30 years	723 500	2.7	6.9
Couple without resident children, oldest person 30-44 years	876 100	2.1	6.7
Couple without resident children, oldest person 45-66 years	978 600	1.5	3.8
Couple without resident children, oldest person 67 years and over	713 800	3.9	3.7
Couple with children, youngest child 0-5 years	997 600	2.6	6.8
Couple with children, youngest child 6-17 years	1 131 800	1.7	3.9
Couple with children, youngest child 18 years and older	1 282 900	1.5	4.2
Mother/father with children, youngest child 0-5 years	471 500	3.5	10.0
Mother/father with children, youngest child 6-17 years	543 900	2.3	3.1
Mother/father with children, youngest child 18 years and older	711 800	2.1	5.1
¹Student households are excluded.

Explanation of symbols

Source

StatBank source table 14484

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
	2023
Income from work (NOK)	685 400	394 900	480 500	425 100	33 400	875 400	1 087 600	1 142 600	179 700	1 120 400	1 464 700	1 483 700	314 300	542 000	695 200	908 300
Wages and salaries (NOK)	647 000	384 300	460 500	402 200	27 700	854 300	1 048 700	1 076 500	155 600	1 062 800	1 376 900	1 388 400	301 800	518 700	659 500	850 300
Net income from self-employment (NOK)	38 400	10 600	20 000	22 800	5 700	21 100	38 900	66 100	24 100	57 600	87 800	95 300	12 500	23 400	35 700	58 000

Property income (NOK)	65 100	16 000	17 200	40 100	43 700	22 500	40 800	129 900	113 100	60 300	105 100	126 500	18 100	33 200	51 600	67 000
Interest received (NOK)	15 300	4 000	4 200	10 000	18 600	9 200	10 700	22 300	38 400	9 300	12 700	25 900	3 400	6 100	14 500	15 900
Share dividends received (NOK)	32 400	8 900	6 200	19 300	12 600	6 700	17 300	75 400	45 100	33 200	66 500	68 100	10 200	19 300	23 100	30 300
Realised capital gains (NOK)	15 700	2 300	6 600	10 400	11 700	5 000	10 900	30 000	29 100	14 800	21 700	29 300	3 300	6 700	12 400	16 800
Realised capital losses (NOK)	6 000	1 600	3 800	4 200	2 800	3 000	6 700	9 400	8 500	7 500	8 800	12 700	2 000	3 200	5 000	7 200
Other capital incomes (NOK)	7 600	2 400	3 900	4 600	3 600	4 600	8 600	11 700	9 000	10 500	13 100	15 900	3 200	4 400	6 600	11 200

Transfers received (NOK)	270 600	50 700	84 600	167 400	394 600	62 600	90 200	275 300	740 400	238 600	161 800	309 500	269 600	194 400	268 100	377 300
Taxable transfers (NOK)	251 600	40 500	75 900	160 200	391 400	44 500	81 400	271 800	736 200	184 600	119 900	298 600	161 600	114 700	252 600	339 200
Social security benefits (NOK)⁴	169 700	26 500	51 300	115 600	303 000	20 900	43 100	166 100	549 400	28 200	64 800	203 000	84 100	71 600	186 700	234 200
Old-age pensions (NOK)	108 600	0	0	10 700	298 300	0	0	38 900	521 100	300	3 000	78 000	100	1 200	69 300	127 600
Disability benefits (NOK)	44 000	14 900	35 000	87 300	3 500	8 800	24 700	103 000	24 100	12 000	36 800	92 900	19 900	38 100	86 800	73 800
Work assessment allowance (NOK)	15 400	11 500	16 100	15 600	200	12 000	18 300	23 700	2 800	15 000	24 300	31 500	23 100	22 700	26 700	28 300
Service pensions etc. (NOK)	37 200	200	700	14 100	82 800	300	900	37 800	155 600	1 600	7 700	36 100	1 300	5 800	27 500	37 600
Contractual pension (NOK)	6 600	0	0	6 400	4 000	0	0	21 500	24 800	0	400	9 900	0	200	3 900	6 000
Contractual pension (AFP) in public sector (NOK)⁵	3 800	0	0	4 600	1 100	0	0	14 200	13 400	0	100	5 700	0	100	2 300	3 400
Contractual pension (AFP) in private sector (NOK)	2 800	0	0	1 800	2 900	0	0	7 300	11 400	0	200	4 300	0	100	1 600	2 600
Unemployment benefits (NOK)	3 800	2 800	5 500	3 300	100	3 100	6 500	4 400	600	7 000	4 900	5 700	5 100	3 300	4 800	7 400
Sickness benefits (NOK)⁶	22 500	8 400	15 900	19 400	600	17 100	27 200	40 600	4 900	43 400	38 100	42 100	28 600	27 000	27 100	35 000
Other taxable transfers (NOK)⁷	11 800	2 600	2 600	1 300	900	3 100	3 700	1 400	1 000	104 300	4 000	1 700	42 400	6 900	2 500	19 100

Tax-free transfers (NOK)	19 100	10 200	8 700	7 200	3 100	18 100	8 800	3 500	4 200	54 000	41 800	10 900	108 000	79 700	15 500	38 100
Familiy allowances (NOK)	8 100	100	1 400	700	0	100	700	200	0	34 200	26 400	1 200	43 900	37 700	2 200	12 400
Dwelling support (kr)	1 300	1 600	1 600	1 600	1 000	700	600	300	200	1 500	900	300	11 700	6 200	1 300	1 900
Scholarships (NOK)	2 300	3 000	300	0	0	13 800	4 300	100	0	3 800	4 800	4 500	3 900	4 700	3 400	7 900
Social assistance (NOK)	3 500	4 600	4 500	3 800	700	2 400	2 200	1 200	400	4 700	3 300	1 700	24 200	12 400	4 800	8 600
Basic and attendance benefits (NOK)	1 400	500	500	700	700	600	400	700	900	1 800	3 900	1 700	2 200	4 200	1 600	2 400
Cash for care (NOK)	400	0	100	0	0	0	0	0	0	3 800	0	0	3 100	0	0	800
Other tax-free transfers (NOK)⁸	2 100	500	200	400	800	500	500	1 000	2 700	4 200	2 500	1 500	19 000	14 600	2 100	4 000

Total income (NOK)	1 021 100	461 600	582 300	632 600	471 700	960 400	1 218 600	1 547 700	1 033 200	1 419 400	1 731 500	1 919 700	601 900	769 700	1 014 900	1 352 600

Total assessed taxed and negative transfers (NOK)	264 600	107 400	149 900	172 900	91 500	220 800	318 400	461 000	226 100	365 000	494 800	534 100	113 800	178 900	246 000	320 200
Assessed taxes (NOK)	258 900	105 000	145 400	168 200	91 300	215 200	310 400	451 900	224 900	355 100	483 400	522 900	109 800	173 200	239 700	312 700
Negative transfers (NOK)⁹	5 700	2 400	4 500	4 700	200	5 600	7 900	9 100	1 200	9 900	11 400	11 200	4 000	5 700	6 300	7 500

After-tax income (NOK)	756 500	354 200	432 300	459 700	380 200	739 700	900 300	1 086 800	807 100	1 054 400	1 236 800	1 385 600	488 200	590 800	768 900	1 032 400

Number of households	2 583 538	180 795	240 362	344 048	316 001	52 469	77 303	212 239	282 019	217 259	268 323	120 674	21 545	86 808	65 844	97 849
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
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
2023	0.256	..	2.9	3.8	0.248	..	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)
	2023			2022 - 2023
Estimated real capital	4 388 900	84.7	9 598 871	0.8
Estimated market value primary dwelling	4 463 600	68.9	7 949 751	0.6
Estimated market value secondary dwelling	3 462 400	9.8	877 338	1.3
Gross financial capital	1 765 700	98.6	4 495 683	2.9
Bank deposits	624 900	98.5	1 590 572	3.7
Shares and other securities	3 456 900	22.6	2 021 611	-1.6
Share savings account³	481 000	29.8	370 085	18.3
Units of mutual funds	274 600	28.9	204 818	18.4
Foreign taxable wealth excl. real properties	409 800	6.5	68 373	8.6
Estimated gross wealth	5 531 600	98.6	14 094 553	1.5
Debt	2 017 500	84.9	4 424 887	3.6
Study debt	302 500	26.5	207 373	6.8
Estimated net wealth	3 784 600	98.9	9 669 667	0.6
Positive net wealth	4 629 700	83.1	9 941 626	0.7
Negative net wealth	-667 100	15.8	-271 959	4.6
Property taxes	62 500	17.6	28 502	11.5
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)
	2023
Total	100.0	3 742 800	..
Decile 1	-2.7	-1 007 900	..
Decile 2	-0.1	-42 200	-188 200
Decile 3	0.4	158 800	21 900
Decile 4	2.0	733 100	384 300
Decile 5	4.0	1 499 200	1 106 200
Decile 6	6.2	2 334 100	1 901 400
Decile 7	8.8	3 298 700	2 786 500
Decile 8	12.1	4 538 000	3 853 100
Decile 9	17.4	6 513 600	5 325 400
Decile 10	51.8	19 402 600	8 103 400
Top 5 per cent	39.0	29 229 500	11 617 800
Top 1 per cent	21.8	81 625 500	26 980 900
Top 0,1 per cent	10.4	390 814 400	129 333 700
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
	2022		2023
INCOME FROM WORK	3 269 421	1 683 684.8	3 311 512	1 782 607.1
Wages and salaries	3 162 003	1 584 887.3	3 204 274	1 683 180.4
Net income from self-employment	326 698	98 797.5	327 753	99 426.6

PROPERTY INCOME	4 028 207	136 255.5	4 145 535	169 891.5
Interest received	3 902 710	15 587.3	4 027 645	40 318.2
Share dividends received	659 085	73 787.9	733 694	84 328.7
Realised capital gains	474 453	48 390.6	581 085	41 067.7
Realised capital losses	320 517	18 691.2	276 469	15 691.5
Other capital incomes	1 801 599	17 181.0	2 402 424	19 868.4

TRANSFERS RECEIVED	3 375 652	651 470.6	3 342 126	709 523.7
TAXABLE TRANSFERS	2 579 342	603 020.9	2 534 211	655 675.5
Social security benefits¹	1 498 547	407 495.1	1 528 246	443 227.5
Old-age pensions	963 808	260 634.8	983 150	284 113.5
Disability benefits	375 395	107 309.8	377 448	114 682.0
Work Assessment Allowance	182 310	35 496.0	190 287	39 935.0
Service pensions etc	946 475	90 086.8	964 666	96 780.4
Contractual pension (AFP)	153 620	15 791.4	160 959	17 182.1
Contractual pension (AFP) in public sector²	41 216	9 410.2	38 542	9 927.4
Contractual pension (AFP) in private sector	112 430	6 381.2	122 436	7 254.6
Unemployment benefits	247 692	12 063.0	141 642	9 820.9
Sickness benefits³	900 709	50 257.1	889 790	58 240.4
Other taxable transfers⁴	228 126	27 098.0	237 386	30 424.1

TAX-FREE TRANSFERS	1 588 631	48 449.6	1 600 077	53 848.2
Familiy allowances	692 407	17 926.1	697 802	21 109.1
Dwelling support	137 909	3 215.2	152 208	3 568.8
Scholarships	440 787	9 879.8	411 779	9 327.4
Social assistance	127 991	7 275.1	148 517	9 555.4
Basic and attendance benefits	173 323	3 266.3	178 946	3 578.3
Cash for care	32 451	1 100.7	29 970	1 027.6
Other tax-free transfers⁵	269 374	5 786.5	274 871	5 681.6

TOTAL INCOME	4 575 487	2 471 410.9	4 638 905	2 662 022.3

Assessed taxes and negative transfers	4 068 267	652 934.1	4 122 761	686 236.3
Assessed taxes	4 020 665	639 174.1	4 073 077	671 500.7
Negative transfers⁶	1 341 015	13 759.9	1 363 670	14 735.6

AFTER-TAX INCOME	4 576 156	1 818 476.8	4 639 488	1 975 785.9

NUMBER OF RESIDENTS	5 488 984	..	5 550 203	..
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

Not yet determined

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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More figures from this statistics

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

Statistics

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