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Indicators for gender equality in municipalities
The indicators for gender equality in Norwegian municipalities are a set of twelve indicators that are important and relevant for describing gender equality at a local and national level over time. The indicators are based on administrative register data available at municipal level.
Selected figures from these statistics
- Indicators for gender equality, source data for the whole countryDownload table as ...Indicators for gender equality, source data for the whole country
2023 Share of 1-5 years olds in kindergarten (per cent) 93.8 Share of men among municipal county members (per cent) 59.4 Share of women among municipal county members (per cent) 40.6 Share of men with higher education (per cent) 32.1 Share of women with higher education (per cent) 42.4 Share of men (20-66 years) in the work force (per cent) 79.5 Share of women (20-66 years) in the work force (per cent) 74.7 Average gross income, men (NOK) 679 500 Average gross income, women (NOK) 487 800 Share of employed men (20-66 years) working part-time (per cent) 16.0 Share of employed women (20-66 years) working part-time (per cent) 34.3 Share of fathers taking the full fathers quota or more (per cent) 65.9 Level of gender balanced business structure (score) 0.62 Share of men among employees (20-66 years) in public sector (per cent) 30.2 Share of women among employees (20-66 years) in public sector (per cent) 69.8 Share of men among employees (20-66 years) private sector (per cent) 63.3 Share of women among employees (20-66 years) private sector (per cent) 36.7 Share of men among leaders (20-66 years) (per cent) 61.5 Share of women among leaders (20-66 years) (per cent) 38.5 Level of gender balance in educational programs in upper secondary school (score 0.67 Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Indicators for Gender Equality. Score per indicator, average for the entire countryDownload table as ...Indicators for Gender Equality. Score per indicator, average for the entire country
Share of 1-5 years olds in kindergarten Gender distribution among municipality representatives The relationship between women and men with higher education Ratio between men and women in the work force Ratio between men and women's gross income Ratio between men and women's part time work Share of fathers taking full paternity quota of the parental leave period Level of gender balanced business structure Gender balance in public sector Gender balance in private sector Gender distribution among leaders Level of gender balance in educational programs in upper secondary school 2013 0.90 0.76 0.81 0.93 0.67 0.40 0.59 0.60 0.59 0.73 0.71 0.67 2014 0.90 0.78 0.82 0.93 0.67 0.41 0.61 0.60 0.59 0.73 0.72 0.68 2015 0.91 0.78 0.81 0.95 0.67 0.48 0.63 0.60 0.59 0.73 0.70 0.68 2016 0.91 0.78 0.80 0.95 0.69 0.44 0.63 0.60 0.59 0.73 0.71 0.68 2017 0.91 0.78 0.79 0.95 0.69 0.42 0.63 0.60 0.59 0.73 0.72 0.67 2018 0.92 0.78 0.79 0.95 0.69 0.43 0.64 0.60 0.59 0.73 0.73 0.67 2019 0.92 0.78 0.78 0.95 0.70 0.43 0.62 0.60 0.59 0.73 0.74 0.67 2020 0.93 0.81 0.77 0.94 0.70 0.45 0.60 0.60 0.60 0.72 0.74 0.67 2021 0.93 0.81 0.77 0.95 0.68 0.45 0.62 0.61 0.60 0.73 0.75 0.67 2022 0.93 0.81 0.76 0.94 0.71 0.46 0.65 0.61 0.60 0.73 0.76 0.67 2023 0.94 0.81 0.76 0.94 0.72 0.47 0.66 0.62 0.60 0.73 0.77 0.67 Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Share of men and women with higher education. Average of the entire countryDownload table as ...Share of men and women with higher education. Average of the entire country
Share of men with higher education (per cent) Share of women with higher education (per cent) 2013 26.2 32.3 2014 28.1 34.3 2015 28.6 35.4 2016 29.1 36.3 2017 29.5 37.2 2018 30.0 38.0 2019 30.1 38.8 2020 30.7 39.6 2021 31.1 40.6 2022 31.7 41.6 2023 32.1 42.4 Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ...
About the statistics
The information under «About the statistics» was last updated 28 November 2025.
The labour force is the sum of persons in employment and unemployed. From 2017 the indicator is calculated on the basis of a new data source. This means a break from previous years
Higher education is defined as a university or university college education at a lower or higher degree level.
Lower degree covers:
- everyone who has completed a university or university college education lasting up to four years up to 1997/98.
- everyone who has attained 120 study points or more in the university and university college system since 1998/99, but who have not completed a higher degree.
Higher degree covers:
- everyone who has completed a university or university college education of more than four years.
- everyone who has completed a research education regardless of duration.
For more information, see About the statistics, Level of education http://www.ssb.no/emner/04/01/utniv/
Income consists of all taxable income such as earned income, various pensions and capital income. It is important to be aware that a comparison of gross income between men and women can be problematic. More men enter the couples capital income on their tax return, although this is joint income. A comparison of average gross income between the sexes, particularly in small municipalities, can give a skewed profile if individuals in the municipality (usually men) have extremely high incomes. Where men more often enter capital income on their tax returns, this however can be an indication of who has control of the money.
Part time : Until 2014 defined as agreed working hours of less than 30 hours a week. From 2016 defined from what percentage of employment is reported from the employer, instead of working hours per week. This means the indicator before and after 2015 is not comparable.
Managers is the standard code for the occupational classification (a one-digit level is used here, 1. Managerial occupations)
Share of fathers taking statutory paternity leave: The basis for all men who become fathers in the relevant calendar year, regardless of whether they are entitled to parental leave in connection with childbirth.
Name: Indicators for gender equality in municipalities
Topic: Population
Division for Income and social welfare statistics
At country, county and municipality level
Annually; normally in December
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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.
The system for assuring the quality of Norwegian official statistics is based on quality requirements in the Statistics Act and in the European Statistics Code of Practice.The annual report on the quality of official statistics assesses compliance with the quality requirements for all official statistics as a whole.
The National programme for official statistics sets the framework for the areas Statistics Norway and other public authorities produce statistics on. The programme defines and outlines official statistics.
Further information about the system for quality in official statistics can be found at ssb.no
Until 2008 the statistics was published as “the Equality Index for municipalities" and from 2009-2010, “the Gender Equality index for Norwegian municipalities"(see under Production for further information about the structure and method of the previous indices). As of 2012 a composite measure for gender equality will no longer be specified, but equality in the municipalities will be measured through a set of 12 indicators that are considered important and relavant to describe local gender equality. These are the same indicators as in the revisted index 2009-2010.
Equality between women and men can be illustrated in many ways and using different types of statistics. The indicators for gender equality in municipalities correspond to internationally used indicators of gender equality, but they are also adapted to Norwegian conditions. The indicators are based on available register statistics.The indicators provide measures of different aspects of gender equality. Some dimensions may be partially overlapping. The 12 indicators are placed in two groups along the following six dimensions.
1. Institutional and structural frameworks for local equality
1.1. Governmental facilitating of potential equality
Share of children aged 1-5 years in kindergarten
1.2. Structure of industry and educational patterns
Share of employees in gender-balanced industries (one-digit level)
Ratio between men and women in the public sector
Ratio between men and women in the private sector
Share of pupils in upper secondary school in a gender-balanced education programme
2. Men and women's local adaptations
2.1. Distribution of time, work/care
Ratio between the share of men and women in part-time employment
Share of fathers taking full statutory paternity leave or more (from parental leave in connection with childbirth)
Ratio between men and women’s share in the labour force
2.2. Distribution of individual resources/influence
Ratio between the share of men and women with higher education
Share of female managers
2.3. Distribution of political influence
Share of women in the municipal council
2.4. Distribution of money
Ratio between men and women's average gross income
For each indicator, the municipalities are given a score from 0, which indicates maximum difference between the sexes, to 1, which indicates maximum equality.
For more information on the changes, see Notat 2009/65 (Norwegian only)
Users are government ministries, the mass media, researchers and municipalities.
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.
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).
Not relevant
Yearly since 2008.
The observation unit is municipalities.
The indicators that are based on official statistics.
The various indicators gender equality in the municipalities are based on the following data sources:
- Share of children aged 1-5 years in kindergarten. Source: KOSTRA. The figures are taken from table 14522 in StatBank.
- Share of women in the municipal council. Source: Municipal and county council elections.
- Share of men and women with higher education, 16 years and over. Source: Education statistics, level of education. The figures for level of education are taken from table 09429 in StatBank. The number of persons aged 16 years and over is taken from population statistics as per 1 January in the year according to level of education.
- Share of men and women in the labour force, 20-66 years. Source: Labour force survey (LFS), broken down by municipality using figures for the registered unemployed and preliminary figures from the register-based employment statistics.
- Average annual gross income, men and women. Source: Tax statistics for persons. The figures are taken from table 03068 in StatBank.
- Share of men and women in part-time employment. Source: Register-based employment statistics. Special order from the Division for labour market statistics.
- Statutory paternity leave. Share of fathers taking full statutory paternity leave or more before the child is three years old. Source: NAV. Special order from the Division for social welfare statistics.
- Gender-balanced structure in industry. Source: Register-based employment statistics. Figures for men and women distributed by industry in the municipalities are taken from table 07984 in StatBank.
- Share of women in public administration. Source: Register-based employment statistics.
- Share of women in the private sector. Source: Register-based employment statistics.
- Share of female managers. Source: Register-based employment statistics.
- Degree of gender balance in choice of education programme in upper secondary school. Source: Education statistics, upper secondary education. Special treatment from the Division for education statistics.
All indicators are ranked from 0 to 1. The value 0 indicates minimal equality, and the value 1 indicates maximum equality.
- Kindergarten. Share of children aged 1-5 years in kindergarten (p) . We assume least equality where no children are in kindergarten (p = 0) and most equality if all children are in kindergarten (p = 1) . This indicator does not need scaling.
- Municipal council. Share of women in municipal council (p) . Equality is lowest when the share is 0 or 1, and highest when the share is equal to 0.5. This indicator is scaled to:
\(\frac{\min(p, 1-p)}{0.5}\)
- Education . The ratio between the share of men and women with higher education:
\(\frac{p_k}{p_m}\)
Equality is greatest if the two shares are equal, i.e.:
\(\frac{p_k}{p_m} = 1\)
In order to ensure that the indicator is always between 0 and 1, it is scaled to:
\(\min\left(\frac{p_k}{p_m}, \frac{p_m}{p_k}\right)\) - Labour force . The ratio between the share of men and women in the labour force. The same scaling as in point 3
- Income . The ratio between men and women's average gross income. The same scaling as in point 3.
- Part time . The ratio between the share of economically active women working part time and the share of economically active men working part time. The same scaling as in point 3.
- Paternity leave . Share of fathers in 2009 and 2010 taking full statutory paternity leave or more before the child is three years old (2009-2012 for those who became fathers in 2009, 2010-2013 for new fathers in 2008). Scaling is not required.
- Industry . Degree of gender-balanced structure of industry. Let n i be the number of economically active persons and p i the share of women in industry i . Thus, the degree of gender balance for this industry is defined as:
\(q_i = \frac{\min(p_i, 1-p_i)}{0.5}\)
The indicator is:
\(\frac{\sum_{i=1}^k n_i q_i}{\sum_{i=1}^k n_i}\)
k is the number of industries in the municipality. - Public administration . Share of women in the public sector. The same scaling as in point 2.
- Private sector . Share of women in the private sector. The same scaling as in point 2.
- Managerial occupations . Share of women in managerial occupations. The same scaling as in point 2.
- Education programme . The degree to which pupils choose a gender-balanced education in upper secondary school. The degree of gender balance for an education programme is calculated based on figures for the whole of Norway. Otherwise, the same method is used as in point 8.
Compilation of the index 2009-2010
The revised index for 2009-2010 included the same indicators as in the current set of indicators. In weighing a aggregate index measure, all the indicators were given equal weight, with the exception of three indicators. The indicators industry division, public and private sector all have to do with the structure of industry in the municipality. To avoid these indicators having a too great impact on the overall index, they were weighted down. Their total weight is equal to the weight of each of the other indicators, and the industry division indicator were weighted twice as much as the sector indicators. With equal emphasis on the nine other indicators the index was calculated as follows:
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Employees of Statistics Norway have a duty of confidentiality.
Statistics Norway does not publish figures if there is a risk of the respondent’s contribution being identified. This means that, as a general rule, figures are not published if fewer than three units form the basis of a cell in a table or if the contribution of one or two respondents constitutes a very large part of the cell total.
Statistics Norway can make exceptions to the general rule if deemed necessary to meet the requirements of the EEA agreement, if the respondent is a public authority, if the respondent has consented to this, or when the information disclosed is openly accessible to the public.
More information can be found on Statistics Norway’s website under Methods in official statistics, in the ‘Confidentiality’ section.
New Source for labour indicators from 2015
Register-based employment statistics, which are used to calculate the proportion of men and women (20-66 years) who work part-time, the proportion of men and women (20-66 years) in the labour force, gender-balanced business structure, proportion of men and women (20 -66 years) in the private sector and the proportion of men and women (20-66 years) in the public sector is from 2015 based on a new data source. The main source until 2014 was NAV's Employee Register (Aa-register). In 2015, reporting to NAV to this registry was coordinated with reporting of payroll and personnel data to the Tax Administration and Statistics Norway (SSB). This common reporting system is called the a-scheme.
Using a new source for labour statistics implies a break for the indicator for men and women (20-66 years) who work part-time. Changes in what is reported from the employer, percentage of employment instead of working hours per week means that the figures before and after 2015 are not comparable.
As of 2017, also the indicator for the proportion of men and women in the workforce is calculated on the basis of register-based employment statistics (a-scheme) alone. This means a break from previous years. The proportion of women and men in the labour force is lower than previously. The reason for this is that before the Labour Force survey was used for weighing up the total number of employed persons in the register based statistics.
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Analyses, articles and publications
Article / 3 December 2024How many fathers take paternity leave?65.1 percent of fathers use the full father’s quota or more. There has been an increase in the proportion who use all or more of the father’s quota – or paternity leave – from 59.1 per cent in 2013 to 65.1 percent in 2023.
Article / 4 March 2021Increase in female leadershipThe gender distribution among leaders is gradually levelling out. In 2019, 37 percent of all leaders were women. In 2008, this figure was 32 percent.
Booklet / 20 April 2018Women and men in Norway 2018Who are the women and men in Norway? Statistics Norway presents similarities and differences between women and men in Norway within areas of society we can describe with statistics in Women and men in Norway.
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